THE DREAM / SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS / MARGUERITE AND ARMAND at Covent Garden - Ashton's gems

Yes I know... more dance!  But this was an evening I would not have missed for anything.  As the Royal Ballet came to the end of their 2016-17 season it was time to salute again the peerless legacy of the company's founding choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton and to say goodbye to a principal ballerina.

As well as the evening serving as a double tribute, it was also an evening that featured two adaptations from literature as well as featuring two ballets that were originally danced by Ashton's muse, Dame Margot Fonteyn.  The Royal Ballet's triple bills usually deliver the goods - this one ranks as one of the best.

The first of the evening's ballets was THE DREAM, Ashton's 1964 version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.  Rather than do a full adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Sir Fred chose to focus on the main middle section where the arguing rulers of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, find their dispute disrupted by the fleeing human lovers Helena, Demetrius, Hermia and Lysander as well as the clod-hopping Bottom.  I think he might have spoiled Shakespeare's play for me now as, without the distractions of the bookending Athens sequences, his version was by far the most entertaining I have seen in years!

Ashton set his choreography to Mendelssohn's scores for two productions of the original play in the late 19th Century but John Lanchbery's arrangement of the scores is so smooth that it plays as a single piece.  The late David Walker's design takes us back to full-on romantic versions of the play and I particularly liked the fairy frocks which were in varying shades of green, blue, pink and purple.

The always-remarkable Steven McRae was a fantastic Oberon, charismatic, mercurial and defying gravity, and was well partnered by Akane Takada as a spirited Titania, their final duet was simply dazzling as the couple become once more the loving king and queen of the forest.  The role of Puck was played by Valentino Zucchetti who could give vivacity a bad name.

Bennet Gartside was a delight as Bottom, galumphing away when not delighting in his temporary status as Titania's donkey-headed lover.  The mixed-up lovers danced by Thomas Mock, Matthew Ball, Claire Calvert and, in particular, Itziar Mendizabal as the lovelorn Helena were a delight.  It must be a tough call to get laughs through just dance when you know it's a famous comedic role but Itziar got them.  All in all, as I said, it was one of the most captivating DREAMs that I have seen.

In 1946 the Sadler's Wells Ballet was invited to be the permanent company at the Opera House, Covent Garden and one of their first productions was SYMPHONIC VARIATIONS, danced to music by César Franck.  During WWII ballet had relied on safe, narrative productions but Ashton wanted this to be totally abstract.  It was an immediate success and the original cast included Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer and Michael Somes.  Three male and three female dancers are alone on stage with nothing to distract from their simple lines and classic moves.  It is hard to judge it's originality now as it is the abstract norm but it was still beautifully danced by all the ensemble and the leads, Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov.

Just as the lights were lowering for the last ballet I whispered to Owen that Zenaida Yanowsky - who we were about to see in MARGUERITE AND ARMAND - couldn't have too many performances left as her retirement from the Royal Ballet had been announced months ago.  I was right, she didn't.  It was that night!

We had just seen Zenaida in full imperious diva mode in Liam Scarlett's SYMPHONIC DANCES but as Dumas' tragic Lady of The Camilias she was all too human but still never less than hypnotic.  There was a slight sense of deja vu as we had seen the same story at Covent Garden last year in LA TRAVIATA but Ashton's MARGUERITE AND ARMAND - like his DREAM - distilled the essence of the story without making you feel much was left out.

Ashton devised the ballet in 1963 as a star vehicle for his partnership of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev and they created such an indelible stamp on it that the Royal Ballet felt they could not revive it until 2000, well after their deaths in the 1990s.  But the piece cries out for charismatic star performers and while Yanowsky certainly is, it's a shame that Roberto Bolle was a bit stolid.

Danced to a piano sonata by Liszt the ballet starts with Marguerite on her deathbed, deserted by the hangers-on who once thronged her home and she drifts back to the love of her life Armand.  We flash back to the night they met, when Marguerite was the courtesan of the Parisian rich and famous.  Their initial flirtation hints at a deeper longing and they quickly become inseparable despite Marguerite's failing health.

