Luna by Birmingham Royal Ballet - Review
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Thu 03 Oct 2024 - Wed 23 Oct 2024
The final part of Carlos Acosta's Birmingham trilogy focuses attention on the city's inspirational women with an eclectic mix of dances. We caught the world premiere in Birmingham ahead of its tour to London's Sadler's Wells.
Following on from
City of a Thousand Trades and the sensational
Black Sabbath ballet,
Birmingham Royal Ballet(BRB) closes the trilogy with
Luna. This final love letter to the city puts women front and centre, from the choreographers to the narratives and dancers.
I saw the premiere at
Birmingham Hippodrome , where it stays until Saturday, October 5. It then runs at
Sadler's Wells theatre in London from Tuesday, October 22 to Wednesday, October 23.
Five female choreographers from around the world were invited to take inspiration from pioneering women of Birmingham, highlighted in Louise Palfreyman's book
Once Upon a Time in Birmingham: Women who dared to dream.
There's an eclectic mix of six short performances - three on either side of the interval - that offer something for everyone. Children open and close the show looking up to the moon and singing before we surge into vivid dances on themes of being inspired, empowerment and being held back. Enchanting voices from opera singers, backdrops of moonlight on water and the solar system will also feature in this two-hour show.
Work by Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuiindersma bookends the production with grand scenes under a full moon for dances Terra and Luna. Dancers seem to ripple like moonbeams on the water in early mesmerising scenes in this adventurous piece.
Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Seeta Patel is responsible for the second scene, Learning to Dream Big, which infuses humour into this lively section. Young women are inspired by books that glow in their hands as they endeavour to follow their dreams and different careers.
Using the music from BBC's
Casualty in the sequence with an aspiring medic is part of the light touch that makes this section so endearing and family friendly.
Thais Suarez from Cuba choreographed the next section - Unwavering. All about how women can be extraordinary in overcoming adversity, this emotive dance is made more impactful by the opera singer alongside performing
Requiem.
A woman in a striking red dress battles back from the brink in this well-crafted section.
Another Cuban-born choreographer Arielle Smith is behind the next dance, Empowerment, which was my personal favourite. A faltering lone woman is helped up and strengthened as more females join her on stage, as pictured at the top of the page.
Featuring the strongest feminist imagery of the production, it's a memorable dance on resilience and women's support for each other.
Spanish Iratxe Ansa created the next scene, titled Overexposed, which tackles the more troubled topic of how women are controlled and overlooked. This complex piece sees eerie faceless figures contorting to hold back the heroine.
Fraught with tension and more powerful opera and strings, principal dancer Beatrice Parma is hypnotising as she makes easy work of technically difficult footwork. Pictured above in a red dress, she gives a standout performance in the production.
Luna is a thoughtful, entertaining end to Acosta's trilogy. While it doesn't have the rock star glamour or cohesiveness of the Black Sabbath ballet, it's a beautiful, thought-provoking showcase that makes Birmingham and its pioneering women proud.
RATING: 4/5 stars
Tickets for
Luna are available from the
Birmingham Hippodrome and
Sadler's Wells theatre. It is in Birmingham until October 5 and London from October 22 to 23.
The creation of
Luna is possible thanks to a 5-year package of support from the Oak Foundation.
Luna has also received grants from H Steven and P E Wood Trust, the John S Cohen Foundation. The Oakley Charitable Trust and the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance.
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#classical_music 295055 - 2024-10-03 11:40:11