The final programme of the Royal Ballet's season is the return of Balanchine's Jewels, which you can describe either as a three-act plotless work or as three ballets at one sitting, linked by a nominal theme - and choreographed in contrasting styles to music by three composers. In Emeralds, we explore the sedate graciousness of the old romantic ballet (men in medieval-cut tunics, women in long, drifty dresses). The atmosphere, in mood and dance, suggests elegant encounters in an enchanted forest; although in Jean-Marc Puissant's disappointing decors, created for this Covent Garden production two years ago, we have strayed into the showroom of an interior designer who has a thing about Tiffany glass.
The excellent first cast was led by Tamara Rojo, so liltingly fluid, and Leanne Benjamin, magical. Balanchine weaves charming patterns with the ensemble. The last section is unusual, mostly walking, until the men are left kneeling, each extending a valedictory arm after their departed muses. But the problem with Emeralds is that the fine line between the rarefied and the soporific is crossed by the melancholic tone of Fauré's music.
Rubies, however, to Stravinsky's crackling Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, delivers a wake-up call. Now Balanchine is spiky and jazzy; we have chorus-line hip swivels and kicks, Laura McCulloch full-on with these and her long, Balanchinian extensions. Alexandra Ansanelli and Carlos Acosta headline the high spirits in their playful, whizzy pas de deux, with skipping-rope movements and teasing intertwining of arms. Acosta and a male quartet are witty in a jogging chase. But Puissant's art-deco setting now seems harsh.
A few dribbly-looking chandeliers against a dull back curtain are no evocation at all of the imperial grandeur of Petipa that Balanchine is referencing in the climactic ballet, Diamonds, to four moments of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 3 (the "Polish"). Still, here are more beautifully embroidered groupings for the "tutu" corps de ballet and a pair of soloists, Yuhui Choe and Hikaru Kobayashi, well matched in pretty precision.
When the stage clears for us to admire the principal couple in a long, courtly duet, to the andante elegiaco, we are delighted that Alina Cojocaru - so much missed during her absence from injury for most of this season - is still the jewel of an artist she always has been, and appears as a creature of delicacy whom her noble cavalier, Rupert Pennefather, handles with tender care. Yet it has to be said that this is, physically, not an appropriate partnership: she is tiny, he is tall, and when you see him crouch a little to hold her by the waist ... no, there should have been a rethink here. Splendid dancing, though; and when the stage floods with lots of extra dancers for the grand polonaise of the finale, earlier niggles about the cohesion of Jewels as a whole can be comfortably put aside. Valeriy Ovsyanikov conducts the musical menu with zest and subtlety; Robert Clark is the fine solo pianist for Rubies.
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Having enjoyed a big success with Angelina's Star Performance, English National Ballet is touring its sequel, Angelina Ballerina's Big Audition. The titular dance-mad mouse is auditioning for a place at the Camembert Academy, along with other eager mouselings whose talents embrace diverse dance styles besides Angelina's own Sugar Plum Fairy speciality.
This time, ENB makes more of an appeal to young boys, through the characters of Marco, who does a bongo-drum solo, and AJ, whose hip-hop gyrations are wildly cheered. Sets and costumes are colourful, the choreography, by Antony Dowson, is neat and varied, and Gavin Sutherland's musical arrangement, from Tchaikovsky, is effective and witty. The drawback to the mouse heads worn by all is that they cannot change expressions, so gesture becomes exaggerated to compensate. Also, they can't be removed in time for the curtain calls, so we never see the faces of these younger ENB dancers who are playing the parts, twice or thrice daily, all over the country for months on end.