London: Young dancers exciting in new roles

Yat-Sen Chang danced a nonpareil Mercutio while Ksenia Ovsyanick brought charm and a beautiful pair of feet to the often diminished role of Rosalind. For the rest Nureyev’s ballet tells the story in vivid dramatic scenes, the chaotic street brawl inevitably slides into lethal swordplay, the death scenes are powerful, the love scenes passionate. It is firmly built on the classical vocabulary and if occasionally it seems overfilled with steps, the drama always wins the day.

Marlon Wallen shows an intrinsic choreographic talent in the way he shapes a whole plethora of up-to-date concepts. Like a pop video, the fashion is cool, the lighting electrifying and each moment has street cred. The spirit of the great Michael Jackson hovers throughout; in choreographic hints and the ubiquitous white gloves.

These dancers, all self taught, show amazing invention: egging each other on to do more and better. Their bodies are well toned and their fluid movement quality would be the envy of many a trained dancer. Their communication is immediate; in a packed London Festival Hall the men had the audience, predominantly though not exclusively, young and black, eating out of their hands.

They were a well matched couple, Polunin has a natural elegance and nobility that set him apart from the dancing peasants making his interloper status difficult to disguise. In the years ahead he will be able to build a stronger interpretation of this complex character but his technical execution is already superlative. The lovers were in their element in the second act, where solos and duets reached the heights, both emotionally and technically essential in this otherworldly mix.