The Boston beautiful

The 4th July seems a fitting date to mention our friends from across the pond and it just so happens that last night we were lucky enough to catch the Boston Ballet at the London Coliseum. We’d been looking forward to witnessing this very special performance for a while, so did it match up to our sky-high expectations? Let’s just say that our hands are still hurting from some very vigorous applauding.

George Balanchine’s neo-classical Serenade was breathtakingly beautiful with its cast of many creating elegant lines and shapes, seemingly effortless on top of some seriously deft pointe work. Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, which debuted in 1912 inspired controversy upon its premiere for its erotic undertones and we can see why: the exceptionally talented Altan Dugaraa depicted a horny faun in more ways than one! In-house choreographer, Jorma Elo’s contemporary piece, Plan to B saw six very bendy dancers transform into real athletes with its nifty choreography and Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements was a fittingly joyous finale involving the entire cast.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra were predictably first-rate, made even more special when we peeked into the orchestra pit only to spot our friend, Lucy Shaw on double bass. Small world!

This is an incredibly short but sweet run but if you do get the chance to pop along in the next few days you’re in for a real treat. We’re still reeling.