Paper_Hanger’s Weblog
Performances, movies and book reviews …Archive for Dance
La Sylphide: revenge of the witch
I went to a performance of La Sylphide put on by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Warning: plot revealed.
Having read about the Danish style of ballet, I looked forward to seeing a quitissential Danish ballet work. (Actually, the Royal New Zealand Ballet was founded by a proponent of the Danish style, so I should have noticed the jumps and active male partnering long before this!)
The programme:
- Dances from Napoli
- Pas de Six
- Flower Festival
- Tarantella
- La Sylphide
- originally choreographed by August Bournonville.
I was struck by Flower Festival – Michael Braun brought lift and a sense of (his) enjoyment.
Then it was onto the main fare: a man – James – about to get married falls in love with a Sylph (a spirit). Who said the Scots were a dour lot! So off he goes – following his heart – leaving his own wedding celebration. It all ends badly: not the least because he humiliates the village hag (‘Madge’ – played by Sir Jon Trimmer, with a real feeling for the part). Michael Braun is James, and the Sylph is danced by Antonia Hewitt. Braun is powerful and controlled, and yet able to project the emotions going through the James character.
I liked the wedding – people enjoying themselves – with the Sylph fluttering in and out when only James could see her. The Sylph is very much the marriage wrecker – James trys to resist her, but he is just a foolish man. The wedding is made much more 3-dimensional by the prescence Effie’s little sister – danced wonderfully in character by Emma Brown. The Company is precise as ever, but a ‘little’ girl has shorter legs, so must occassionally run to keep up with the dancers in the reel – wonderfull.
Rory Fairweather-Neylan, as Gurn, was at times quite funny: “I saw a fairy – right there!”. In fact there is quite a bit of humour in the ballet; it is a pity that it turns out to be more along the lines of a Greek tragedy.
Antonia Hewitt and the other sylphs are light and ethereal. It cannot be easy dancing the sylphs, as Marie Taglioni was considered by Bournonville as the quitessential sylph, and it cannot be easy living up to such a legendary ideal. Effie the jilted bride is ably danced by Adriana Harper; the plot does not have very much for her to do, which is a pity.
The two sets – castle and woods – were very good.
I found the two intervals – one after Dances from Naploli, and the second between the two acts from La Sylphide – had the effect of making the evening very ‘bitty’. The very traditional choreography also added to the sense that this was a series of dances – unlike ‘newer’ ballets which have smoother transitions between dances. It seemed a little 2-dimensional.
But I did get to see an example of the Danish style. There were a many jumps – particularly by the men – and in the pas de deux’s the women were unsupported and their male partners had equal time.
Being a softy, I wish James and the sylph had not died. But he was a most ungenerous soul on his wedding day – casting out the village hag into the cold. And he did break his oath, so he certainly got his come uppance.
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I did not like the fact that the cast list is no longer handed out. The cast list from the web site differed from the cast list shown on the monitors in the foyer spaces.
Roll on the Company’s Peter Pan in October!
Anand: Joy in Motion
Last night I went to the opening night of the Mudra Dance Company’s “Anand: Joy in Motion”. This was my first foray into Bharata-Natyam dance. So it was with some trepidation that I went Vivek Kinra’s 20th Bharata-Natyam production in New Zealand.
I got there nice and early to – quite by accident – so I had time to read the well put together glossy programme. I was very impressed by the biographies of the senior dancers – all held tertiary qualifications, or were studying for tertiary qualifications, one was studying for a PhD in physics, while another held a PhD in Marine Ecology.
The Victoria University Memorial Theatre was transformed through lighting, colour and a little bit of incense.
There were five works:
- Natesha Kautuvam
- Ardhanareeshwara
- “Enneenna vilaiyadalamma …”
- Darpana: Reflections
- Shiva Geeta Mala
Natesha Kautuvam was danced by the more advanced students in Vivek Kinra’s Dance Academy. Whereas the other pieces featured dancers who had graduated from the Academy and Kinra. The contrast was interesting, to my uneducated eye, the senior pupils seems very good, but the graduates clearly were much more assured and several levels ahead.
I found the Ardhanareeshwara piece – a solo by Kinra – fascinating. The dance is around the methological figure of Ardhanareeshwara who is half man and half woman – Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati. Kinra dances as a man with the right side of his body and as a woman with the left side of his body. The aim, I infer from the programme, is to arrive at a balance. This piece was introduced with an English explanation, with Kinra showing off the basic dance metaphors that would be used in the piece itself.
