English National Ballet dancers performing William Forsythe's Playlist EP. Photography by ASH.The curtain rises on a lone female (Sangeun Lee) in perfect en pointe arabesque. Thereafter, she delivers a disjointed set of jerking moves and soon, one becomes three, as she is joined by a pair of male dancers (Henry Dowden and Rentaro Nakaaki) who possess a mesmerising symbiosis.
Presented as the first section of a triple bill, it is followed by a russet-clad quintet for Herman Schmerman (performed with gusto by Francesco Gabriele Frola, Ivana Bueno, Swanice Luong, Aitor Arrieta and Alice Bellini) which after the interval, in turn surrenders the stage to the rumbustious company number Playlist (EP). In this way, the programme transitions from perfectly executed control and technique, to radiant and unsuppressed joie de vivre. The overall effect is an enchanting mixed bill which at Thursday’s press night brought a rapturous response from the enthusiastic audience which included many familiar faces. Chief among these, was the ever-radiant Darcey Bussell who found herself gambolling along our row to get to her seat as the lights dipped unexpectedly.
There’s always a naughty but nice element to attending performances at Sadler’s Wells. The venue does sexy far better than anywhere else, with masculine virility and feminine coquettishness much in evidence in the diverse and multi-faceted dance presentations curated each season. The final section on Thursday evening was just such an occasion, with the piece divided into six different musical segments. Dancers wore blue and pink costumes throughout, which could almost have been lifted from a production of Grease. With the dancers’ tops frequently rising to expose taut mid-riffs the effect was to accentuate the physical athleticism required to perform choreography at this level. Everyone gave their all, sometimes on a crammed stage, but there are always stand-out moments and it would be remiss not to give extra mention to Nathaniel Ritter-Magot, Rhys Antoni Yeomans, Gareth Haw and Erik Woolhouse, all of whom had show-stopper moments in which their execution caught the eye and dazzled.
The music for the performance was provided by: David Morrow (Rearray - London Edition 2025) and Thon Willems (Herman Schmerman). For the segments of Playlist EP, the following were used: Peven Everett’s Surely Shorty, ABRA’s Vegas, Lion Babe’s Impossible, Khalid’s Location, Barry White’s Sha La La Means I Love You and Natalie Cole’s This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).
The show runs at Sadler’s Wells until 19th April.
