Stream: Woolf Works
Royal Ballet – Our House to Your House
Having studied Virginia Woolf at University I must admit I was not too keen on the concept of Wayne McGregor’s ambition to create a ballet based on a triptych of her works. Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. I am a huge fan of McGregor’s work and have had the privilege of watching him during rehearsal. However, would it be depressing? Is it the best work to show during a pandemic? After all she did commit suicide. How wrong can you be!
This was a profoundly moving experience which left me in awe of his genius. I have always associated his work with an exploration of the human body and how it moves. Thinking of ‘Chroma’ and ‘Infra’, collaboration with contemporary artists which reconfigured the language of classical ballet. I did not expect ravishing lyrical expression, storytelling working with cutting edge technology.
Bringing Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alessandra Ferri out of retirement at the age of 52 was a master stroke. Believing her to be the right age to play the central person of Woolf, with her haunting, beautiful, immaculate poise and technique she provides a central figure around which the three acts revolve. There are many people, many characters appearing but she is the touchstone. Where else would you find Federico Bonnelli, Edward Watson, Sarah Lamb, Natalia Osipova, Eric Underwood. Steven McRae, Melissa Hamilton, Francesca Heyward, Matthew Ball. Gary Avis dancing what appear to be almost supporting roles within this everchanging kaleidoscope of movement, music and storytelling.
‘Act One, Mrs Dalloway’ allows the narrative of the piece to unfold with Beatrix Stix-Brunell creating a younger image of Ferri. Gary Avis provides a safe pair of hands until Bonelli takes over. This whirlwind of contradictions, joy, sadness (provided by the magnificent Watson) and making peace with the past is performed around an enormous revolving set.
‘Act 2, Orlando’ provides Osipova and McRae with the opportunity to demonstrate their dexterity and speed. The costuming for this is a mixture of kitsch Elizabethan with ruffs and tutus for both girls and boys, darting in and out of laser stripes.
‘Act 3, The Waves’ is one of the most moving pieces of dance I have ever experienced. A full company of dancers including children from the ballet school, perform the extraordinary choreography with a full screen of crashing waves interspersed with Woolf’s suicide note read by Gillian Anderson. At the centre is the slight, expressive person of Ferri. as the dancers disappear into the waves. Her final bow said it all! We all felt our souls had been touched.
The commissioned score by collaborator Max Richter with its blend of classical orchestral and technology combined with the outstanding lighting design by Lucy Carter is quite honestly almost too much to bear. The music seemed to release the dancers to fully enjoy the freedom to express themselves. This was something I have never associated McGregor’s work with before. Lyricism and emotional content. And what an opportunity for young students to learn a different repertoire from appearing in Nutcracker!
For an audience to see new work of this quality demonstrates that ballet is not just about reviving and reinventing the classics, but that an art form can develop and progress without losing the magnificence of the past.
Available to stream for free on YouTube until the 10th of June 2020.
