Under the artistic direction of the étoile Eleonora Abbagnato, Rome Opera House (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma) continues its curatorial approach to dance by embracing contemporary creation in an overall programming that aims to combine the classical and neoclassical repertoire with some of the latest tendencies in contemporary ballet. As part of the 2024–2025 season entitled I Volti del Potere (The Faces of Power), which has included ballets such as Jiří Bubeníček’s Carmen and John Cranko’s Onegin, Rome Opera House offered a triple bill contemporary ballet evening within a short distance from Trittico Contemporaneo (March 2025), a triptych with works by Philippe Kratz, Vittoria Girelli and Francesco Annarumma. For this late spring’s triptych (May 20–25), the season’s topic referred less to the power of a specific historical persona, as in the cases of Carmen and Onegin, and more to the anonymous psychic strength to face and overcome struggle, loss and despair through hope.
Alexander Ekman, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, and David Dawson – all four acclaimed international choreographers – gave the opportunity at the corps de ballet of Rome Opera House and its audience to experience three different choreographic approaches as part of an evening of artistic excellence in terms of an outstanding performance by the corps de ballet of the Rome Opera House and its orchestra, the choreographic integrity of the three works and – why not? – the architectural ingenuity that accompanies each choreographic piece. Ekman’s Cacti (2010) and León-Lightfoot’s Subject to Change (2003) were originally created for the Nederlands Dans Theater and Nederlands Dans Theater 2 respectively while Dawson’s Four Last Songs (2023) for the English National Ballet. All three were combined as part of a triptych at the Rome Opera House, a format largely used in the rest of Europe that has conquered the hearts of the Roman audience thanks to the insightfulness of Abbagnato. The triple bill proceeded from the use of props to enhance a choreographic idea to the body as the only medium to convey emotion, and from an idiosyncratic choreographic approach to one that follows the recognisable codes and formality of neoclassical ballet.
Inspired by the beauty and spiny nature of the cactus, Cacti is a piece that elaborates with lightness and humour on the idea of danger in interpersonal relations. Light and movable white slabs participate in a choreography that vividly animates the space. At times, they serve as micro-stages for each dancer and at other times as walls to partially cover their bodies or as elements of an angular, spiky and abstract sculptural composition. With an opening configuration of the set design evocative of Peter Eisenman’s holocaust memorial, eighteen dancers on their knees dynamically perform a choreography of body percussion on top of the slabs. With an upper body expressivity and forcefulness, the highly technical dancers tap on the slabs and their bodies, and their shouts contribute to the aural composition of Cacti. Eclectic technique fuses with loose physicality in dialogue with the live music orchestra and the string quartet Sincronie, performing on stage, who play compositions by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. For a piece complete from any angle – even though Spencer Theberge’s voiceover soundtrack on the nature of the “contemporary” seems by now unnecessary –, Ekman choreographs meticulously space and every action occurring on stage: not only the movement and the relations between the dancers as if they were members of a well-tuned orchestra but also the parts of a modular set design and the dead nature of cacti brought on stage by the dancers. Enhanced by the light design of Tom Visser, Cacti is a choreographic composition of a visual rhythmicality fused with irony; a movement crescendo performed with power, speed and elegance and a witty commentary about the thorny human relationships.
With Subject to Change by León and Lightfoot, the evening proceeds from the idea of danger, as implied by the image of the cactus plant, to emotional and tangible pain, especially in relation to loss and imminent death. Subject to Change is a short sextet (a duet and a quartet) to Gustav Mahler’s transcription of Franz Schubert’s Der Tod und Das Madchen, which sets the tone of an elegiac atmosphere. The piece unfolds on a red carpet — where both the colour and the type of prop are not random choices, as the red implies blood and the carpet is a light prop that may easily be manipulated. On the red carpet, Jacopo Giarda and the étoile Rebecca Bianchi perform a duet with sublime plasticity and detail combined with a simple scenographic effect. Holding the angles of the carpet to rotate it and initiating undulations that travel on the bodies of the dancers, the four black-dressed custodians surprisingly and unexpectedly, yet deliberately, choreograph the carpet to guide and enhance the dramaturgical coherence of the piece. When the choreography seems to proceed smoothly, the sudden change of the carpet reminds us of how ephemeral and “subject to change” is every aspect of our lives, which we may consider solid and secure. Building an emotional journey, the piece emanates a pacifying sensation of reconciliation with death.
The evening wraps with Dawson’s Four Last Songs set in the music of Richard Strauss and accompanied on stage by the melodic voice of the soprano Madeleine Pierard. With their form-fitting and unadorned leotards that match the plainness of the brutalist-like structure framing the top of the stage, the dancers move in spatial compositions in search of exaltation and ascension. With their continuous lifts towards the sky, they look like fallen angels trying to return to the dusky sky through an opening of the structure towards heaven. Unhindered from props, the dancers occupy the bare stage entangling their bodies in linear and thick formations, performing sequences accentuated by the linearity of their extensions and travelling in space as shapes of a well-sophisticated choreographic design. The most recent yet academic among the three pieces, Four Last Songs follows the spirit and the harmony of neoclassical dance to inspire hope and faith in humanity through a transcendental experience.
Cacti, Subject to Change and Four Last Songs are three pieces essentially different from each other yet linked in an evening of curatorial and stylistic cohesion. Being part of the contemporary ballet repertoire, they continue to converse with our contemporaneity through the existential and timeless values they touch upon. In this endeavour, the Rome Opera House is at its best on a path of secure success under the alertness of Eleonora Abbagnato and the firmness of the newly re-elected superintendent of the foundation, Francesco Giambrone.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Ariadne Mikou.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
