Two years ago, Scottish Ballet visited London as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations; this has been their first return since then, bringing a double-bill which premiered in August at the Edinburgh International Festival and which has since been toured to Los Angeles, among other locations. The opening night at Sadler's Wells was particularly celebratory as Scottish Ballet had recently announced that Christopher Hampson will be taking over from Ashley Page as Artistic Director next year.
The programme opened with Kings 2 Ends, a new work by Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo. Elo's career took him to Nederlands Dans Theater in 1990, and Kylián's influence on him can easily be seen in his choreography.
The piece opened with a stark stage, with a single female performing a strong, striking solo while seven male dancers waited further behind in the shadows. Once the lighting had shifted to reveal them, another female darted through the lines of the waiting men to reach the other female dancer. Only after a while did you notice that they were performing in complete silence.
Kings 2 Ends is a virtuosic piece which shows off the dancers of Scottish Ballet with its seamless blend of modern dance and ballet, but at 35 minutes in length, it felt too long: it would have been better to reduce the piece in length and leaving the audience wanting more.
Nevertheless, Elo's quirky playful choreography was a delight to watch, played out through the men's impressive jumps and turns, and through the cast dancing in groups, pairs and alone, but always moving. Elo seems to particularly relish distorting classical movements, one example being a woman's ducklike head movements during a duet. Although the actual duets were few, they displayed comic interplay, with the women reluctant to submit to their partners.
Kings 2 Ends is comparable to a box of sweets: although enjoyable throughout, after a certain point you know what you're going to get next, and it's not going to be too different from what you just had or from what's coming next.
Song of the Earth was the main piece of the night, and is one of the best-loved pieces in the ballet repertoire since its premiere in 1965; when Darcey Bussell retired from the Royal Ballet, it was the piece chosen for her farewell performance, and it's easy to understand why.
Song of the Earth is one of Kenneth MacMillan's more stylised ballets, as he tried to incorporate the Eastern influences of the music into his choreography, leading to unusual positions and movements, almost unrecognisable from MacMillan's more traditional works such as Manon and Romeo & Juliet. Created around six songs, it's fundamentally a tale of a woman, her lover, and the messenger of death: her lover is claimed by Death, but they are reunited shortly before the end, before Death returns to claim them both.
It is a seminally beautiful work; despite some visible nerves, it was beautifully performed by Scottish Ballet, with Sophie Martin, Erik Cavallari and Christopher Harrison captivating in the lead roles. There are some hauntingly beautiful moments, for example when Sophie Martin cartwheels over a line of male dancers, or when she curls up on Death's knee.
Song of the Earth may feature some of the strangest moments in ballet, and one of the least comprehensible storylines, but it so beautiful to watch, especially when accompanied by a full orchestra and singers: Karen Cargill complemented the dancing beautifully, however Richard Berkeley-Steele seemed a little drowned out by the orchestra.
Thankfully, Scottish Ballet will be back before long with their production of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire - tickets are already on sale and selling well, so make sure you don't miss out!