The company celebrated its annual competition showcasing the best upcoming dancers while also displaying live renditions by last year’s winners. Featuring also an audience-chosen award, the ceremony witnessed the marking of a new milestone in the troupe’s whole history.
So many times do we hear that, when you love what you do, you don’t work a single day. And too rarely is that overused, and pretty inaccurate, concept debunked through the unveiling lessons of experience. It’s, in fact, only when we love something that we make the hardest efforts. We chase a purpose. And we live for it. We put all our energies and chances into making it happen. And whatever may come next, the journey that takes us either midway or to the end, is always worth the ride.
Last weekend, the Sadler’s Wells welcomed back one of its guests of honour through one of their most special celebrations of the year. Returning the sparkle and excitement of their previous editions, the company put on an exhilarating display of upcoming talent – bringing to the stage the six most promising young dancers, in a mesmerising competition pieced together through the delicate allure of traditional ballet and the piquant viscerality of contemporary dance.
Showcasing performers from all corners of the world, audiences were absolutely regaled through a set of visually gripping renditions, exuding technical accomplishment and artistic dexterity on different levels – with all interpretations taking off despite some minor and occasional flaws, but with some of them genuinely soaring through a melodious cadence of pristinely jaw-dropping movement. All of it, presented through a cleverly implemented design – which in spite of its simplicity (alternating a black-box setting with a reverse-lit backdrop) managed to create a narrative atmosphere, supported by the intricate lighting accompanying the story beating behind every gesture.
The highlight of the night came through the announcement of the 2024 Emerging Talent winner, on this occasion given to Breanna Foad – probably offering one of the strongest executions in tandem with his dancing partner Thiago Pereira, whom along with Shunhei Fuchiyama, stand on the podium as the victorious trio of the evening. A final treat was offered for the gala’s conclusion, with the visit of last year’s awardees Eric Snyder and Precious Adams, delivering an exquisite tribute to the poetic gentleness of Delibes’s music – an act culminating in Adams being granted once again the People’s Choice price, a second-time-in-a-row achievement marking a milestone in the ENB’s whole trajectory.
Exuding their signature passion and commitment to the artform that’s given a name, a place and a history, the 2024 Emerging Talent competition made a recurring, though never sufficient, statement about what both their craft and realm are all about. We don’t do art because it’s easy, we pursue it because its toughness soothes our souls. We don’t like it because it’s pretty, we make it beautiful by standing on its crudeness. And we don’t dedicate our existence to it because it looks good (to some eyes…), but because our lives cannot look in any other direction that’s not led by it.
All pictures credit to Laurent Liotardo.
Upcoming performances by the English National Ballet are available on the following link.