After The Applause

A spectacularly choreographed ballet accompanied by a superb orchestra retelling the story of the founding fathers of heavy metal takes the stage at Sadler’s Wells!!

I have discovered that a secret pleasure for me and my dad has got to be going to see modern ballets. For example Quadrophenia (bringing the 1979 film to life) or Peaky Blinders: Redemption of Thomas Shelby, both earning 5 star reviews from me and remaining present in my memory even today. The next one we wanted to see was Black Sabbath brought to the stage by the Birmingham Royal Ballet and their director the brilliant Carlos Acosta.

Whilst very different to the other two we had seen previously, this ballet was a fun demonstration of skill and wonderful choreography set to classic Black Sabbath tunes rearranged to suit a humongous orchestra.

That is the first thing I will mention, what made this so special was the Royal Ballet Sinfonia orchestra and that absolutely beautiful score. Transforming the guitar riffs to flute trills and the bass line belters to a powerful brass ensemble, it really took me aback how superb they sounded. Christopher Austin and Joshua Hickin really paint the landscape for Acosta’s ensemble of dancers, they lay out a rough black and white story through their music and Acosta simply colours it in with his bold and creatively fascinating choreography. We were sat right above the orchestra and could look down into the pit and all I could see were smiling faces as they readied themselves for ‘War Pigs’ or played the rampaging arpeggios of ‘Paranoid’!

I loved the choice to place the ballet into three distinctive acts (although disagreed with the need for 2 twenty minute intervals, one would have sufficed!) each act having its own choreographer. Each one felt different, the first a swelling classic ballet with intricate movements choreographed by Raul Reinoso. The dancers move together as one block as they erupt onto stage to the unmistakeable voice of Ozzy Osbourne, before being fractured by Marc Hayward rocking out on the guitar. Hayward was brilliant, playing the tunes whilst navigating his way through the cluster of expressive dancers, and he still managed to get the whole audience involved as if at a rock gig!

The second act focused on the band, choreographed by Cassi Abranches, the dancers move to the voices and speeches made by the members of the band, accompanied by a quieter orchestral track. This felt more emotional and the technical ability of the dancers was on show for us all to see, they were simply remarkable. The final act is entitled ‘Everybody is a fan’ as all the dancers burst onto the stage wearing black sabbath t-shirts and rocking out to Austin’s soundtrack through the exhillerating choreography by Pontus Lidberg.

Whilst it was about the dancing, it felt like there was still a strong story of community and a love letter to Black Sabbath, thanking them for what they brought to the music world. I loved the distinctive designs for each act, each by Joshua Blair, it felt like we were watching three separate ballets at times and this was something I actually enjoyed. It was a risky creative move but it did work.

It is hard to pick out specific dancers in this one, as none of them played specific characters but I can say that they were an impeccable ensemble. Their stamina was immense and they understood the meaning of every movement they did. All the soloists were also brilliant, especially in the final act when it was just one dancer on stage conveying a sense of loneliness until all of the ensemble scampered onto stage wearing their T-shirts. It was not always slick but it still flowed and i cannot comment really because I wouldn’t be able to remember 2 minutes of choreography let alone 2 hours and half!! So bravo to the whole company of dancers, very impressive.

MY VERDICT:

This was a very good Ballet, a real celebration of Sabbath and their amazing music. Despite the two intervals and slight inconsistensies in the dancing, I managed to really enjoy it. A standout for me was the music, it engrossed me a lot more and added to the excitement and build up. I loved the addition of Hayward on the electric guitar, he was a proper rock dude and certainly had the crowd on his side!
What I loved about watching this is how happy the dancers, the musicians, even the stage crew looked (slight malfunction as all the curtains fell down and we were able to look into the wings in act 3) so full of joy throughout. It seemed like such a brilliant community and project to be a part of and really summed up the meaning of act 3, ‘everyone’s a fan’ and I was definitely a fan of this ballet!!

Black Sabbath- the ballet has ended its run in London but it is on a National Tour, see dates on the Birmingham Ballet Company website!!