Melissa Hamilton's Grand Ballet Gala
Ireland's star ballerina performs at the Grand Opera House, Belfast
On the 26th and 27th October, First Soloist of the Royal Ballet, Melissa Hamilton performed in her native Northern Ireland. Bringing together dancers from various companies, Melissa presented her Grand Ballet Gala, brought to us by her production company Hamilton Christou Productions, at the Grand Opera House in Belfast.
In an interview with the BBC, Melissa expressed her delight at returning to her home stage with a special ballet gala, calling it “a dream come true.”
“To be able to come full circle and bring so many esteemed colleagues and friends to my home stage in the Grand Opera House is something I could never have imagined,” she said, “it’s so special.”1
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the evening performance, which was sold out to a full audience. The programme was made up of a mixture of excerpts from the classical repertoire and four contemporary works and the cast were dancers from the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, Ballet Black, Northern Ballet and Ballet Ireland.
The opening number was the Grand Pas d’action from Act 1, scene 2 of Swan Lake, performed by Melissa and Gareth Haw, principal dancer of ENB. Melissa performed the role of the Swan Queen with sheer elegance and Gareth proved to be an excellent partner. Next was a very short excerpt from The Sleeping Beauty, an extra variation added in the 20th century choreographed to the music for Blind Man’s Bluff. It was performed by the very talented Martin Diaz, an Artist of the Royal Ballet, who leaped on stage and, for the 30 or more seconds he was on, danced with such fieriness, speed and virtuosity. A young artist in the making with plenty of talent and one sees a bright future for him at the Royal Ballet. The third piece was File Portugal’s All That Remains, performed by the dancers of Ballet Ireland, a contemporary piece that reflects on being in the present moment, starting with an energetic first half and then moving into a slower, more gentle second half.
Next was the Le Corsaire Pas de deux performed by Liudmila Konovalova, principal dancer of the Vienna State Ballet, and Vsevolod Maievskyi, a junior soloist with ENB. Both dancers were well-matched as partners and each gave a stellar performance; Liudmila presented wonderful speed, especially in her posé pirouettes and fouettés, and Vsevolod brought buoyant jumps that reached an amazing height. Then came the pas de deux from Act 2 of Giselle, performed by Sangeun Lee, Lead Principal Dancer of ENB, and Gareth Haw. Sangeun danced the ghostly Giselle beautifully and it was a pleasure to see Gareth return to dance a variation because he proved to be a superb casting for Albrecht. His jumps went to incredible heights, probably the highest of all the men performing in the entire gala. The first half was brought to an explosive ending with Melissa returning to dance Asaf Messerer’s Spring Waters with Lukas B. Brændsrød, First Soloist of the Royal Ballet.
The second half started with a neo-classical pas de deux entitled Lightness of Being, choreographed by Craig Davidson exclusively for Melissa and she was partnered by Lukas. This was followed by the masterful Diamonds pas de deux by George Balanchine, performed by Liumilla and Vsevolod. The third piece was one of two pieces receiving their world premières at this gala - a contemporary solo entitled Solo Hana, choreographed and performed by Sangeun Lee to the music of Chopin. The fourth piece was excerpts from the Grand Pas Classique Hongrois from Act 3 of Raymonda, staged as a pas de deux and performed by Martin Diaz and Hanna Park, an Artist with the Royal Ballet. Hanna is another young talent with much potential and for whom one can imagine a bright future. Finally, the final piece of the programme was the second new piece receiving its world première - a neo-classical entitled Into the Light, choreographed by Valentino Zucchetti of the Royal Ballet and created for Melissa’s gala. Created as a pièce d’occasion, it is choreographed to Frühling and September from Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs and was inspired by the poetry of Joseph von Eichendorff. It is a beautiful piece of ballet and opera, danced by Melissa, José Alves, a member of Ballet Black, and Jerome Anthony Barnes, a member of Scottish Ballet, and sung by the Irish soprano Mary McCabe. Into the Light touches on contemplating the beauty of nature as a prelude to accepting death and it was beautifully performed by all four performers.
For the curtain call, the cast each came out to dance one final dance to the coda of the Tschaikovsky Pas de deux with the claps of the audience to give them extra accompaniment. Overall, this was a charming gala that proved to be a treat to the Belfast audience as we welcomed our native world-renowned ballerina home. Melissa brought with her a group of very talented dancers and she, herself, shone on the Grand Opera House stage, presenting her stellar technique, expressiveness and individuality. Her special grand gala made for a delightful evening and we can only hope that we see Melissa perform at the Grand Opera House again soon.
