Dance review: Scottish Ballet

Published on Friday 9 October 2009 21:59

SCOTTISH BALLET ***** THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW

IN AN ideal world, Scottish Ballet would have presented something new for its 40th anniversary programme.

Instead, its autumn programme features three previously seen works. When all are as delicious as this, however, it's hard to complain. Choreographed by three men who have taken modern ballet in different directions, the works have one thing in common – all appeared in one of the company's Edinburgh Festival programmes – Rubies in 2005, In Light and Shadow in 2006 and Workwithinwork in August this year.

The curtain rises on George Balanchine's Rubies to reveal a row of dancers dazzling in red satin, jewels twinkling under the lights. The perfect choice for a 40th anniversary show, this 1967 work has a light and breezy air that belies its complexity.

Taking this clever dual approach to the next level is William Forsythe, whose fascinating Workwithinwork fits Scottish Ballet like a glove. Dressed in relatively simple costumes, with little in the way of lighting design, the dancers had nothing to hide behind but their talent, and Forsythe's fiendishly difficult moves. You can't fake work like this.

By contrast, Krzysztof Pastor's In Light and Shadow makes superb use of costumes and lighting. And, after the wonderful but rather more challenging sounds of Stravinsky and Berio in the first two pieces, Bach's Goldberg Variations wafts over us like a silk cloak. As does Pastor's choreography, which has a smooth, luxurious quality it's virtually impossible to dislike.