They move to the country for Marguerite's health but her past catches up with her when Armand's disapproving father arrives and pressures Marguerite to reject Armand so he can have a blameless future.  Despite her love for him, Marguerite flees their home while Armand sleeps.  Well partnered by Christopher Saunders as Armand's father, Yanowsky played the scene beautifully, her final moments with Armand were achingly poignant - who needs words?

Marguerite returns to Paris and to her old rich lover but Armand appears at one of her parties and denounces her as a whore, showering her with money as payment for their love.  Again Yanowsky played the scene wonderfully - and I say played rather than danced as she gave as great an acting performance as any RADA-trained thesp.  Publicly humiliated, Marguerite's rich friends desert her and she succumbs to her illness alone.  However Armand's father tells his son the real reason for her desertion and he rushes to her bedside to have final moments with her before she dies.  This could feel mawkish but - just like Garbo in the 1936 film of CAMILLE - Yanowsky played the truth and not the sentimentality

If I thought the emotional highpoint had just taken place onstage I was wrong, as the curtain slowly descended there was a thunderous ovation which only grew and grew as Zenaida and the company took their bows.  Wave after wave of flowers rained down from the stage boxes to say farewell and thank you to her from her London fans; her last-ever Royal Ballet performance will be during the company's forthcoming tour of Australia.  It was like being in a Hollywood film!

Then came the real surprise,a parade of her leading men including Carlos Acosta and Steven McRae lined up to present her with a rose each then the choreographers who had worked with her ending with Sir Anthony Dowell almost hidden behind a huge bouquet.  Then it was the turn of Kevin O'Hare as Director of the Royal Ballet to give a speech thanking her for 23 years of artistry with the company and hinting that he would be trying in the future to hopefully pursuade her to return as a guest artist.  Then it was time for more curtain calls - and still more showers of flowers - before Zenaida left the stage for the last time.

It was a wonderful night showcasing the taste, mastery and effortless storytelling of Sir Fred but also it was an honour to be in the night when the Royal Ballet said a fond goodbye to one of their own.

Brava Zenaida!

JEWELS at Covent Garden - Balanchine's sparklers...

What?  Another night at the Royal Opera House?  Hey don't blame me, I have to go to make sure Owen doesn't climb onstage and jig about.

This time it was to celebrate the 50th birthday of George Balanchine's three part ballet based on the jewels he once saw on a visit to Van Cleef & Arpels.  Balanchine is credited with being the father of American Ballet but is also the template for the modern choreographer who can move between the worlds of ballet, dance, musical theatre and even film.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Balanchine was the last choreographer hired by Sergei Diaghilev for his landmark company the Ballets Russes and after the impresario's death he struggled on with failing companies in Monte Carlo before making the move to the US where he flourished and found fertile ground for his exploration into abstract dance.

Indeed JEWELS is a necklace of short abstract ballets which had as a connecting thread three moments of dance development - EMERALDS is based on classical French ballet with languid movement to music by Fauré, RUBIES is pure 20th Century jazz ballet danced to music by Stravinsky and DIAMONDS is in the Russian Imperial style to music by Tchaikovsky.  It was certainly charming and showed the expertise of the Royal Ballet company but I found it an oddly disjointed affair.

EMERALDS as I said was all very languid but - and this might be a hangover from the contemporary dance seen recently - none of it seemed terribly exciting and the choreography seemed very - um - ok I'll say it - American.  It all seemed very ersatz and toothless, admittedly it did end interestingly with the four women leaving the stage slowly as the men knelt alone - as Owen opined "they have lost their emeralds" but it was all very dreary.  It was only the drama of a woman having a seizure in the row in front of me that stopped me dropping off.  She was ok after a while - but it did make me wonder how they get someone out of the precipitous amphitheatre seats if they conk out...

