Strictly Gershwin

Published Monday 16 June 2008 at 10:20 by Judith Cruickshank

English National Ballet has been giving in-the-round seasons at the Albert Hall for more than ten years, but now, for the first time, the company has departed from standard classics. Derek Deane has turned to the music of George Gershwin as the theme for a show which unites classical dancers, ballroom dancers, tap dancers, singers, cyclists and in-line skaters. If Gershwin, like Stravinsky, had ever written for the circus, we should probably have had elephants too.

The evening is given in two parts - Gershwin on Broadway and Gershwin in Hollywood. The seamless action pauses only at the end of each half with an awkward break before a concluding classical number, featuring guests Tamara Rojo and Guillaume Cote.

The first of these is An American in Paris with Rojo, ravishing in a chiffon dress and a bobbed wig, pursued and finally won by Cote. Predictably, Rhapsody in Blue concludes the evening with the women in bright blue tutus, plentifully decorated with sparkling crystals.

Deane’s choreography is fairly conventional and most of the glamour is provided by Roberta Guidi di Bagno’s attractive costumes.

Screens high above the arena show slides of the Gershwin brothers and stars associated with them, but sometimes these distract from the action below. Singer Barbara Cook and the ballroom dancers Lilia Kopylova and Darren Bennett were especially well received by the packed house, but it’s clear from the loud and prolonged applause that Deane and English National Ballet have a popular hit on their hands.