Dutch National Ballet, Hans Van Manen, Sadler's Wells

Elegant, sexily archetypical - five ballets by the superb Dutch master

by Ismene BrownThursday, 12 May 2011

From fission to fusion: Hans Van Manen's deft, intricate 'Concertante'© Angela Sterling

In a world crying out for even below-mediocre ballet choreographers (Benjamin Millepied, anyone?), the Dutch old master Hans Van Manen is an extraordinarily well-kept secret. Why a man of such superb balletic accomplishment, theatrical instincts and calligraphic and technical skill remains barely acknowledged in Britain is presumably down to sex. His idea of sexy ballet, that is, being alien to upright British sensibilities.

You don’t get a man and a woman - more a male dancer and a female dancer, opposing types drawing apart and uniting, not necessarily sexual, and yet distinctly erotic

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