The Midnight Bell - Review

Sadler's Wells, London

***

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

The company of The Midnight Bell

Inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton, The Midnight Bell plunges us into the murky, world of 1930s Soho. And there, thanks to Paule Constable’s gloomy lighting, it remains for one hour and fifty minutes (apart from a twenty minute interval). While Lez Brotherston's set design is atmospheric, the action is not always visible. That the follow-spots sometimes fail to light their intended subject doesn’t help matters. 

The titular Midnight Bell is a pub where various people – lonely, listless, cocky or whatever – meet. Most are looking for love or sex in some form or other, with some of the encounters working out better than others.  

Of course the choreography is sensitive, imaginative and very watchable. Some of the gestures are witty too and it’s all very human. This is Matthew Bourne, after all, and he’s a master of his own form of body language.  But the story telling is too vague and given the shadowy lighting it’s often hard to distinguish one character from another although each is, apparently, drawn specifically from the novels. 

Terry Davies’s evocative music, pre-recorded by an eleven piece orchestra with a singer, fits the mood of the piece perfectly. He deploys an effective use of voice, sailing over the top of the musical texture, to create mystery, sadness or wistfulness. Like Bourne, Davies is very good at evoking mood with, for example, a minimalist percussion rhythm accompanying a sex scene in a seedy hotel that is aurally arresting. Less successful is the use of characters miming 1930s songs which simply feels lazy. Dance in general, and ballet in particular, is a non-verbal medium and the songs are a jarring interruption. 

This revival of The Midnight Bell, first seen in 2023, is reasonably enjoyable theatre, athough the second half drags. Not Matthew Bourne’s finest.

Runs until 21st June, then on tour.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Reviewed by Nicola Klein

Swan Lake - Review

Churchill Theatre, Bromley

*

Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Swan Lake, like any classic work of art, stimulates a lot of expectation. Sadly however, on this showing, the International Classic Ballet Theatre fail to deliver.

The sloppy lack of co-ordination between the Swan maidens gave an air of hectic chaos rather than elegant beauty, with Prince Siegfried struggling to lift his Swan Princess. Even then, Odette's performance failed to stand out against her corps de ballet.

The most impressive performance on the night came from the Jester, whose movement was graceful and precise.

Elsewhere the costumes seemed amateur, the scenery was uninspiring lacking even a fog machine to create the illusion of the enchanted lake. There was barely any contrast between the settings of the lake and the palace, with a desperately disappointing climax to the tale.

The printed programme failed to name either the (rather good) orchestra or the dancers.

All in all, a lame duck.

Runs until 14th January, then tours

Fashion Freak Show - Review

Roundhouse, London

****

Written, costumes designed and directed by Jean Paul Gaultier

Co-directed by Tonie Marshall

The company of Fashion Freak Show

From the myth to the mania to the man. Jean Paul Gaultier’s new revue - a cabaret extravaganza time-lining his life - is a vision to behold. A childhood dream revived by an adult, Gaultier’s imagination knows no bounds. From prancing teddy bears in conical bras to psychedelic stage sets, this is a show like no other. 

The spectacle starts simply. Nine-year-old Gaultier is an outcast at school, repeatedly scolded for drawing over listening, until the teacher peers closer and asks to keep a creation and thus the enfant terrible begins. What was at first a movie projection shatters into a million glittering pieces as dancers thrust onto the stage, breasts and all. Gaultier has arrived. Before long, he has his own fashion show, a scene physically divided into light and dark where the catwalk shines against a turbulent backstage.

Then there is the sex, metaphorically played out across a BDSM wheel. Two sets of dancers appear, entwined in oversized garments that stretch to fit them both. One pair is male, the other female. The same-sex couples intimately share their clothes, their space, their skin. Passion finds its home in this show, as Gaultier expresses himself with such conviction that at times it is the audience, rather than the performers, that looks mad. 

