It is many years since I have been to see the Scottish Ballet, and I was a little sceptical about seeing them again when I arrived at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal on Wednesday night. Why? Because the last time I saw them, in their tired Nutcracker production, I did not enjoy myself as I should have done. The old company - we are talking about the late 1990s here - seemed tired, stressed, shambolic. It was a company in need of care and attention, of rejuvination.
The company I saw on Wednesday was a company transformed. Under the artistic direction of Ashley Page since 2002 the Scottish Ballet has become a kind of hybrid ensemble, with a range of dancers suited to different types of dance, a spectrum with classical ballet at one end and contemporary at the other.
The programme was as follows. Balanchine’s Agon opened, and in this we were able to see the almost impeccable techniques of classical dancers Claire Robertson, Eve Mutso and Erik Cavallari. It was wonderful to see the choreography performed so well, but also in such good humour - what stood out for me most about the Scottish Ballet is that on the whole they appeared to be enjoying themselves - and I think that in the case of Agon, which strikes me as a very difficult piece to pull off well, having fun whilst doing it is the icing on the cake!
After the first interval we saw Othello, by the Scottish Ballet’s founder, Peter Darrell. It was very melodramatic. There was a pause, and the curtain opened to a different drama; Room of Cooks by Ashley Page. This was a contemporary piece based upon a painting by Stephen Chambers and the action took place around a kitchen table, and was danced by Diana Loosmore, Jarkko Lehmus and Paul Liburd. (Kristin has already bigged up Lehmus, who is another dance blogger.) These three dancers were well suited to the style, and Loosmore has recently won an award for her own choreography.
The programme closed with a piece which was worth the price of the ticket all by itself: Krzysztof Pastor’s In Light & Shadow. This began with a serene pas de deux danced to the opening of Bach’s beautiful piano work The Goldberg Variations, and everything was gorgeous for five minutes. Then suddenly all the dancers (16?) appeared on the stage in wonderful and strange colourful costumes (two of which are pictured above) and the music changed to a vibrant Bach orchestral piece and I witnessed the most exuberant and joyful dancing I had seen in quite some time. It was in this we could see the variety of talents on display - from the strength of Lehmus and Liburd to the delicacy and precision of dancers such as Tomomi Sato and Sophie Martin. All were graceful - it was like being instructed in the many faces of grace and joy. A perfect piece for the diversity and range represented by the company’s dancers. I absolutely loved it and want to see it again soon.
