DVD/150: SLEEPING BEAUTY (Clyde Geronimi, 1959)

Eight years in production, Disney's SLEEPING BEAUTY only recouped it's budget thanks to 1970s and '80s reissues.

Disney wanted a different style to previous films and asked a recently-employed background artist Eyvind Earle to give it a unified look.  A designer had already suggested a theme based on Medieval tapestries which Earle pursued.

Of course the characters have the unique touch that Disney's animators gave them so the main characters - Aurora, the three fairies and Maleficent - really pop from the austere backgrounds.

When the original director became ill he was replaced by Eric Larson who also delivered the forest sequence where Aurora sings to woodland creatures and meets The Prince. 

He was replaced by Chuck Geronimi whose bickering with Earle led to the latter leaving Disney in 1958.

Wolfgang Reitherman joined Geronimi to direct the climax where Maleficent transforms into a dragon.

The lush score derives from Tchaikovsky's ballet.

Shelf or charity shop?  A keeper... SLEEPING BEAUTY is still not everyone's favourite Disney but I have always liked it's tug-of-war between it's painterly austere backgrounds and standard Disneyisms like the cute woodland characters - I am a sucker for the squirrel and the two rabbits!  Of course I also love the pure evil of Maleficent, superbly voiced by Eleanor Audley and animated by Marc Davis.  He also animated Aurora who likewise has excellent vocal casting with 29 year-old soprano Mary Costa, the only cast member still with us at the time of writing.  All together now: "I know you / I walked with you / Once Upon A Dream..."

DVD/150: NUTCRACKER! (Ross MacGibbon, 2003, tv)

Conceived in 1992, Matthew Bourne revised his version of Tchaikovsky's THE NUTCRACKER in time for this 2003 filmed version, capturing the production's pink perfection.

Bourne starts his version in a dismal orphanage run by Dr Dross and his awful family; the children have meagre Christmas decorations and presents only when the Governers visit, when they leave the presents and decorations are snatched back. 

Clara wants her Nutcracker doll back but discovers he has become alive and transforms into a handsome version of the boy she likes - our hero helps defeat the Dross family and helps the children escape.

But the Nutcracker becomes besotted with vain Princess Sugar - Sweetieland's version of Dr Dross' daughter - and Clara attempts to win him back.

But in Sweetieland you're only as good as you taste - gossipy marshmellows, rowdy gob-stoppers and a lascivious Knickerbocker Glory make Clara discover her hero where she least expects him.

Shelf or charity shop?  A definite sugar-coated shelf.  I have seen NUTCRACKER! twice on stage and this is a lovely reminder of the production's invention and wit.  The production should have been playing at Sadlers Wells this Christmas but for the bloody COVID pandemic; it would have brought Bourne's version up to level pegging with the Royal Ballet's production which I have seen three times.  One shouldn't compare the two of course - Bourne's choreography is frustrating at times when you know how the music can be interpreted classically - but NUTCRACKER! certainly has more laughs than the Petipa version and immortalised here are some fine performances: Etta Murfitt as Clara, Alan Vincent as the Nutcracker (I saw him perform the role onstage in 2007), the late and great Scott Ambler as Dr Dross / King of Sweetieland and Arthur Pita as the licky Knickerbocker Glory.  It also serves to remind you of Anthony Ward's eye-popping design!

SWAN LAKE at the Opera House Covent Garden - Swansong...

The Royal Ballet's big Spring presntation was scheduled to be the first revival of Liam Scarlett's SWAN LAKE; we saw it in 2018 and wanted to see it again as our favourite dancer Steven McRae was finally due to dance the lead role of Prince Siegfried.  Back in 2018 he was recovering from an injury so we saw William Bracewell instead.  But last October, we were in the audience when, while dancing des Grieux in MANON, Steven snapped his tendon onstage and he is still recovering, so again we saw a replacement, this time Federico Bonelli.