DIAMONDS was better only in so far as it contained a wonderful performance from Marianela Nunez as the lead ballerina in an extended pas-de-doux with Thiago Soares which must be exhausting to perform as to be honest it did outstay it's welcome for me.  Again one could not fault the performances of the company but it did ultimately - again - feel like a copy of a copy; a Las Vegas recreation of watching Pavlova.

The reason that these two nostalgic ballets felt so thin was because the middle section RUBIES was practically fizzing with inventiveness and wit!  Like a Van Cleef and Arpels necklace, tiny diamonds and emeralds surrounded a huzzing big glorious ruby slap-bang in the middle of the setting.

Vibrant and colourful, Balanchine's tribute to the American idiom of jazz ballet was the only one of the three pieces that felt original and with it's own inner dynamic which lit up the stage.  Stravinsky's 'Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra' jabs and pokes at you, keeping you - as well as the dancers - on your toes.  The delicious ruby-red costumes turn the stage incarnadine - there you go Virginia Woolf, I used one of your favourite words.  There is a very good reason why the poster art for this revival features the central couple from RUBIES - because they are sensational! 

The established partnership of Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb lit up the stage and not just because of their bejewelled costumes.  They gave the piece a real sense of personality and their style made it seem as if it was all coming naturally to them, belying the intensive training needed to achieve it.  Steven McRae's cheeky persona shone out but his dancing prowess was also in evidence as his dizzying pirouette into the wings at top speed attested to.  Sarah Lamb's extraordinary suppleness and grace thrilled with her gravity-defying extensions and spins.  They were complemented by Melissa Hamilton whose angular jazz movements suggested the influence that Balanchine had on Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse.

Lamb and McRae's larger-than-life performances are what I will remember about JEWELS, two dancers at the top of their talent given the perfect showcase to dazzle.

CHROMA / MULTIVERSE / CARBON LIFE at Covent Garden - Wayne's World

A week or so ago we returned to the Opera House Covent Garden, which is fast becoming a second home!  This time it was to see a triple-bill celebrating resident choreographer Wayne McGregor's 10th anniversary with the company; it centred on a premiere work MULTIVERSE and this was bracketed by two previously seen works CHROMA and CARBON LIFE.

McGregor's choreography is not always easy and he evidently wants to push the boundaries of the music that can be utilized for the Royal Ballet but his WOOLF WORKS was our entry point to the Royal Ballet so he will always be interesting to us.

CHROMA premiered in 2006 and in this revival McGregor has invited dancers from the Alvin Ailey company to join his Royal Ballet troop to bring their particular brand of dynamism; indeed the first two dancers seen are the hypnotic partnership of the delightfully-named Jeroboem Bozeman and Jacqueline Green who were quite amazing.  The company also included such stalwarts as Sarah Lamb, Federico Bonelli and Lauren Cuthbertson - the recent birth of a child might be good news for Steven McRae but sadly it robbed us of a chance to see his excellent dancing!  John Pawson's cool and formal set design and McGregor's intricate yet flailing choreography was danced to tracks by Joby Talbot and Jack White of The White Stripes, however they all sounded vaguely like attempts at writing James Bond car chase themes.  It was however a fantastic piece of dance theatre.

The premiere work MULTIVERSE sat in the middle of the evening and has not received the warmest reception.  It is an incredibly hard piece to like; admire possibly, but very hard to like.  It is set to two looped verbal works by the minimalist composer Steve Reich which were taken from a speech by an American black preacher in 1965 and called "It's Gonna Rain".  This phrase repeats and repeats, words are dropped, the phrase is multi-tracked starting at different moments to create a dense soundscape that batters against your ears.

Sadly - after a day of being on the phone listening to complaints from annoyed people - the preacher's multi-tacked rant left me ice cold and if I am honest, McGregor's choreography displayed all the characteristics of "modern dance" or to quote the legend that is Nicola Blackman, "six dancers running around trying to find the toilet with the light out".  Danced on a raked triangular stage, one could admire the commitment of the dancers who included Marianela Nunez, Eric Underwood and Edward Watson and towards the end, during the second Reich composition "Runner" from last year, there was finally some orchestral input and some interesting visual imagery, but by then I had disengaged from it.

