Moving Stateside at the Theatre Royal Plymouth Review
Moving Stateside
Royal Birmingham Ballet
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
24-25 March 2015
Reviewed by Helen Wyatt
Moving Stateside is 3 American short ballets in one. The first ballet is Serenade which is a traditional ballet set to Tchaikovsky. The second ballet was a short piece of around 20 minutes, called Lyric Pieces; this ballet made a move from traditional ballet towards some more modern dancing and is set to 10 piano pieces by Grieg. The third is In the Upper Room and is a truly modern ballet, incorporating a number of other styles through the whole high energy piece; Upper Room is set to the inimitable style of Philip Glass.
I did not know what to expect with these ballets, as I had never been to a ballet before, let alone something contemporary like Upper Room. From the moment the curtain went up I was captivated!
Serenade opens with icy blue mood lightening and a minimal set, and the story is simply told by the dancers alone. The elegance and grace of the dancers beautifully reflected the soaring phrases of Tchaichovsky’s work. Serenade loosely tells a love story, both of a woman with ballet, and between 2 women and a man. The dancers demonstrated amazing technical ability, dancing almost entirely in synchronisation with strong lines and shapes. The ease with which the male dancers lifted the female dancers was wonderful, and the controlled descents made them appear to weigh nothing.
The moment that amazed me the most was a simple but effective move, where the female soloist is supported by a male partner; she performs a pirouette on one leg however the male is hidden behind her, moving her by simply turning her by her leg. This gave the appearance that she was reminiscent of an old music box ballerina.
Lyric Pieces is an interesting short ballet which seems to make a step towards more modern dancing, mixed with the traditional ballet style. It is 10 short dances set to pieces by Grieg. The dancers demonstrated amazing skill and strength in their moves, which was accompanied by a movable set made up of large blocks which could be manipulated by the dancers into different shapes, instantly changing the set.
The dancers were joyful in their interpretation of this work, and it made it a joy to watch, even adding elements of comedy at times. The lighting was beautiful; at one point it appeared to be a sunset which completely changed the mood of the piece.
The final work, In the Upper Room, was miles away from the other two. Upper Room is a frantic, high energy piece set to crazy multiple time signature pieces by Philip Glass. This was by far and away the best performance of the evening! The speed and dexterity of the dancers, along with their clear skill and strength, gave a truly amazing performance and absolutely captivated me from beginning to end. The set, full of dry ice, was cleverly designed to allow the dancers to almost disappear and reappear without the audience noticing. The costumes start out as black and white stripes (and trainers!), moving more and more towards bright red as the piece progresses. I could have watched the dancers for hours. A truly impressive performance.
The dancers of the Royal Birmingham Ballet are consummate professionals with very high skills, so I would definitely recommend anyone seeing this show or any other they perform.
Theatre Royal Plymouth is a large modern theatre, very well presented. It is full of open spaces on a number of floors. The theatre also presents a number of pieces of art for sale, which adds an additional element of interest to your visit. The theatre boasts a number of bars, a cafe and a restaurant.
The theatre was clean and well kept. There was no obvious rubbish anywhere, and staff cleared items away in a timely manner in the cafe. Rubbish was collected by staff on the exit from the theatre.
This theatre has a lovely friendly atmosphere, and is very welcoming. We were seated in one of the 3 sections of the theatre, which are all designed as different performance spaces. Moving Stateside was shown in “The Lyric” which is a traditional tiered theatre. All seats appeared to have a good view of the stage.
All staff we encountered were helpful and polite.
Parking for this theatre is easy as there is a multi-storey car park situated just behind. At night time it is well lit and visibly staffed which is very comforting when leaving the theatre late. The theatre even has a pay station for the car park inside the foyer.
Rating: 5/5 
Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, PL1 2TR | 01752 267222.
