Ashton Triple Bill

In such dark and brutal times, thank God we have Sir Frederick Ashton. After a weekend that ended with such tragedy in Borough Market, escapism was a good way to cope and piling into the Royal Opera House was almost like a journey through the cupboard into Narnia. All worries and troubles subsided for a few hours as we watched the beauty, grace and elegance of the Royal Ballet whilst they danced to three of Ashton’s works. In my opinion, this was a brilliant triple bill. It was right up my street. Two narrative ballets, The Dream and Marguerite and Armand, sandwiched the beautiful Symphonic Variations, making it one of the more meaty triple bills that the Royal Ballet has offered recently. It was a beautiful way to close a wonderful season and watching this bill has reminded me exactly why I go to the ballet so often.

Photo copyright Dave Morgan

The Dream quite frankly is a dream to watch. It’s long been a favourite of mine and difficult to fault. It has everything to offer: beautiful sets and costumes, an abundance of beautiful choreography, mesmerising music and just enough humour to keep it from being cheesy. Oh and a man on pointe. What’s not to love? What really struck me whilst watching the ballet during this run was how difficult the choreography is. I hadn’t really noticed this before but the intricate footwork and the fast pace of the music makes for some very complicated ballet. I applaud all of the dancers for managing to keep up with the pace and technical demands of Ashton’s masterpiece whilst all the time remaining ethereal and fairy-like. If that were me, wings would be flying off my back, pointe shoes would be wobbling around and everything would be moving at a tortoise pace. It’s a good job I write about it and don’t do it. The casting for this run of The Dream was wonderful, with every couple tackling their roles brilliantly. It must be such a difficult debut, whether you are Titania, Oberon, Puck or one of the lovers. I loved them all but of course this is Steven McRae’s ballet. Having mastered the choreography a while ago, McRae is now able to sink his teeth, or perhaps his wings, deep into Oberon’s character. This is something that I feel Alexander Campbell and Marcelino Sambe, two dancers who both made their debut as Oberon in this run, have yet to master. Both danced beautifully and showed they have all of the makings of becoming brilliant Oberons, but the characterisation still needs a bit of work. This isn’t surprising, considering how difficult the steps are and I would assume that now they have shown they can dance the steps, in their next go they can begin looking deeper into the character. McRae is at a level where the whole thing has become seemingly effortless. The turns, the jumps, the arms – he’s got it all down to a T and he gives Oberon the perfect balance of arrogance and deep affection for his Titania. In this run, his Titania was danced by Akane Takada, a dancer who I don’t often take note of but will do so more now that I have seen her in this role. She is, quite simply, beautiful. Her arms melt and pour around the stage, she is delicate and light –just like a fairy, and she was able to capture Titania’s strength, wit and girlishness with perfect shine. I’ve become a bit of an Akane convert this past year and the more I see her, the more I like her. Morera was, of course, the archetypal Ashton dancer as always, and danced beautifully alongside Alex Campbell. Francesca Hayward also proved that she could tackle this difficult debut, and I loved her take on Titania next to Sambe’s Oberon. I think these two have quite the budding partnership, especially when it comes to Ashton’s choreography (take me back to their Fille any day!). It’s also worth mentioning the always-so-fabulous Bennet Gartside whose Bottom I hope to continue watching for many more years to come! All of the lovers were also great – in particular Itziar Medizabal and Matthew Ball who showed how well they can pull off humour. The Pucks were also great, but my word, David Yudes was something to see. From his first leap which literally hung in the air, to his 1,000,000,000 turns on the stage, he drew me in and took me to Shakespeare’s magical forest. He demonstrated exactly why he was made a permanent member of the company and he is certainly one to watch for the future.