It was with a suspicious heart that I took my seat for the last piece CARBON LIFE but here we were back to the McGregor we know: provocative, exciting and with a fluid sexuality.  CARBON LIFE premiered in 2012 and is danced to a score of Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt songs.  The music is played by an onstage band and a roster of singers - sadly absent was Boy George who had appeared in the premiere run four years ago but among the onstage singers was fellow-gayer Sam Sparrow.

Over nine songs the 18 dancers perform duets and small ensemble pieces, all with the signature McGregor moves of stretching, spinning, counterpoint movement and strong lines, but also clothed in the minimalist, futuristic costume designs of Gareth Pugh and lit by Lucy Carter's lighting design.  By the time of the last song "Somebody To Love Me" I was totally won over by McGregor's fusion of dance, pop music and fashion.  Ronson's songs sounded fantastic bouncing around the auditorium and all concerned are missing a trick not having the music recorded and available to buy.

I guess two out of three ain't bad - I would really like to see CHROMA and CARBON LIFE again.  Make it happen Covent Garden!

 

The WINTER'S TALE at Covent Garden - Don't Send In The Clowns...

For the third time in four months we saw Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE only this time dancers peopled the gloomy court of King Leontes in Sicillia and the sunny fields of neighbouring Bohemia as we saw Christopher Wheeldon's Royal Ballet production.

Shakespeare's tragi-comedy is one that I enjoy a lot but how can a production of it be a success with the loss of his words?  Quite easily. Constant Reader, when you have a choreographer of Wheeldon's talent who, rather than doing a scene-for-scene transposing, instead conjures up the mood and the feelings behind the words.

By turn thrilling and emotional, Wheeldon is to be applauded for dropping the lengthy rude mechanicals comedy characters from the Bohemia scenes, instead the second act concentrates on a lengthy pas-de-deux between the young lovers Perdita and Florizel. As I said, what is remarkable about the production is that with no words to concentrate on, Wheeldon can instead focus on the emotions that drive Shakespeare's story and can linger on certain moments that are overlooked in the rush of words.

Christopher Wheeldon provides a prologue showing Leontes and Polixenis as young friends, separated when they become the rulers of Sicillia and Bohemia only to be reunited as adults with Leontes' wife Hermione.  When Polixenes cancels his return to Bohemia because Hermione asks him to, Leontes is thrown into a jealous rage suspecting them of having an affair, which Wheeldon choreographs in a fascinating scene where Leontes clambers over the court sculptures to spy on the couple, who he imagines making love.

Polixenes flees but Leontes has Hermione arrested and put on trial. Witnessing his mother's trial, Prince Mamillius collapses and dies which causes Hermione to collapse too. Her chief supporter Paulina announces the Queen is dead and Leontes finally is confronted by the disastrous consequences of his misguided jealousy. Paulina's husband Antigonus is killed when he leaves Hermione's recently-born baby daughter to die on the shores of Bohemia and the baby is adopted by a shepherd - and all of that in the first half!

Wheeldon's choreography was remarkably involving and he was also helped enormously by the ominous design of Sicillia's court by Bob Crowley and the atmospheric lighting of Natasha Katz. Joby Talbot's score was also very fine, particularly stark and sombre as Leontes' jealous madness takes hold only to blossom into lyricism for the second act when we see the grown-up daughter Perdita falling in love with Florizel, the son of Polixenes.  Again Bob Crowley's setting of a large tree was quite marvellous.

Most of the conclusion in Shakespeare's play frustratingly happens offstage but Wheeldon has the reunion between Leontes and Perdita happen onstage when he recognizes his wife's pendant that was left with her as a baby.  Of course what was lost in the climax was Shakespeare's wonderful poetry when Leontes is confronted with a statue of Hermione 'coming to life' - one line that always gets me is Leontes' "O she's warm" when he touches his wife's arm - but the gentle lyricism of Wheeldon's choreography went some way to making up for this.