Even though the last piece Shiva Geeti Mala took up the entire second half, I get the feeling that it was a significantly truncated from the original 17 chapter poem.
The story appeared fairly simple: Lord Shiva is seen by his consort dancing with the celestial nymphs and becomes angry with him, and takes herself away, but they are eventually reconcilled. I suspect in the longer versions of the work (and poem), Nandi (danced by Anjali Pande) – the bull – plays a much more significant role than I saw last night. Still, Nandi was clearly in thrall to Lord Shiva; perhaps he is there to show Lord Shiva’s supremacy over all. Which of course, counter-points Parvati’s several rejections of him. Perhaps to show that everyone – even the supreme one – can be held to account.
The Apsara – the celestial nymphs – are danced with grace, and so of course Lord Shiva wants to dance with them. Parvati understandably is hurt by this, especially when she has made a long journey to be with him. There is some very clever use of lighting and back projection to show Lord Shiva’s court at the top of the Himalayas, and Parvati’s journey through the jungle.
Kinra dances the part of Lord Shiva, and for all that he is a god; he is clearly upset by Parvati’s rejection. But, perhaps from a western perspective, it is Shrividya Ravi, as Parvati, who almost steals the show. Her portrayal of the slighted, pinning, yearning Parvati is much more accessible than the magnificant god Shiva.
Sakhi (danced by Ashleen Deepika Singh) is Paravti’s friend who acts as peacemaker between her and the Lord Shiva.
The finale gave another insight into this dance form. The pas de deux with Lord Shiva and Parvati differ very much from the western forms that I am more familiar with: the tendency is to day alongside each other – almost never facing each other, and seldom touching each other. Female Bharata-Natyam dancers don’t need to be supported! Bharata-Natyam dance has elements of grace, speed, power and rhythm; the dancers often slap their feet in time to the music, and at other times leap and land silently; there is also use of the shoulders, arms and hands.
I realised about a third of the way through Shiva Geeti Mala, that the sound track included vocals – so that had I understood Hindi (?) even more of the story would have available to me. I think the production achieves a good balance between the use of English and Bharata-Natyam’s ethnic roots.
I enjoyed my first evening of Bharata-Natyam dance. I think that there is something for everyone – including food. At the interval, the food was Indian.
I was disappointed by two things: the light from the control room was too bright and illuminated the back third of the theatre; the first night audience was relatively lsmall. The latter disappointment is for the Company, who clearly worked very hard to produce a quality production.
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New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic Season 2009
Last night I went to the opening night of the New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic Season 2009 – “In a Space”. I was quite looking forward to this: I had not been to a dance performance for a while, the astronomy theme would combine my interest in dance with my interest is space and the School’s marketing manager had ’sent’ me two reviewer tickets !
I got there nice and early to pick up my complimentary tickets from Rebecca Galloway (the marketing manager, who was on the ticket pick-up desk) and wandered about the Te Whaea Plaza.
The Plaza had been artfully transformed into a theatre foyer – with a temporary bar and covered tables that looked like they were permanent fixtures. On the wall that the Plaza shares with the Te Whaea Theatre, some art was on display – or more correctly projected. Short dance clips were projected above a series of small backlit panels. Each panel explained an item of choreography we would be seeing in the performance. Everything was low light and backlit where necessary for viewing – building the space theme very effectively.
There were nine choreographed works and four interludes, which made for 13 dances:
- Transient Matter – Gina Andrews
- I’m Present (v) – Robbie Curtis
- Jess(ica Jeffereies and) Claire (Hughes) Interlude
- Traveller in the Dark – Nicola Leahey
- Bright Young Things – Lucy Marinkovich
- Challenging Life – Jana Castillo
- Jing(wen Xu and) Robbie (Curtis) Interlude
- Wo de Ying Zi – Jingwen Xu
- Relentless Pull – Florian Teatiu
- Gina (Andrews) Interlude
- Venus – Claire Hughes
- Florean Interlude
- Cosmic Collision – Jessica Jefferies
The Theatre was laid bare – no curtains to creat wings and no backdrop.
The show opened with a video clip of Lucy Marinkovich and a friend projected onto the back wall. They introduced the evening from a men’s toilet (tiles visible in the background)! The images occasionally stopped and/or repeated (a la Max Headroom) – as if the video was being transmitted from a long way away and subject to interference – very sc-fi.
