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Directors from the worlds of pop and adverts have made five films for English National Ballet’s new digital season. From boxing women to glorious goths, you won’t know what’s coming next
A Cuban sugar plum fairy, the undead, a Russian war epic, two women staring each other down in a boxing ring – you never know what’s coming next in English National Ballet’s digital season. The five latest films, wide-ranging in style and concept, average 15 minutes each, making them notably more substantial than most video shorts in the Covid era. It’s an attempt at meaningful choreography as well as visual flair. They will be performed on stage at some point, but for now the films are being released one per week.
Shot in ENB’s own studio, the works are more filmed dances than dance films but there’s still imaginative use of the space from the directors, who mostly come from commercials and pop videos. The most straightforward is the first, Stina Quagebeur’s Take Five Blues. With warmth and fun, the dancers bounce off violinist Nigel Kennedy’s unconventional recordings of Take Five and Bach’s double concerto. The combination of classical and jazz is reflected in the choreography’s uncomplicatedly attractive angles; it has the mood of improvisation and the precision of a technique class. There’s energy in Shaun James Grant’s direction but it always remains respectful of the choreography.
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