Sylvia

Published Friday 5 November 2004 at 15:30 by John Percival

It was Delibes’s music for Sylvia (much admired by Tchaikovsky) that made Frederick Ashton produce it for the Royal Ballet in 1952, and having it back in the programmes - so melodious, so colourful and expressive, with Graham Bond conducting - is one reason to be grateful for having the ballet restored after a gap of 36 years.

But, even more, Ashton’s choreography (faithfully revived by Christopher Newton from memories, notes and clips of film) is absolutely glorious. He tells the story (nymph captured by wicked huntsman but restored by Eros to her true lover) with almost no mime. The dances themselves let us know what is happening - and what a lot of dances there are, not only for the principals but for a large constantly active corps de ballet.

The movement is so fluent, so detailed, so full of invention, that the dancers are hard put to get through without breaking its flow into shorter phrases - those who remember the original casts will see the oft-quoted theory disproved that dancers today are stronger than a half-century ago.

Among the first-night soloists, only Thiago Soares, as the villain Orion, truly shines - personality, acting, partnering and dancing all great. Darcey Bussell in the title part with Jonathan Cope as her admirer were vastly applauded but there is plenty of scope to develop. There could be more fun, too, in the character numbers.

However, Newton has devised a more dramatic end (which Ashton clearly wanted) for Act II, aided by Peter Farmer’s tactful development of the handsome Second Empire designs of Robin and Christopher Ironside.