Dance Theatre of Harlem, Sadler's Wells, London
Bravura dancing lifts this earnest dud
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.You can have too broad a repertoire. Dance Theatre of Harlem's first programme opens impressively with Balanchine's "Serenade" and Ashton's "Thaïs". Then we're confronted with Michael Smuin's "A Song for Dead Warriors", a multimedia whatsit about the sufferings of the Native American, complete with onstage buffalo stampede.
You can have too broad a repertoire. Dance Theatre of Harlem's first programme opens impressively with Balanchine's "Serenade" and Ashton's "Thaïs". Then we're confronted with Michael Smuin's "A Song for Dead Warriors", a multimedia whatsit about the sufferings of the Native American, complete with onstage buffalo stampede.
The Harlem company was founded by Arthur Mitchell in response to the death of Martin Luther King. It's still the world's most famous primarily black ballet company. The aim is broad audience appeal and good dancing. You could see both those things on the first night, but it didn't quite gel.
"Serenade" is a lyrical, romantic work, but the dancing is bright-edged and bold. The corps is conscientious about the choreography's thrust hips, its radical off-balance quality. They look like polite schoolgirls, striving for correctness.
"Thaïs" was an unexpected bonus: unannounced and welcome. It's a gala number, an Orientalist vision to a Massenet interlude. The ballerina floats, glides into her partner's arms, swoons through flowing lifts. Melissa Morrissey was smoothly elegant, but her partner Kip Sturm was too inflexible.
"Serenade" is an earnest dud, a melodrama without nuance or even much energy. It's a dreadful piece, but it's bravura dancing.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments