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R:Evolution

 
Stephanie Green Review by Stephanie Green 4 Published: 5 Oct 2025 Sadler's Wells Show Dates: 1 Oct 2025-11 Oct 2025

R:Evolution is four pieces exploring the development of modern ballet, of interest to anyone seeking an introduction or refresher course. What a great idea from Aaron S Watkin, artistic director of the English National Ballet.

What a great idea exploring the development of modern ballet

Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, set to Tchaikovsky’s music, sparkles – not only with chandeliers, tutus and tiaras, but with precision of technique and geometric patterns that respond to the score, whether swirling woodwind or later horns. Two fine soloists, Emma Hawes and Aitor Arrieta, effortlessly shine. Redolent of the St Petersburg Balanchine came from, it is a superb start, showing the classical roots of ballet.

In complete contrast, pointe shoes are abandoned for bare feet in Errand into the Maze, which exemplifies Martha Graham – the mother of modern dance – and her visceral, raw style. A reinterpretation of the Minotaur myth, it follows Ariadne as she discovers her subconscious desire symbolised by the Minotaur. The music by Menotti is equally raw, all drums and syncopation. The set is modernist, bare apart from a treelike abstraction, a pole and a Picassoesque bird. Movingly danced by Minju Kang, with Graham’s signature contortions to her core – twisting and at one point climbing onto the Minotaur’s thighs to dominate him – while Rentaro Nakaaki, as the Minotaur, falls vanquished to the floor. In its day it would have been shocking. Now, perhaps, it seems a little dated, with a limited range of movements, but the birth of modern expressivity is clear.

William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman (Quintet), set to music by Thom Willems, is a joy and, along with the Balanchine, a highlight of the evening. Sassy and slick, it gives classical ballet a syncopated shake, echoing the music. There is connection between the five dancers as they smile at each other, the males swagger and the females throw knowing looks at the audience.

Sadly, David Dawson’s Four Last Songs lets the evening down. A strip of glowering cumulae suggests Sturm und Drang, and the dancers look naked in flesh-coloured bodysuits, perhaps to evoke the elemental. But the choreography is pretentious, overblown hype. There is no authentic emotional connection between the dancers, far too much running in circles with outstretched hands, repetitive moves and some dangerously high lifts – perhaps a desperate attempt to match Richard Strauss’s soaring music. However, live soprano Madeleine Pierard’s rich tones were wonderful.

Amir Nisi

Stephanie Green

Stephanie Green has reviewed Theatre and Dance in Edinburgh since 2011 but previously travelled widely, mainly in Eastern Europe and Russia, writing about puppetry. She also studied shadow puppetry and sacred dance in Bali. In the 1970s, she trained as a puppeteer at the Little Angel, London and later worked at the alternative In the Heart of the Beast Mask and Puppet Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. After training at the Place, the London School of Contemporary Dance, in her 20s she then gave up dancing until starting again in her 60s just for fun. She has recently danced in a community group with Barrowland Ballet (at the Edinburgh Fringe, 2013), Oceanallover and at the South Bank, London as part of the Festival of the Silver Age. She is also a novelist, playwright and poet. www.stephaniegreen.org.uk/

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The Blurb:

Four visionary creators. Decades of innovation. A breadth of emotions. 

George Balanchine revolutionised ballet, combining speed, precision and a new dynamism to create the neo-classical style. In 1947 in New York, he premiered Theme & Variations, set to music by Tchaikovsky. Since then, this showstopper for 13 couples has lost none of its wow factor. Think gorgeous tutus, fiendish steps and a dazzling finale.

That same year, in the same city, Martha Graham created Errand into the Maze. The visceral, rarely performed duet, based on the raw drama of Greek mythology, encapsulates her unique point of view. Graham changed dance forever, becoming one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

Drawing inspiration from both these visionaries, William Forsythe has been pushing ballet to its limits for decades – and continues to do so. His choreography always surprises, as in his signature piece, Herman Schmerman (Quintet). Originally choreographed in 1992 for New York City Ballet (the Company founded by Balanchine himself), the work allows the dancers to let rip, to delirious effect.

Fast forward to today, David Dawson continues to evolve the language of ballet creating works that are extremely physical and emotional. Four Last Songs, from 2023, epitomises this. Underneath a glimpse of the heavens above, 12 dancers unite in Dawson’s poetic style to Strauss’s poignant song cycle, ushering in a feeling of serenity and the sublime.

The music for three of the works – by Tchaikovsky, Menotti and R. Strauss – will be performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic, with Madeleine Pierard singing Strauss’s masterwork.

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