★★★★✰ The 2021 Royal Ballet School Summer Show, on the Royal Opera House Main Stage, was a different affair to normal with many of the White Lodge Junior School students physically absent because of Covid restrictions. But there was much to celebrate and lots of new work on display too...
Tag - Grand Defile
★★★★✰ The choice of works emphasised ensembles more than individuals. It was interesting to see large numbers of young men dancing together, as well as a more usual female corps de ballet.
★★★✰✰ A matinee in two halves: fine before the interval, with dire, dreary choreography in the second half. Thank goodness for the exhilarating Grand Défilé at the close.
★★★★✰ It was a well-balanced programme, featuring different kinds of discipline for future corps de ballet dancers, and honouring veteran choreographers as well as contemporary ones.
★★★★✰ The Royal Ballet School in particular includes something very special in their show - the closing Grand Defile, which always brings a lump to the throat and a feeling of pride.
I thought this year's Royal Ballet School (RBS) performance on the main Royal Opera House stage was pretty damn' good.
Both Royal Ballet premieres, one by Kim Brandstrup, the other by Liam Scarlett, were surely keepers, bound to be seen again.
Liam Scarlett's "With a Chance of Rain" premiere - It seemed Marcelo Gomes and Hee Seo might never detach from each other in the final pas de deux...
Question... What's the biggest audience noise you will ever hear in ballet? Answer... The roar of the audience at the end of the Royal Ballet School show at the Opera House.