When it goes wrong

Last night I went to see the Danish Royal Ballet at the new(ish) Opera House.  It is hard to know where to begin...while the venue is great, and we had excellent seats in the middle of the first balcony, and so a wonderful view of the stage, it was a dreadful evening, with a few exceptions.  I had seen this programme already and expected the worst, and only went this time as my companion had not been to the Opera House and wanted to go before leaving Denmark.

One of the main problems was the programme itself.  While the idea of a showcase of Jerome Robbins sounds like a good idea, the odd mix of pieces meant there was no thread through the evening.  Of course choreographers changes styles and develop, and that can be fascinating to see, but this was just a jumble.

The first piece was 'The Concert', a 'comedy' piece (I have a personal dislike of comedy ballet, but I won't let that colour my judgement here) to music by Chopin.  It was first performed in 1956, and looked it.  While this is not a criticism, more of an observation, it does make me wonder why it was picked.  I would say in Hübbe's (Nicolai Hübbe is the artisic director) defence (I presume it was his choice) that it suited the dancers of the company, and gave ample opportunity to show off the female dancers legs and pointe work!

The second piece is one that should have been consigned to the archives.  'The Cage', from 1951, is dated nonsense about female spiders eating male spiders.  Enough said I think!

We then experienced a total mood change with a lyrical pas de deux, also danced to Chopin.  Here I was at least treated to the sublime Thomas Lund, a fantastic dancer in real Bournonville tradition.  He is a 'neat and tidy' dancer, wonderful beats (batterie) and an old fashioned elegance.  His partner, J'aime Crandell, was also excellent.  It was however lost during the evening and was definitely the wrong placing for the piece.  My companion almost fell asleep during it!

'West Side Story' is a great musical with memorable music.  The film version is a classic.  The version we saw last night has seven scenes from the musical and was first performed in 1995.  First, this is a mistake.  While a suite of dances taken from the whole thing sounds like a good idea, this version failed.  If you didn't know the story, you would have no idea that the original was a love story.  The two central characters had hardly any interaction, and the only reason one knew who Maria was, was because of her dress which was different from the others.  The whole focus of the piece was on the fight scenes.  The singing that accompanied it at times was appalling.  I have no idea who it was who appeared on stage at one point to sing one of the ballads, but it was like being at a bad amateur production.  The dancers themselves were fine, though not all classical dancers are good at a more jazz style.

I really hope this is the last time this programme will be performed.  It does nothing for the reputation of the company, and calling it 'Broadway for an Evening' is just a joke.  1 star out of 5, with apologies to Thomas Lund.