Balletboyz "The Talent" at Richmond Theatre

Having been to see some classical ballet last week http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/blogs/showblog.php?post=2002 I was keen to see some modern dance and took my teenage daughter (who spent nine years learning classical ballet) along to see Balletboyz at Richmond Theatre. As well as the usual ballet crowd and lots of very thin people there were a good number of young dancers – both male and female – in the audience.

The first Act was called Torsion and the music was rather strange (unstructured random noises with occasional taps) and the lighting was dim and moody – with low spots illuminating each of the six dancers one at a time. The guys were barefoot with jeans and dark blue sleeveless shirts. The movements were fluid and graceful and perfectly in time with the disconcerting sounds. It was quite surreal and I was mesmerised by the way that the dancers arms appeared to blur with their rapid movements. It was organic and compelling and I was wowed at the artful choreography.

Then there were two pairs of dancers with more energetic dancing and a nod to street dancing. I admit that I perked up a bit here – the way that they pulled and lifted and leaned on each other was gravity defying but graceful. And still with that strange blend of precision and fluidity. But I couldn’t help wondering what the three judges on “Got to dance” would have said.

Then there was a soloist with movements that were more reminiscent of ballet – there were pirouettes and an astonishing set of turns on his knees. The audience broke into spontaneous applause and cheering. Then back to three pairs with more a more persistent drum beat, more pace and energy and lots of close body contact that was strangely devoid of sexual tension. Or passion. But the audience loved it.

There was a short pause here while a “the story so far” video played. It was great to see the dancers rehearse and practice and to see how the choreographers developed the sequences. Clearly, the dancers were totally committed to their art.
I couldn’t help but admire the youthful strength of these young men whose physiques looked like they had come straight from the covers of men’s health and fitness magazines.

The second act was called Alpha and the dancers were in russet coloured loose shorts and pantaloon trousers that nipped in at the knees. They reminded me of those marital art monks. The soundtrack here was a lone guitarist and vocalist that at points reminded me of Neil Young but occasionally veered into almost a country sound. My daughter wasn’t impressed with the music. Again, the dancing was imaginative, skilful and daring.

But we both felt that we were enduring rather than enjoying the performance and left at the interval. Maybe our tastes are too unsophisticated. There is no doubt that these dancers are highly trained, skilful, strong and dedicated to their art form. But for me it lacked an emotional connection – there was no humour, no sense of team work (although clearly there must have been a high degree to achieve the synchronisation that was awesome) or passion - which was strange bearing in mind that these were stunningly attractive young men with the bodies of Adonis.

But if you are hoping to entice your reluctant kids into considering modern dance then I guess it would be a good choice.