Cadogan Hall

Chelsea is decidedly not my stomping ground, Sloane Square might as well be Siberia, and the 25 minute walk from my neck of the woods the Siberian Express. Yet I will trundle along the Kings Road for the sizzling new variety act in London’s dance ecology, Ballet Nights. 

Celebrating their 1st birthday and 6th show, founder, choreographer, dancer and MC Jamiel Devernay-Laurence (we’re very much in the land of the double barrel surnames) shows no sign of slowing down, or even pausing for breath. Upsizing to their largest venue yet (and selling out) Cadogan Hall celebrates its 20th birthday (as a concert hall) so pop those streamers and cake for all!

The crowd is an odd mix of dancers and friends in their edgy spidery blacks and genuine Chanel clad Sloane rangers, matriarchs of long lost aristocratic dynasties. The air thick with new moneyed Russian and English that would make a plum blush. This practically means that at the interval the politest queue for the subterranean bar snakes almost across the room, a sight both nostalgic and a little ludicrous. 

Social mores aside let’s sashay into this evenings pick and mix of limb/arm movement. The selection wide ranging, with twists and turns most unpredictable. On the experimental side we have a three pronged exploration of masculinity. Hip Hop legend Jonzi D reading (from a book disappointingly) Rudyard Kipling’s poem If, his rumbling tones and sparky intonation like a proclamation bringing something entirely new to the words. Jamiel Devernay-Laurence’s choreography allows rising star Alexander Fadayiro to fling himself across the stage. Deconstructing what it means to be a black man in the world today, Fadayrio arms wide, leaping into a plank, a passionate performer to watch backed up by a gifted living (on stage) and dead (obviously off stage) poet.

Set Fast is another piece snapping at the heels of classical Ballet. Performed by students at the prestigious Rambert School, returning from Ballet Nights 5 Grace O’Brien’s choreography described by those around me, and the MC as cool, and rightfully so. Painstakingly however, in crumpled grey shirts their bodies shudder and shake, egressing between precise geometric patterns, never letting our eyes settle for long on the morphing forms. 

Flashes of silliness (rare in the dance world) first in the form of Cha Cha and Tiara. Rentaro Nakaaki’s parents were both ballroom dancers, and his pas de deux danced by Julia Conway and Eric Snyder (both of English National Ballet) is only missing the genre’s twinkling sequins. The first part is “rehearsal” awkward without music all squeaking feet. Thankfully the “performance” starts, Cha Cha and ballet erupting in sassy symbiosis, each performer never taking anything seriously, yet simultaneously showing the two styles limits and similarities. The other instance of humours curling lip crops up with The Royal Ballet’s Principal Steven Mcrae. Kilted in a white vest, dancing the highland gig (with a Balletic twist of course) to Charlies Siem’s live violin fiddling. It’s sensual (somehow) and swaggeringly impressive, a real tapping bang to end the evening with and a nice circular touch as Mcrae performed at Ballet Nights 1.

Solos throughout bring the focus in, Constance Devernay-Laurence in Jordan James-Bridge’s September in the Rain, all wide arching legs, spins and wet whipping hair. Along the more traditional route we have returning Bolshoi Ballet legend Joy Womack in her UK debut. Constant Vigier’s demure and almost casual choreography has Womack like a graceful gibbon extending her long limbs, almost a duet with gifted house pianist Victor Erik Emanuel. Erick Emanuel also opens both acts with the challenging Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No.1 in G Minor and mesmerising Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard De La Nuit, dancing digits indeed. 

Other highlights include live singing from Madil Hardis in Tanzt originally a music video. Rebecca Basset-Graham and James Pett start in dark suits, stripping down they writhe and roll together, very contact improvisation, with lots of weight baring. 

Nashville Ballet are another first on the UK stage with Leto. Nick Mullkin’s choreography and Erik Emmanuel’s plonking, Sarah Pierce and James Lankford combining for a heady pas de deux. In flowing chiffon and bare chested (Lankford) an intimate and delicate piece ranges around the space to Ravel’s diaphanous piano. 

One of the few positives to come out of the big sick, James Wilton and Sarah Jane Taylor rising to fame with their DFH (dance From Home) videos, now expanding to online classes. Their interpretation of the Four Seasons Summer is more astrological, both like bouncing atoms, frantically rolling up and down from floor to standing, prolonged handstands and guttering collisions giving us a very different idea of the season slowly slipping between our fingers. 

But who could forget Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw performing every ballet girls dream pas de deux, White Swan Act II from Swan Lake? Both from English National Ballet we are reminded of the clout of classical ballet, and the pleasure of the old staples. Illustrating Ballet Nights’s unique ability to please everyone. From the blunt fringed contemporary upstart to your beaded aunt who just wants to relax into Tchaikovsky’s known rhythms. I am already looking froward to the 7th incarnation and judging by the festival’s trajectory I won’t have to wait long.

See what’s on in the heart of Chelsea, click here!