THE HANGOVER REPORT – With Thomas Adès’s astonishing score as a guide, Wayne McGregor’s THE DANTE PROJECT sleekly delivers us from hell to heaven

The Royal Ballet performs Wayne McGregor’s “The Dante Project” at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (photo courtesy of The Royal Ballet).

In addition to my musical theater binge during my time in London, I was also able to – on my final night across the pond – attend a performance by the great Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. On the bill was resident choreographer Wayne McGregor’s latest full length ballet The Dante Project, a stylish three act take on Dante’s The Divine Comedy. For those of you unfamiliar with the 14th century epic poem, it depicts Dante’s journey from Hell to Heaven, as guided by ancient Roman poet Virgil.

Set to an astonishing original score by British composer Thomas Adès, McGregor’s artful ballet is a major achievement. Throughout, McGregor creates some striking stage pictures, especially against the stunning visual imagery created by artist Tacita Dean and lighting designer Lucy Carter. The highlight for me was the middle “Purgatorio” section, an aching, choreographically grounded encapsulation of Dante’s life as anchored by an intense love for a woman, which eventually transcends its earthbound manifestation. The conclusion of “Paradiso” seems to imply that Dante’s progression isn’t over yet, suggesting that his journeys are set to take him further out into the cosmic unknown. Is it a perfect ballet? No. Some of its sleekness seem at odds with the timelessness of Dante’s masterwork and a few of the somewhat cluttered choreographic passages in “Inferno” and “Paradiso” seem curiously interchangeable (but this is perhapsintentional by philosophical design?). One of the ballet’s chief assets is Adès’s guiding score, which animates each section with texture and immensity (the score is at its most ravishing in the pensive “Purgatorio” act).

No one quite moves like the dancers of the Royal Ballet. Rigorously trained in the classical manner, they also possess the uncanny dramatic intelligence to both generate excitement in and precisely articulate contemporary, choreographically busier ballets like McGregor’s The Dante Project. Taking over the role of Dante from the celebrated Edward Watson (who premiered the ballet) is William Bracewell, a less distinctive but no less exquisite dancer who gorgeously phrases McGregor’s steps with deep feeling and refined technique. Also superb were Fumi Kaneko and Francesca Hayward as incarnations of Dante’s love interest Beatrice.

RECOMMENDED

THE DANTE PROJECT
Dance
The Royal Ballet
2 hours, 45 minutes (with two intermissions)
In repertory through December 2

Categories: Dance

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