A vital retrospective of two contemporary ballet choreographers: one half whimsical pastoral, the other moody evocation
Seeing the Royal Ballet perform is such a genuine treat: dancers at the apex of their craft, oozing charisma, precision and creativity in every step in a building so sumptuous you feel like you’re in an episode of the Gilded Age. It is particularly welcome, then, that tonight focused on two giants of 20th Century ballet choreography: Jerome Robbins and Kenneth MacMillan. Two contemporary choreographers that created a special moment in performance history in the late 1960s are celebrated together for a delicate yet brilliant double act.
The first act is given to Robbins’ 1969 creation Dances at a Gathering. He deliberately chose to create a piece that enabled the dancers to essentially be themselves. There is no plot, there are no characters, and there is no higher meaning to this piece other than for the dancers to freely express themselves. Starting with male solos, leaning into pas de deux and slowly increasing the dancers until the whole cast of ten are on stage like that famous Georges Seurat painting A Sunday Afternoon on The Island of La Grande Jatte. Each one is given a colour- brown, blue, and pink and so on, delicate fabric costumes evoking mid century representations of another era add a sense of speed and movement. The dancers themselves demonstrate remarkable individuality and it all feels like they are dancing for the love of the game, rather than remembering sequential steps to portray a specific role. It is light, charming and capricious; occasional knowing glances to each other or the audience, cheeky exaggerations playfully demonstrate a sense of absurd or whimsy gently enough to still retain Robbins sense of panache and precision. The whole piece is set to Fryderyk Chopin waltzes, etudes and mazurkas on a solo piano, evoking a warm sense of nostalgia amongst friends. It’s reminiscent of Robbins’ famous choreography in West Side Story, particularly amongst Maria and her Puerto Rican community. It’s a genuinely lovely piece of theatre. A hug in ballet form.
The second Act turns to Kenneth MacMillan’s 1965 ballet based on Gustav Mahler’s Songs of the Earth. Created in the wake of his daughter’s tragic death, Mahler often used the operatic roles as projections of his love and grief. Beth Taylor performed the mezzo-soprano and John Findon the tenor. All the ballet dancers wore shades of grey, almost evoking gym of prison wear-one dancer each in black and white as contrast. The whole stage is a stark cage like a prison cell or the inside of an old cathode ray TV with the screen constantly set to fuzzy static.
There are some who may find the lack of spectacle too abstract- there are no props, sets or lavish costumes to distract the eye. The second Act is very intense and serious, whilst the lack of narrative and character arc of the first act may prove confusing and aimless, suffering a lack of resonance with its audience overall. The lack of surtitles for the German opera lyrics is also a misstep- only those with a programme would know what is being said.
Nevertheless, it is a fascinating retrospective of two choreographers whose bodies of work reshaped contemporary dance across film and theatre to great benefit over several decades. If you are a fan of excellent ballet and fancy something a bit different than watching Swan Lake again for the 100th time then Visionaries is for you.
Visionaries: Robbins and MacMillan plays at the Royal Opera House, London on selected dates until 28th November 2026.