It was pleasing to see that Nicole Rhodes has made huge progress in this area herself. Her partnership with Campbell McKenzie makes for compelling viewing. Both dancers are particular as technicians with obviously strong ideas about how they want to dance. Adding a personalized dramatic overtone gave their performance a vital immediacy that makes for memorable moments to treasure. Not even mobile phone ringing in the auditorium during the final stunning lift fazed them.
They were only let down by their bronze-brown costumes. Designed by Antony Dowell, the three pairs of different costumes, seemingly intended as an evocation of romantic ballroom scenes from ballets depicting the 19th century, come across as a hotchpotch of colour, cut and design.
Lynette Wills and Robert Curran wore the charcoal/red costumes of the third duet, which is the most volatile. I really enjoyed seeing this couple cut a few corners to pack more punch into the big moves.
Robert Curran is shaping up as a major presence in the company. His effort in Voluntaries showed a total willingness to absorb the choreographer�s intention. Rhodes, his partner, matched him move for move and there were times I could see how Richard Cragun and Marcia Hayd�e, on whom these roles were created, would have danced this work. The work�s grandeur and vaulting sense of grief were palpable; even the mega-lifts worked well in this context, which was reinforced by various other references to Cranko�s work, especially the transposed quotations from the last pas de deux in Onegin, arguably Cranko�s single greatest work.
In keeping with the program�s first ballet, the costumes here are also not flattering. What was Rouben Ter-Arutunian thinking when he dreamt up the white shiny lycra allovers with the jellybean speckles around the girls� chests and down the boys� sides? Voluntaries is meant to be as much a celebration as an elegy, however, the effect of the costumes is just ghastly, making the dancers look lumpy and blobby.
Balanchine generally goes over well, and this rendition of The Four Temperaments was no exception. Curran made an impressive appearance in this work, too (Phlegmatic variation). Principals Lucinda Dunn (Choleric), Nicole Rhodes and Steven Heathcote (Sanguinic) made their presence strongly felt, as did Craig Cathcart (Melancholic) who is still only in the corps but showed guts and flair.
From BBDance