Sadler’s Wells Theatre – until 16 May 2026
Reviewed by Phil Brown
4****
It goes without saying that Still Pointless, a 25th anniversary show, is virtually an obligatory event for fans of the BalletBoyz. But, for any fan of dance – classical or contemporary – not already acquainted with the BalletBoyz oeuvre, this superb retrospective (with one new piece) is an absolute must-see.
The genesis of the BalletBoyz adventure is fascinating. It goes back to the 1997-1999 renovation of the Royal Opera House. Two principal dancers with the Royal Ballet – Michael Nunn and William (Billy) Trevitt – with an interest in film and photography, took the opportunity to produce a behind the scenes video diary of the process. Meanwhile, the venue closure and associated career uncertainty also led to the momentous decision to resign from the Royal Ballet and pursue more original, less traditional works of ballet. Free of the Royal Ballet, they took the finished film to Channel 4 who wanted to air it as Michael & Billy’s Royal Ballet, but eventually launched it as a four part series called BalletBoyz establishing virtually overnight a major entertainment brand.
With considerable panache, Nunn and Trevitt then launched their first pioneering show called Pointless at the Roundhouse in October 2001 featuring the choreographic work of Russell Maliphant, Bill Forsythe and Paul Lightfoot.
Hence the self referential tongue in cheek title of this show. With the Roundhouse venture leaving them broke, Still Pointless celebrates an improbable triumph in the world of the arts thanks to perseverance, risk taking, persuasive fundraising and artistic vision.
Having retired from performing, Nunn and Trevitt act purely as artistic directors of the BalletBoyz enterprise. They don’t choreograph – they commission admired choreographers and composers to create works for their all-male-presenting company of dancers, well named the Talent. While there are featured dancers, there is no star ranking. It is very much an ensemble and one in peak condition, yet nearly every one of the ten dancers had a solo or duet during the evening. In an insightful post performance discussion, they say they refrain from interfering with choreographic decisions, preferring to place certain constraints on the creatives from the outset to focus minds. As a result, the dance and music seem to bleed into each other to fashion deeply transfixing multi-sensory experiences.
Still Pointless consists of a fine selection of nine works created mostly over the last 15 years, nicely sequenced and cleverly linked by short often humourous recorded conversations and cinéma vérité that relieve the incredible intensity of the stamina testing performances sustained over 2 hours (with interval).
Part 1 kicks off with the very first BalletBoyz work – Maliphant’s duet Critical Mass dating from 1998 (actually performed on the night by Nunn and Trevitt). This is followed by Motor Cortex an impressive new work by one of the company Seirian Griffiths, Xie Xin’s beautiful Ripple, Maliphant’s Fallen, and Ivan Perez’s Young Men.
For me the stand out works were the gently beguiling Ripple mimicking the motion of bodies of water, and the powerful Young Men – a group of young soldiers in an unending cycle of combat and death. With consistently subdued lighting and largely ambient music or sound samples employed throughout the first part, there are hints of sameness to the three other works which, while wonderfully fluid and fluently performed, are reminiscent of training drills for martial arts or dojo routines.
The four works in Part 2 offer more variation, less industrial ambient sound and generally something closer to traditional dance steps, in particular Liam Scarlett’s Serpent, and Christopher Wheeldon’s wonderful duet Us. Maxine Doyle’s Bradley 4.18 examines the different aspects of a man’s personality set to a mashup of cocktail lounge and free jazz whilst Javier de Frutos’ Fiction which closes the show, explores an imaginary scenario of the choreographer’s death before the premiere of his latest work. It features all ten dancers performing around a single steel barre combining emotional scenes of mourning with high-energy movement, including a memorable, energetic finale dance to Donna Summer’s Last Dance.
The success of BalletBoyz seems incredible to contemplate given the risks Nunn and Trevitt have taken in their careers. In the post show discussion, they admit to a fearlessness born of not fully appreciating what was involved when they first started. This show demonstrates beyond doubt how that fearlessness has paid off in consistently producing artistic excellence across a vast array of collaborations. They should be proud – Still Pointless is a triumph.
Whilst there would be no BalletBoyz without Nunn and Trevitt, the true stars of this show are without question the ten outrageously gifted, athletic, sinewy and fabulously lissome dancers of the Talent – Joshua Attwood, Dan baines, Paris Fitzpatrick, Seirian Griffiths, JJ James, Dylan Jones, Benji Knapper, Luigi Nardone, Kai Tomioka, and Yasset Roldan.
Far from being pointless, this show proves that BalletBoyz was built on a purpose and that purpose remains undiminished.