Transient Matter set the scene for the evening – minimal lighting and dancers’ shadows projected deliberately onto walls. Nice sequence where one of the dancers uses a mirror to reflect light that has already passed through his fellow dancers back onto them.
The interludes threw me a bit, as I was trying to keep track of the choreographed works. But I was able to reconstruct the order and place the works afterwards from the programme (in discussion with the other members of my party). Someone needs to come up with a way of introducing dance works – as they are set out in the programme – without intruding into the individual work.
I was a little lost as to which work was which until Relentless Pull came on: Florian Teatiu choreographs the way he dances – full of energy and pace. Also. his Pacific origins were visible in the choreography (e.g. hand gestures while sitting cross legged) and audible in his choosen music.
I am in two minds about the tissu sequences in Challenging Life. This work explored a species’ evolutionary path to walking upright, and the tissu seemed to be some form of suspended egg, from which the species gets deposited. The use of the tissu was restrained; Jana Castillo avoided the tempation to have a prolonged aerial sequence, but then why use it at all? Still, good to see someone willing to explore the concept of dancing in the air.
I enjoyed Venus; the work was very lyrical and soft (I guess I am just a hopeless romantic at heart) and technology had been used to place the dancers on stage twice. Much of the lighting was provided by a back projection showing the three dancers dancing in low light, illuminated by the reflections from their bare backs, complementing their movements on stage.
Venus expanded on the concept introduced by the Jing and Robbie Interlude, where Jingwen dances with a projection of Robbie.
I found the Gina Interlude very clever. Gina Andrews dances in front of three tall mirrors. You could see all sides of her at once – like an animated cubist painting.
I found the Jess Claire Interlude most thought provoking. What did the standing around in the spotlight, rising on a cable and drinking a can of drink mean?
I felt that the pieces by Gina Andrews, Jana Castillo, Florian Teatiu and Jessica Jefferies found the mark with the overall astronomy (and space) theme. Generally, I would have liked to see more of the majestic grandeur of the universe come through.
Given the astronomy (and space) theme, I was a little disapointed that there was not a greater aerial element. I suppose there is a undefined divide between dance and circus/gymnastics, so that spending too much time off the floor is to be avoided.
The dancers did a good job of executing the choreography. And I think that those involved in the set design, lighting and use of video back projection did a fantastic job.
The opening night performance was played to a full house, and I think there was something for everyone – there certainly was for me.
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Tutus on Tour – 2009
I went to the last performance in Wellington of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 2009 season of Tutus on Tour at the Opera House. Warning: plot revealed.
Every other year, the Company divides itself onto two troupes; each half tours one of the two main islands of New Zealand. Each tutus tour is different – typically a number of short works that will work in some of New Zealand’s smaller theatres. Wellington, as well as being the capital, is at the southern tip of the North Island. So this night was danced by the North Island troupe.
Play bill:
- Saltarello – originally choreographed by Christopher Hampson
- Holberg Suite – choreographed by Greg Horsman
- Throught to you – by Andrew Simmons
- Currently Under Investigation – by Gary Stewart
- Koo Koo Ka Choo – by Catherine Eddy and Brendan Bradshaw
I found Saltarello and Holberg Suite just a bit intellectual; I was unable to engage with the works emotionally. I admired the dancing, but I found my mind wander off to think about the events of my day etc.
At times Saltarello seemed like an exhibition piece to show case the skills of the male dancers – 5 dancers take off at once, complete a turn and land at once, smoothly transitioning into the next sequence. Saltarello featured an unusual move in a pas de deux, where the lady leaps past her partner and grasps his outstretched arm with both her hands and glides along with her toes above the floor, and just before she would kip to avoid touching the floor, with some unseen assistance from her partner, she pikes around her partner’s torso and ends up cradled in his arms, against his chest! They did this several times with effortless ease.
I found the choreography in the Holberg Suite very similar to that in Saltarello and so found my attention wandering. Still well executed and enjoyed by al, at times, vocal audience – members of the South Island Troupe.
In Through to You, I found the pas de duex between Michael Braun and Katie Hurst-Saxton captivating. It was like watching the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliette
I had previously seen Currently Under Investigation a few years ago at the New Zealand School of Dance’s Graduation Season. I preferred the Company’s execution – it seemed slightly more polished and graceful. True this took the hard emotional edge off the work – especially when compared to the Graduation Season (where I think the majority of dancers were contemporary specialist). Another member of my party preferred the edgier graduates version. Still – for me – it partially settles the question around classically trained dancers verses dancers trained with a strong classical base – the classical dancers are ’smoother’.
