CLASSICAL ballet, jazz, contemporary - even a little tango on the side. This package demonstrates how much we have come to expect of our young dancers: not just in terms of technical proficiency, but in flexibility of style.
Few company repertoires these days stick solely to one genre - even the dedicated ballet troops feel the need to come off pointe, occasionally, if only to prove they have a toe-hold in present-day choreographic trends. Judging by this touring showcase - a programme of mixed works that constituted a real test of skills - these young graduates of the Central School of Ballet are clearly willing and able chameleons!
It is, of course, a massive learning experience for them: being on the road, dealing with all the lows that inevitably go with the highs of a professional dance career. On stage, however, they all display engagingly unjaded enthusiasm underpinned by serious-minded attention to details of interpretation and delivery.
There was an impressive maturity and dramatic edge to Maria Mikalsen and Simon Brambell's tense, angst-ridden, contemporary duet - choreographed by Luc Jacobs to music by Arvo Part - while Tomoko Koike and Mikhail Mouingo brought a touching depth of feeling to the ''love at first sight'' pas-de-deux from Peter Darrell's Cinderella. Her quality of innocence was matched, celebrated almost, by his tenderness, his care in partnering her as if she was a precious dream.
But then, no matter what Mouingo danced, he distinguished himself. He has a life, elegant line, an athletic jump, and a musicality that can carry him securely from ballet to modern, to tango and beyond. Without showing off, he consistently stood out on stage - quite something, because overall this was a company of strong dancers with lots of individual personality. Add to that some fine new choreography from the likes of Didy Veldman and Sara Matthews and this event really did auger well for the future of British dance. No wonder British Gas is happy to fuel the company with a sponsorship that has now spanned a decade of support.
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