Devil Works: 1

This revival, while being well-reviewed and successful at the box office - hey it's SWAN LAKE!! - has yet appeared under a cloud as Liam Scarlett, instead of reaping the benefits of this revival of the Tchaikovsky classic, was suspended in January by the Royal Ballet for allegations of sexual misconduct which are still ongoing.

Devil Works: 2

This is all a shame as Scarlett's production - here staged by the Royal Ballet's Director Kevin O'Hare - is a wonderful, sweeping version of the 1895 Imperial Ballet, his choreography building on the legendary work of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov as well as the Neopolitan dance by Sir Frederick Ashton.  Unlike the museum piece that the Bolshoi Ballet presented a few years back, Scarlett's version seems vivid and new.  There are even overtones of Matthew Bourne's version when at the end Siegfried carries Odette's body towards us while behind him she appears floating illuminated behind the backdrop.

With the romantic design by John Macfarlane and moody lighting by David Finn still proving a triumph, we again had Akane Takada dancing Odette / Odile and, while I still feel her to be a bit antiseptic, she still dances with a fluidity of movement, like the ripples on her swan's lake.  It would be good to see one of the other female soloists do it such as Sarah Lamb or Natalia Osipova.

There was exquisite support from the ever-whirling James Hay as Benno, Kristen McNally as the Queen who realises too late the error of her ways, and the always hissable Thomas Whitehead as the nasty Von Rothbart.

Of course one must also praise the wonderful corps de ballet for the always dazzling work they do as Odette's swans - shaping and re-shaping themselves into dazzling groups, they are always an arresting sight.  We were lucky to have in the cast Itziar Mendizabal as one of the pairing of lead swans and a special shout-out to Gina Storm-Jensen for her dazzling Spanish dancer.

The Royal Opera House Orchestra as usual got the biggest ovation under the baton of Koen Kessels.  The night we saw it danced marked the 1,032nd performance of SWAN LAKE at Covent Garden and I am so glad we saw it again - I even had an icy tear trickle down my cheek at the end which has never happened before, unlike the Bourne version which has me full of sobs. 

But now what?  I cannot recommend you see it as thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, Covent Garden as well as all other theatres has closed for an indefinite period.  Who knows how many months I will be robbed of that unique experience of alchemy between performer and audience.

Devil Works: 3

Somehow The Bard - as usual - sums up the moment best:



The rest is silence...

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY at Covent Garden - Wakey Wakey!

I think we were very brave returning to Covent Garden as our last visit to The Royal Ballet saw us witness the heartbreak of Steven McRae injured mid-performance during MANON.  Happily  I can report that we counted all the dancers onto the stage and we counted them all off safely.  More importantly, it was a real pleasure to see THE SLEEPING BEAUTY again, still a jewel in the RB's crown.

It has been around for such a long time that quite a few names can claim some ownership of it.  Originally created in 1890 by legendary Russian choreographer Marius Petipa, his original Imperial Ballet production 'bible's were smuggled out of Bolshevik Russia by Nicholas Sergeyev who staged his own production at Sadler's Wells in 1939.

In 1947 Ninette De Valois' Sadler's Wells Ballet company were given the honour of becoming the permanent dance company at Covent Garden - which had been a dance hall during WWII! - and she decided that, to match the building coming back to life, her first production would be Petipa's THE SLEEPING BEAUTY with picture-book designs by Oliver Messel.

De Valois' production stayed in the repertoire for over 20 years then several new productions replaced it until the Dame's was brought back, redirected by then-Royal Ballet Director Monica Mason with Christopher Newton, in 2006 to celebrate the Royal Ballet's 75th Anniversary and it has stayed ever since; however it has since interpolated certain choreographed contributions from Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Anthony Dowell and Christopher Wheeldon.

As I said it is still going strong - we saw it's 910th performance - but again I find it strange to be seeing a production that is relatively the same as has been done for years; no matter how acclaimed a theatre production, they are rarely revived after more than a year.  It would be nice if someone could look at the tired 'pantomime' actions between the dances; it does rather turn into dance for the deaf with the gesticulations for beauty, sleep etc.

