Mini review: Within the Golden Hour

Company: The Royal Ballet
Venue: Royal Opera House
Coreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Music: Ezio Bosso and Antonio Vivaldi
Date: 18 May 2019

CHOREOGRAPHY   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mixture of classical and modern elements. Very organic and fluid movement creating a nice series of distinctive shapes. Quite technical, with sections requiring a lot of strength. Contemporary details like extensions ending in flexed feet.

PERFORMANCE   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Enjoyable for the most part. I loved Sarah Lamb, however, she was dancing with Alexander Campbell and I’ve never been able to enjoy his dance style (not that he isn’t a fabulous dancer, this is a personal thing).

STAGING   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Minimal but effective. Only a coloured background in changing shades of red, orange, blue and gold.

COSTUMES   ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Simple but adequate for the production. The gold-flecked leotards and dresses reflected the colours projected over the background and seemed to change shades with it.

MUSIC   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Relatively classical, but including many changes in tempo which kept the performance from becoming a bit monotonous.

IN A NUTSHELL

Would I recommend? 👍

This production was very pretty, with appealing visuals and quite a lively pace. I would be happy to watch it again.