In fact Wheldon's final moments provided a touching coda that is not found in the original play: Crowley's design for Hermione's plinth has her standing with a figure of her son Mamillius and, as Hermione and Perdita left the stage to get to know each other after their lives apart, Leontes eagerly touched the statue of his son hoping for 'magic' to happen twice... only to be led away by Paulina as if to say "No your son *is* dead" and as the King left with his thoughts, Paulina bowed down in memory of the lost Prince.  Quite lovely and enhancing Shakespeare's plot rather than ruining it.

The lead dancers all gave excellent performances while never losing the feel of a dedicated company: Bennet Gartside as Leontes, Marianela Nunez (so good previously in Wheeldon's AFTER THE RAIN and GISELLE) as a noble Hermione and, in, particular Itziar Mendizabel was wonderful as Paulina, expressing aching grief with every movement.  It was good to see her again so quickly after her impressive featured role in GISELLE. Special mention too for Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Vadim Muntagirov as Perdita and Florizel in their lengthy second act pas-de-deux.

A worthy addition to any ballet fan's repertoire and a credible choice as the nearest related-production seen before the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

GISELLE at Covent Garden - dead on point...

Constant Reader, as you know I have been seeing quite a few ballets at Covent Garden since last year but I had dipped my toe-shoe into ballet before.  That it didn't 'take' as it did last year is odd however I think seeing so many productions choreographed by Matthew Bourne possibly left me more open to accepting more traditional dance.

One of my rare outings before was to see Sylvie Guillem dance GISELLE at Covent Garden in 2001 so how odd to be seeing it again in the same venue, only now with more understanding of the art.

There was no star ballerina this time but as we saw the 571st performance of Peter Wright's production I guess this was the production I saw Guillem dance in.

GISELLE was an immediate success when it was first staged in 1841 and has been constantly staged ever since.  First choreographed by Jean Corrali and Jules Perrot, the choreography seen today is largely based on the work of Marius Petipa - as it seems most of the classical repertoire is - who staged it for the Russian Imperial Ballet at the end of the 19th Century.

Giselle is a country girl in love with a man who is actually Count Albrecht in disguise, he ventures into the countryside to escape his life of privilege and also his fiancee Countess Bathilde.  A jealous woodsman Hilarion discovers the Count's identity and when Albrecht's father, the Duke, and the Countess appear in the village during a hunting trip, he unmasks the pretense.  Seeing Albrecht and the Countess together sends Giselle into a mad frenzy and she stabs herself, dying in her mother's arms. And that's just Act I!

In Act II the grieving Albrecht and Hilarion separately visit Giselle's woodland grave but her spirit has been claimed by the Wilis - stop sniggering at the back - who are the unquiet spirits of maidens who have died due to being jilted before their wedding day.  The Wilis, led by their imperious Queen Myrtha, find Hilarion and drive him to suicide by drowning him in a lake but Giselle finds love transcends death and fights her ghostly sisters over Albrecht.

Peter Wright's production - here staged by Christopher Carr - has been running off and on since 1985 and one can see why as it was a visually stunning production with excellent choreography and, in particular, a fine showcase for the female corps with their appearance as the ghostly Wilis in the second act - a real endurance test that our ladies triumphed at.

All the performers gave good performances: Elizabeth McGorian as Giselle's mother Berthe, Christina Arestis as the regally cold Bathilde and Eric Underwood as the quicksilver master of the Duke's hunt were all eye-catching.

Marianela Nunez was a spirited - no pun intended - Giselle, full of youthful life alive and with a luminous stillness in death while Albrecht was well danced by Vadim Muntagirov.  I also liked the icy and deadly Queen Myrtha as danced by Itziar Mendizabel whose sideways entrances and exits were all stupendous, hovering on point quickly with little discernible movement!

John Macfarlane's set design was very good especially the second act's ghostly forest which seemed to go on forever and Adolphe Adam's score sounded marvellously lush under the baton of Barry Wordsworth.  The production will be screened on 6th April in cinemas and, believe me, you could do a lot worse than see this at your local fleapit.