Review: STILL POINTLESS: BALLETBOYZ AT 25, Sadler’s Wells - Tour
Photo credit: Amber Hunt
The BalletBoyz are back in town, celebrating 25 years of innovative, athletic dancing.
Michael Nunn and William Trevitt left the Royal Ballet to establish BalletBoyz, first performing at the Roundhouse in 2001. With a show called Pointless, it was a risky venture with, apparently, only seven tickets sold a week before opening night (one of several bonbons gleaned from the informative and entertaining film clips shown between pieces). That risk clearly paid off with their ten-strong company - the Talent - in Still Pointless taking over the main stage at Sadler’s Wells (before going on tour) to perform excerpts from eight previous dances and a newly commissioned piece.
In an interview, Trevitt said that a main aim for setting up the company was to move away from the usual ballet trope of romantic duets to explore the possibilities arising from balancing the energies of the dancers. As Still Pointless demonstrates, this is an aesthetic that did, and continues to, inform many of the BalletBoyz commissions.
Still Pointless opens with an excerpt from choreographer Russell Maliphant’s Critical Mass, which Nunn and Trevitt performed at that opening show 25 years ago, learning the moves by studying a video recording. Although both stepped back from dancing some years ago, it’s a pleasure to see them reprise their performance for this celebration, with the rhythms, repeats, and shifts in leading perfectly exemplifying Trevitt’s vision.
Towards the end of the evening, we are treated to what may be the apotheosis of this aesthetic in Us, a duet created by Christopher Whelan for the BalletBoyz in 2017. Whelan has never revealed what he had in mind for the relationship between the two dancers, but danced here by Paris Fitzpatrick and Dylan Jones, their blend of strength, equality, sensuality and athleticism makes Us a highlight of the evening.
Between these two gems of duets, many of the other extracts display a similar aesthetic, often comprising several simultaneous duets. Excellently danced though these are, there is a similar feel to much of the evening without a strong sense of what is added to this theme of strength and balance.
Two extracts do bring a different dynamic, happening to be the only two choreographed by women. Xie Xin’s Ripple, with its meditative movement (and Jiang Shaofeng’s haunting score) shows a different side to the Talent, the dancers flowing in and out of groups, circles, and pairs with a fluidity that is entrancing.
In contrast, the movement in Maxine Doyle’s Bradley 4:18 has undertones of suppressed violence and the challenges people may have in expressing their emotions, particularly embodied by Benji Knapper and Luigi Nardone’s push and pull duet.
Young Men (choreographed by Iván Pérez) is a full-length piece about the suffering of soldiers in the First World War. The extract chosen to close the first half of Still Pointless is an exploration of the effects of shell shock (with moving solo work by Benji Knapper), providing a timely reminder of how dance need not be simply a form of escapism.
By the end of the penultimate piece, Us, the overall sense of the evening is that being one of the BalletBoyz is an earnest affair. Thankfully, Javier de Frutos’ closing extract, Fiction, and Kai Tomioka’s performance hints at the joy to be found in dancing, but it’s a small glimmer in an otherwise thoughtful, somewhat sober celebration.
Still Pointless will please existing fans of the BalletBoyz and provide newcomers with insight into the depth and breadth of their work.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Mike Askew
