Star turn

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  Giannandrea Poesio

  Star turn

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Alexander Larman

What happened to the Rishi Sunak I knew at school?

Stars populated The Dream, too. Alina Cojocaru is a splendid Titania and Valentino Zucchetti, as Puck, dazzled viewers with his technique — even though he needs to fine-tune his exuberance. As Oberon, Steven McRae, in his debut, came across as an almost perfect interpreter of the part: majestic and whimsical, mercurial and charismatic, breathtakingly at ease with the most demanding passages.

This was The Dream that, according to the recent hype, ought to have shattered  the dreams of those wanting to see the Ukrainian star Sergei Polunin as Oberon. If it did, I am only sorry for their artistic shortsightedness, as little could be said against the dancers I saw.

Indeed, the Polunin affair is still getting media coverage, in line with the cheap trends of that ‘celebrity’ — as opposed to ‘star’ — culture we live in. I have no desire to add to what has become a rather unfortunate game of gossip, aspersions, retaliations and speculation for speculation’s sake. Yes, Polunin is a good dancer and, yes, his quitting is a blow. But this is as far as it should go, for, in spite of his being a local darling and, possibly, a ‘celebrity’ he is not yet the international ‘star’ some would like him to be, certainly not the ‘new Nureyev’ — a comparison that I find short-sighted and unfair, as artists ought to be praised for their talents and not for being an idealised copy of someone else.

Interestingly, Polunin’s not fully fledged star status came to the fore in his solo performance in Ivan Putrov’s Men in Motion, a few days after his resignation from the Royal Ballet. His rendition of Narcisse, by Kasian Goleizovsky, a piece created as a vehicle for the likes of the unforgettable Vladimir Vasiliev, was competent but not memorable, and certainly not as charismatic as Daniel Proietto’s interpretation of Russell Maliphant’s AfterLight (Part 1) in the same bill.

Amid all the tabloid-like morass, what truly caught my attention was Polunin’s declaration that his resignation stemmed mostly from his being ‘bored’. What has been interpreted as teen whimsicalness by some could also be read as dramatically symptomatic of the rotting state of the ballet form, something Polunin might have had enough of. Were that the case, he would have my support and my respect, as not everyone has the guts to say no to convenient mediocrity.

Indeed, convenient mediocrity is what ballet is made of today, with only a few rare exceptions. I have no intention of listing what is wrong, nor do I wish to ruffle the feathers of those who are content with mediocrity. When, in a notoriously demanding artistic context, values go to the dogs, and those who try to restore them are accused of all sorts of crimes against humanity — as in the case of the eminent dance writer who ‘dared’ to comment on the unbecoming plumpness of a lead dancer — there is little to do but to retreat into either despair or hope.