A triple bill featuring work by Wayne McGregor is always going to entertain – and test – a Royal Opera House audience. So many of his ballets leave me questioning what they are about, but perhaps that is what he intends. Alchemies – the name given to the triple bill – is made up of “Untitled 2023”, “Yugen” and a new work, “Quantum Souls”.
Opening night began with “Untitled 2023”. It shows off the extraordinary abilities the dancers possess, as they make wave-like movements with their bodies (do they not have vertebrae in their spines?) and unfold their legs in super-high extensions, bending still further into impossible angles. The dancers are clad in white and bright green leotards by Burberry and Carmen Herrera’s set design, featuring a slash of vivid green across the backcloth, illuminates the work.
There is a feeling of mystery in Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s sombre music. The entire piece could do with being ten minutes shorter, but it is rather beautiful to watch.
"Yugen” formed part of the Royal Ballet’s celebration of the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, back in 2018. It remains a powerful piece, with the dancers moving to his Chichester Psalms. Six psalms are sung, in the original Hebrew (there is a transliteration in the programme) as the dancers twist and form shapes of great beauty. But the vocabulary is very similar to “Untitled 2023”, with nothing to surprise the audience – more legs unfolding at high angles, and not much else.
The most anticipated work of the evening was the final piece: “Quantum Souls” (I heard more than one member of the audience keep calling it “Quantum of Solace”). Unfortunately, this was also the most disappointing. A bare set, save for a percussion section on a raised platform at the back of the stage, and dancers begin in silence, moving until an assortment of percussion instruments join in. These were played with vigour by Beibei Wang, but the music, by Bushra El-Turk, left me cold.
There is no denying that Royal Ballet dancers perform McGregor’s choreography with immense power and focus, and his choreography stretches them to the limits – literally – however, I find it lacks nuance and variety. With dancers of this calibre, whatever they dance will be performed with the utmost skill, but they deserve better.
Alchemies
Royal Opera House
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