Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) has been described as 'polite' and 'wholly inoffensive' in a review of their current programme, Opposites Attract, at Sadler's Wells. The company's tendency towards anodyne pieces, such as David Bintley's Take Five, was criticised as sanitised Fifties-inspired blandness, performed with poise but lacking in raw energy.
The programme includes Jessica Lang's Lyric Pieces, which features a Farrow & Ball palette and Grieg piano music. While the dancers execute the floating arms and spritely feet well, the piece merely skirts around emotions without digging in. The review notes that there is no dazzle or grit to be found.
Hans van Manen's Grosse Fugue from 1971 offers a beefier, coolly elegant piece with bicep flexing and lunging to Beethoven, described as 'abstract warrior'. At the climax, men strip off their ninja skirts and drag women by leather belts, but the effect is surprisingly unerotic.
Opposites Attract ends tonight, but BRB's Autumn Celebration runs until Saturday, October 27. Tickets are available via Sadler's Wells.
