Ballet Nacional de Cuba – Magia de la Danza (Tour – Salford)

Alicia Alonso‘s Ballet Nacional de Cuba make a triumphant start to their run at the Lowry with Magic of the Dance. The show contains extracts from a variety of ballets that the company have previously performed.

We begin with three dances from Giselle, followed by sections of Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. Act Two uses scenes from Coppelia, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Gottschalk Symphony. Each section is enough to provide a taste of each and to showcase the skills of the principal dancers.

If there is a flaw in the production it is that almost all selections followed a similar order: a scene involving the Corps de Ballet, a scene involving the two principles, a solo section for each principle and the a final joint performance by the principles. However, I would have liked to have seen more dances involving the Corps de Ballet.

Some of the scenes used were favourites, such as the Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker and the main Pas de Deux from Swan Lake. However, the highlight of the show for me was the extracts from Don Quixote: a ballet I have never seen but, on the strength of last night’s performance, would love to see performed in its entirety. Unlike so many ballet productions this had more fire and expression in both the music and dancing, with the matadors’ dance being both graceful and evocative of the bullfight.

All the principle dancers were excellent, but two who stood out above all were Sadaise Arencibia, who was stunning as the Sugar Plum Fairy, even continuing her dance after a nasty fall on stage; and Jessie Dominguez as Mercedes in Don Quixote.

Scenery was kept simple with the use of backdrops – mostly designed by Erick Grass with the exception of Giselle which was designed by Ricardo Reymena – to denote each ballet, but this enhanced the complex choreography rather than detracted from the performance. Costumes were similarly stunning, with Salvador Fernandez designing for Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker (with Felix Avila), Don Quixote and Gottschalk Symphony; Julio Castano doing Swan Lake; and Ricardo Reymera for Coppelia.

As an introduction to ballet this show is a great start, as it leaves you wanting to see more of each. However, with the exception of Swan Lake, it leaves you feeling slightly unsatisfied, simply because it offers a taster; delicious as a starter but cannot deliver the full three courses.

– Helen Jones