Allegro – RNZB 2014

August 21, 2014 at 8:00 am | Posted in Ballet Review, Dance Review, Show Review | Leave a comment
Tags: Allegro, Allegro Brillante, Arata Miyagawa, Benjamin Baker, Daniel Brown, George Balanchine, Johan Kobborg, Larry Keigwin, Les Lutins, Mattress Suite, Megalopolis, Michael Pansters, Rory Fairweather-Neylan, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Satellites, Yang Liu

I was not going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballets’ latest production – Allegro – but I found myself buying tickets when events conspired. There were five works:

• Allegro Brillante – by George Balanchine;
• Les Lutins – by Johan Kobborg;
• Satellites – by Daniel Brown;
• Mattress Suite – by Larry Keigwin;
• Megalopolis – by Larry Keigwin.

Allegro Brillante, as it was probably danced in 1956, seems a bit predictable in a geometric kind of way. It provided a nice historical beginning to the production.

Les Lutins, was my favourite. The dancing was sincere and there was real between the dancers, the violinist (Benjamin Baker), and the pianist (Michael Pansters). Rory Fairweather-Neylan got to show both his skills, and also a bit of his cheerful self. Yang Liu was flighty and flirty. Arata Miyagawa rounded off the affection-triangle. It was good to see Rory Fairweather-Neylan and Arata Miyagawa throwing down!

Mattress Suite made me think a bit – and it was a bit sad. There is a queen sized (at least) mattress and it does move around.

Megalopolis was just full of dance forms, and had lots of energy to it.

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