New English Ballet Theatre at the London Handel Festival in A Mythical Double Bill

NEBT at the London Handel Festival in A Mythical Double Bill - Tales of Apollo and Hercules, based on early and late works by the 18th centuury Baroque master…

NEBT dancers Louis de Felice and Maidie Widmer in ‘The Choice of Hercules’ © Craig Fuller

New English Ballet Theatre at the London Handel Festival
Tales of Apollo and Hercules: Apollo e Dafne, The Choice of Hercules
★★★★✰
London, Shoreditch Town Hall
27 March 2025
www.nebt.co.uk
shoreditchtownhall.com
Part of the London Handel Festival

A fine night at the London Handel Festival, if one very distanced from the ‘usual’ dance shows I write about. It was an evening where dance was important, but ultimately the lead here was the music of Handel, in works conceived by director and musician Thomas Guthrie and realised by the period instrument ensemble La Nuova Musica (directed by David Bates), five solo singers, a 13-strong chorus, and all supported by two puppeteers and six dancers from the New English Ballet Theatre.

I must mention the location — the Assembly Hall in the old Shoreditch Town Hall is new to me. An arts centre now, it has had many uses but is laid out as a 700-800 seat Victorian music hall over two tiers. It is a marvellous architectural space, although the whole building is rather a nightmare regarding accessibility. With a thrust stage, there is no fly tower or wings to speak of, which limits scenery, props, and entrances and exits. However, high above the stage, there is a balcony, used here for some of the singing. I like the space, although it is not one that dance companies would normally use.

I can’t sensibly critique the singers and musicians involved other than in terms not dissimilar to the very best of small-town provincial journalism… where earlier in the week I reviewed Bombay Boona, the just opened local curry house, (it was brilliant), saw the local dramatic society in a karaoke version of The Guns of Navarone (it was brilliant), and later in the week will see the 12-strong Vlod National Ice Ballet in their Swan Lake and Frozen double bill (it will be brilliant with beautiful costumes). Yes, the Handel sounded very good, not to say brilliant, to me. The subjects of the two pieces might be strongly dramatic, but the music is anything but heavy — the baroque instruments lend a lightness to everything and lift my spirits. But for proper commentary on Handel and the singing, do seek out the music critics. (and just released here is a 4-star Guardian review)

There is a programme sheet (link to pdf), but it contains little that is sensible about the narrative of each work. Thomas Guthrie has penned some short notes about his inspiration, but it is taken at a high level and really demands you know the plot. That said, there were surtitles high above the stage, and reading them during the Tales of Apollo made me laugh at how melodramatic and of their time they are - and rather at odds with the 21st century costuming. But surtitles take your eye from the stage, which doesn’t work so well when dancers are involved.

I don’t really feel moved by the story of Apollo e Dafne, where the narcissistic Apollo, infatuated with Daphne and firmly rejected, steadily becomes more forceful in wanting her. Rather than giving in to him, she turns herself into a laurel tree. Cue much grief and regret from him. New English Ballet Theatre’s six dancers (Jose Alves, Louis De Felice, Paul Meneu, Jessica Templeton, Maidie Wildmer and Leila Wright) are top-notch and clearly well-rehearsed among themselves and in their interplay with the two singers. The Royal Ballet’s Valentino Zucchetti’s sculptural choreography works well in sympathetically and balletically echoing the sentiments of the words. And at one point there is a tiny nod to Ashton’s La fille mal gardée as the dancers charmingly conjure a carriage out of umbrellas. The dark blue, grey and black unitards they all wear look appropriate, particularly with the odd bit of sparkle. Overall, it presents a classy look, the only problem with the staging being Daphne’s transformation into a tree — she simply turns her back to the audience and stands still. It becomes a little more meaningful when the dancers gather around and stack themselves to resemble the branches of a maturing tree.

There’s a bit more dramatic heft in The Choice of Hercules, where “a youthful Hercules must decide between the paths of pleasure and virtue.” For three singers, the unusual part of the production is that Hercules is depicted as a puppet (head and torso), manipulated in part by his singer and two other puppeteers. Again, the dancers provide sculptural embellishment of the action rather than absolutely leading it, and once more, it all feels very classy — watchable in itself, notably with some tight circular arrangements for all six, plus some cleverly engaging interactions with Hercules. I also appreciate it when the action spills from the stage out to the aisles and closer to the audience. But above all, the music soars, especially when the chorus gets going, looking down on us from the second tier.

Sadly, I don’t think there is any long-term dance piece or pieces for New English Ballet Theatre here, but Zucchetti has yet again shown he can deliver good-looking classical choreography, here with some emotional punch, and I wonder if something might develop further out of this relationship/subject. Overall, it proved to be an interesting diversion and definitely made me think about seeing/listening to more Handel.