Review- Ballet Boyz- Greatest Hits
Date Reviewed: 17th October, 2008
Venue: The Lowry
The Boyz are back in town! With their Greatest Hits tour, William Trevitt and Michael Nunn bring us highlights of their eight year career as the Ballet Boyz.
The show combines video introductions with a variety of pieces of modern dance from the duo’s back catalogue. The video sections are entertaining, and so obviously personal recordings, that one forgives the lack of image quality.
The first dance, Broken Fall – whilst dramatic and obviously superbly technical – suffers from the latter half being mostly a sequence of jumps, lifts and poses. Oxana Panchenko, who also appears, is a supple and elegant dancer. Her trust in the men is implicit, shown by the number of times she is thrown from one to the other. The dance fits well to the music by Barry Adamson, but you reach the end of the piece wishing that there had been a little more variation throughout.
In EdOx, a new piece based on a work commissioned for the Royal Festival Hall in 2007, Panchenko and Tim Morris strike a series of slow poses and lifts. Unfortunately it is ultimately the most forgettable section of the entire show.
In Propellor. Panchenko and Michael Nunn shine. This is almost traditional ballet. A stunning combination of classical and modern choreography by Liv Lorent, combined with original music by Enzio Bossa and a classical favourite from Vivaldi, make this a joy to watch. The sensuality evoked by the two dancers almost makes you feel as if you are viewing a personal relationship.
The final piece Yumba Vs Nonino is choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood and the introduction video mentions how different ballroom is from ballet. But this dance really works. In a pastiche of the dramatic tango, both Nunn and Trevitt prove their prowess as dancers: able to tackle any dance, and obviously have fun while doing it. The piece is intentionally humorous with some pretend fighting and ham acting, and this makes a hugely enjoyable end to the show.
Overall, this is a show well worth seeing, even for non ballet fans, as it goes a long way towards making modern ballet accessible.
-Helen Jones