DVD/150: SLEEPING BEAUTY (Ross MacGibbon, Matthew Bourne, 2013)

Matthew Bourne completed his Tchaikovsky trilogy with his Gothic SLEEPING BEAUTY.

It's a darkly romantic tale of Aurora, her love for the palace gardener Leo and the other-worldly creatures who alter their destiny.

Bourne starts in 1890, the year of SLEEPING BEAUTY's premiere, when the childless King and Queen forget to thank the dark fairy Carabosse who helped them get a daughter so she curses the child to die on her 21st birthday. 

However the good fairy Count Lilac alter it so Aurora will fall asleep for 100 years.

In 1911, Aurora celebrates her 21st birthday with gardener Leo who loves her. Caradoc, the now-deceased Carabosse's son appears and enacts her curse leaving Aurora in a deep sleep.  Here Bourne adds his own delicious take - Count Lilac bites Leo's neck, turning him into an ageless vampire.

In 2011, Leo and Count Lilac must rescue Aurora from Caradoc's clutches..

Shelf or charity shop?  A definite shelfer.  I thoroughly enjoyed reliving the sheer Gothic romanticism of Bourne's reimagining, his always entertaining choreography, the excellent performances of Dominic North as Leo, Hannah Vassallo as Aurora and Adam Maskell as Carabosse/Caradoc and the tireless ensemble.  Les Brotherston's set design and costumes are marvellous - I particularly liked the punk elegance of Count Lilac and his retinue with their frock coats and distressed layers of lace and silk - while Paule Constable's lighting design also contributed towards the success of the production, filmed here at Bristol Hippodrome.  Oh and I had forgotten the mischievous Baby Aurora puppet!

THE RED SHOES at Sadler's Wells - Dancing Over the Edge...

Three years on, Matthew Bourne's THE RED SHOES is still a masterclass in dance story-telling at Sadler's Wells. It was particularly great to see again after what I felt was an under-par ROMEO & JULIET this year. 

This was my third time seeing Bourne's Olivier Award-winning ballet and, while I have never been a particular fan of the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film, I love this version of it; not even two hours long it rattles through the plot with no pause to the shattering climax.  If I do have a criticism, it's that in his rush to tell the story, Bourne has skated over the internal relationships between ballerina Victoria Page and the men in her life: Svengali-ish impresario Boris Lermontov and composer Julian Craster.  Lermontov hovers scowling in the background and as soon as Victoria and Julian throw in their lot together they seem to be splitting up.  It all still works but it would be good to have just a little more depth.

After seeing her dance at a private party, imperious impresario Lermontov gives Victoria Page an audition for his ballet company which wins her a place in the ensemble.  When his star ballerina Irina is injured onstage, Lermontov gives Victoria the lead role in a new ballet THE RED SHOES which has music by composer Julian Craster.  Victoria is a huge success in the title role of a young girl who after donning a pair of magical red ballet shoes dances herself to death, but Lermontov loses her affections to Craster and, when the composer is sacked by Lermontov, Victoria leaves the company.  But when her and Craster's relationship founders, she returns fatefully to The Red Shoes...

What struck me again was the wonderful range of dance that Bourne includes - from classical ballet to post-war contemporary, from stiff social dancing to madcap party dances, from showgirl parading to Egyptian sand-dances.  The action is fluid and truly cinematic helped immeasurably by Lez Brotherston's wonderful settings and costumes and Paule Constable providing lush lighting.

Unlike in other Bourne productions, he doesn't flood the stage with business for his ensemble and minor characters - yes there are minor characters such as the two ballet stars and the choreographer - but they are integrated into the whole without their 'business' holding up the plot.  Bernard Herrmann's glorious film music is made into a whole new score by longtime Bourne collaborator Terry Davies.

For the third time we saw the magnificent Cordelia Braithwaite as Victoria; spiky and physical in ROMEO & JULIET earlier this year. here she was vibrant and sensual as Victoria and a wonderful showcase for her unerring ability as an actress as well as a dancer.  Adam Cooper played Lermontov and it was good to finally see this most iconic of dancers - he danced the role of The Swan in the very first production of Bourne's SWAN LAKE - and although the character is given nothing particularly taxing to do on stage, he did it with a great command and charisma.

