REVIEW: This Is Rambert at Newcastle Theatre Royal

This Is Rambert

Newcastle Theatre Royal 

Until Wednesday 17 June 2026 and touring

Celebrating their centenary, Rambert has brought an exciting and hugely entertaining trilogy of short pieces to demonstrate beyond a doubt that they remain at the forefront of British dance and are going into the next 100 years with their customary innovation and brilliance.

Rambert in Hop(e)storm by (LA)HORDE
Photo: Hugo Glendinning

Rambert was Britain’s first dance company, formed in 1926 by the eponymous Polish dancer as the Marie Rambert Dancers and becoming Ballet Rambert in 1935. Despite having a commitment to new choreography and experimentation, they nonetheless focused on classical repertoire until 1966, touring the world and reinforcing their reputation for excellence. 

In 1966, they took a brave step into exclusively contemporary dance, and they have been pushing the boundaries ever since. Their combination of technical brilliance and groundbreaking choreography makes every Rambert tour an eagerly anticipated event for dance lovers everywhere. 

Rambert in Hop(e)storm by (LA)HORDE
Photo: Hugo Glendinning

Still, any company celebrating their centenary might be expected to present a retrospective programme, to show where they have come from. Well, any company but Rambert. This programme of three short pieces, none of which is more than a year old, is clearly demonstrating, not where they have been, but where they are going. And it is a cause for celebration, showing they are clearly set for another hundred years.

The first piece in this selection is called In Crimson, created by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. In front of a red curtain on an otherwise bare stage, and accompanied by an onstage pianist, seven dancers explore passion.  They show both inner torment and exhilaration in some extraordinarily inventive solo dances and outer lives through constantly interchanging and evolving duos, trios and intertwining ensemble sections.  The choreography is surprising and thrilling, pushing this stellar company to the limits of what the human body can do. It captivates from beginning to end, set against an eclectic score ranging from Bizet to a new composition by Yonatan Daskal and the song ‘La Solitude’ by French chanteuse, Barbara, seductively sung here by dancer Naya Lovell. 

Rambert In Crimson
Dancer Hannah Hernandez
Photo: Camilla Greenwell 

The second piece, Hop(e) Storm was created by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel, in collaboration with the Rambert Dancers and with Jacquelyn Elder, to music by Pierre Aviat. It is a breathtaking combination of Lindy Hop, the 1920s Harlem dance craze that was the basis of all swing dance, and rave. This unlikely combination works surprisingly well to make the idioms of a dance medium as old as the company itself feel thoroughly contemporary. The dancers whirl, jump and bring in hip-hop elements leading to a thrilling ensemble finale.

The second half of the programme consists of one piece, Gallery of Consequence, choreographed and directed by Emma Evelein to a hugely diverse soundscape by Raven Bush, and backed by innovative video design by AMIANGELIKA.  It explores the human experience of being in that unique and soulless environment, the airport. It incorporates hip-hop techniques of locking and popping, and the clever slowing down and speeding up of the action to focus on individuals undergoing isolation, struggle and even despair.  

Rambert - Gallery of Consequence
Photo: Yiling Zhao

With humour and the inventiveness that characterises the whole evening, individual characters and the programmed interactions we would all recognise are deftly conjured up on a mostly bare stage. Appropriately, the audience is left feeling both exhilarated and relieved for the dancers as they finally embark on their flight to who knows where.

Rambert - Gallery of Consequence
Photo: Yiling Zhao

Altogether, Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer has curated a memorable and hugely entertaining evening that showcases the exceptional physicality, technical virtuosity and impressive versatility of Rambert’s dancers. Here’s to the next hundred years! 

Review: Stephen Oliver

Tickets: 

https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/this-is-rambert/