Into the Music ballet review: Contemporary dance, classical brilliance…and something very strange

Working with film-maker Jessica Wright, Runacre-Temple shows us a hotel which is distinctly creepy; the use of hand-held cameras allows us to see into the rooms and view large projections on the scenery of what is going on. The effect is intimate, intriguing and ultimately rather sinister. I will not spoil the ending for you – let’s just say that, like the Bates Motel, you would not want to be checking into this particular establishment any time soon.

The audience loved it and Hotel is a brave and unusual work acquisition for the company.

The evening closed with The Seventh Symphony, Uwe Scholz’s ballet set to Beethoven’s famous symphony. Scholz has taken the classical vocabulary and added his own twist to many of the movements: dancers are dragged along the floor in splits, lifted high in beautiful arabesques and cross the stage in exceptionally speedy steps.

The large cast tackles the challenging choreography with aplomb, and it is a joyous work on which to finish, but the piece, though inventive, includes large sections which are repetitive and by the end of the ballet I was more than ready for curtain down.

Birmingham Royal Ballet is at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London EC1 until 5 November