Catherine Eddy and Brendan Bradshaw are current members of the Company. Their use of Beatles music, for Koo Koo ka Choo, was inspired, and the audience was taken along for a wonderful journey – made perhaps more enjoyable by the fact that they were at a subconcious level familiar with it – such has the influence of the Beatles on contemporary music. This was a very accessible work – the re-recorded music (so that it could be danced to) retained the original lyrics. Rory Fairweather-Neylan (I think – at times it is hard to identify individual dancers) did a superb job of dancing what was effectively the overture to the work.
A nice innovation was to project short film clips in between some of the pieces. Most of the clips were of the Company and its support crew (without which it would not be possible) giving the audience a glimpse behind the scenes. Then the tilt to Abbey Road – projection of a pedestrian crossing – at the end of Koo Koo Ka Choo was just on the right side of corny. It did set up the march/walk-off by the dancers.
Overall, a well executed production with something for everyone.
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Two annoying points: the sound system – at times it could not cope; and the heat – the Opera House still has not solved the heat build-up issue up in the Gallery (aka ‘The Gods’) that caused people so much discomfort during Tutandot in the mid-90’s.
Wellington Performing Arts Centre: 2008 Graduation Season
I went to an evening performance, Sunday the 7th of December, of the Wellington Performing Arts Centre’s 2008 Commercial Dance Graduation. The programme listed a large creative team, but the web site credited Leigh Evans and Anne Anderson.
This was the graduation for the commercial dance graduates and as the title suggests the show had a Las Vegas theme. I don’t know what commercial dance constitutes, but I guessed that it wasn’t going to be ballet – or was it?
I really enjoyed the short piece – Excalibur – danced by the three male graduates. They looked more like members of Robin Hood’s band, than knights in armour. But there was no doubting their vigor and passion, nor the ballet training. They were armed with swords, rather than sabres, and the clash of swords often rang out from the stage. I was reminded that dancing and its attendent footwork was often taught to young warriers in many cultures.
I don’t get to see much tap dancing – and I found I enjoyed the flashing footwork and rhythm in all of these pieces.
I liked Venetian – a mascarade ball piece, with very dramatic costumes, executed in a balletic style.
I also liked Treasure Island – a piece about pirates done in a cross between contemporary and stage show styles. There cannot be a pirate sword left in Wellington’s toy shops! Still, the choreography was crisp and the use of long strips of silk very inventive – first as waves and later as a ship!!
The evening was a well organised and enjoyable, with 19 dances in all – with no interval! TEven though the dancers worked hard, they clearly enjoyed themselves – lots of smiles – and consequently, the audience was more relaxed and cheered and enjoyed themselves too. Initially, I found sitting so close to the action a little off putting, but I suspect that this was a good run through for the dancers, as there will be times when they are in close proximaty to their audience when they are working. My only suggestion for the producers would be to have a very short welcome and introduction at the beginning so that the first number doesn’t just burst out.
I believe that this is an annual event; hopefulliy I will be back next year.
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New Zealand School of Dance: 2008 Graduation Season
I went to this year’s graduation performance by the New Zealand School of Dance. The printed programme for the 2008 Graduation Season carried on from the 2007 – 40th anniversary – season: it is printed on glossy paper and had a very well designed cover – showing a dancer in an arresting pose.
The night’s performance consisted of:
- Raymonda (Pas de Dix)
- Symbiotic
- Un Ballo
- Flower Festival in Genzano (Pas de Deux)
- We can Fight
- Concerto (Pas de Deux)
- Jabula.
I went to an evening session, Saturday the 22th of November, of the New Zealand School of Dance’s Graduation Season 2008, at the New Zealand School of Dance.
There were six pieces : three ballet pieces and three contemporary pieces, ordered to alternate.
Generally speaking it was the male dancers’ evening: they really stood out. Further the contemporary pieces really grabbed my attention. Jabula was my pick for the night.
Jabula was choreographed by Natalie Weir for the Queensland Ballet, and first performed by them in 1994. I don’t know if the original performance was from the original sound track of The Power of One, but I certainly found it powerful. The male dancers exuded energy and spirit; technique was harnessed to produce impact and this combined with the simple but effective lighting made for a very powerful finale. Florian Teatiu’s dancing just drew the eye to him.
