Cecchetti Society Centenary Gala Review
The occasion was the centenary of the founding of the Cecchetti Society by Cyril Beaumont and Maestro Enrico Cecchetti, celebrated at a gala performance at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House. I felt hugely privileged to have been part of the audience witnessing what was, in effect, a bit of a revelation, to this former Cecchetti student anyway. It took us on a journey from the start of training to the realisation of a professional career, showing with absolute clarity how building the foundations of technique can produce sensational results.
Beginning with Promenade, a piece choreographed by Ruth Brill for the Cecchetti Classical Ballet Scholars, I was immediately struck by how important the posture and use of the upper body was. Kevin O’Hare, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet, a Patron of the Cecchetti Society Trust and himself a former student of the Cecchetti method, introduced the evening which led beautifully into displays of the syllabus work by Moorland International Ballet Academy, English National Ballet School, KS Dance Ltd and a special performance from Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal, Brandon Lawrence. As the performances progressed, so did the difficulty in execution. It all came flooding back and I remembered just how challenging it was. To the untrained eye, it must seem like a smooth, continuous selection of exercises, set to prepare the dancers for whatever is coming next, but it is really tough. Extreme control, combined with core strength, stamina and lyrical use of port de bras and épaulement are the basic minimum.
As we were taken through the entire class repertoire culminating in marvellous petit batterie and grand allegro, it was truly impressive to see the students totally committed to delivering excellence. Moorland have plenty of talent to work with. The young men at ENBS came into their own managing to disguise the strenuous tasks they were set even during passages of truly taxing adagio (Joseph Ducille is one to watch). Lawrence, who appears in Diane van Schoor’s DVD of the Cecchetti Diploma, gave a spectacular account of some of the Diploma work which even for such a seasoned professional dancer, must be a reminder that maintaining a strong technical base, allows for much greater freedom artistically. KS Dance demonstrated panache and clarity in their exercises and were fortunate to have Chloe Horton, a former student and now professional, return to deliver some of the Diploma work. In spite of a nasty slip (which she managed to save), she maintained her composure and danced with a serene and exceptional quality. She can look forward to a bright future.
The latter part of the evening was devoted to professional dancers from The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Madison Bailey and Liam Boswell (RB) were charming and vivacious in Ashton’s Neapolitan Dance from Act III of Swan Lake. James Hay (RB) gave a near perfect rendition of Prince Florimund’s second act solo (not easy to dance out of context) from The Sleeping Beauty. Beatrice Parma and Max Maslen (BRB) were glowing with warmth in Act III pas de deux from Coppélia and Lawrence again and Tzu-Chao Chou (BRB) were dynamic in an excerpt from Juliano Nunes’ Interlinked. Joseph Sissens and Isabella Gasparini (RB) were astoundingly accomplished in the Bluebird pas de deux from Act III of The Sleeping Beauty, making this fiendishly difficult pas de deux look comfortably achievable.
Perhaps the Cecchetti style was most in evidence firstly in Ashton’s beautiful Dance of the Blessed Spirits and then in his glorious Rhapsody pas de deux. The former, a solo, was danced impeccably by William Bracewell (RB) and the latter, in which he was paired with the exquisite Francesca Hayward (RB) was pure joy. Here was an exemplary display of hard, life-long training transformed into artistry, musicality and lyricism of the highest calibre. In this rapturously well-received evening, a mention must go to the pianists Jonnie Gait and Christopher Hobson, who played for the students, and the inimitable Robert Clark who accompanied the professionals. As Dame Monica Mason said after the performance, ‘Here’s to the next hundred years’ - an undoubted triumph.