The role of Julian was played by another favourite, Dominic North who created the role of Bourne's EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, and again brought great warmth and charisma to the part.  Two other Bourne veterans featured: Michela Meazza was at her diva-ish best as the Ballerina whose injury gives Victoria her chance, and Glenn Graham was fine as the choreographer and lead tempter in THE RED SHOES ballet.  Jackson Finch made a very convincing star dancer in Lermontov's company.

What a pleasure to be able to see this again... c'mon Matthew, release a dvd!

Mr Wonderful.... RIP Jonathan Ollivier

Last week saw us making the trip to Sadler's Wells with the promise of seeing scenes from Matthew Bourne's SWAN LAKE, THE CAR MAN, PLAY WITHOUT WORDS, MR WONDERFUL and SLEEPING BEAUTY as well as routines from Michael Clark, Northern Ballet and Motown: The Musical.  Sounds great no?  But sadly all these were appearing to pay tribute to the dancer Jonathan Ollivier who was killed last year as he drove his motorbike to the same theatre to star in the last performance of THE CAR MAN.

It was remarkable that an evening that had all the possibilities of being maudlin actually felt the reverse: it had the feel of a real celebration of a life lived.  Ollivier obviously made an indelible mark on the dancers and companies he worked with and that was reflected in the performances given.

The evening was compered by Matthew Bourne with a winning charm as well as putting each excerpt into context and how they fitted in Ollivier's life.  The show started with Bourne's own routine to Peggy Lee's MR WONDERFUL which featured Sam Archer, James Leece, Christopher Marney, Dominic North, Simon Williams and Richard Winsor who had all danced with Ollivier at some point. 

The quality of the performances was constantly high and all received great ovations.  The Rambert School (where Ollivier trained) performed two ethnic-themed pieces and Michael Clark appeared with his company in his dance COME, BEEN AND GONE which was all the more thrilling as it is danced to Bowie's "The Jean Genie".

Northern Ballet's artistic director David Nixon appeared on film to talk about his memories of Ollivier's time with his company and introduced a pas de deux from WUTHERING HEIGHTS as Jonathan had originated the role of Heathcliff.  Northern Ballet also performed their celebration of the male dancer called SAPPHIRE.  There were also one-off pieces from the Michael Bourne young dancer programme Re:Bourne, ex-Bourne dancer Drew McOnie's company, STRICTLY COME DANCING's Karen & Kevin Clinton and the MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL company gave us their recreation of The Temptation's MY GIRL as choreographer Warren Adams was a friend of Ollivier.

A real high point was the solo dance by Marcelo Gomes with violinist Charles Yang based on a solo by (and titled) PAGANINI.  Gomes was trained by Jonathan Ollivier in the role of The Swan for Matthew Bourne's SWAN LAKE and danced the role of 'Luca' in repertory with him last year.  Gomes had flown in from New York to dance this piece in honour to his friend.  Gomes personified the music played by Yang to perfection and both almost stopped the show.

The show ended on a particular high with an extended sequence from Bourne's SWAN LAKE with Gomes dancing The Swan and Dominic North as The Prince.  At the end the dancers all sat along the edge of the stage as a screen rolled down and they watched with us an excerpt from Channel 4's MATTHEW BOURNE'S CHRISTMAS of Ollivier dancing the same pas de deux.  At the end, everyone was on their feet applauding, both cast and audience.

A moving night, my only regret is that it had to happen at all.

SLEEPING BEAUTY at Sadler's Wells - arise Sir Matthew!

The last show before Christmas was a traditional delight - a visit to Sadler's Wells to see the Xmas Matthew Bourne production and this year it was a revival of his Gothic retelling of Tchaikovsky's SLEEPING BEAUTY.

I first saw his version in 2013 but it was in the fraught, ugly surroundings of the Wimbledon Theatre with a clueless audience and even worse front-of-house management so my enjoyment was curtailed by such circumstances.  But here we are, in the familiar surroundings of row K in the Sadler's Wells stalls so let the show commence...

Bourne's take on the classic ballet is to keep it in 1890, the year of the musical's premiere.  A King and Queen have asked the dark fairy Carabosse to help them have a child - the ins and outs are not explained! - but when a daughter is born and Carabosse is kept away from the christening, she appears and casts a spell for the girl to die on her 21st birthday.  Luckily Count Lilac and his rag-tag retinue of fairies are on hand to amend it so Aurora will only sleep til woken by a kiss 100 year later.

This opening scene wins one over straight away with the appearance of a puppet baby princess who scampers around the stage much to the courtier's frustration. Flash forward to 1911 and Aurora's 21st birthday party which takes place on the palace lawn in full Edwardian dress.

