Luminous Partnership and Steamy Seduction

Chalendard has it all and her white acts were exquisite. She is not a natural virtuoso but rose to the challenges of Act 3 on the strength of her acting: a Black Swan that hypnotised both the hapless Siegfried and the audience. Souza from his first entrance commands the stage with inborn nobility and easy charm. He lends elegance to every classical move and convincingly took the role of the young Prince to its tragic climax.

Equally impressive was the strength through the ranks. There is so much burgeoning talent in the ensemble that even the more mundane moments, such as the Act 1 waltz, sparkled. This version features Frederick Ashton’s pas de quatre which includes two intricate female solos full of nuanced èpaulement and fiendish footwork which proved a triumph for Shiori Kase and Laurretta Summerscale. The male duet featured twin brothers, Vitor and Guilherme Menezes, and I have seldom seen more perfectly synchronised dancing. The rows of swans were also in top form in this version adapted from the in-the-round production at the Royal Albert Hall.

The ’Proms’ of course, bag the venue at this time of the year so it meant less stage space for Rothbart (Fabian Reimair) to thrash his magnificent wings but this did little to rein in his evil intent which, as the story goes, can only be conquered by true love. Wayne Eagling, the departing director, can be proud of his great achievement in building one of the most exciting companies in Europe.

In this classic nexus of sex, power and class Bourne captures the rigid restraints; a world ripe for the sixties cultural rebellion. If the master/ servant relationship sometimes slipped into easy camp, the seduction scenes were breathtakingly steamy.

The Early Adventures programme brought back Spitfire (1988) danced by four outrageously pretentious poseurs. A parody of Perrot’s Pas de Quatre, it also incorporates Minkus and hints of Don Q. When premiered in 1988 it staked out Bourne’s choreographic trajectory and can still raise a laugh after all these years.