Flawless & English National Ballet – Against Time
I love the dance troupe Flawless and have been wowed by the English National Ballet, so this new collaboration featuring two different disciplines of dance should live up to the name of the former Britain’s Got Talent finalists. There is the odd hair on the back of the neck moment but overall, something is missing.
On paper, you can see why this show exists. These two forms of dance have been used in movies such as Step Up and Fame as the basis for love stories and to highlight that they are not as different as they may first appear. Also, watching the two fused together in Against Time means that fans of ballet can appreciate streetdance and vice versa.
There are some excellent moments within the many set pieces; a thriller style section leaves the audience feeling in a Friday night mood, and a wonderful scenes involving books as a backfrop do convey the feeling that ballet is not dull, staid and not just for bookish types and it works wonderfully well.
Flawless are as brilliant as they have ever been. But due to the concept it does feel like they are on a leash. You long for them to break free. But due to the choreography, they cannot seen to be taking the limelight from the ballet troupe. Likewise, the beauty of ballet in its epic form is slightly stunted here. But, performers from both troupes deliver moments of pure exhilaration.
I particularly enjoyed a scene towards the end of act one featuring ladybirds and seeing a member of Flawless run after one of them with a huge net – shows you there is plenty of humour in dance pieces. The show ends with dance music blaring out of the speakers and Flawless fans on the night I attended went wild. Ballet fans may not have been as impressed.
Here’s the thing – both of these companies are fantastic at what they do. And I’ll continue seeking them out separately; I’m sure that both will have gained fans from this concept. But others may leave the show feeling bemused as they don’t get enough of what they have come to see.
