Dance fans who have followed Wayne McGregor from community dance maker to Royal Ballet resident choreographer via The Place and Sadler’s Wells won’t be surprised he’s now directing opera.

His directorial first at the Opera House is in some ways a low-risk debut, in that neither Dido and Aeneas nor Acis and Galatea are Opera House regulars, nor do they look costly productions.
He approaches the two operas very differently. In Dido, he keeps the singers centre stage with the dancers moving mostly as a group in interludes. Stylistically, the choreography is in sync with the production’s implacable gloom, with bleak urban sets, sombre costumes and severe dancing.

In Acis and Galatea the mood is pastoral and optimistic and the lead characters have dancer doubles who perform as near equals. The dancers are in flesh-coloured unitards that suggest the vulnerability and sensuality of the nude. Both ideas allow McGregor to explore motive and psychology. The two Galateas (Danielle de Niese/Lauren Cuthbertson) emphasise the extent of her amorous longing, while the brutish Polyphemus (Matthew Rose) contrasts with the nobility of his dancer double (Eric Underwood), a difference the giant poignantly laments.

Acis and Galatea marks a shift for McGregor. His signature articulations, extreme extensions, swooping spines and jutting hips are still strikingly visible but so are more expressive gestures and longer, more classical lines.

From a production-wide perspective, some Acis sequences are overburdened with activity. This leaves the dancers looking busily hollow and diffuses the impact of the singers. However, little distracts from the excellent OAE led by Christopher Hogwood.