The Royal Ballet has scheduled what – on paper at least – looks like one of the most dismally dull and cautious seasons I can recall. The company is hobbled by a £21.7 million government loan (that had tided the place over during Covid), which the Royal Opera House is being forced to ‘service’. One bright spot of interest comes with the commissioning of a new work from Cathy Marston and an import from New York City Ballet’s Justin Peck, slotted into a triple bill alongside Balanchine’s nocturne, Serenade.

There’s not much to say about Peck’s Everywhere We Go. Big, bold, bright and much too long, it is devoid of shape or implication but bursting with jazzy Broadway energy, pumped up by a crude score by Sufjan Stevens. The result is an invigorating workout for an enthusiastic company, but nothing more. It’s a disappointment, and I don’t want to see it again.

Marston’s Against the Tide, on the other hand, just might be the best thing she’s ever done. Set to very good music –........

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