Review: WAYNE MCGREGOR: ALCHEMIES, Royal Ballet And Opera

Sir Wayne McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet in 2006, the first from a contemporary dance background, and here we are 20 years later acknowledging that fact with a triple bill of his work for the company called Alchemies.

Alchemy is a “medieval, philosophical, and proto-scientific tradition aimed at transmuting base metals into gold” but I'm afraid only one out of the three works came close to something precious.

Opening the bill is Untitled (2023) which I find unremarkable. The Anna Thorvaldsdottir score is described as ferocious and desolate. Desolate absolutely, but though the Carmen Herrera sets and Burberry costumes are undoubtedly stylish, they don't do enough to rescue the work. As a whole it lacks intrigue and any sense of build. Lots of something sure, but largely nothing of note.

Closing the night is the world premiere Quantum Souls, set to Bushra El-Turk’s Ka performed by percussionist Beibei Wang, double bassist Tony Hougham - both on stage for the duration - alongside the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The score includes elements of improvisation but I mostly heard screaming cats and a deflating bagpipe. Buckets of energy from Wang though. No doubt.

The costumes by Saul Nash are luxe sportswear and the choreography is very similar to Untitled in style. Of course McGregor has a language so this is to be expected, but 40 minutes of movement to another difficult score that has no obvious build is not an easy watch. 

The middle work, Yugen (2018) is an antidote to what surrounds it, and acts as an example as to where McGregor can go with different base materials. Thankfully Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" was exquisitely performed, with Bernstein's exquisite melody, phrasing, build and a sense of spirituality.

Bernstein absolutely brings the best out of McGregor, to the point that it looks like a different choreographer's work. Poetic, dynamic and emotional, notions of humanity exude from the stage and the dancers seem to relish it. 

This is a complex triple bill, and one that raises many questions. Art should challenge but there's a fine line. Is this where things should be after a 20 year tenure? Does the work warrant all that the Royal Ballet and Opera offers? Yugen is indeed a work of value, and I'm sure it deepens the more it's seen, but elsewhere I feel unsatisfied, verging on frustrated. And it isn't a good feeling.

Wayne McGregor: Alchemies continues at Royal Ballet And Opera until 6 May