As I said Steven McCrea was injured during the run of MANON so Prince Florimund was danced by Reece Clarke and Akane Takada was off too so Aurora was danced by Fumi Kaneko who really rose to her challenge of the famous Rose Adagio, a dazzling display of movement, balance and stillness as Aurora dances with four visiting princes.

There was fine support from the marvellous Itziar Mendizabal dancing the role of The Lilac Fairy exquisitely, Christine Arestis was very boo-able as the Wicked Fairy Carabosse, and a special mention for James Hay as the always leaping and spinning Bluebird in the finale.  Tchaikovsky's remarkable music sounded lustrous under the baton of Simon Hewitt.

I had been in two minds about seeing THE SLEEPING BEAUTY when it was obvious that Steven McRae would not be dancing but I am glad I did - the many artists who worked down the years to make it created a legendary classic.

LES PATINEURS / WINTER DREAMS / THE CONCERT at Covent Garden - light and shade...

My last visit to the Royal Ballet this year was to see another of their mixed programmes, curated to celebrate three great choreographers: Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and Jerome Robbins.  As usual it was also a perfect opportunity to show the breadth of talent across the Royal Ballet company.

First was Ashton's LES PATINEURS which debuted in 1937 and is set to music by the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, a composer whose operas have fallen out the repertoire but his themes were wonderfully arranged by Constant Lambert into a fizzing, whirling delight.  At only 35 minutes it's an almost perfect cameo of ballet pleasure.  The Royal Ballet are still using the original designs by William Chappell and it almost took your breath away when first seen - a glorious Victorian Christmas illustration come to life, each colour popping off the stage.

A group of 15 dancers dance/skate across the stage in various combinations: a group of eight dancers in red and blue give way to three couples in reddish-brown, blue and white and a solo male dancer in blue, whose effortless spins and leaps supposedly were inspired by Ashton's admiration of another Fred, Mr. Astaire.  It was utterly captivating and is going to be revisited hopefully again sometime.  The ballet was a tribute to Ashton's dazzling vision and style - effortlessly elegant but with a grounding in pattern and technique.  The company were excellent but special mention to Luca Acri as the effervescent boy in blue.

The mood changed dramatically with MacMillan's WINTER DREAMS which uses Chekhov's THREE SISTERS for inspiration.  The ballet had it's first performance in 1991 and MacMillan said he did not want to do a literal ballet adaptation of the play but to use it as a template to explore the emotions of loneliness and longing.  MacMillan originally staged it as a pas-de-deux for Masha and Vershenin as part of a gala for the Queen Mother's 90th birthday and expanded it to make a full 55 minute one-act ballet.

It's been quite a while since I saw THREE SISTERS so I was a bit shaky as to who was who but the central theme of the isolation of the three sisters was palpable and they were danced beautifully by Itziar Mendizabal as Olga, Sarah Lamb as Masha and Yasmin Naghdi as Irina with fine support from Gary Avis as Kulygin and Vadim Muntagirov as Vershenin; he and Lamb danced the central pas-de-deux wonderfully.  As with all MacMillan's finest work, WINTER DREAMS had an ominous air of sadness about it and it's duel scene towards the end reminded me of MAYERLING with it's guns and figures under umbrellas.  I think however I would have liked to have seen it grouped with other ballets as the wrench from the gaiety of the Ashton piece to the MacMillan was a bit too jarring.  The ballet is set to music by Tchaikovsky and it sounded wonderful shared between Russian stringed instruments and Robert Clark's piano.

The last ballet was Jerome Robbins' THE CONCERT first performed by NY City Ballet in 1956.  Set to music by Chopin, a fussy concert pianist - Robert Clark proving to be a right trooper - plays to a small audience who spend more time fidgeting and daydreaming than they do just listening.  Their various personal thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of six ballerinas who attempt a pas de six but end up facing the wrong way or with the wrong arm raised etc.

It's a slight piece but made up a pleasing sandwich with LES PATINEURS for the more weighty WINTER DREAMS, and it was well performed by the company who communicated a sense of delight in being able to do comedy. 