The show’s focus wanders after the interval, but is regained with the advent of Gaultier’s fame, projecting media headlines onto the cyclorama and reclaiming a sense of narrative. Powerfully and bathed in red, a dancer moves across the stage, straining against gravity. He is Francis Menuge, Gaultier’s long-time companion, dying from AIDS. 'I’ve got you', comes a song, 'deep in the heart of me', as an an actor playing Gaultier dances with his oversized garment, alone.

True to form, the show ends with a clothes-defying collection. Feathers sprout from heads, wires encase bodies, and ruffles adorn buttocks. We must use fashion, says Gaultier on a screen, not be used by it. Fashion Freak Show is an electrifying retrospective of Gaultier’s unique achievements. More so, it is a homage to fearlessness.

Runs until 28th August

Photo credit: Mark Senior

Gala Fiesta de la Buleria de Jerez: Mujeres de Cal y Cante - Review

Sadler's  Wells, London

****

“A meeting place in which several generations of women artists gather…”

The Flamenco Festival returned to Sadlers Wells this year, with this website reviewing the one-off performance of Gala Fiesta de la Buleria de Jerez: Mujeres de Cal y Cante. In an evening of compelling flamenco, the fusion of different artists on stage came to represent a community in an almost soap-opera like way. A place where rules, emotions, support, fun and of course singing and dancing are mixed together. Passion fuels the creation of a flamenco routine and it was inspiring to see women of different generations dancing beautifully with distinctive shape and stomping flamenco rhythms enriched by the beautiful voices of the singers.

A minimum of two people on stage created each dance. Typically the singer started, leading the dancer to start with slow movements and then increasing the tempo, dynamic and variations. The audience witnesses the emergence of the routine here and now on stage, as if it is not a prepared choreography, with the dance evolving into communication between the dancer and the singer. 

The most outstanding and composed dancer was Fuesanta la Moneta with a routine of various intriguing and unpredictable movements, so as her dance commenced one was eager to see her next move. La Moneta’s choreography was brilliantly executed as was her interaction with the singer Saira Molena, both performers connecting on stage and demonstrating skilled dance and song.  

Maria del Mar Marena was another charming, passionate dancer. Her continuous flamenco arm movement and stomping were mesmerising, with strong steps, as her face expressed a range of emotions, proof of her immersion in the routine. 

Fans of aesthetics and style you might find the show’s bold earthiness a challenge. The whole performance however was a symbiosis of passion, voice and rhythm that brought an extravagant, authentic and powerful dance to London.

The festival runs until 2nd July

The Car Man - Review

Royal Albert Hall, London

*****

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Music by Terry Davies and Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite (after Bizet's Carmen)

Will Bozier

More than twenty years after Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, his ballet inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, premiered in Plymouth the show returns to London playing at the Royal Albert Hall as a part of its 150th anniversary and marking the first time that Bourne has ever staged a production in the landmark London venue. No expense has been spared in this revival, with the director/choreographer fielding a cast three times the size of his original 2020 company.

The plot’s inspiration may hail from Carmen, but the aura of The Car Man hails from Hollywood. Set amidst an Italian-American community in the USA’s Midwest, the action plays out in the fictitious town of Harmony, a name that is as ironic as its images are iconic. This is a town of billboards, tumbleweed and Dino’s eponymous automobile repair shop, where the car men work. The music is from Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite supplemented by additional composition from Terry Davies, with the opera’s fabulously familiar melodies delivered to perfection under  Brett Morris’ baton, fused into mouthwatering leitmotifs that emerge through the two hour show.

Zizi Strallen

Bourne’s protagonists are a quintet made up of the abusive Dino who is also the owner of the town’s diner, his wife Lana, her sister Rita together with Angelo, a hired help and Luca an itinerant drifter whose arrival leads to the destruction of Harmony’s harmony. This review will not reveal how the five’s smouldering passions ignite, but remember that this is Carmen-themed where lust, jealousy, and murder have to fuel the narrative. Bourne’s vision is as bold as it is beautiful and bloody, with his characters’ sexualities straddling their desires and all leading to an inevitable and heartbreaking revenge.

