The Royal Ballet review, Beauty Mixed Programme, Royal Opera House: Assured re-stitching rises above Covid struggles

London’s ROH plays host to a programme that bears the marks of the pandemic but finds tenderness and joy nonetheless, writes Zoe Anderson

Mariko Sasaki and Lukas Bjørneboe Brændsrød in Anemoi (Alice Pennefather/ROH)

Covid-19 sent last-minute changes rippling through The Royal Ballet’s new mixed bill. With several dancers self-isolating, choreographer Valentino Zucchetti was reworking his new Anemoi right before curtain up, keeping the show on the road.

It was a very assured re-stitching, with no obvious trailing threads. Anemoi is a brisk, plotless work, danced to Rachmaninoff. Soloists spin in and out of a larger cast, with Mariko Sasaki standing out for her speed and attack. In the strongest image, two lines of dancers meet – so when the central couple reach out, their friends ripple around them, amplifying the embrace.

But Zucchetti adds too many dithery changes of direction. There’s an impression of clogged speed, where dancers keep having to turn back on themselves. Though Jean-Marc Puissant’s costumes nod to contemporary streetwear, the steps remain neatly conventional: ballet people doing ballet things.