Lyon Opera Ballet
Hong Kong Arts Festival
Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre
February 9
Lyon Opera Ballet's appearance in this year's Arts Festival had some good dancing and gave Hong Kong audiences a chance to see work by Benjamin Millepied, the New York-based French choreographer who sprang to fame beyond the dance world for the film Black Swan. The programme, however, could have been better chosen and did not add up to a satisfying whole.
The word 'ballet' may be misleading, since the repertoire is 100 per cent modern and includes much pure contemporary dance. This background worked against them in Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, which made an uneasy fit with the rest of the programme. While competent technically, the dancers lacked elegance, musicality and lightness. This is also a ballet where aesthetics cannot be ignored and casting was problematic - the two ballerinas who correspond to the duo of violins in Bach's music had ill-matched physiques.
The two works by Millepied, Sarabande and This Part in Darkness, demonstrated that he has something to offer. His choreography is notable for its fluidity and musicality and, although modern, draws effectively on classical technique as a foundation. Set to solo flute and violin music by Bach, well played on stage with the dancers by Wilson Ng Wai-sai and Eric Crambes, the lighthearted four man Sarabande was the more satisfying of the two. This Part in Darkness had good moments but needed better structure and less repetition. The choreography showed strong influences of Balanchine and Forsythe and would have looked better danced on pointe. There was excellent work from Karline Marion, Raul Serrano Nunez and especially Randy Castillo, a stand-out in both pieces.
Maguy Marin is one of Europe's most acclaimed experimental choreographers. In her Grosse Fugue, four women run around the stage, jump and occasionally do a shambling walk. The work was performed with energy and received with rapturous applause by some.