Wings of desire | 24 May 2018

The Royal Ballet’s 2016 Frankenstein was a masterclass in how not to make narrative dance and the news that Liam Scarlett had been chosen to spring-clean and ‘reimagine’ Swan Lake had many balletomanes reaching for the smelling salts (it doesn’t take much, to be honest). It was sighs of relief and trebles all round when the new production premièred at Covent Garden last week: proper tutus; gorgeous designs; first-rate dancing.

The critical response has been largely positive but not everyone had a five-star evening. The Daily Telegraph gave it a niggardly three stars, finding the designs ‘variable’ and bewailing the absence ofa dramaturg (which has to be some sortof first). ‘I do like a little dry ice,’ whimpered The Stage (also three stars) and the Guardian, broadly in favour, seemed peculiarly focused on the Kleenex count: ‘Fundamentally what I want from a production of Swan Lake is that it makes me weep.’