In Ballet To Broadway: Wheeldon Works, The Royal Ballet’s celebration of Christopher Wheeldon emphasises his range – balletic through to the pizazz of An American in Paris. In this programme, it’s his steps away from ballet that make the strongest impression, from living-room intimacies to Broadway dazzle.
Fool’s Paradise, created in 2007, has the intricate, entwined partnering that is often characteristic of his ballets. It’s poised and glossy but lacks the depth of Wheeldon’s best ballet work. Still, moments stand out: Marianela Nuñez and Lukas B Brændsrød are hypnotic in a sequence of slipsliding steps, while the final tableau pulls the whole ballet into focus.
Set to songs by Joni Mitchell, The Two of Us shows a couple who are mostly apart. Created in lockdown for digital performance, there’s an inward quality to it. Now performed with an on-stage orchestra and singer Julia Fordham, it keeps the sense of people in their own space.
Dressed in a gauzy shirt and trousers, Lauren Cuthbertson could be mooching around in her own home, a simple walk turning into a wriggle or a jump. She looks spontaneous and free, long hair flying as she dips and turns.
In his solos, Calvin Richardson scrunches down and then unfolds – often leaving a bent knee or tipped hip, still working things out, until at last he opens all the way into a serenely classical arabesque. When at last the two come together, they catch hold of each other, with a sense of tenderness and trust.
Created for the Ballet Boyz in 2017, Us is a male duet built on chemistry and balance. Matthew Ball and Joseph Sissens dig into the steps, taking each other’s weight, grasping hands or pulling away. With a strong contemporary dance influence, the movement is fluent and grounded.
All these works are spare and movement-focused. But Wheeldon also has a flair for big productions, across all genres – from the razzamatazz of his Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ballet to his 2015 Broadway production of An American in Paris. He’s now adapted the musical’s big ballet scene for The Royal Ballet, turning it into a colourful standalone setpiece.
Shorn of backstory, it shows a pair of lovers chasing through the city, and through the giddy whirl of Gershwin’s score. Bob Crowley’s designs suggest Paris seen by Mondrian, with bright colours and geometric shapes on both the costumes and the stylised scenery.
It opens with an onstage conductor directing the scene; he fades away as our hero and heroine are caught by the story.
The city is part of their transformation: dressed in fresh yellow, Anna Rose O’Sullivan is swept up by a crowd of dancers and emerges in chic black, while Cesar Corrales develops a 1950s bad-boy edge.
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Even if you don’t know the plot, you can’t mistake the American or his French muse, while Wheeldon surrounds them with a bright kaleidoscope of jazz steps and poses.
‘Ballet To Broadway: Wheeldon Works’ is at the Royal Opera House until 27 May