I found We can Fight the most challenging work: the dancers spoke! I was reminded of questions regarding art that I have mulled over from time to time: should a work have a title that is made known to the audience ? What is the purpose of combining a number of disciplines ? The work struck me as a commentary on a man’s relationship with two of the main characters in his life – his dog and his wife. At times it was hard to see which he treated worse. Ultimately, one feels the dog gets a slightly better deal. Slightly depressing, due to the domestic violence.
The contemporary dance stream was well introduced by Symbiotic. Initially, the dancers cannot be seen, the stage lights are left off; they can only be heard. “Here we go”, I thought: dancing in the dark; dance as a purely pecussive work! But no, after a little while the lights came on, and the audience was treated to some sequences suggestive of organisms whose DNA was out of control.
I found the classical stream somewhat overshadowed by the contemporary works. But there were some highlights.
It was a little unfortunate that as a child of the Star Trek generation, the male dancers in Raymonda wore costumes that were very suggestive of Star Fleet uniforms. Subconciously, I expected some alien to appear and dispatch the figure in the red top. Thank goodness no alien appeared: Kyle Wood gave a wonderful demonstration of the modern male ballet dancer’s art.
Un Ballo was the ballet piece that I most enjoyed. Maybe it was the costumes – suggestive of a ballroom setting. Everyone seemed relaxed, particularly the ballerinas; and the couples just seemed to dance for the joy of it.
The evening was a well put together one. The School had obviously worked hard to make the graduation season an event: there was a photo exhibition featuring the graduating students, in the lobby; there was a small well stocked cash bar; some well appointed tables to sit at; and a well produced printed programme.
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Don Quixote
I went to the opening night of Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of Don Quixote at the St. James, in Wellington. Warning: plot revealed.
This re-working of the Don Quixote story is as much about creating a new perspective on a traditional story as celebrating a Sir Jon Trimmer’s 50th year with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. At 69, Sir Jon no longer dances the vigourous roles he took on earlier in his career, instead he has matured into a fine stage actor. So the role of the aging, and sometimes confused, Don is a perfect vehicle for his talents. Gary Harris has, I am told, for I have not seen the classic Russian version, utilised the original Petipa choreography in a new light, that makes the Don less of a 2-dimensional character. Adrian Burnett was the choreographer for this production.
Act I opens with the Don in bed surrounded by his books and visited by his nephew – Sancho, danced by Matthew Braun. The Don decides that he will have one last adventure and takes one of his journals with him to guide them on their journey, and takes a hefty bag of money to pay the way. The Don and Sancho have an english air to them – the Don is World War II British pilot’s leather flying helmut and sheep skin jacket, Sancho in a set of tweeds. The two of them end-up in a mediterranean village where we are introduced to the other main characters: Gamache and Mercedes; Basilio and Kitri.
The set for the village is wonderful, with a major surprise for me: the floor was a creamy colour – rather than the usual black. It made the set very bright and enhanced the mediterranean feel.
Kitri is ably danced by Yu Takayama: her grand jetes and sissones were superb. Basilio – Kitri’s future husband – is danced by Marc Cassidy. The villian – Gamache – is able danced by Paul Mathews. His principle moll – Mercedes – is danced by Abigail Boyle.
Act II sees: Kitri and Basilio run off into the woods, and encounter some gypsies; the Don and Sancha have a violent encounter with the same gypsies in the same woods – resulting in the Don having a dream sequence; Gamache successfulled steals the Don’s money.
The gypsy dance sequences shows – for me – how far the Company has come in the 6 years that I have been attending their performances. The dancing is energetic and passionate – without loosing musicality or technique. The number of male dancers has increased, so that of the large number of gypsies, half were male – rather than a token sprinkling.
The dream sequence showed all the hallmarks of a Petipa piece – ballerinas: in white tutus, in small groups and long diagonal lines, in formations blocking a man’s path. And was executed superbly. Meddhi Angot as Cubid was wonderful – powerful jumps and leaps: best russian (scissor leap) I have ever seen!
In Act III, the Don and Sancha catch up with Gamache and recover the money and through an act of great generosity Basilio and Kitri are married. The drunken Gamache – trying to drink his way through the Don’s money – sequnce could double as a homage to John Cleese. Basilio and Kitri’s pas de deux was well executed with some chemistry. Another obvious Petipa touch was Kitri’s fouettes of joy – I counted 31!
