<<  -- 6 --  Robert Hugill    MOMENTS OF MAGIC

Their companions, the dancers attired like the two singers and all wearing no shoes, made their entrance carrying sticks and with movements which rather reminded me of Morris Dancing, which seemed rather a promising start given the English Pastoral thread running through the opera. But when it came to the Ritual Dances proper, the dancers cast aside sticks and trilbies and Ron Howell's choreography explored other realms of modern dance.

This was perfectly apt for the music and extremely expressive; it was just that we did not feel that the style of the choreography matched well with that of the rest of the opera. But Howell is listed as Associate Director so the whole must be what was planned, mustn't it? Gildas Diquero cut a lithe figure as Strephon and conveyed something of the character's essential pathos.

Continue >>