By Louise
Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/dancers-at-a-gathering-2020/videos/dances-at-a-gathering-2020
Available until: 25th October 2020
I don’t know if I’ll be any good at reviewing ballet. I
enjoy ballet a lot, but if I’m seeing a ballet for the first time, it is
sometimes difficult for me to pick out the story unless it’s already familiar
to me. In order to understand Dances at a Gathering properly, I would have to
watch it several times. I did think about doing that, but then (and maybe this
is lazy of me) I was thinking this isn’t a well-known ballet and most people
who watch it will be in the same position as me and won’t have seen it before.
And I think everyone’s thoughts are valid really so mine should be too.
Jerome Robbins was originally asked to choreograph a pas de deux for a gala, but when rehearsals started, the work grew and grew. The final work features ten dancers and is over an hour long. The original was performed in 1969 and the Royal Ballet revived it this season in a double bill with Cathy Marston’s gorgeous ballet The Cellist, which was available for free on YouTube earlier in lockdown.
Dances at a Gathering has no story and no staging.
There are officially no characters, but the dancers allowed to show their own
personalities, which they do. They are just ten people enjoying dancing and
it’s beautiful to watch. At times, the dancers don’t even seem to be performing
for the audience – they are so lost in their onstage relationships. It feels a
bit like spying on them, but in a really good way.
The music is by Chopin so it’s all piano music, performed
beautifully by Robert Clark. Some people think Chopin’s music sounds quite
similar, but it really is quite varied and the inventive choreography
demonstrates this. None of the choreography ever seems wrong for the music, but
it varies so much. There are so many different steps and styles and lifts.
There are up to six dancers performing together at a time, except in the finale
where all ten dancers appear together. The cast includes principals and first
soloists. Marianela Nunez and Federico Bonelli are probably the best-known
names, but all the dancers are really good and I don’t think it’s obvious who
the first soloists are.
It is quite difficult
to stop trying to follow a story that isn’t there and just enjoy the dancing, but
it’s worth the effort.
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