Royal Opera House, London A wild variety of pas de deux fuel this mixed bill, from kitschy Strauss to a duet with a table, plus part of Sleeping Beauty Much as happens with real-life weddings, thanks to Covid, the guest list at Princess Aurora’s nuptials has shrunk. A bubble of dancers went into self isolation in the run-up to the Royal Ballet’s latest opening, meaning a hasty reorganisation for some of this mixed bill. Act three of Sleeping Beauty (performed as a standalone finale, making this a long evening), had a reduced cast but it didn’t dent the star billing, ever-perfect Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov, nor Meaghan Grace Hinkis’s noteworthy Princess Florine: animated, technical, musical. Meanwhile, the opener, Anemoi, was reworked at the last minute by Valentino Zucchetti. Expanded from his lockdown piece Scherzo, made for the company’s corps de ballet, the new title refers to the wind gods of Greek myth, and there is an almost visible breeze brushing through the deftly written choreography. Zucchetti favours modest, elegant geometry over the hyper-extended shapes of contemporary ballet and there are some lovely moments where your eyes alight on a particular tableau before everything moves off again. Continue reading...
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