Agon/Stravinsky Violin Concerto/Symphony in Three Movements

Published Friday 16 February 2007 at 12:55 by Pat Ashworth

Birmingham Royal Ballet continues its three-year celebration of the work of Stravinsky, with an inspirational trio of Balanchine ballets. They are danced here with a clarity and precision that holds the attention every single second. Blink and you could miss some sublime and complex piece of tiny connecting movement interpreting all the discords, surprises and flourishes of the score.

The arithmetic of Agon is so pleasingly precise in its groupings and permutations. Studied and serious movement can suddenly turn quite teasing, as in the Sarabande, which Robert Parker dances with such impudence. Jenna Roberts and Tyrone Singleton pair beautifully, showing absolute poise and control in a range of movement that for Roberts includes successive splits, effortlessly executed.

The Violin Concerto, played by Takane Funatsu, is new to the BRB repertoire. The dancers are constantly adjusting to changes of tempo in this wonderfully showy and exultant piece, full of acrobatic movement, light, happy and fast. The two arias sandwiched between the Toccata and Capriccio perfectly suit the very different styles of Elisha Willis and Robert Parker and Nao Sakuma and Iain Mackay.

As for the final piece, it’s sheer joy. The long diagonal line of pony-tailed dancers at the opening echoes the wholesomeness of something like a Women’s League of Health and Beauty demonstration. It’s all exuberance, explosions of sound, big jumps, flying movement. Sakuma and Robert Tewsley are sublime in the andante movement, dancing as though discovering the other’s body through touch, surprised at what the limbs can do. Thrilling.