There were some first night nerves, the most memerable was Kitri dropping her fan just before commensing her fan dance at the wedding! the most unsettling was the slightly late start.
There are some hummerous moments and some very busy moments. Gamache is introduced walking his little dog – a Weta Workshops creation. It was a real hit with the audience and hopefuully will get roles in the Company’s future productions – like The Wedding. Many of the village sequences were very ‘busy’ – in some way they were more like movie sequences – and at times distracted from the dancing.
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Romeo and Juliet – 2008
I was originally not going to see this ballet, a trial viewing of a DVD recording of a more classic version, resulted in a decision not to go. But I at the end of the show I was glad I went.
This ballet was originally choreographed by Christopher Hampson in 2003 for the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 50th Anniversary. The setting and costumes are not the classic 17th century setting; instead the setting is more contemporary – post 19th century. Hampson has recast the story somewhat and given it some deeper nuances. The work is one that one might have expected from Matthew Bourne – with the greatest repect to both choreographers; it is a throroughly modern ballet.
The Capulets and Montagues have been cast onto two sides of a class divide. The Capulets are shown in wealthy circumstances – all be it with some serious street muscle on-call. The Montagues are hardly shown at all; they may have money, but Romeo (Qi Huan) seems to have the run of the streets – maybe he just feels more comfortable away from the more confining surrounds of his unseen family. The clash between the Caplulets and the Montagues is subtly subverted into a clash between the free spirits of the streets and the constricted family setting of honour and duty.
Tybalt is portrayed brilliantly, by Paul Mathews, as an angry young man consumed by the need to protect his family honor. As such he is very much the force driving the conflict, and is the catalyst of much of the violence. He was the one who supplied the forboding menace on the streets and at the Capulet family ball. So it comes a bit of a surprise to see him killed by Romeo.
Romeo and his two companions (Mercutio and Benvolio) come across as a set of self absorbed young men looking for diversion and some fun mischief – fairly harmless and annoying. Baiting Tybalt and his street heavies; siding with the people who can’t really stand up to them, seems like a bit of heroic fun, that eventually leads to Mercutio’s accidental slaying.
Romeo is not really interested in revenge, but Tybalt drives him into a frenzy and he is killed.
Juliet (Katie Hurst-Saxon) has the hardest role: she is still young, but expected to take on some of the duties of an adult – her family expect her to marry Paris, perhaps to cement a wider family alliance; she is loyal to her family; she marries against her family’s wishes – in secret; Romeo kills Tybalt – her older cousin, and a favourite; she loves Romeo, on and on and on. Juliet and her two friends are the innocents in this story. They have a nurse (Turid Revfeim) who’s job is to look after and protect them. Nurse is probably the one human figure in the household. Juliet’s parents seem to be duty bound figures.
Juliet is ultimately torn by duty and love, and seeks a third way out – she will fake her suicide. And so the young lovers kill themselves due to that fateful mis-delivered message. (Surely, a phone company or courir company will us this as the basis for an advertisement – ‘use X when that message has to get there on time’!)
Hampson injects a new sub-plot: Lady Capulet and Tybalt are secretly lovers! Here we see a facet of the adult world that Juliet tragically never discovers. Juliet’s own mother shows that duty can be worn like a suit of clothes – put on in public and taken off in private. Juliet should have married Paris and met very discretely with Romeo!
Hampson cleverly puts Juliet and her friends on point, and no one else, to emphasize their innocent nature.
Sir Jon Trimmer (Friar Lawrence) and Turid Revfeim turn in wonderful performances to give their characters some depth. Gary Harris and Greg Horsman even put charming cameo roles – as monks. Jo Funaki got the biggest round of applause – for his portrayal of the mischevious Mercutio – during the curtain call.
Tracy Grant Lord’s set was clever and created the right atmosphere – well up to meeting the challenge of creating: street scenes, a grand ball, Juliet’s bedroom, a church, and a tomb. A stair case does wonderful quadruple duty. Verona must be truly a magical place because it was just massive.
Christopher Hampson’s Romeo and Juliet is accessible, without being shallow.
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My only disappointment was that I did not get to see Amy Hollingsworth and Cameron McMillan dance in the lead roles. So much of the production publicity had been crafted around them. Given my DVD fueled misgivings of Romeo and Juliet, I went because I wanted to see them dance.
