This ballet , first screened on TV in 1977, was choreographed by Kenneth McMillan, and features the legendary pairing of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev at the height of their powers.
It goes without saying that the emphasis was on storytelling, with the onus on the leads, whose movement vocabulary was emotive and dynamic, particularly in terms of technique and expression.
Few male dancers at that time could perform wild pirouettes with the athleticism of Nureyev. Likewise, there were few female ballet dancers with the lightness of touch, or dramatic gravitas of Fonteyn. They flowed together beautifully, despite there being a considerable age gap.
However, this being McMillan, I was ultimately left rather cold, as much of the choreography here was too safe; purely gestural and reliant on tired classical traditions we had seen hundreds of times before. I like ballet that pushes boundaries and feels innovative. As admirable as the ensemble were, much of it it felt trite and somewhat empty in its execution. Time hasn’t been entirely kind to this ballet.
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