Will Bozier is Luca the titular car man, with the practically perfect Zizi Strallen opposite him as Lana. Both of these performers are outstanding in their dance and acting and where the intimate nuance of stolen glances can so easily be lost in the Royal Albert Hall’s vastness, the billboards that double up as projection screens show occasional snatches of beautifully filmed lingering glances in true Sunset Boulevard style close-up. Strallen is wondrous in portraying both her allure to Luca and also in capturing quite how irresistible she finds him to be. Mary Poppins she ain’t!

Will Bozier and Zizi Strallen

Bozier is all muscle and movement. A guy who cannot keep it in his trousers and to whom any hole is a potential goal. Oozing testosterone, his is a role of almost perpetual or potential conflict or coitus. Physically demanding, Bozier’s performance is breathtaking.

Paris Fitzpatrick’s Angelo is the more diminutive of the younger guys, clearly vulnerable and at times violently violated and abused. Integral to the plot, his is a carefully delivered role. Likewise Kayla Collymore’s Rita. While hers may be the more marginal of the principal roles, Collymore dances with an assured and nuanced sensitivity.

Kayla Collymore and Paris Fitzpatrick

The middle-aged, flabby Dino is played here by Alan Vincent, a neat touch being that back in the day at the show’s Plymouth premiere, it had been Vincent who created the role of Luca. At the Royal Albert Hall however, Vincent captures the rage of the cuckolded Mediterranean exquisitely. And as is so often the way with a New Adventures production Lez Brotherston’s design work shifts the audience from London’s south-west to America’s mid-west effortlessly. 

For more than two decades The Car Man has been lifting the hood on modern dance, treating its audience to a powerful spectacle of music and dance that stirs the soul and pulsates the emotions. If you’ve seen it before, then you need to revisit this outing to wonder at how Bourne’s company fill the Royal Albert Hall. And if you haven’t seen it, then all the more reason to grasp the opportunity right now. Either way, just go!

The Company

Runs until 19th June

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Curated By Carlos - Review

Sadler’s Wells, London

****

Carlos Acosta

Birmingham Royal Ballet teased the capital with their tantalisingly brief visit to London’s Sadler’s Wells to perform Curated By Carlos, a beautiful three-act show that offered a fascinating and meticulously prepared narrative, immaculately performed and brimming with both emotion and talent.

Opening with a love letter to Birmingham, in City of A Thousand Trades the company delivered a modern abstract ballet inspired by the city's diverse cultural and industrial heritage, including stories of people who have decided to move there. While Birmingham may have been the focus of the piece, its narrative could have applied to any large English city. Places that albeit densely populated, are still lonely and isolating, especially for immigrants who may have left their families to move to this different country. 

City of a Thousand Trades was created by choreographer Miguel Altunaga and co-directed with Madeleine Kludje, with music inspired by its legacy as the birthplace of Heavy Metal, composed by Mathias Coppens.

The second act Imminent invited the audience to recognise that a window of opportunity is now calling upon us and that there is hope. It focussed on the the importance of letting go of the past, to take action and move boldly on.

Completing the triple bill, Goyo Montero’s Chacona featured the world premiere of a new duet created for Carlos Acosta and Alessandra Ferri. Having danced Manon together in Havana many years ago, this duet sees two of the all time greats reunited. Montero’s thrillingly physical work is set to an electrifying Bach score, performed live on stage by violin, guitar and piano

If the stories may have been abstract the dancing was impressive, filled with humanity, passion and sublime physicality. The evening offered a fabulous glimpse of modern ballet and the opportunity to admire what human bodies are capable of.

Identity - Review

Turbine Theatre, London


****

Created and choreographed by Christopher Tendai
Co-created by Denzel Westley-Sanderson
Music by Sam. G
Original spoken word and live music by Caitlin Taylor

On for a short run at the Turbine Theatre in the last days of pre-lockdown live performance, Identity was a dance show themed around the challenges of mental health. Intriguing and unpredictable – and thus much like the soul of a dancer – the movement was accompanied by a mixture of a pre-recorded soundtrack alongside live music being played too.

