Wayne McGregor: Chroma/Multiverse/Carbon Life

It’s not my intention to be a party pooper, or to be the Debbie Downer to ruin celebratory vibes, but if Multiverse is Wayne McGregor’s way of celebrating his 10 Year Anniversary with The Royal Ballet, then I suggest you keep the party hats and champagne for New Year’s Eve. Such an underwhelming offering to mark his 10th year as Resident Choreographer can only suggest two things: either McGregor has hated his 10 years as RC and would rather curl up in bed than celebrate it with a new piece or he has been commissioned yet again to create something new and the pressure on his creativity has had a damning effect on him. I’m going to go with the latter. What is it with this endless desperation to commission new work from the same choreographers all year round for the Royal Ballet? I fully support the decision to encourage new work and broaden the repertoire but do we really need to see new McGregor and even Liam Scarlett on such a regular basis? At the end of last season, McGregor gave us Obsidian Tear which in my eyes was one of his greatest achievements in a long time. Six months later and we have Multiverse, a bit of a yawn of a work if you ask me. Why not give us Obsidian Tear now? What a triple bill that would have been and what a fabulous way of celebrating him. Instead, as I watch Multiverse, I wonder why I’m here, supporting these 10 so called fantastic years. It looked as if McGregor was stepping away from the contorted nose dives when he brought Woolf Works and Obsidian Tear to the stage. He showed us how he can do narrative, how he can create emotive choreography that is meaningful and moving. His real talent shone and I was so excited to see what he would do next. Unfortunately Multiverse is taking us back a few years, the choreography is typical ‘McGregor’ and there’s not much in it that stands out. No moment where I thought ‘aha there it is, there’s that special moment’. Instead, I actually waited for it to end, wishing away the minutes which is quite unlike me. The music, I use this term lightly, was grating and boring and much of the staging seemed pretty obvious. I loved the stage set up but how long can you be interested in a set when what you’re really there to see is innovative choreography? Unfortunately, Multiverse is not something I’ll remember next year. I’m really hoping that we will have a break now from these familiar choreographers and wait for the creativity to come to them as commissioning new work has never looked so old.

But it’s not all bad news. Multiverse is sandwiched between two McGregor favourites: Chroma and Carbon Life, both of which are shining pillars in comparison. Chroma is still as fresh today as it was when it first hit the Royal Opera House stage and the decision to bring in dancers from Alvin Ailey Company was a good one, keeping the choreography exciting and up to date. I think the Alvin Ailey dancers brought a new twist to the piece actually and their strong and supple bodies moved well to the difficult choreography. A friend of mine who joined me mentioned that she loved the genderless qualities of the piece, with McGregor giving us bodies and nothing else to watch. I agree that watching something where individuality isn’t really prominent is actually unique and interesting to watch. Bodies on a stage doesn’t sound particularly fascinating but against the orchestrated Jack White music and the complexities of the choreography, it comes together well. The piece was elevated by Lauren Cuthbertson, whose lithe body and long legs really help her create wonderful lines. She has a lovely extension which is important for this choreography. It seems to be all about the legs in Chroma, actually in a lot of McGregor’s works, and I think it really suits the taller dancers.

What’s funny about Carbon Life is that when I saw it premiere a few years ago, I thought it was one of the best things I’d seen by McGregor and I was in awe with the music and costumes. It came at a time when new choreography wasn’t pushing too many boundaries at the Opera House so when all of these masked men on stilts and in dresses came stomping onto the stage, it seemed only natural to be brought to the edge of one’s seat. I’m still a big fan of Carbon Life and I still love the costumes and the music but it doesn’t seem as relevant today as it did a few years ago. Something like Chroma I believe will always be current and draw in my attention, but there’s something about Carbon Life that seems to keep it stagnant to the times that it was created. Since then, we’ve had Woolf Works and Obsidian Tear from McGregor (his best pieces since the Infra and Chroma days as far as I’m concerned) and have seen choreographers elsewhere like Akram Khan and Christopher Wheeldon pushing things along. As much as I like Carbon Life, I can’t see where it will fit in the repertoire in years to come. I enjoy it and it’s so exciting having a live band on stage, but will it stand the test of time? That is the question.

Someone who really stole the show for me though was Anna Rose O’Sullivan. This is a dancer often in the corps who pleasantly dances in the background for the Royal’s big classics. There haven’t been many opportunities for me to see her do much else. It wasn’t until last year when my mum said she’d seen O’Sullivan dance Clara in The Nutcracker and that it was something I should really see, that I began to notice her. I watched her more and in Carbon Life she really brought an edgy coolness to what I can only describe as ‘the circle pas de deux’ alongside Matthew Ball (who was, as always, a joy to watch). But it was O’Sullivan who walked around the stage literally as if she owned it, such confidence and self-assurance for a young dancer. She was sexy and cool with Ball and embodied a McGregor dancer. I was very impressed by it.

All in all this triple has the makings to be a real crowd pleaser but it’s a shame that Multiverse is wedged in the middle. It’s a bit of a rush job; a way for McGregor to quickly create something new to mark this milestone. I’m sure the intention was to sum it all up with a new piece of work, but if this is what marks him as resident choreographer I think I’ll wait to get the party poppers out when we celebrate his 20th year, hopefully by then we’ll see something different.