We are so lucky that English National Ballet come to Milton Keynes every November. This year it was Nutcracker, a ballet we had not seen for many years. As soon as I read a cast list for Friday night's performance, I knew we were in for a treat. Dancing the lead role of Clara was none other that Tamara Rojo.
After 12 years as Principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, Rojo returned to English National Ballet, this time as Artistic Director and Lead Principal Dancer. (When she was last at ENB, her performances as Clara broke all box office records at the London Coliseum and The Times named her “Dance Revelation of the Year.”) She was awarded a CBE for her services to ballet in the Queen’s 2016 New Year’s Honours. So being in the middle of the fifth row was very special privilege to see such a brilliant dancer.
The first half was OK. Lots of storytelling as the child Clara and her friends spend Christmas Eve with their families. But it is not until the second half that the ballet comes into it's own. The Spanish, Arabian (my favourite), Chinese and Russian dances are superb. And Alison McWhinney is terrific as the Lead Flower.
But then comes the pas de deux. First of all the music for the first section by Tchaikovsky has just moved up to the top of my list of favourite classical pieces. And then the dancing of Tamara Rojo and Isaac Hernandez was out of this world. Now I'm not particularly knowledgeable about ballet dancing, but I knew this was something special. The combination of the music and Rojo's technical brilliance, and being so close, this was, perhaps, the best few minutes I have spent in a theatre. I have looked on youtube at other dancers and nothing beats what we saw. In a provincial theatre on a Friday night. Unforgettable.
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