4 January 2019. Les Patineurs, Winter Dreams and The Concert at the ROH

This was a pleasant enough evening - but one that didn't do much for me really. Les Patineurs was the best of the trio in my opinion. It is half an hour of dancers creating the world of ice-skaters - with a series of different characters from the a nervous pair through to the amazing soloist -Marcelino Sambe. The whole piece, choreographed by Ashton, was a pleasure to watch - combining great dancing with an amusing unfolding of the events. All against a lovely set of the skating rink, with some snow falling towards the end. Next, we had Winter Dreams, a ballet that originated as a piece by Macmillan for Darcey Bussell and Irek Mukhamedov. The problem is he extended it and it is all a bit tedious. It is based around Chekhov's Three Sisters which is an interesting enough story. However, it is all conducted in such a gloomy light that it is difficult to get enthused as one couple after another dance in pairs and groups. It paradoxically never quite got going for me while lasting far too long. Unusually, the set itself just seemed dreary. So all we ended up with was the air of gloom but not a lot else. Finally, we had The Concert which many people loved but I watched rather stony-faced. It is a bit of slapstick based around people at a Chopin recital. I didn't really see the point of it. The dancers are deliberately making mistakes and messing about and the story didn't honestly bother me.