She loves Leo the gamekeeper and they dance a marvellous pas de deux but a handsome, tall stranger appears to give her a rose with tainted thorns.  When Aurora succumbs to the thorns, the stranger is revealed to be Carabosse's equally nasty son Caradoc. 

But how does Bourne get around the plot flaw that if Aurora has to sleep for 100 years, what then of Leo?  But here he puts his own radical spin on the tale by having the First Act end with Count Lilac biting Leo's neck turning him into an ageless vampire - result!  Lilac swooping on Leo's neck got a big "Ooooo" from the audience and it's an excellent close to the act as the music quietly pulses away as Leo twitches in spasms.

The second act starts in 2011 as Leo enters the palace's magical moonlit gardens to awaken Aurora but he is foiled by Caradoc who awakens Aurora instead to become his prisoner bride.  Count Lilac comes to Leo's aid again to rescue Aurora from being wedded to Caradoc in the ominous black and red nightclub which is the haunt of his evil retinue.

As before there was so much to enjoy - Lez Brotherston's wonderful set and costume designs conjure up both the real and other-worldly and Paule Constable's lighting design was wonderfully atmospheric.  As usual the company were excellent and Bourne's choreography always involving and entertaining.

But.. but.. but.. there is something about it that leaves me a little unsatisfied about it.  The relationship between Aurora and Leo was excellently danced by Ashley Shaw and the always-watchable Dominic Shaw but the relationship is so thinly drawn that it is difficult to be drawn emotionally into the characters.  It just all feels so perfunctory, maybe I should have a view of the dvd to be able to give myself over to it? 

Special mentions to Christopher Marney as Count Lilac and Tom Clark as Caradoc/Carabosse who are the only other characters to feature prominently however it was nice to see familiar Bourne names in the ensemble such as Chris Trenfield and Kate Lyons.

It was great to hear the news so soon after seeing SLEEPING BEAUTY that Matthew Bourne was to be knighted in the 2016 New Years Honours.  I have been a fan of his work since 1992 and he has consistently shown to be a master storyteller through his works as well as being a great ambassador for contemporary dance and for the outreach work that New Adventures has done in the past... well done Matthew!!

Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN: Desire and Diesel

Can it really be eight years since I last saw Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN at Sadler's Wells, his inspired cut & shunt of CARMEN and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE?  Yep and almost to the day.  It was wonderful to experience it's potent power again.

Bourne is my favourite choreographer and his productions always excite and delight by the intriguing combination of stark Laban dance techniques but mixed with a musical theatre knack for story-telling and character.  Sometimes productions can veer to opposite sides of the spectrum such as the overly-characterised EDWARD SCISSORHANDS or the po-faced DORIAN GRAY but when the combination is right there is no-one to touch him and THE CAR MAN is an excellent example.

Premiering in 2000, the show is Bourne's own tribute to the film noir genre of sexy, dangerous sirens being unfaithful to patsy husbands with bruised, brooding blue-collar men which inevitably leads to murder.  Bourne had been asked to take on Bizet's CARMEN which he resisted but when he heard Rodion Schedrin's 40 minute version of the score for the Bolshoi ballet he was intrigued by it.  He turned to composer and arranger Terry Davies to re-orchestrate parts of the score that Scherin hadn't used in a similar style which gave him a complete ballet.

Set in the fictional desert town of Harmony, the action takes place around Dino's Diner and Garage where the slovenly owner runs a troupe of tough mechanics who relentlessly pick on the secretly gay hired help Angelo.  Add to all this the Diner's waitress Rita, who harbours a longing for Angelo and Dino's sexy and bored wife Lana and you know trouble's a-comin' - and it arrives in the lean, mean shape of Luca, a drifter who appears in the town and answers Lana's Man Wanted sign in every way.

Soon Lana and Angelo have both succumbed to Luca and the pressure-cooker finally blows when Dino is killed by Lana and Luca who frame Angelo as the killer.  Finally together, Lana and Luca have to face the consequences of their actions when Angelo escapes....

Bizet's eternally-thrilling, choon-packed score zings along, the ominous Fate Motif appearing every so often to signal that a dangerous corner lies ahead for our principals and although I had seen it before, I was gripped by the excellent performances and Bourne's propulsive, muscular choreography driving the story along to it's inevitable conclusion.

