Sheer Brilliance! I was at Sadler's Wells in London to watch The English National Ballet perform in The Forsythe Evening. Beautiful! Glorious!
The great William Forsythe
choreographed the whole performance. This dazzling evening is a celebration of
Forsythe’s artistic talent, his creative dance style and vision. I am feeling
very emotional as I write this. It was an evening of anomalies; ballet + modern
music arrangements, traditional ballet sequences in the wrong order, fusion of
street dancing and classical ballet, some popping and locking, no scenery or spotlighting,
lighting directly from above and audience involvement.
The first half titled 'Blake
Works I', opened on the Sadler's Wells stage with just bare black walls. The
dancers all wearing a grey/blue body costume and the lighting from above worked
to create shadows on the muscles and body movements. It was a lovely spectacle.
At one point there were twenty-two dancers on the stage, all appearing to do
their own thing, but looking closely and you could see there were several
individuals performing the same steps. It was the arrangement on the stage that
made it look random. At times it looked like a rehearsal studio with each
dancer performing to their own strengths.
I was sitting next to another
reviewer and at the interval both of us gasped at the wonderful dancer we had
seen throughout the first half. We both checked the cast list and conducted a
few searches. Leaping out from our research appeared the wonderful Emily
Suzuki. I could not take my eyes off her. Her movements are exquisite. It is
contemporary ballet at its most beautiful. She is not currently a principal or lead
soloist but that must only be a matter of time. Watching her dance with Isaac
Hernandez in 'The Colour In Anything' was a delight. But all the dancers
were outstanding. English National Ballet at its finest.
Part two: 'Playlist'. The
second half was so lively, and the music was fantastic, Dancers interspersing ballet
with a sprinkling of popping and locking. Dancers jettisoning at all angles and
heights across the stage. The male contingent dancing together was sumptuous
and was met by roars and ‘bravos’ from the audience. The audience were suddenly
involved – but how can they be? This is ballet. But now all the usual audience
etiquette and expectations of quiet and calm have been thrown out.
There were so many talented dancers
in 'Playlist' to name them all, including the elegant Emily Suzuki again, Emma
Hawes and Precious Adams, who hails from Michigan, USA, and dances like a
dream. Her performance with James Streeter was rhythmic and sensual, they fitted
together as one.
The penultimate song was Barry
White’s 'Sha La La Means I Love You', with the whole company on stage and the
audience enthralled. The final dance was with Natalie Cole’s 'This Will Be An
Everlasting Love', and believe me this has been an everlasting love for me. There
was obviously such enjoyment for the performance from the dancers. They looked
like they were actually having fun. I am in love. I could watch this over and
over again. The audience were enthralled, and this was obvious in the raucous
applause and huge whoops of enjoyment!
'The Forsythe Evening' displays the
strict ballet regime but a modern twist. This must now attract younger
audiences to see a modern side of ballet for the 21st century. If
this were marketed at a wider audience, it would become an internet sensation.
It really is ballet for the modern age. Forsythe has the vision. There can be
freedom in ballet, and he proves it. This is truly a masterpiece. If you cannot
get to Sadler's Wells you can get a brief taste from clips online. As I said at
the beginning of this review it is both beautiful and glorious.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 31.3.22
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