Royal Opera House, London Liam Scarlett’s 2010 word is as lyrical as ever, while strong performances and a live pigeon can’t save Frederick Ashton’s cutesy romcom When it premiered in 2010, Asphodel Meadows marked out the then-24-year-old Liam Scarlett as the next big thing in ballet. What was so impressive for a young choreographer was how he was concerned not only with the creation of individual steps but also with the orchestration of the stage. Like a composer does with a large-scale score, he explored movement that was homophonic and contrapuntal, voicings doubled up for effect, motifs passed between dancers, and melodies that might be echoed across the stage or magnified en masse. The title refers to part of the ancient Greek underworld, a place for the souls of ordinary folk. But it is a loose theme, and the piece feeds on Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, a fantastic work in which great romantic themes butt heads with jazzy chord clashes. In its steps and lines, much of Scarlett’s choreography is not particularly classical, but it doesn’t attempt a schism with the past. There is a deep romanticism in its lush and melting lyricism, a respect for form in its composition. Continue reading...
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