🩰 💫 🩰 The Royal Ballet School Summer Performance 2023 💫

The Royal Ballet School

Summer Performance

The Royal Opera House, London

Sunday, 16th July 2023

We open in a dream. Specifically, Don Quixote’s vision scene where he encounters an ensemble of fairies. Don Quixote was created for the Royal Ballet company by Carlos Acosta in 2013, and represents a challenging start for the students. They didn’t disappoint, tackling the classical steps with their signature sprezzatura.

The next two pieces – Fast Blue & Hora La Aninoasa – were accompanied by aurally strenuous music. Fast Blue is Mikaela Polley’s new work for the School, and is an energetic flashdance for 19 male Upper School students. Hora La Aninoasa, by Tom Bosma, brought traditional Romanian folk dances that suited the White Lodge students.

Kenneth Macmillan’s The Four Seasons breezed in with serenity, along with wafts of dancers clothed in beautiful pastel colours to match the mood. It’s very polite, gentle dancing with the students displaying an elegance that belies their years.

Last seen at the Summer Performance in 2015 and cloaking its classical challenges with a lot of fun (not an easy combo), Sechs Tänze by Jiří Kylián looks a lot like the ballet Manon but is more powder than swamp. Remember the excellence of Killian Smith & Grace Robinson ? Well, this year the casting didn’t disappoint either, with strong dancing/acting from the whole cast and standout performances from Seung Hee Han & Casper Lench. Ah, Casper Lench. The post-performance buzz in the auditorium was, “did you see Casper Lench in Takademe ?” Well, I did, and I will return to him shortly.

The beautifully Danish Konservatoriet, August Bournonville’s Vaudeville ballet looks fine on Aurora Chinchilla & Erle Østraat, set as it is in a ballet studio. White Lodge and Upper School students showed us elements of ballet class, with Ptolemy Gidney gently nudging things along.

Bold, by Goyo Montero, was devised for the Prix de Lausanne international ballet competition, and was danced here by the Upper School students. Jet black costumes, lots of running about, another dose of aural stimulation, with phenomenal talent from Rebecca Stewart; a dot of traffic on a busy stage.

What a treat to see the students in alumni Christopher Wheeldon’s Within The Golden Hour (Excerpts). Tawny gold costumes designed by Jasper Conran, burnishing the dancing to sparkling highlights. The pas de deux danced by graduating students (both to the Royal Ballet) Sierra Glasheen & Blake Smith was a subtle masterclass in partnering. The stylish ensemble sections saw Guillem Cabrera Espinach, Bethany Bartlett & Isabella Shaker shimmering over the stage.

Frederick Ashton’s The Two Pigeons pas de deux is once again a tricky bit of partnering. Without the actual two pigeons this time, Liya Fan & Tom Hazelby brought a gentle approach, well-matched to the choreography.

And so we arrive at the aforementioned Takademe. Caspar Lench has it all, and the Indian Kathak rhythms to a percussive score by Sheila Chandra only serve to highlight the breadth of his talent. The movement is punchy and speeds along in a panic of red trousers. It’s mesmerising to watch a dancer with the quiet confidence & sheer panache to dance solo on the Royal Opera House stage with measured assurance.

The Summer Performance always closes with the Grand Défilé; a dazzler of a full stop.

If you’d like to know where each of the 24 graduates are headed, you’ll find the complete list here.

Further photos from the Summer Performance photo shoot