This young group of performers achieved their aim of being honest both with themselves and with the audience. Their moves were self-founded, expressive and truthful, with much of the work proving to be both distinctive and excellent. Occasionally the company seemed to lack immersion in the dance, but this will no doubt be addressed over time with experience and tighter performances – when venues are allowed to re-open.

Mental health is a critical aspect of our modern lives, especially with the influence of social media platforms and there was brave imagination from the troupe in seeking to create a safe space, an environment where, as dancers, they could perform and express themselves safely and openly. In a post-show discussion between the audience and the company, the message was clear: that the issue of mental health demands more open discussion.

The performers set out to communicate that people in general should create a more supportive environment for each other, in order to be able to share more readily and to talk more with each other on a daily basis, recognising that everyone has life experiences that are both positive and negative. Their message to young people was ultimately that they should not be afraid to remove those masks that can so easily be used to hide behind - to encourage us all to show our weaknesses and acknowledge that, particularly under the cover of social media, people can appear to be strong whilst in reality that strength is nothing more than a façade.

Throughout, the dancers were able to display their identities along with their personalities as they tried to encourage young adults to follow the same path. Above all, this was an exciting evening of imaginative and moving movement.

Message In A Bottle - Review

Peacock Theatre, London

****

Choreographed by Kate Prince

Based on the songs of Sting

In a display of sensational dancing, Message In A Bottle takes the songs of Sting and The Police fusing them into a performance, under Kate Prince’s choreography, that focusses on love, resilience and above all, a desire for freedom. 

The evening is a display of inclusiveness and freedom of expression in different ways: both physical and emotional with the first act starting through the telling the story of a strong supportive community, where people are friendly and look after each other. As the simple narrative unfolds it becomes heart-wrenching to see the challenges of tougher times – the separation of a married couple and a community experiencing hardship.

Throughout, the performances are sensational. Nafisah Baba in particular is a mesmerisingly strong and talented dancer.  Baba’s moves are animalistic, full of grace and intrigue and it is a delight to watch her dance. To the backing of The Police’s classic number Roxanne she flourished in a dance of spice and passion.

While Baba stood out it has to be said that all of Prince’s talented troupe are fantastic. Their moves are filled with physics, energy and mutual connection, communicating brilliantly the concepts of teamwork, friendship, family, community and love. If there is but one small flaw, it is the space constraint of the stage which seems to restrict the dancers’ movement.

A dance of love between two male dancers is impressively performed to Sting’s Shape Of My Heart, with the audience exploding into applause. One can see the dancers not only holding the line of the dance, but also transferring their feelings to the audience. 

Message In A Bottle is an inspiring show filled with energy, joy, love and expression and a must see for lovers of modern dance.

Runs until 21st March

Photo credit: Helen Maybanks

The Red Shoes - Review

Sadler’s Wells, London


*****


Based on the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Adam Cooper, Stephen Murray, Cordelia Braithwaite

Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes returns to Sadler’s Wells three years after it first premiered - and while the score and dance remain exquisite, there is a depth to this ballet that has only matured over time.

This time around, Bernard Herrmann’s score is played live with the ingenious transposition of work from his various movie compositions flowing so seamlessly around Bourne’s creation, that one senses the music could almost have been commissioned for this production.

The movement of course is exquisite in its story of a doomed love triangle that evolves within the Ballet Lermontov. A love blossoms between ballerina Victoria Page and Julian Craster a young composer at the ballet, while throughout Boris Lermontov, the company’s impresario harbours his own lustful desire for Page. Alongside this cocktail of human passion, there is within the tale, The Red Shoes Ballet itself, a Lermontov production that tells of the enchanted/cursed shoes, and the macabre power they can exert over their wearer.

