BRB2, Diaghilev Programme Review 3*
BRB2, the junior company of Birmingham Royal Ballet, pays homage to Diaghilev in its brand new touring programme
The early 20th century Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes took Paris by storm, was key to the development of ballet beyond Russia. By assembling and touring a troupe of exceptional dancers, such as Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky, commissioning the most prominent composers and designers of the day, and mining the best of ballet in Russia, Diaghilev added irresistible glamour to the developing art form.
A selection of Ballet Russes favourites has now been entrusted to the young hopefuls of BRB2 in Diaghilev and the Birth of Modern Ballet, which opened at the Birmingham Hippodrome prior to a UK tour.
Whether this was the right choice of repertoire for an undoubtedly talented but, of course, very green company is very much open to question. We must not forget that junior companies are made up of young graduates in their first professional engagement, technically proficient but still to develop the stage savvy works like these demand.
The programme ranges in style from the ultra-Romanticism of Les Sylphides to the exotic sensuality of a pas de deux from Shéhérazade, and includes extracts from the carefree jazz age ballet Les Biches, the Russian folk tale The Firebird and the dream fantasy Le Spectre de la Rose.
BRB2, Jack Easton and Ariana Allen in Le Spectre de la Rose. Photo: Tristram Kenton
With the exception of Bronislava Nijinsky’s Les Biches, all the other pieces were by the Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine, staged for BRB by his grand-daughter Isabelle.
Each in its own way demands full immersion into specific moods and styles, as well as meticulous attention to the music, which in Birmingham was played live by the splendid Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy.
Les Sylphides is a plotless ballet set in a moonlit forest glade where a poet meets a group of diaphanous forest nymphs.
BRB2 in les Sylphides. Photo: Tristram Kenton
Set to piano music by Chopin (expertly played by Jeanette Wong), its corps of 11 frames dances by five solo women and one man. And whereas I have few quibbles with the technical execution of difficult choreography, I found some of the women’s exuberant grins rather disconcerting, as indeed was the suffering plastered on the face of Tom Hazelby’s poet.
For me the most successful performance of the evening was Sophie Walters as The Hostess in Les Biches. Clutching a long cigarette holder in one hand while simultaneously playing with a string of pearls didn’t put her off her stride and she performed a fast choreography, full of beats and twists of the body with admirable nonchalance.
BRB2 Sophie Walters as The Hostess in Les Biches. Photo: Tristram Kenton
Less successful was the pas from Shéhérazade. It should represent an explosive sexual encounter, all the more powerful because it’s transgressive, between the Golden Slave and the Sultan’s favourite, Zobeida. It’s hot, exotic and requires melting chemistry between the two dancers. None of that was present, although the Cuban Itxan Llorca Ferrer showed off a virtuoso technique that should serve him well in the future.
BRB2, Andrea Riolo and Ixan Llorca Ferrer in Shéhérazade. Photo: Tristram Kenton
Seeing Jack Easton dance a perfectly competent spirit of the rose, I couldn’t help but pine for his boss Carlos Acosta’s own, entrancing interpretation seen many years ago.
Alexandra Manuel, ably partnered by Marlo Kempsey-Fagg, was a spiky Firebird, still a work in progress but moving in the right direction.
BRB2 Alexandra Manuel in The Firebird. Photo: Tristram Kenton
In conclusion, given a baptism of fire, the current 10-strong cohort of BRB2 coped admirably. Promising dancers all, they would perhaps benefit from a different, more suitable repertoire.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit: BRB2, Maïlène Katoch and corps de ballet in Les Sylphides. Photo: Tristram Kenton)
BRB2, Diaghilev and the Birth of Modern Ballet is at Sadler’s Wells East on 9 & 10 May and then touring until 17 May 2025. Full details and tickets here