Les Enfants Terribles, ROH at Barbican

A gem that glitters darkly in the Royal Ballet new season (2016/17) is this new version of Philip Glass’ 1996 dance opera, directed and choreographed by Javier de Frutos. Its history begins with Jean Cocteau, and his 1929 novel Les Enfants Terribles.

It’s the merciless story of siblings Paul and Lise, children of a bedridden mother and vanished father. When their world contracts under Paul’s own illness, they begin a game of psychological one-upmanship, where the loser is the first to crack.

As they grow older, the game continues, but real life and loves encroach on their power over one another, and jealousy raises the stakes in their psychological warfare.

Glass created the dance opera for his 80^th birthday, his third work based on Cocteau’s writings. Javier De Frutos, choreographer behind both an award-winning Cabaret and some of dance’s most graphic violence, will ditch the original choreography, and in its place we can expect dark and flamboyant drama.

Equally exciting is the cast. Edward Watson and Zenaida Yanowsky, two of the finest and most versatile dancers at the Royal, will join forces with leading lights in contemporary dance, including our favourite Jonathan Goddard, twice winner of the Critics Circle Best Male Dance award, and highly-acclaimed fellows Clemmie Sveeas, Thomas Gülgec and Gemma Nixon.

Each character will have a dance and opera representative, with the singing roles taken by up-and-coming stars of the Jette Parker programme, Emily Edmonds, Jennifer Davis, Paul Curievici and Gyula Nagy.

It’s hard to imagine a choreographer better suited to Cocteau’s love-hate games. And there’s nothing on the ballet in London calendar to live up to this much-anticipated mix of dance stars. All in all, we’re excited.