On press night Ashley Shaw played Page, Dominic North, Craster and Adam Cooper, Lermontov with all three impeccable in their bringing to life the tragic romance. As the narrative shifts across Britain and France their dance, and of course the work of their fellow corps of dancers, allows this difficult and disturbing love story to unfold before us. In the 2019 iteration however, the psychology of the story’s underlying emotional complexities is even more vivid than three years ago. Unquestionably dark and yet stunningly portrayed, Bourne captures the gothic horror of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale and imbues it with a believable 20th-century relevance.

Lez Brotherston’s ingenious swivelling proscenium arch remains a masterclass in stage design, as Brett Morris conducts the New Adventures Orchestra with a heart-soaring fluidity. Playing into the new year, The Red Shoes continues to offer an evening of world class entertainment and dance.

Playing at Sadler’s Wells until 19th January 2020, then touring
Photo credit: Johan Persson

Swan Lake - Review

Coliseum, London


*****

Choreographed by Derek Deane after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov

Precious Adams in Swan Lake

The English National Ballet’s 2019 Swan Lake presents one of the most famous, classic works in a production that is at once beautiful and thrilling. Derek Deane choreographs after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov - with additional movements created by Sir Frederick Ashton - and the hallmarks of this collection of trans-European geniuses is evident throughout.

Dancing Odette / Odile is the Romanian Alina Cojocaru - with a grace and allure that reached out across the curtain. The beauty of any ballet lies, not only within the elegance of its performers or the artistic talent of its creative team, but for the piece to convey the flowing drama of the narrative - a bar that is set all the higher when the production’s underlying fairy tale is not only one of dance's most fabled yarns, but is also so strong both in its moral rectitude and its global familiarity and recognition. In this iteration at the Coliseum, the English National Ballet have more than risen to the challenge, they raise the stakes too. The much loved story - even where every chapter is known and anticipated - is delivered here with such meticulous panache that one cannot help but weep at the unfolding, underlying tragedy.

Leading with Cojocaru are Joseph Caleb as Prince Seigfried and Jeffrey Cirio as Rothbart. There is a beautiful trusting naïveté to Caleb’s work that defines the uncompromised virtue of his Prince - and this contrasts magnificently with the feathered menace of Rothbart’s wickedness – his evil persona chillingly retained even whilst sat watching the court dances of the ballet’s third act.

Conducted on the night by Orlando Jopling, Tchaikovsky’s classic score becomes a whirl of musical wonder - the detail provided at times by the harp, or even (in act 3 again) the castanets, only enhancing the evening’s symphonic majesty. Its not just the music either, as Peter Farmer’s lavish stagings, with fogs across the lake deployed perfectly alongside Howard Harrison’s lighting that provides a flawless frame to the evening.

And as for the flock of swans - the avian/aquatic grace of the ENB’s 24 strong corps de ballet provide a shimmering. fluttering magnificence to an occasion of simply divine dance.

Runs until 13th January

Photo credit: Jason Bell

Nutcracker - Review

Coliseum, London


****


Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographed by Wayne Eagling

One of the best-loved ballets, Nutcracker returns to London’s Coliseum and is a real festive treat from start to finish. 

Wayne Eagling’s lavish production for the English National Ballet, which premiered in 2010, is set on Christmas Eve. A young Clara is enjoying her parents’ Christmas party, where she is gifted a Nutcracker doll by her godfather Drosselmeyer, toymaker and magician, and shares a dance with his nephew. Later that night she dreams of an enchanted world with Nutcracker, who becomes Drosselmeyer’s nephew, the evil Mouse King and his army, and the Sugar Plum Fairy and her prince. 

Tchaikovsky’s score is brought to life by the English National Ballet Philharmonic Orchestra and is paired with fine performances from members of the English National Ballet. Rina Kanehara is graceful and elegant as adult Clara, and shares brilliant chemistry with both Fernando Carratalá Coloma as the Nutcracker and Jeffrey Cirio as Drosselmeyer’s nephew. The Sugar Plum Fairy’s pas de deux with Cirio was one of the show’s highlights. Credit must also go to the young performers from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, sure to be stars of the future, particularly the young Clara and Freddie, danced by Sophie Carter and Oscar Williams respectively.

