Review at a glance

We search for stories – we can’t help ourselves. Put a person on stage and we wonder who they are. Two people and our eyes seek out a relationship. Add an ensemble and we ask just what kind of community this is.

Perspectives is a kind of blah title for the Royal Ballet ’s triple bill – a classic, a premiere and a sassy New York hit – but what would you call a clutch of abstract-ish works with a teasing narrative undertow? Story Not Story?

Serenade was created by George Balanchine in 1934 and refined over the years. With its mysterious atmosphere (softly sighing Tchaikovsky in a translucent blue world) and subsumed sense of a fairy-tale quest (semaphoring maidens, hero led with his eyes covered, tumble-haired heroine borne aloft), Serenade sets the template for non-

See Full Page