A varied programme, performed with verve by the next generation of professional dance graduates, ensures an enjoyable evening at the Central School of Ballet Summer Showcase.
This annual event celebrates the end of the academic year and gives students the opportunity to share their versatility and virtuosity with audiences, while demonstrating their technical and artistic development to their tutors. It features an array of performances from the first and second years, alongside excerpts by the school’s third-year touring company, Ballet Central.
Spectators at this summer’s showcase were presented with eleven diverse works. A smorgasbord of different dance offerings, all underpinned by balletic foundations.
Dreamy and determined journeys through classical technique. Crowd-pleasing ballet repertoire. Compelling contemporary creations. Swinging, swaying jazz. In short, plenty of dancing to delight in and something for everyone.
The summer showcase is held at the Royal College of Music’s beautiful Britten Theatre. Tucked away in the basement of the college building and accessed by unassuming foyers and utilitarian corridors, this intimate tiered auditorium is designed in the style of an Italian opera theatre. So, audience members are enveloped by plush red velvet and sumptuous gold decoration, while being treated to great acoustics and sight lines. Central staff and students call the venue home for a special week that includes not only the summer showcase performances, but also the final two shows of the Ballet Central tour and a graduation ceremony for the third-year students.
Showcase opener Valse Fantasie, choreographed by Jann Esterhuizen, whisks an expectant audience from waiting to watching. Second-year women wearing flowing navy chiffon dresses, sparkling tiaras and pointe shoes capably come together as a calm, classical ballet collective in well-drilled rows before dispersing into smaller groups. Notions of daydreams danced to life are embodied in fluid arm movements, sustained turns, wistful balances and careful hops. This suits the talents and qualities of the dancers, as well as Mikhail Glinka’s music.
A shaking rose stem heralds the frenzy with flowers that follows in The End of All Wanting is All I’ve Been Wanting, a captivating contemporary piece choreographed by Katya Bourvis, to music by Mozart, and performed by first-year students. Dancers in off-white outfits and flat ballet slippers scuffle and squabble, the girls’ ponytails swishing from side to side. Hands clash, torsos tilt, bodies are lifted and lowered. As they flirt, fight, fume and have fun, the dancers seem to be searching for a peace and contentment that forever eludes them. No matter how overwhelming things get, they collapse and convalesce together.
Next, an assured performance of the ‘Work’ variation from Coppélia, restaged by Adela Ramirez for a quartet of third-year women. The Ballet Central 2024 tour repertoire contains the entire final act of Coppélia. It’s a wonderful choice – a joyous ballet that appeals to newcomers and balletomanes alike.
The second-year men are appropriately challenged to display classical technique, athleticism, artistry and camaraderie in Cinco Amigos, choreographed by Juan Rodríguez. Danced to ‘The Hours’ by Philip Glass, this work revels in the drama, tension, happiness and sadness within the music. The five dancers feed off each other’s intensity and enthusiasm, progressing from serious, tentative beginnings to smiling, triumphant flourishes. Dressed in simple black bodysuits, stark against a warmly lit amber backdrop, they step into a line before crisscrossing the stage with turns. Slower, controlled passages dive into flashes of agile floorwork, solo moments and big jumps.
Shoji, choreographed by Kai Tomioka, returns the focus to contemporary dance from first-year students (different dancers to those seen earlier). Costumed in baggy layers, they roll, lean, lie down and explore other ways to attractively obstruct each other. As they audibly inhale and exhale, their breathing melds with musical accompaniment (composed, performed and recorded by Andrea Balency-Béarn) that intermittently groans, grates and goes silent.
Jaunty jazz piece Swing, Swing, Swing welcomes second-year students back to the stage and here they really let loose and have fun. Choreographed by Leanne King, in collaboration with the dancers, the groove moves girls in high heels and boys in dress shirts and suspenders through dynamic kicks, turns and lifts. Throw in bright pink lighting that casts playful silhouettes and it is impossible not to be swept up in the dancers’ zest for performing.
After the interval, the first-year students take on elegant ballet repertoire with Raymonda, arranged and rehearsed by Yolandi Moreira and Christopher Hinton-Lewis. The demands made of the dancers for this rendering of classical choreography are deftly matched to their current capabilities and they make a good impression. Third-year student Shiori Akimoto joins them to dazzle as a precise soloist in a sparkling white tutu.
Dance until you drop? Surrender to complex emotional states? No. Keep going to be energised and uplifted, you will find your feet again. So suggests Blushing, a contemporary piece performed by second-year students. Choreographed by Emily Powell, in collaboration with the dancers, it seems to explore responses to experiences and intentions. As the dancers alluringly sway in unison, one stumbles and falls. She is scooped up by the continuous waves of movement generated from those around her, only to fall down again.
Time for first-year students to lift off to La La Land in City of Stars. Choreographed by Christopher Hinton-Lewis, this is a picturesque, partner-swapping party, performed to live piano accompaniment by Philip Feeney.
The ‘Czardas’ from Swan Lake (arranged and rehearsed by Jann Esterhuizen, Amy Hollins and Juan Rodríguez) makes the most of the second-year students’ youthful exuberance. Whirling pivot turns, synchronised heel-click steps and endearing earnestness all result in a pleasing performance. It is easy to forget how young these dancers are – they will continue to mature into this distinctive character style.
Finally, Night Flight v2.0, choreographed by Carolyn Bolton to a fabulous jazzy score courtesy of Philip Feeney, brilliantly spotlights the third-year students. The audience is taken stargazing as swirling formations blissfully reveal the mysterious magic of the night sky. Striking, spirited movement journeys from pedestrian to pizzazz. Dancers become stars before your very eyes.
*Photography by ASH.
* Production photograph from The End of All Wanting is All I’ve Been Wanting performed by Central School of Ballet first-year students.
Dancers: Jacob Browne, Ella Brownlow-Ziirsen, Nathan Byrne, Ana Costeira, Kirit Devani, Rhiannon Evans, Hannah Foster (on the right-hand side of the photograph), Summer Gallagher, Michael Hawkins, Kira Hestnes, George Hooper-Rann, Monica Jadkowska, Skye Kemsley, Gabrielle Krinas, Shin Kurokawa, Josephine Legrand, Olivia Manners Tan, Mana Nakagawa, Le Wen Ng, Sana Omori, Midori Saito, Joshua Tavares, Emily Walker.
** Production photograph from Swing, Swing, Swing performed by Central School of Ballet second-year students.
Dancers pictured: Alice Pritchard and Hugh Lewis.
*** Production photograph from Raymonda performed by Central School of Ballet first-year students.
Dancers: Jacob Browne, Ella Brownlow-Ziirsen, Nathan Byrne, Ana Costeira, Rhiannon Evans, Hannah Foster, Summer Gallagher, Michael Hawkins, Kira Hestnes, George Hooper-Rann, Monica Jadkowska, Skye Kemsley, Gabrielle Krinas, Shin Kurokawa, Josephine Legrand, Olivia Manners Tan, Mana Nakagawa, Le Wen Ng, Sana Omori, Midori Saito, Momota Sasajima, Emily Walker.
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Georgina Butler is an editor, a dance writer and a ballet teacher.
