A Balletic Ode to Queer Love

Two years ago Jonathan Watkins, choreographer and former dancer with the Royal Ballet, founded a new venture: Ballet Queer. Though the art form boasts many LGBTQ+ icons and innovators throughout its history, there remains an astounding lack of Queer stories in the repertoire of most companies. At long last, things seem to be changing.

Performance

Jonathan Watkins' “A Single Man”

Place

Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London, UK, September 8, 2025

Words

Eoin Fenton

Edward Watson in Jonathan Watkins' “A Single Man.” Photograph by Johan Persson

In a collaboration between Manchester’s Factory International and the Royal Ballet, Watkins makes a welcome return to Covent Garden, this time with an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man. Isherwood’s loosely autobiographical novel focuses on a day in the life of George, a university lecturer grieving the death of his partner Jim, while he navigates existence as a closeted gay man in 1960s America. This production notably has two Georges, one representing his thoughts and the other his actions, performed by singer and songwriter John Grant and former principal dancer of the Royal Ballet Edward Watson respectively.

Watson’s depiction of George is world-weary but never thorny. His insecurity trembles through his curving arms, embracing a lover that is no longer there. Grant, who wrote songs to go alongside Jasmin Kent Rodgman’s score, unleashes George’s unfiltered thoughts: sceptical, lonesome, and often wry—“the present is a monumental drag.” The tonal connection between Kent Rodgman’s atmospheric score and Grant’s confessional ballads is occasionally tenuous but always sounds on point in the capable hands of the offstage Manchester Collective. Jonathan Goddard cuts a tragic figure as the ghostly Jim, while Royal Ballet first soloist James Hay dances the role of Kenny, a charming student who catches George’s eye.

Edward Watson and James Hay in Jonathan Watkins' “A Single Man.” Photograph by Johan Persson

The ensemble, who serve mostly as George’s class, is filled with some exceptional talent — particularly among the women. As the student body they are bright-eyed and beaming in their mod dresses and beehives, lithely zipping through balletic sequences and some welcome sixties hip wiggling. In the more psychological passages, they strip down to leotards à la Merce Cunningham (also very sixties), further populating George’s inner world as a Rorschachesque Greek chorus. Watkins’ ensemble work is highly watchable, emphasising the unique strengths of the dancers over any sort of conformity.

The partnering work is particularly captivating. A tennis match between two hunky jocks develops into an imagined tantric pas de deux with plenty of acrobatic positions. Watkins doesn’t shy away from the sensuousness of Isherwood’s world. George’s masturbatory fantasies of his lost love or his new crush—with a guest appearance from the tennis players—are steamy, but also tenderly crafted. Watson and Goddard make for an excellent pair, they float about the space, embracing in their torturous limbo, one trying to tether the other into their domain. Kristen McNally, who plays the role of confidante and bon vivant Charley, finds her own special rapport with Watson in their stoned, giggly bracing.

John Grant and ensemble in Jonathan Watkins' “A Single Man.” Photograph by Johan Persson

Narratively speaking, the challenge of adapting a work like “A Single Man” is striking the key balance between the interior and exterior worlds of George. Though sometimes handled in more literal ways—Grant is placed within the giant neon outline of a head while Watson emerges from the outline of a body—Watkins choreography guides us through the action with aplomb. The stifled angularity of George peels away bit by bit through the work. While spontaneously taking a late-night swim with Kenny we find ourselves utterly hoping for George to pull through, to emerge changed.

In “A Single Man” Watkins often presses upon a tender, melancholic nerve. Reflecting not solely on Isherwood’s tale of mourning and moving on, but also on an especially painful time when Queer people had to live in secrecy. With Watson at the helm, Watkins' resonant “A Single Man” is a ghostly ode to the people who loved in spite of what society said. A modern “Giselle,” if you will.

Eoin Fenton

Eoin (they/he) is a dance maker and writer based in Cork (Rep. of Ireland), and London (UK). They have danced across Ireland and London in venues including The Place, Project Arts Centre Dublin and Galway Cathedral. Eoin graduated with a BA in Choreography from Middlesex University in 2024 and began writing as part of the Resolution Reviews programme. They are a regular contributor to A Young(ish) Perspective.

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