Royal Ballet Mixed Bill, Royal Opera House
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Your support makes all the difference.Some may remember a young Kobborg guesting in Scottish Ballet's production of La Sylphide a decade ago. Then, he was a fast-tracked new principal with the Royal Danish but already an exemplar of early romantic style. It's this in-the-blood knowledge - of the buoyant, 1830s manner of dancing, and of the Danes' beautiful economy of mime - that makes Kobborg such a gift to this project.He hasn't done anything drastic to August Bournonville's choreography: he has simply reinstated a few lost narrative sequences that add clarity to the story. But his touch is evident in the blissfully stylish dancing throughout.
Audiences new to La Sylphide are always tickled to discover its Scottishness. It's set in the Scottish highlands, with everyone in kilts. And it's not hard to see the natural affinity between Scottish reels and Bournonville's steps, with their neat, beaten footwork and airy jumps, arms held by the sides. There is even one sprightly ensemble in which the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" filter through Lovenskjold's score, and it's this romping tartan element that the Royal's dancers most obviously enjoy.
The narrative is simple but feels fresh, delivered with respect for history but also a streak of fun. I don't recall the sight of the sylph disappearing up the crofters' chimney prompting laughter before, nor James's male friends being so convincingly blokeish. "Where's James?" asks one in mime. "Off chasing some bint with wings that gave him a kiss," comes the reply. There are other down-to-earth touches in Sorella Englund's witch Madge, and in the frogs and newts she chucks into her forest cauldron.
Alina Cojocaru made a bewitchingly wispy first-night sylph while Ivan Putrov's James failed to convince as a reckless dreamer. Better was the second cast's Rupert Pennefather, all dash and careless valour. Tamara Rojo's sylph by contrast was all spirit and no soul, and positively chilling.
Jenny.gilbert@independent.co.uk
ROH, in rep to 9 Nov, 020 7304 4000
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