The Dance Theatre of Harlem invariably arrive in London on a tidal wave of goodwill and affection, and their second (all-Balanchine) programme saw Sadler's Wells hosting a capacity crowd. Many of those present were new to ballet, clapping generously and maintaining a cheerful sotto voce commentary on proceedings throughout. This reached its height during Alicia Graf and Kip Sturm's performance of the pas de deux from Agon. As Sturm touched his partner's foot to the back of her head, and Graf inclined into arabesque penchée, the sympathetic squeals of "Ouch!" and "Yikes!" gave way to murmurs of "Omigod!" and an awestruck "That's gross!" This chatty counterpoint detracted not a whit from the occasion. But the evening was, in truth, uneven.
The opening piece saw Rasta Thomas deliver a technically sound but dramatically inert Apollo. Of his Muses, Tai Jimenez's Terpsichore was most alive to the tensions of Stravinsky's score, but all three were overstretched by the choreography, evincing a forced line and a brittle style.
Things looked up with The Prodigal Son. Duncan Cooper was almost too likable in the title role, but the dumbass machismo of his friends (Kevin Thomas and Ramon Thielen) was spot-on. Best of all was Caroline Rocher's sultry, dreamy-eyed Siren, to whom Cooper responded with an all-too-believable desire.
Rocher's CV includes a stint at the Crazy Horse nude revue in Paris, and there can't be many dancers who have strutted their stuff with the likes of Roxy Tornado and Frenchy Lunatic, then gone on to dance Balanchine. Rocher's Siren isn't quite the adamantine bitch-queen that Sylvie Guillem recently delivered at Covent Garden, but she is a stirringly dangerous piece of work.
Slimmer pickings in Agon. Ikolo Griffin has a fluid style, a springy jump and careless cool; he gave a fine account of the first pas de trois. Rocher reappeared in the second pas de trois to general enthusiasm, and Alicia Graf's catwalk looks and hyper-flexible limbs clearly made an indelible impression. As an ensemble, Dance Theatre of Harlem are not quite equal to Agon's oblique stylistic demands, but they make a big audience connection. And that's important.
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