McNicol Ballet Collective, Here & Now Review 3*
McNicol Ballet Collective marks its fifth anniversary with a programme of old and new choreography by Andrew McNicol
The choreographer Andrew McNicol is unequivocal about the role of classical ballet in his work. It’s in his DNA, he says, and along with exquisite musicality, the language of classical ballet informs all his choreography.
He also believes in collaborative creation, not only with his dancers, but with composers, musicians and designers. So, the idea of a collective, as opposed to a more traditional company allows him the freedom to bring fresh ideas and points of view to the creative process.
In other words, to give his work a feel of Here & Now, the apt title of the programme that marks the fifth anniversary of his McNicol Ballet Collective, which has just had an all-too-brief run at the Royal Academy of Music in London as part of UK tour.
The programme is made up of a series of excerpts from past works, a short behind the scenes film, which has become a signature of McNicol Collective performances, all building up to the main event, McNicol’s newest piece Liquid Life.
McNicol Ballet Collective, Liquid Life. Photography by ASH
Set to an especially commissioned score by Jeremy Birchall, which involves an on-stage amplified string quartet as well as recorded soundscapes, and lit by Yaron Abulafia, a loose narrative flows through Liquid Life: the human search for connections.
McNicol Ballet Collective’s engaging veteran Winnie Dias is the central figure, a woman in search of something. Around her the remaining seven dancers flit in an ever-shifting variety of formations. Through short sections the tempi of which evolve from very fast allegro to a yearning adage, each dancer gets an opportunity to impress, with Hamish Longley eliciting enthusiastic applause for an energetic solo built on virtuoso classical ballet steps.
As in every other piece in the programme, lighting is provided by Yaron Abulafia, his sculptural design going beyond mere light to create specific scenography. In Liquid Light he lays down intersecting lanes of light; creates hazy atmospheres lit from the wings, or shafts of light pooling from above.
My favourite piece was Of Silence (pictured top) a duet danced by Winnie Dias and James Stephen to Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks’s choral setting of a prayer by Mother Teresa, sung live by VOCES8 Choral Ensemble.
It’s a meditative piece with elongated movement that suggests yearning, soft lifts and clinging pair work, to which the two dancers brought an effective mutual understanding.
The programme opened with extracts from Bates Beats, set to recorded music by Mason Bates.
McNicol Ballet Collective, Bates Beats. Photography by ASH
I remember enjoying this piece on its first outing five years ago more than this time around. Its jagged movement follows Bates’s syncopated sound; but it lacked precision and the pair work was not as sharp as it could have been.
Moonbend, a very physical piece set to vocal music by the American Perfume Genius, was perhaps the darkest work in the programme.
McNicol Ballet Collective, Moonbend. Photography by ASH
Having a tight-knit group of collaborators working across a full programme gives it a unity of tone and a clear identity, in other words, Here & Now is unmistakably McNicol; but it also means it all feels a little same-y.
Plaudits, though, to the Collective’s eight excellent dancers, who gave their all in a hugely demanding , physically draining programme.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit: McNicol Ballet Collective, Of Silence. Photographyn by ASH)
McNicol Ballet Collective Here & Now was at the Royal Academy of Music on Saturday, 5 April 2025 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm