For his first full length ballet commission Federico Bonelli, Artistic Director of Northern Ballet has created a  masterpiece of dance.

Gentleman Jack had its world premier  at The Grand Theatre Leeds last Saturday and received  a well deserved standing ovation. It is fresh, ground breaking and has an air of innovation at every level from its story-telling, design and music  to its brilliant choreography.

The ballet tells the tale of Anne Lister or as she is more widely known as Gentleman Jack – a 19^th century Yorkshire land owning business woman, who lived and loved exactly as she wanted and defied every social convention.

Lister was often referred to as the ‘first modern lesbian’ and kept diaries detailing her business and romantic dealings. She travelled widely and became a legendary figure but it was only when her diaries were discovered and de-coded that the world got to know the real Anne Lister.

The narrative of the ballet follows Lister’s relationship with Mariana Lawson, who breaks Anne’s heart by marrying an elderly local landowner choosing financial stability and bowing to convention before love.

Later we are introduced to Ann Walker, a young heiress who eventually marries Lister in a symbolic ceremony where they become wife and wife – perhaps the first same sex marriage.

Award winning Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s brilliant choreography is ground breaking especially the two pas de deux between Lister and her two lovers. They are sensuous and romantic but above all inventive and with a high degree of physicality.

Peter Salem’s score is an integral part of Gentleman Jack and under the baton of Daniel Parkinson the expertise of the live orchestra brings the score to life.

The staging of the ballet is totally seamless. Moving bookcases are moved around to reveal large video screens and put together to show parts of the same scene. We move smoothly  from a late Regency drawing room to the windswept moors and then to the erotic and glamorous side of Paris.

Gentleman Jack is a true ensemble piece with all the members of Northern Ballet portraying the story both technically and emotionally with firm conviction.

As Ann Walker Rachel Gillespie displays a captivating air of innocence whilst Seaka Shirai’s Marianan Lawson is a beautifully crafted piece full of emotion and joy but yet it carries a sense of regret so successfully in the latter stages of the ballet.

But its Gemma Coutts’s show stopping performance that carries the show. This dancer is certainly going to be a legend in her own right in this role.

She is strong and so self confident with  an air of sensuality as she struts with cane in hand with a tip of her top hat and a kick of the leg. She adds some telling and humorous facial expressions with the audience that make Coutts an exceptional performer coupled with the beauty of the more sensuous side of the role.

Gentleman Jack is a production that can only be described as totally magnificent tour de force of dance

The ballet runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until 7-14^th March before touring to theatres including Sheffield Lyceum and Bradford Alhambra. Visit: northernballet.com/gentleman-jack for further details.

Liz Coggins is a member of the Critics Circle

Main Picture: Gemma Coutts as Gentleman Jack by Scott Salt