Royal Ballet (Indoor)
Ted Shawn Theatre
358 George Carter Rd.
Becket, Mass.
July 3 – 7
Manon (Mayara Magri) saunters over to her lover (Matthew Ball) with the confidence of someone who has been in a relationship for a long time. She grabs the feathered quill out of his hand and tosses it, but it doesn’t get very far and falls right at their feet. No matter. They don’t need a good excuse to make love. The duet, typically a portrayal of new love and demure first confessions, takes on a different tone with the actual-couple-in-real-life playing them.
This is The Royal Ballet’s first visit to Jacob’s Pillow, America’s hub for dance and home to the longest running international dance festival. The mixed repertory program pays homage both to the historic space and to the new connections their engagement has formed. It has had a five-night run at the Ted Shawn Theatre Main Stage.
First impressions: there are a lot of dudes. Most notably, Daichi Ikarashi, who shines in the pas de deux from “Diana and Actaeon” choreographed by Agrippina Vaganova after Marius Petipa. He soars through the air, and he plays his role with such tenderness, those unfamiliar with the plot might guess that it’s an excerpt of a love story where Actaeon is crushing on Diana instead of being cursed and turned into a stag. Additionally, “For Four,” a number with four male dancers choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, pays homage to Jacob’s Pillow Founder Ted Shawn’s all male ballet troupe, Ted Shawn and His men dancers.
This might be the first time The Royal Ballet has come to Jacob’s Pillow, but this isn’t their first meeting. The Royal Ballet’s debut at Jacob’s Pillow was the product of five years of discussions, and even before this engagement, they’ve shared choreographers and dancers. The program mirrors this history through the use of American dancers/choreographers and themes of connection.
Besides the Act One pas de deux from “Manon,” a particular standout is a duet from “Carousel” performed by Meaghan Grace Hinkis and Francisco Serrano and choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan. This particular connection doesn’t start or end well in terms of plot (the guy convinces a girl who’s not interested to sleep with him and then leaves her), but it’s more than made up for by the dancing, longing looks, and chemistry between the performers.
More than dance, The Royal Ballet and Jacob’s Pillow consider each other partners in their commitment to diversity and inclusion in ballet. The classical repertory ballet works are a good sample for newcomers to the dance space, but the program falls short in being truly inclusive.
The finale, “Figures in a Landscape,” (choreographed by The Royal Ballet’s resident choreographer Wayne McGregor) opens with techno music that makes the whole barn vibrate. The piece is inspired by the nature and beauty of Jacob’s Pillow and is billed as a piece that embraces contrasting classical and contemporary styles which demonstrates the “diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory.”
The performance features alternating rows of high beam lights that shine directly into the audience for more than ten seconds at a time with no warning or regular pattern. Perhaps this is to cover transitions or even to punctuate the contrast of the different sections of the piece. But not only is this potentially dangerous for people with epilepsy or sensory sensitivities, it’s not effective for those who don’t. As the high beams rise, audience members find themselves watching each other squint and turn away from the light rather than the stage, and by the time it’s safe to turn back, performers are well into another section of the piece. Still, the blossoming relationship between The Royal Ballet and Jacob’s Pillow shows creative promise. Hopefully next time, they can leave the spotlight on the dancers.
