When Kenneth MacMillan premiered Isadora in 1981, his attempts to combine choreography and text in portraying the ballet's heroine were judged over-ambitious and over-egged; the work was dropped from the repertory. But this season his widow, Deborah MacMillan, has extracted the choreographic heart of the ballet (and its Richard Rodney Bennett score) and edited it down to a single act. Revised though it is, it still embraces the story of the free-spirited and ultimately tragic dancer, and its dramatic title role is a gift to its ballerinas, who for this revival are Tamara Rojo and Isabel McMeekan. In safer, more reflective mode is Isadora's companion work, Dances At A Gathering. Jerome Robbins's setting of Chopin's piano music has 10 dancers floating on a wash of romantic nuance; and, while over-long and occasionally over-coy, the ballet is a fine showcase for its dancers, with younger generation Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin magnificently holding their own against more established principals like Rojo and Carlos Acosta.
Dance preview: Royal Ballet, Isadora/Dances At A Gathering, London
Contributor

Judith Mackrell
Judith Mackrell writes about dance for the Guardian and is the author of books including Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation
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