Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 30 October 2009

THE CURTAIN rose for the first work of the night, a revival of George Balanchine’s 1967 opus Rubies, set to music by Igor Stravinsky. Before even one step was danced, there was a spontaneous round of applause for the costumes, based on the original designs by Mme Karinska who, like Balanchine and Stravinsky, was a Russian emigre who ended up in New York.

Scottish Ballet in George Balanchine's Rubies (photo - Andrew Ross)

Scottish Ballet, however, is not just about beautiful, luxurious costumes, athough they are rightly renowned for them; the focus is always on the dance, and Ashley Page had devised a thoughtful and thought-provoking programme to celebrate the company’s 40th birthday and look back at its progress.

Rubies is a vivacious work celebrating the playground where classical ballet collides with Broadway and Hollywood. Prancing, skipping, forming chorus lines straight out of Busby Berkeley, the dancers exuded joyful sexiness, none more than Soon Ja Lee, whose effervescent flirtatiousness cranked the dial all the way up to 11.

The principals, Claire Robertson and Tama Barry, danced equally well, without projecting quite the same joie de vivre, but Lee was a hard act to follow. If there was a quibble it was that the proportion of ballet to dance in Balanchine comes down heavily on the former, demanding rigorous technique that was in some cases still lacking, despite the Eden Court shows being the end of the tour.

The filling in the evening’s sandwich was a 1998 work by William Forsythe, workwithinwork, set to an aurally challenging duet for violins by Luciano Berio. Like Balanchine, Forsythe’s style is still based strongly in classical technique, but adds a challenging athleticism and more randomly fluid structure, using classical forms such as duets which typically dissolve and change abruptly.

It was, as always, a treat to see Paul Liburd and Diana Loosmore, two dancers who have in common an enviable strength, grace and precision. The company had been lucky enough to develop this piece with two long-term Forsythe collaborators, Jill Johnson and Noah Gelber, and their enthusiasm shone through and translated into something very satisfying indeed.

The final work was a revival of the company’s 2006 production of In Light and Shadow by Krzysztof Pastor, to Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Suite No 3 in D. Tatyana van Walsum’s costumes featured shorts, sarongs, and corsets, chiffon and shantungs, French pleats for the female dancers, and with the exception of a red dress for Loosmore, blurred the gender boundaries.

William Smith partnered Claire Robertson beautifully while all sixteen dancers appeared to be enjoying themselves running and jumping across the stage in what proved to be an agreeably cheerful closer.

Minimal sets, sensitive lighting, and the orchestra of Scottish Ballet, conducted by Richard Honner, collectively provided the perfect setting for this little jewel of a programme, a harbinger of even greater things to come.

© Jennie Macfie, 2009

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