LONDON – Ghost stories are surprisingly rare in ballet. You would have thought that, with all those yards of ethereal white tarlatan and young ladies flitting around, classic ballet and classic ghost would have been a natch match.
Not so. Apart, of course, from “Giselle,” in which the ghosts of betrayedmaidens lure luckless men to their deaths, and “La Bayadere,” which has a spectral plane that the living can visit only in opium dreams, ballet has largely avoided the spirit world.
Thus Stephen King has never inspired a ballet. Still, there may be hope, for last week Britain’s Royal Ballet, finishing off its summer stint in its temporary quarters at Sadler’s Wells Theater, went ghostly on us.
It was not Stephen King but rather the more reserved Henry James, in his subtly discreet venture in the horror genre, “The Turn of the Screw.”
William Tuckett’s attempt to balleticize James’ novel was interesting and worthwhile – the setting, lighting and projections by Steven Scott were fantastically atmospheric, and the mysteriously somber music taken from Andrzej Panufnik was persuasively apt. But Tuckett failed to add one essential ingredient: expressive choreography.
There was a lot of grimacing and posturing but little dancing. Even such splendid performers as Irek Mukhamedov and Adam Cooper, alternating in the role of Quint, were unable to make bricks without straw or ghosts without dancing.
This repertory program opened with over-emoted yet under-danced performances of George Balanchine’s “Serenade” and ended with more spirited stagings of Frederick Ashton’s “Rhapsody,” which is set to Rachmaninov’s Paganini Variations. Despite ugly new scenery and costumes by Patrick Caulfield, the work remains a gem, and among its various casts it was a welcome vehicle for Carlos Acosta and Viviana Durante.
The Cuban-born Acosta, the first black principal dancer on the Royal Ballet roster, is among the most stylish classicists in world dance. The season ended Saturday night with a performance of Ashton’s “Ondine,” in which Sarah Wildor repeated her delightful portrayal of the sea sprite, this time partnered by the eloquent Bruce Sansom, one of the company’s few experienced Ashton dancers.
It was a performance that effortlessly stressed what a wonderful ballet “Ondine” is, and what a pity it is that New York has not seen it since 1960.