I went on the last night of the season, so if you missed it, catch it in 3-4 years when it comes around again.
Prince of the Pagodas
Over three long nights I watched this DVD of the Royal Ballet’s 1990 production of The Prince of the Pagodas. Warning – contains plot details.
Prince of the Pagods has a strong story going for it: a contested kingdom; sibling rivalry; competition for a woman’s hand in marriage; fighting for the woman you love’ and more. Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s version features some very good dancers: Darcy Bussell, Jonathan Cope, Simon Rice and Fiona Chadwick. Yet, it did not engage me; I was not held in thrall – certainly not in the way Romeo and Juliet does. I feel that the ballet was let down by the music. The music was generally uninspiring; It just did not enhance and support the emotional elements of the story.
This was the first time that I had seen Dacry Bussell dance. Some years ago I read her biography, and was very pleased to find this DVD at the library. She is a joy to watch; she is svelt, not skinny; she graceful, yet athletic – wonderful jumps; her arabeques are a joy to behold; no wonder she was MacMillan’s muse!
Act I sets the scene. The king divides his kingdom between his daughters – Princess Rose (Bussell) and her half sister Princess Epine (Chadwick). Unfortunately, it is not an equal division; Princess Epine is given a smaller portion, and it is clear that she is not happy. Four foreign kings arrive in search of brides. During the ensuing ’struting’, Princess Epine ousts her father and takes the crown from him. Princess Epine turns Princess Rose’s fiance – The Prince (Cope) – into a salamander and transports him from the kingdom.
Act II seems to one long dream sequence. Princess Ross, accompanied and assisted by the court fool (Rice), searches for the Prince. She rejects the four kings and her perserverance is rewarded – she finds the prince and her love returns him to human form.
Act III see things set right. Princess Rose and the Prince return to her father’s kingdom – now ruled by Princess Epine. In a series of superbly choreographed gritty fights, the Prince vanquishes the four foreign kings. The king is restored. Princess Epine is banished. Princess Rose and the Prince marry – or at least formally engaged.
This ballet has a unique piece of choreography – a pas de deux with one dancer ! The king of the east dances with himself – constantly looking at himself in a handmirror!
I think the ballet was staged at Covent Garden and filmed by the BBC in 1990.
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The DVD had two items on it: the Ballet and a documentary -Out of Line – on the life of Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
The DVD helpfully puts a summary at the beginning of each Act.
The documentary was facinating. We see MacMillan as a dancer. We see three of the dancers he has used as instruments to aid his choreography – his muses: Lynn Seymour, Alessandra Ferri and Darcy Bussell. The first two are interveiwed, Seymour extensively; but Bussell not at all for some reason.
The documentary covers much of MacMillan’s career as a choreographer, though how objective it is I don’t know. But it appears to have been pretty controversial. MacMillan seems to have been constantly at odds with the traditionalists and the critics!
The DVD is worth getting out for the documentary alone.
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Seven Fingers: Traces
After two years, the Seven Fingers circus company returned to Wellington, New Zealand, as part of the Wellington International Festival of the Arts.
It was amazing. This seems to be the direction of modern circus: amazing moves woven into dance, the latter all fitting loosely into a theme with appropriate music. These guys danced, sang, played the piano, and did some great acrobats and juggling.
There was a very nice tribute to Fred Astaire – involving skateboards instead of walking canes!
The juggling was low key no showers of 7-9 objects in the air. Instead as people danced about the stage, the chair of basket ball was constantly in motion – just as the ball or chair or person was about to fall to the ground, someone would step up and catch them.
It looked like they could all play the piano and did a solo piece accompanying what every was going on behind them. One of them even sang to the audience, accompanying himself on the guitar!!
The Chinese nolonger have a monoploy on pole aerials. The ‘Fingers’ did some petty amazing stuff. My pick was the vertical back flick from the pole then back to the pole, and the lady who falls from the top to be caught by her companions – amazing body control and trust!
The acrobats was spectacular. My pick was the standing back tucked somersault, from a position of standing on top of someones raised hands back to the same raised hands! There was also a nice slow semi-comic stretch and flexibility solo – by the same woman who fell from the pole.
These guys are worth seeing – everytime.
The only question is: where were the other two fingers ? there were only five performers!
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They were so popular, that they opened the ‘Gods’ – the Gallery – in the Opera House. They had to: my session was near full to capacity – well over 1000 people.
