Gentleman Jack review – Northern Ballet’s elegant lesbian love story is so sexy | Ballet

nOrthern Ballet’s new offering is both progressive and traditional. Progressive because this may be the first same-sex love story in a major ballet. It is based on the life of Anne Lister, a 19th-century Yorkshire landowner also known as Gentleman Jack. Traditional because, in terms of form, choreographer Anabel Lopez Ochoa maintains a tight grip on the narrative and plays on what ballet dancers can do – long arabesques and fluidity of movement. It’s an elegant, accessible production that puts the love between two (actually three) women center stage.

Gemma Coates plays Lister wearing a top hat, loose coat and ballet flats. Like the choreography, it is powerful and direct. She has a cocky design, a flick of the hip and leg, full of self-confidence. She slams her stick on the ground and the men fall in line. But we also see her romantic side. There’s an erotically charged dinner party at the dining table with her great love, Mariana (Saika Shirai). It’s not X rated but it has real heat, tenderness and desire. Lester holds the bell she uses to guide her staff and weaves it around Mariana’s body without touching her: Mariana shivers. She jabbed it down Mariana’s spine. These are some of the sexiest choreographies I’ve seen in a while.

When Mariana, unfortunately, bends to convention and marries a man, Lester’s muted sadness is one of the few things that doesn’t fall flat, not helped by Peter Salem’s melancholy-like music in this scene (while the percussive score elsewhere matches the clarity, momentum and drama of the action). When Lester flirts with another woman, Anne Walker, dancer Rachel Gillespie vividly captures Walker’s surprise, happiness, and excited fear; Just as Shirai telegraphs Mariana’s heart-wrenching jealousy when she sees the new couple together.

The look and tone are somewhat stark, although there is intelligence as well. López Ochoa has created a clear, sharp-angled language for ballet that is arguably too limited, but which defines a specific world and gives the audience clear visual appeal. The same is true of Christopher Ash’s effective set, the movable bookcases that act as screens to glimpse the landscape and cityscapes – a subtle way of placing the scenes. Lister’s famous cryptic diaries are represented by swirling dancers in costumes emblazoned with her mysterious script – what was once a secret is now celebrated.