The Royal Ballet and London City Ballet have announced a collaborative initiative titled Futureworks, a five-year programme designed to support emerging choreographers primarily focused on classical ballet. This partnership aims to offer a platform that balances the protection of new talent from premature exposure on prominent stages, such as the Royal Opera House, while also embracing London City Ballet’s artistic director Christopher Marney’s interest in both innovative choreography and underexplored elements of ballet history.
The third programme by London City Ballet under Marney’s direction centers on Glen Tetley’s *Firebird*, a gothic ballet set to Stravinsky’s score and originally premiered by the Royal Danish Ballet in 1981. Tetley, whose works featured prominently during the 1980s—including pieces performed by renowned dancers like Rudolf Nureyev—has since seen his choreographies recede from the mainstream repertory. The *Firebird* revival offers a rare opportunity to re-examine Tetley’s artistic contributions and the reasons behind his diminished prominence.
Set against John MacFarlane’s expressionist backdrop of twisted trees, enhanced by projections from Finn Ross and moody lighting by David Finn, the ballet opens with a family scene reminiscent of a Brontë novel: a stern older brother, sombre sisters dressed in black, and one younger girl yearning to escape their strict environment. Surrounded and constrained, the girl eventually transforms into the luminous Firebird. While the production establishes a foundation for a psychological narrative, subsequent scenes are less narratively clear, transitioning into sequences where figures in white dresses dance joyfully and a grotesque skeletal figure is banished. The choreography features Tetley’s characteristic lush movements, especially in a slow, intimate pas de deux between the Firebird and her prince, portrayed by Ellie Young and Joseph Taylor, respectively. However, the work illustrates shifts in dance aesthetics over the decades.
In contrast, John Neumeier’s *Ghost Light*—created during the Covid-19 pandemic—reflects the sensibilities of a contemporary master still attuned to the art form’s pulse at age 87. The piece pays homage to ballet itself, incorporating historical references within an abstract framework where dancers intermittently step into and out of a metaphorical spotlight, symbolized by the ghost light kept on in theatres during closures. Alina Cojocaru’s performance is a highlight; her delicate presence lends the choreography both a mournful and immediate quality. Her entrance, embodying a weary swan, evokes traditional ballerina technique alongside a palpable sense of anxiety beneath ballet’s formal precision.
As *Ghost Light* advances, it explores the tension between technical mastery and the human desire for connection, with figures emerging from darkness to share moments of transient joy. The work offers a poignant reflection on a unique era for live performance, capturing both the enduring spirit and fragility of ballet.