The wait for English National Ballet to strike gold continues
The wait for English National Ballet to strike gold continues
Mark MonahanFri, September 25, 2026 at 12:29 PM UTC
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ENB embraced the unforgiving stylistic and technical demands of Symphony in Three Movements - Alastair Muir
No one could accuse English National Ballet’s ambitious, curious, slightly exasperating new triple bill, Rhythm Riot, of failing to live up to its name. There is an undeniably conspicuous kinetic, propulsive energy that links these three works (one old, two brand new), so fair’s fair.
That oldie, which kick-starts the two-hour bill, is the neo-classical Symphony in Three Movements, created in 1972 by Balanchine and set to Stravinsky’s 1940s piece of the same name. Although the great composer was writing in direct, outraged response to the events of the Second World War, the choreography comes across more as an affectionate ode to modernity, with the central, more lyrical andante almost a green idyll sandwiched between grandly chugging engines and gleaming buildings.
Rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic, it is (as ever with Balanchine), difficult stuff, and ideally needs an even bigger stage than Sadler’s Wells’ to “breathe” properly. But the company gets gamely behind it, embracing its unforgiving stylistic and technical demands, with Ksenia Ovsyanick and the ever astonishing Rentaro Nakaaki the standout couple.
Symphony in Three Movements ideally needs an even bigger stage than Sadler’s Wells’ to ‘breathe’ properly - Alastair Muir
Next comes a different kind of energy, in US choreographer Micaela Taylor’s Bow Out. A contemporary magpie piece to a magpie score (by Tru), this was inspired by Jumpin’ Jive, an almost defiantly brilliant tap routine by African American brothers Fayard and Harold Nicholas in the 1943 film Stormy Weather. (Do seek it out online.)
There’s Lindy Hop, jazz dance and more but, oddly perhaps, no tap. The company look spiffing in their tail coats, and particularly razor-sharp in the dynamic, angular opening, though the piece is less successful when it resorts to more Pina Bauschian tropes: shouty vocalising, or the ensemble partially disrobing and queuing up for a wordless moment before an old-school mic.
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The company looked razor-sharp in the world premiere of Micaela Taylor’s Bow Out - Alastair Muir
Wrapping the evening is its second world premiere, also contemporary: Auguries of Innocence, by Korean-born choreographer Jae Man Joo. The inspiration here was William Blake’s identically named 1803 poem, and Joo here very much channels Blake’s anger with mankind’s casual disregard of nature.
The piece plays out to a composite score of two string works by Latvian composer P&emacrteris Vasks. Evoking both Arvo Pärt and Richard Strauss’s peerless 1945 lament for man-made destruction, Metamorphosen, the music’s intensity certainly suits both Joo’s heightened source of inspiration and seriousness of purpose: he expects nothing less than for the audience to “leave the theatre with a greater sense of compassion to carry into their everyday lives”.
Auguries of Innocence channels William Blake’s anger with mankind’s casual disregard of nature - Alastair Muir
So, was it with a rekindled empathy that I munched down my post-show Sloppy Giuseppe? I’m not sure. Certainly, this dense latter-day fable shows the company off strikingly at the more martial-art-inflected start, with Sangeun Lee cutting an imposing figure as the Weaver of Souls and Nakaaki yet again a sinuous standout as the Caller. In fact, that early, belligerent energy gives way to a gloopier style of choreography that soon rather palls, even if it does allow for a memorable conclusion, with pretty much the entire, large ensemble coalescing into a single, organic, mutually supportive knot of humanity.
Intermittent pleasures, then – but hardly two new potential cornerstones of ENB’s rep. Artistic director Aaron S Watkin has been in the job three years now, and has yet to find the Midas Touch that his formidable predecessor Tamara Rojo displayed with her new commissions. I can’t help feeling he needs to strike gold pretty soon in this respect, but he is, at least, trying. One watches with interest.
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (sadlerswells.com) until Oct 3
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
