Black & White, Coliseum, London

Zoë Anderson
Sunday 20 March 2011 21:00 EDT
Comments
(ANNABEL MOELLER)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Serge Lifar's Suite en Blanc opens with an image of a ballet company. The dancers are posed in serried ranks, in plain tights and white tutus. It's a large-scale showcase – but it needs more clarity and confidence than English National Ballet show us.

Danced to music by Édouard Lalo, Lifar's ballet is a series of virtuoso numbers. At this performance, the company work doggedly through the classroom steps, tending to miss their chic or bravura flourishes.

Individual soloists do shine. Elena Glurdjidze is strong in the pas de trois, but her two partners struggle to keep up. Vadim Muntagirov soars through his mazurka variation, while Nancy Osbaldeston shows a distinctive personality in the pas de cinq. Others show potential, but need more precision, and more wit.

Between the demands of box office and their touring schedules, ENB can't often present mixed bills. So it seems rather greedy of director Wayne Eagling to stuff this one with two of his own ballets. Resolution is a murky response to Mahler's Rückert-Lieder, sung by Elizabeth Sikora. Dancers grapple and mope to the plangent woodwind, or are carried around in displays of transcendence. It's a weak and melodramatic ballet.

Men Y Men, created to balance the company's often female-dominated repertory, was under-rehearsed. There's a lack of authority in Eagling's boy-band posing, though Yat-Sen Chang stands out for commitment.

The new Vue de l'Autre, by company dancer Van Le Ngoc, is a wafty sentimental work, with couples clasping roses or waving scarves. It's the best-danced work on the bill, with Muntagirov and Daria Klimentová showing clean technique and human warmth among the waffling.

Catching at the movie's popularity, ENB threw in an extra Black Swan pas de deux – Erina Takahashi even has eye makeup like Natalie Portman's. She's a strong dancer, whipping cleanly through the fouettés, but her emphasis on technique loses the dance's drama.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in