As always, Lez Brotherston's set and costume design makes the show dazzling to see as does Chris Davey's lighting design.  The ensemble were as excellent as any Bourne production has been, thrilling in their company routines and individually when given the opportunity, like Pia Driver as the slinky hostess of a nightclub and Kate Lyons, Andrew Monaghan and Dan Wright as the club's beatnik dance act.

It was a particular joy to see Alan Vincent as garage-owner Dino as when we first saw the show in 2007, Vincent played the title role of Luca.  As well as the beatnik club dancer, Kate Lyons also played innocent Rita the lovelorn waitress and it was again a delight to see another Bourne favourite Dominic North as the hapless Angelo.  North played Edward Scissorhands both times I have seen it as well as the hero Leo in SLEEPING BEAUTY and The Prince in the 2009 revival of SWAN LAKE and in the 2007 CAR MAN he was in the ensemble.  Now in the featured role of Angelo he was excellent.

In the roles of the dangerous lovers Luca and Lana were Christopher Trenfield and Zizi Strallen and they brought a tortured, sexy elegance to the roles.  But they did not quite equal the propulsive chemistry of Alan Vincent and Michaela Meazza in the 2007 production.

I loved having the chance to see this great production again and, as it was being filmed the night I went, hopefully it won't be long before possibly seeing it again.

Here is a nice interview with Matthew Bourne explaining about his production, enjoy!

The 7 Shows of Xmas 4: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

It was going to be a tough ask for any production to follow the dazzling HERE LIES LOVE but the next day found Owen and I at Sadler's Wells for the revival of Matthew Bourne's dance version of Tim Burton's EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.

I saw the show in 2008 and in my blog I was less than enthusiastic.  Although Bourne has slightly revised it I still feel it's a show that is as thin as one of Edward's blades, as light as one of his ice shavings.  By the way, how wonderful to be able to access exactly what I thought of a show seen six years ago.  Thank you Mr. Blogger.

Actually re-reading that blog makes me realise that not a lot has changed in 6 years sadly.  The piece has not been re-imagined to any great extent - there is now a duet between Edward and Kim in the first act which strengthens their relationship but again not good enough for them to be a couple that you root for: Edward yes, but Kim's actions are too unreadable as imagined for this.

The show is also still saddled with one too many ensemble numbers.  Usually this would not be a bad thing for a Bourne show but here is a town that needs some serious down-sizing.  Their are six families portrayed - each comprising four members - and Bourne feels the need in each ensemble number to reintroduce them all with their own idiosyncrasies.  With two ensemble numbers in each act this just feels like padding, as if Bourne didn't feel he could do enough with the central couple which bizarrely is just what the show lacks.

So we get the Evercreech family being religious, the Covitt family's husband sneaking off to have sex with Mrs Monroe, the Grubb family being slovernly and the Upton husband and wife running for political office again and again.  The irritating thing is that nothing actually builds from this, like some Burtonesque nightmare they just repeat the same actions again and again.  I am not sure if Bourne is attempting social satire, I suspect not.

What makes this all the more frustrating is after treading water for almost an hour and a half, in the last 20 minutes of the show Bourne suddenly ramps up the action and the emotional involvment to arrive at a genuinely sad and emotional ending.

Edward being chased back to his inventor's deserted home, the climax of the action, the significance of the old woman we saw at the start of the show and the thing that haunts her; all of these finally galvanize the show and give it a resonance that have been lacking up until then.  I hate to criticize Bourne's work as it has given me such great pleasure but it has to be said.

Of course what helps immesurably are some of the performances.  It was great to see Dominic North again as Edward, he has made the part his own and makes an indelible impression of an innocent lost in a world that he so wishes to be part of.  He genuinely makes Edward a tragic figure through his thrilling performance.

Katy Lowenhoff was a charming Kim but as I have said, is hampered by Bourne's wishy-washy approach to the character while Bourne old-timers Etta Murfitt and Saranne Curtin were very good as the kindly Mrs. Boggs and the man-hungry Joyce Munroe.  Tom Clark was also good as Edward's nemesis Bill.

The ensemble cast gave the usual high standard that is expected of a Bourne production, Lez Brotherston's stage designs were a delight as always as was Howard Harrison's evocative lighting.

If only Matthew Bourne could have another look at the show and, with Christmas in mind, discard the padding surrounding the show and concentrate more on the actual heart of it.

Bourne's Beauty

 

Quite a few months ago I went with Owen to have my senses well and truly shaken at the latest Matthew Bourne production SLEEPING BEAUTY.

