Akram Khan at Sadler's Wells
The strange title of Akram Khan’s latest work, iTMOi is an acronym – In the Mind of Igor – Igor Stravinsky whose Rite of Spring celebrates 100 years since its scandalous premiere in Paris. Khan says he finds it impossible to separate Pina Bausch’s Rite from the music and so he uses a bare 30 seconds of the original choosing instead the music of Nitin Sawney, whose Khatak flavoured rhythms are so intensely danceable, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost.

Khan opens on the concept of sacrifice seen first through a Judaic prism in a world hovering between prehistory and a sci-fi future, menacing and revelatory, familiar and unpredictable. He makes intensely personal choices throughout, flooding the stage with imaginative vignettes: the horned beast, the half-child, half-woman in sacrificial white, the crinoline skirts extending and distorting choreographic shapes. Khan’s meaning is often obscure but also intriguing leaving audience members to find their own truth.

Boston Ballet Welcome Guests at the London Coliseum
One of the most exciting visits to London was Boston Ballet: a vibrant company with an exciting rep. Under the directorship of Finnish Mikko Nissinen since 2001, it has grown to international status. The bookers obviously decided that London wanted Balanchine and Programme A opened on Serenade, closed on Symphony in Three Movements but had a surprise filling of an antique and a super modern ballet in the middle.

Nijinsky’s Faun has reached its centenary but with so many interesting revisionings around – notably by David Dawson and Jiří Bubeníček – Nijinsky’s version, so innovative in its time has assumed the patina of an old master. Altan Dugaraa, a magnetic, androgynous Faun and Lorna Feijóo, a beguiling Nymph gave compelling performances etched in the choreographer’s extraordinary staccato moves.

Jorma Elo’s Plan to B was the undoubted star of the show. It not only lit up the stage but practically stripped the paint off the walls as the Baroque ebullience of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s music is whipped into twenty-first century shapes. Well structured and maintaining a vibrant dynamic,

Elo gives each of the six dancers wonderful material. Jeffrey Cirio and David Lam matched in physique and virtuoso talent took the theatre by storm in their duet and Dusty Button proved an exacting female foil with lethal extension and stiletto sharp pointes.

Button, a dancer to watch, showed a very different persona in Serenade; gentler and intensely romantic. The ballet, although it lacked precision at times, scored with strong leads and a corps that swept through the ballet with fluidity and speed. In Stravinsky’s jazzy Symphony a sharper, vivacious corps gave strong backing to the soloists who were splendid, particularly in the syncopated trios in the last movement.

Programme B found a strong balance between three powerful works. Forsythe’s The Second Detail was executed with punch and precision, the dancers swinging nonchalantly into extreme positions before swinging out of them with equal nonchalance, stomping casually off before returning for the next round.

David Lam was a fireball of energy and tiny Misa Kuranaga, who has incredible timing and balance, added a hint of seductive charm. Yumiko Takashima’s new costumes keep the simple outlines and the signature grey-blue but are more flattering and very welcome.

Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia set to György Ligeti’s music, is one of my favourites and was well suited to the Boston dancers who work comfortably in unison, while retaining distinctive personalities. The dancers sailed through the fiendish opening section before embarking on the duets; each with its own mood and choreographic language. Ashley Ellis, with pointes of melting smoothness, scored in her gentle sad solo.

In the third work the dancers adapted again, this time to the hyper-fluidity of Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura. The light touches of wit were neatly handled and in blissful duets the dancers contrasted the masculine and the feminine as bodies entwine with sensual ease. Rie Ichikawa, a tiny dancer of great charisma, created a heartbreakingly poignant focal point. I hope we don’t have to wait 30 years for Boston Ballet’s next visit.

Swedish Girls Graduate from The Royal Ballet School
Two Swedish dancers are among this year’s graduates at the Royal Ballet School. Nikisha Fogo is joining the Vienna State Opera Ballet and Nikita Ruhl has bagged a contract with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Ruhl is currently performing with the Royal Ballet on their Japanese tour.

Maggie Foyer
30 July 2013