The art of curating a mixed programme is a tricky one but I was delighted to have seen these three ballets in one sitting and see some favourite dancers in new roles.

Onto the 2019 season...!

SWAN LAKE at Covent Garden - Scarlett's swans take off...

This December I will see my fifth production of Matthew Bourne's SWAN LAKE at Sadler's Wells and I am sure I will blub again at the last scene, it gets me every time.  But three years ago, after we had our Paulean conversion to the Royal Ballet, we decided it was time to see a 'classic' production of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece.

In 2016 we saw the visiting Bolshoi production, and what a disappointment that was!  Technically proficient yes, but danced with no sense of emotion or connection to the audience - it felt like they turned up for work and did their job, no more no less.  So the news that the Royal Ballet were going to stage a new production by Liam Scarlett set us off... finally a chance to see it done properly.

The night we went marked the 1,026th performance of SWAN LAKE at Covent Garden and Scarlett's version has replaced Anthony Dowell's production which had lasted in the repertoire for thirty years!  As I have frequently mentioned, it is jaw-dropping how long productions run in the ballet and opera houses of London - can you imagine the idea of the National Theatre only ever staging revivals of productions from the 1980s and 1990s?

But SWAN LAKE goes even further back, because - as is the case with practically all productions - it is based on the version staged by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov for the Imperial Ballet in 1895.  The main body of the ballet is theirs: Petipa's choreography is used for the palace scenes, the famous lake side scene is Ivanov's while Scarlett has devised a new final scene as well as the featured dances for the visiting princesses - apart from the Neapolitan princesses dance which is by Sir Frederick Ashton!  With all these choreographic strands to be woven together, Scarlett has said that his biggest challenge is to make it flow together as if from a single vision - and he succeeded; it was a thrilling production.

With the romantic design by John Macfarlane and moody lighting by David Finn, Scarlett's production swept you up in the swirling drama of Tchaikovsky's monumental score and the oft-told tale of Prince Siegfried who, when ordered to marry by his imperious mother The Queen, falls in love with the beautiful Odette who is under the spell of the wicked magician Von Rothbart who has disguised himself as The Queen's chief courtier.

Odette is transformed from a swan into a woman only at night but Siegfried is tricked at a sumptuous palace ball by the sorcerer into proposing to the mysterious Odile who resembles Odette.  As soon as he does, Odette is doomed to remain a swan forever but can Siegfried save Odette in time?  Of course it ends unhappily but this only makes Tchaikovsky's score all the more powerful and all-encompassing.

The biggest ovation of the evening was for the orchestra, under the baton of Valery Ovsyanikov, which filled the auditorium with the full grandeur of Tchaikovsky's score

Originally we had booked on this particular night to see Steven McRae dance the role of Siegfried but a recent leg injury put paid to that so instead we saw William Bracewell who performed the role well enough but it did not stop me thinking how much more thrilling McRae would have danced the love-lorn prince.  Akane Takada danced the dual role of Odette / Odile, but while her Odette was a graceful, captivating presence I felt she missed out on the seductive danger of Odile.  I will long remember though her slowly rippling arms showing the exact moment that Odette transforms back into the Swan.

Thomas Whitehead added yet another villain to his collection as the hissable Von Rothbart, Kristen McNally was an imposing presence as The Queen while Marcelino Sambé hit all the right notes as Benno, Siegfried's friend, in particular with his dazzling leaps.  SWAN LAKE of course allows the ballerinas of the company to shine and they were glorious as the elegant, ever-watchful swans.

A special mention to the tripping cygnets danced by Isabella Gasparini, Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis and Romany Pajdak, while Itziar Mendizabal was on eye-catching form as the Spanish princess and a special mention to the whirling excitement of Olivia Cowley as the Spanish dancer attended by Reece Clarke, Téo Dubreuil, Fernando Montano and Giacomo Rovero.

I suspect this production will be visited again in years to come; I now look forward to seeing the Matthew Bourne version with new eyes in December at Sadler's Wells.