Having missed it at Sadler's Wells we caught up with it on it's subsequent tour at Wimbledon.  How good that New Adventures, after playing in a major London venue for a month and a half, still include a London date on their tour.

Despite the best efforts of the shambolic Wimbledon Theatre staff - obviously conditioned to dealing with half-empty houses for the tribute act tat that is their usual fare but go into utter meltdown when faced with a sold out show - as well as the shockingly poor audience I was in the middle of, I have retained enough of a memory of the show to blog for you, Constant Reader.

My only experience of the SLEEPING BEAUTY ballet was being taken by my school to a English National Ballet production back in the day.  Indeed my only real memory of it was the teacher's long and laborious explanation of why we had to be vigilant for the 'Rose Adagio' danced by Princess Aurora in Act 1.  In the interval she then quizzed us on it but I guess I had nodded off or was looking at something else.

2012 saw the 25th anniversary of New Adventures and with SLEEPING BEAUTY Bourne completes his Tchaikovsky trilogy after his productions of NUTCRACKER! and SWAN LAKE which have both done so much to bring ballet to a wider audience.  His version of SLEEPING BEAUTY ditches Petipa's traditional tale and gives us a darkly romantic tale of Aurora, her love for the palace gardener Leo and the other-worldly creatures who alter their destiny.

Bourne retains the basic storyline but sets the start of the story in 1890, the year that SLEEPING BEAUTY premiered.  A childless King and Queen, having sought the help of the dark fairy Carabosse to have a baby, forget to invite her to their daughter's christening.  Carabosse appears and casts the famous spell that will see the Princess Aurora die at the age of 21 by pricking her finger. 

However The Lilac Fairy and his rag-tag retinue of fairies called Feral, Tantrum etc. arrive and mollify the spell so Aurora will not die but fall asleep for 100 years.  This scene introduced us not only to Liam Mower's wonderfully characterised Lilac Fairy but to Bourne's ingenious idea of having the baby Princess represented by a puppet who garnered laughs as she scampered around the stage and even up the curtains.

 

Flash forward to 1911 and Aurora's Edwardian 21st birthday party which she steals away from to spend time with Leo the gardener who loves her.  However a tall dark stranger appears who turns out to be Caradoc, the vengeful son of the now-dead Carabosse.  He implements his mother's plan and Aurora falls into a dead sleep as does the whole court.

 

But here Bourne encountered the problem of the story's insurmountable plot flaw - if Aurora has to sleep for 100 years, what then of Leo?  Here he has introduced a great zeitgeist idea of his own and the First Act ends with The Lilac Fairy biting Leo's neck turning him into an ageless vampire.  That's got the teenage girl audience sewn up!  This act introduced us to Hannah Vassallo's spirited and delightful Aurora, Bourne regulars Dominic North as Leo and Adam Maskell as the evil Caradoc (he had also played Carabosse).

 

 

The second act takes place in 2011 as Leo enters the palace's moonlit gardens to awaken Aurora with true love's kiss but he is foiled by the nasty Caradoc again who awakens Aurora instead to become his prisoner bride.  Leo and The Lilac Fairy then have to rescue Aurora from her fate worth than death and the climactic fight to the death between Leo and Caradoc takes place in the moody surroundings of a black and red nightclub which is the haunt of the evil retinue of Caradoc. 

 

Will Leo triumph?  Well, this IS a fairy tale... and there was also a delightful surprise at the end of the production which guaranteed it a massive round of applause.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the sheer Gothic romanticism of Bourne's reimagining, his always entertaining choreography, the excellent performances of his lead dancers and tireless ensemble, and Les Brotherston's marvellous set design and costumes.  I particularly liked the punk elegance of The Lilac Fairy and his retinue with their frock coats and distressed layers of lace and silk.  He thoroughly deserved his Olivier award nomination.  Paule Constable's lighting design also contributed towards the success of the mis en scène.

 

If I did have a tiny complaint it's that not enough time is spent establishing Aurora and Leo's love story.  They had one lengthy pas de deux but that was all, it all felt a bit rushed and just assumed.  This is no reflection on the dancer's who were a delight to watch but on the sometimes thin quality of Bourne's scenarios.  Oddly enough it is usually felt most in establishing the love between his principal romantic couples.

 

This small quibble aside, I hope there will be another opportunity to see this wonderful addition to Bourne's canon of work again in the not too distant future.  I certainly wouldn't want to have to wait 100 years.