Moving on to Symphonic Variations, a piece I had only ever seen once and did not understand the hype. Pretty much every hard core ballet fan seems to rate it highly and thinks of it as the pinnacle of Ashtonian choreography. Seeing it again, how right they are. There is so much to love in this piece. It’s the perfect ballet to slip in between two narrative pieces, because you can sit and watch ballet in its purest form without having to follow a story. The piece screams elegance and there’s something about it, perhaps it’s the backdrop, that makes me think I’m on some terrace in the French Riviera, sipping gin and soaking up some rays. Many assume that the figures in white dancing across the stage are angels – I couldn’t agree more; I expect heaven is made up of gin and sunshine and angels like these! Although the choreography is pretty perfect – I love the placement of each leg, each arm, intricately moving across the stage – it is the music which really does it for me. Cesar Franck's score starts off slowly with melancholic tones and then builds and builds to a playful and celebratory height. It’s full of jubilation and brightness and the dancers move around with the same type of energy. I actually feel like I could watch it over and over again, which is pretty incredible considering I didn’t like it on first viewing. So what’s changed? Perhaps I’m just that much older, or maybe it was the casting (oh Vadim, do you ever go wrong?) – no, I think it’s to do with living in these dark times. As I write this, more atrocities have swept across our nation, the most haunting being the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. Upon watching Symphonic Variations, the purity, brightness and joy that it brings shows me and I hope the rest of the audience, that art can really mitigate tragedy. Whether it be music, dance, literature – we need escapism but we also need to be shown that there is still beauty in the world. Ashton choreographed Symphonic Variations after the Second World War – so its themes of defiance, unity and joy were also themes for a nation that rebuilt itself after the war. I can still feel those themes and they still resonate today. The choreography proves that beauty will always overcome hatred and ugliness.

Before I put on my flowery headband, step into my Birkenstocks, and attend a love not war protest, I’ll talk about Marguerite and Armand. I don’t think this is one of Ashton’s great pieces of choreography and it’s one of those pieces that needs a great cast to elevate it. With the right cast, however, Marguerite and Armand becomes such a special ballet – a real jewel in the Ashton repertoire. Great casting cannot really get better than what was given to us during this run. Ferri/Bonnelli, Osipova/Shklyarov and of course Bolle/Yanowsky. What a treat it was to see Alessandra Ferri again, partnered with Federico Bonelli , who I thought looked in really wonderful shape. They both seemed about 19 and I was amazed by their energy. Ferri is a truly special dancer, and it’s such a treat for my generation to be able to see her perform live on stage – oh to have seen her as Juliet in her prime! Ferri is such a wonderful actress and her treatment of Marguerite was pretty spot on. I have to admit, when it came to Osipova’s turn in the role, I didn’t really know what to expect. She was wonderful in A Month in the Country, but I didn’t like her in La Fille mal gardee or Rhapsody – so my views on her dancing Ashton are very mixed. In this she was mesmerising. I thought she was fantastic actually. Passionate, warm and a woman we could really empathise with. Of course the steps were all danced perfectly, but I felt she really understood the character and gave a natural and believable portrayal. Nothing here was over the top or wild. Instead she stripped the character right back whilst dancing with elegance and grace. She was partnered by Vladimir Shklyarov, a bit of a revelation as I hadn’t seen him dance before but had heard how great he was. He didn’t disappoint, and together they were passionate and raw which brought a real edge to the piece. Of course, the ballet really belonged to Zenaida Yanowsky who made her farewell after 20 years with the company. Quite simply, Yanowsky is an icon. She’s tall, lithe, beautiful and to be honest, she’s just cool. She exudes this coolness in every role - the alternative ballerina. I’ve loved watching her dance as I’ve grown up, always looking to her to bring something different to each role. Her Odette was special, as was her Manon and she brought great depth or comedy to supporting roles such as the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland or Empress Elisabeth in Mayerling. In Marguerite and Armand she was also brilliant and as she took her final bow on stage it really marked the end of an era.

This felt like a very special triple bill. Not just because of the debuts or the farewells, but because it really showcased the genius behind Frederick Ashton’s choreography. It also led the Royal Ballet to finish their season with a bang and so good were the performances that it seemed there was not one tired foot on stage. It’s a triple bill I could watch every week and I find it very difficult to think of any flaws or faults in it. I commend the Royal Ballet in what has been a beautiful season and look forward to what is brought to the stage in the Autumn. For now, a long summer without much ballet awaits as companies tour and rest and fans desperately twiddle their thumbs at home. How odd it will be to return to the 21st century after a Season watching mythical fairies, a kingdom of sweets and a land put to sleep. So as we all return to watching television, actually talking to our partners and eating dinner at a normal time, secretly we are counting down the days until we can step back in to the imaginary world that ballet can offer us.