The performance was sold out and very warmly applauded and I hope the Festival authorities will take notice, and schedule a similar programme in future years.
Tag - Itziar Mendizabal
This triple bill, with two world premieres, shows how ably choreographers 85 years apart can refresh the language of classical ballet without distorting it beyond recognition.
It's the Royal Ballet's varied and unique repertoire that has kept me loyal to the company through some very thin times as well as the golden seasons, and this programme is a nice example of what a flick through its back - catalogue can produce.
It’s an interesting evening, showing both choreographer and company at their best and at somewhat less than that.
Balanchine famously described a choreographer's job as being like a chef's, and his Ballo della Regina perfectly fulfils the role of amuse-bouche in the Royal Ballet's latest double bill, waking us up and sharpening our appetites for the more serious fare of Bournonville's lovely La Sylphide. It's the fourth ballet the company has tried out in this role and I think it's the most successful.
'Sweet Violets', though over-ambitious, is the best stab at a psychologically complex narrative ballet the company has commissioned for years.
This is turning out to be a very good season for Kenneth MacMillan's Song of the Earth. We saw a deeply moving interpretation from Scottish Ballet at Sadler's Wells a couple of months ago, and last night, as the second half of a Royal Ballet double bill, it again looked like a masterpiece.