BalletBoyz

A date with masculinity, modern dance and extreme ballet as young male dancers stripped bare exhibited sinuous lines as they danced to an eclectic music score.

Last night the BalletBoyz, performed their electric ballet ‘The Talent 2013’ at G Live in Guildford. A superb performance, an energizing and thrilling dance routine, executed brilliantly. Talent 2013 is most definitely Talented.

Before each performance the choreographer appeared in a short video clip offering the audience a personal insight to their thinking behind the piece on offer.

Liam Scarlett choreographed the first piece ‘Serpent.’ The music written by Max Richter, a melancholic score which drew me in as bodies wrapped in skin tone leggings as subtle lighting displayed torso’s stripped back and laid bare as rib cages stretched to fullest extensions, twisted and turned, revealing physical fitness to levels rarely attained by typical members of the public.

The opening sequence of a single arm raised and extended above the bodies laid on the dance floor created a sinuous line, the hand searching as the background music encouraged the dancers to twist their bodies into beautiful balletic poses.

A troupe of ten young male dancers performed this mesmerizing dance. There was no story to tell, yet no story was required as in a more formal ballet. The lighting of the empty stage showed off the physicality of their bodies to perfection, each taut muscle and twisted sinew highlighted.

The stage at first seemed too small to hold all of this energetic troupe and then suddenly a single dancer held our attention, switching to a duet whilst the remainder of the troupe stood in a tight huddle. A shoulder blade roll here, and a shoulder blade roll there.

Each dancer seemed of a similar height and stature but as the dance developed it became more apparent that each dancer had a different physical presence, shoulder blades separated and moved in a defined manner and that’s where individually each dancer became different from the dancer next to him and as rib cages extended and stretched they showed each dancers definition could define him as distinct and individual.

The musical score and interpretation by both choreographers seduced the audience into silence, so as each performer finished the auditorium was silent, spellbound, and all that we could hear… the laboured breathing of a dancer as he departed the stage.

These dancers trust each other implicitly, each supports the other as a lead dancer which allows a following dancer to use his body as a framework for a complex move, a hand here, a body leans in bears its full weight and then with a seamless twist of a single fluid movement that was graceful and elegant, the dancer with effortless ease slipped into the next position and the scene moved forward.

‘Fallen’ by Russell Maliphant had a pounding beat, hypnotic and pulsating by contrast the second piece from the opening sequence, compulsive viewing performed with superb timing which included complex tumbling routines within the dance offering a synchronicity, flexibility and fluidity which has deservedly earned the BalletBoyz, high praise for their magical performance and they have garnered many awards accolades along the way.

Somehow, during this second piece the dancers managed to slink across the stage, and interpret the music on offer by Armand Amar as the lighting heightened each dancer’s body extensions with dramatic effect on the back wall as a giant shadow version appeared. If you find the male body beautiful then I assure you, you will enjoy this performance immensely.

Michael Nunn and William Trevitt can be proud of this brilliant troupe of exceptional young dancers and if you get a chance to see them on their current tour, I suggest you grab tickets with both hands.

My thanks to Rosalie at G Live for choosing me to be a winning ticket holder, I shall be back for more performances, of this I'm certain.