Lilian Baylis Studio, LondonIt’s hard not to warm to this bright Welsh company, but some of the more experimental works were confused in design and execution. It takes a lot of grit and pluck to run a small ballet company. With a fraction of the resources of a major institution, you’re never going to stage Swan Lake, or attract the top-flight talents of a Royal Ballet; you have to have a different vision. Newport’s Ballet Cymru seems to run on sheer positivity, the beaming smiles of the 12 young dancers almost disconcerting during their opening salvo, artistic director Darius James’s Celtic Concerto, but they quickly get you on their side. It’s a brisk, bright and light dance to the sound of harpist Catrin Finch – a proudly Welsh endeavour. Danila Marzilli is the standout dancer, with fluent, full-bodied command of the choreography. But this triple bill shows another side of the sweet and spritely Welsh Ballet. Following a not-too-subtle sketch on division and repair by Patricia Vallis comes a commission from up-and-comer Charlotte Edmonds, 22. Plucked from training to a choreographic apprenticeship with the Royal Ballet, she’s now working as a freelance dance-maker across Europe. Her piece for Ballet Cymru, Wired to the Moon, comes with a blurb about functioning systems and interconnected technology. What it actually shows us is a choreographer still finding her voice on a stage dressed with various experimental tropes: set blocks that the dancers move themselves, sand pouring from the ceiling, a clock counting down, a street noise soundscape and piles of televisions (cathode ray, which doesn’t shout future tech, more degree show art installation). The dancers in black suits and bored-model stares perform casual cool, frantic gesticulation and jagged-edge moves, mixing music video vibes with ballerina pointe shoes. There’s a confusion of ideas here and a company not experienced enough to sell it. But there are signs that Edmonds is the real deal – amid a frenetic early solo, there’s a sudden slowdown and focus pull on the smallest of movements, a little ronde de jambe en l’air, toe kissing the knee, and it’s a gem of a moment. Even if this piece doesn’t come off, it’s a laudable, still enjoyable effort, and you can’t help but warm to this plucky troupe. . Ballet Cymru tours the UK until 7 December.
It takes a lot of grit and pluck to run a small ballet company. With a fraction of the resources of a major institution, you’re never going to stage Swan Lake, or attract the top-flight talents of a Royal Ballet; you have to have a different vision.
Newport’s Ballet Cymru seems to run on sheer positivity, the beaming smiles of the 12 young dancers almost disconcerting during their opening salvo, artistic director Darius James’s Celtic Concerto, but they quickly get you on their side. It’s a brisk, bright and light dance to the sound of harpist Catrin Finch – a proudly Welsh endeavour. Danila Marzilli is the standout dancer, with fluent, full-bodied command of the choreography.
But this triple bill shows another side of the sweet and spritely Welsh Ballet. Following a not-too-subtle sketch on division and repair by Patricia Vallis comes a commission from up-and-comer Charlotte Edmonds, 22. Plucked from training to a choreographic apprenticeship with the Royal Ballet, she’s now working as a freelance dance-maker across Europe.
Her piece for Ballet Cymru, Wired to the Moon, comes with a blurb about functioning systems and interconnected technology. What it actually shows us is a choreographer still finding her voice on a stage dressed with various experimental tropes: set blocks that the dancers move themselves, sand pouring from the ceiling, a clock counting down, a street noise soundscape and piles of televisions (cathode ray, which doesn’t shout future tech, more degree show art installation). The dancers in black suits and bored-model stares perform casual cool, frantic gesticulation and jagged-edge moves, mixing music video vibes with ballerina pointe shoes.
There’s a confusion of ideas here and a company not experienced enough to sell it. But there are signs that Edmonds is the real deal – amid a frenetic early solo, there’s a sudden slowdown and focus pull on the smallest of movements, a little ronde de jambe en l’air, toe kissing the knee, and it’s a gem of a moment.
Even if this piece doesn’t come off, it’s a laudable, still enjoyable effort, and you can’t help but warm to this plucky troupe.
