Royal Ballet Triple Bill: Apollo / Aeternum / 24 Preludes – A Review

The latest Royal Ballet triple bill brings together one revival – George Balanchine’s 1928 Apollo – with two premieres – Alexei Ratmansky’s 24 Preludes and Christopher Wheeldon’s Aeternum. I am normally a complete pushover for anything by Balanchine but I saw Apollo last year in the English National Ballet’s Beyond Ballet Russes Programme and wasn’t much enamoured. It seemed dated, particularly the awful props that the poor muses had to carry to symbolise their art. This production seemed to have got over that rather better – the props seemed less obtrusive and vanished quite quickly, leaving us to relax and enjoy Acosta’s virile take on Apollo and Nunez’s luminous rendition of Terpsichore.

It’s a while since I’ve seen Acosta dance and it was nice to be reminded of just what a magnetic performer he is. There was strong support from Olivia Cowley as Calliope and Itziar Mendizabal as Polyhymnia. I was lucky enough to see her rehearsing for La Bayadere the night before and I’m increasingly impressed with her as a dramatic dancer.

I’d heard good things about the new Ratmansky and wasn’t disappointed. There’s no doubt that a new ballet in which the dancers appear in point shoes is off to a good start. The music too – who can quarrel with Chopin’s 24 Preludes, which include some of the most ravishing music ever written? Ratmansky gave us both lyrical classicism and emotional resonance as a succession of couples weaved in and out of changing relationships against a glowing background (lit by Neil Austin). The dresses glittered and flowed along with the movement. The one problem was inherent in the concept – too many entrances and exits as we moved from one prelude to the next.

The performance I saw (the Saturday matinee) also suffered from the drawback that six out of the eight dancers had to be replaced because of illness or injury. Only Alina Cojocaru (who got a well deserved ovation at the end) and Ricardo Cervera were left standing. The other dancers coped admirably, particularly Dawid Trzensimiech and the enchanting Fumi Kaneko, but there was inevitably some uncertainty and wobbles, particularly from Melissa Hamilton.

I thought that the shorter, less obviously accessible Aeternum by the Royal Ballet’s own Christopher Wheeldon, with music by Benjamin Britten, might come as an anticlimax after the Ratmansky – we wondered why they had been put together in that order – and at first, as a confused mass of dancers filled the stage with too much complexity it seemed as though I was right. I’m still not exactly clear what it was all about, but fortunately Nunez saved the day, this time partnered by her husband Thiego Soares, for a hauntingly beautiful closing pas de deux.

Both the new ballets were ones that I would happily see again, and I’m sure they’ll turn up in the Royal Ballet repertoire quite soon. You’ve got one more chance to catch up with the short run of this triple bill, on 14th March, but you’ll have to grab a return or queue for day tickets as it’s currently sold out.