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Theatre
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London,
Sarah Frater's rating
Reader rating
Description: Christopher Wheeldon's award-winning ballet company, featuring guest artists from The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, presents its latest show.
Trains: Tube: Angel 
Phone: 0844412 4300
Website: www.sadlerswells.com
A blizzard of goodwill accompanied Christopher Wheeldon when he launched his ballet company a year ago. But it’s one thing to launch a troupe, and another to keep it going with tight programming and interesting dancers. All eyes were on him last night to see if the Royal Ballet trained, New York-based choreographer could follow through.
The answer is a resounding yes. If anything, Wheeldon’s programming and choreography looks more assured now than last year when his troupe first visited Sadler’s Wells. As well as his own work (Polyphonia from 2001 and the new Commedia), he includes two mini classics from Frederick Ashton (Monotones II) and Jerome Robbins (Other Dances). Diversifying is essential as even hard-core fans will find an all-Wheeldon evening too much of a good thing.
If the programming wins a gold star, so, too, do the dancers. Most are on loan from New York City Ballet and The Royal Ballet. All are able, although the unexpected stars were The Royal Ballet’s Leanne Benjamin and Edward Watson. We often see the pair at the Opera House, and perhaps familiarity has bred indifference because in a new setting they knocked spots. In Wheeldon’s Commedia their artistry and phrasing brought the ballet alight, with Benjamin especially good –— no mean feat considering she danced alongside the 15-year-old beauty Beatriz Stix-Brunell, a student whose innate ability is already evident.
Watson also shone in Ashton’s Monotones II, a limpid ballet whose costumes now look dated. Also excellent was Gonzalo Garcia in Robbins’s Other Dances and Wheeldon’s wonderful Polyphonia.
The only small complaints are the so-so costumes in Commedia, the occasionally rushed orchestra, and the dancers who looked a little under-rehearsed — probably a combination of the long summer break and their not working together all the time.
Prog 1, tonight. Prog 2, 26 & 27 Sept (0844 412 4300. www.sadlerswells.com).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
