After 30 years of anticipation, the London City Ballet returns with a brand new show paying homage to the company’s early beginnings. This collection of performances showcases a beautiful mix of the best of British Ballet and contemporary movements.
The showcase features ‘Ballade’ by Kenneth MacMillan, which opens with a video projection of the late Princess Diana in an open car, and led to a tableau reminiscent of a 20th Century day at the beach. With the girls in white dresses and the men in a white ensemble, the tableau could not help but feel soothing. The number featured the guest artist Alina Cojocaru who stood out for her graceful and technically stunning performance.
The next number was a collection of 5 dances by Arielle Smith, which began with Álvaro Madrigal in the centre of the stage with a small spotlight. As Madrigal’s movements got larger and stronger, the spotlight grew to welcome the 5 other featured dancers. Playing with warm tones in background and costume colours, whilst counteracting them with a crisper blue costume for one of the duos, the movements likened a fight between fire and ice. With sharper lines from the blue and slower development from the warmer tones, the dancers portrayed an unusual harmony between two conflicting personalities.
The standout moment in this tableau was the fourth dance, a duet featuring Ellie Young and Joseph Taylor. The dancers take centre stage in a single spotlight with a simple backdrop, and perform a beautiful duet playing with shapes and producing astounding shadows on the stage floor.
The showcase closed with a one-act story portraying the famous scene with Eve in the garden of Eden. Madrigal, who played the role of the serpent, embodies the subtle nuances of inviting and menacing with great ease and phenomenal technique. The full dance was wildly impressive and so intricate that there is so much to unpack before even beginning to understand it all.
As a novice to the world of dance, I cannot pretend to know much about ballet. But I do know this: the work and dedication brought to the craft by its dancers is unmatched and in itself an admirable feat, and this much was certain when watching the performances. Overall, the showcase in itself was wildly impressive and technically flawless. However, some of the more modern sections felt slightly out of place, and frankly, the classical style sufficed to bring about admiration from any audience.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | photography by ASH
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