This Christmas classic is a feast for the eyes thanks to the spectacular set and a wealth of stunning costumes courtesy of Peter Farmer, including the Sugar Plum Fairy’s beautiful Swarovski-studded tutu. It’s a somewhat dark production at times, with the evil Mouse King making his presence known even in the second act, but there are warm moments tinged with humour, notably during a winter scene complete with snowball fights and ice skating mishaps. It is in the second act that the production really comes into its own, with dances from around the world followed by the Waltz of the Flowers all showcasing the talents of the English National Ballet. 

At times it does get confusing with the Nutcracker and Dr Drosselmeyer’s nephew switching back and forth, particularly for younger members of the audience, and a slight niggle is that the hideous Mouse King does outstay his welcome in Act II. That said, Nutcracker is a charming and enchanting production sure to entertain and inspire people of all ages. 

There may be three versions of Nutcracker on in London this Christmas, but a standout company of dancers, magnificent score and the lavish surroundings of London’s Coliseum all combine to ensure that this festive treat is not-to-be-missed!

Booking until 29th December

Reviewed by Kirsty Herrington

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - Review

Sadler’s Wells, London


****

Directed by Matthew Bourne

Will Bozier and Ensemble

As one of dance’s most iconic productions, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake returns home to a rapturous reception. The story of The Prince, starved of love and chained by duty, who finally finds love and acceptance in an unlikely place, is a tragedy. Yet Bourne’s trademark injection of comedy is dialled up tenfold in this production, with laughs drawn from staging (a mechanical corgi), performances (notably The Girlfriend, played in this performance by Carrie Willis) and premise (notably the ballet performance watched by the royals, poking fun at traditional ballet stereotypes).

While the plot scurries along, the most striking elements remain those that feature The Swan and his herd. Such is the iconography of this character that when he finally makes an appearance in Act 2, perfectly paired with Tchaikovsky’s quintessential score, there is a frisson of excitement in the audience.

The swans are truly extraordinary. Their casting as male dancers, coupled with their costuming, enables Bourne to perfectly capture their grace, ferocity and strength. This also serves as an homage to the athleticism of a dancer, usually concealed or, at the very least, downplayed.

Yet there are times where it’s clear that a larger stage is required for the swan troupe, particularly in A City Park; it simply feels that it has outgrown its roots. That aside, the stage is awash with exquisite costuming, opulent set design and explosive choreography.

Individually, the Prince (a sweet and earnest Dominic North) and The Swan (the powerful Will Bozier) are stunning. Together, they are not a typical pairing - but that serves only to highlight the atypicality of Bourne’s vision. The Queen (Katrina Lyndon) and Willis also contribute memorable performances combining theatrics with dance excellence, all the whole bolstered by a superb ensemble.

23 years after its original staging at London’s Sadler’s Wells, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is back with more electricity, punch and swagger than ever before. With a standing ovation, the audience agrees; this is a must-see.

Runs until 27th January 2019

Reviewed by Bhakti Gajjar

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Swan Lake - Review

Coliseum, London


*****


Music by Tchaikovsky
Directed by Konstantin Tachkin

The Corps de Ballet

It is all too rare that this blog visits the ballet for it is, quite simply, a treat to be able to sit in the Coliseum and savour the St Petersburg Ballet’s Swan Lake that is here in London for a fortnight.

The tale is a classic. Prince Siegfried falls for the beautiful Odette who has been placed under a spell by the evil Rothbart, condemning her and her peers to live as swans until the spell can be broken. The ballet is enchanting and under the vision of the company’s founding director Konstantin Tachkin, the interpretation is riveting.

As the Disney corporation discovered decades ago, you can’t beat a fairy tale for a ripping yarn.  These ancient fables are typically simple, easily defined, make our imaginations soar, and are built upon strong moral foundations. But long before Disney, the Russian Tchaikovsky recognised Swan Lake’s magic, going on to write a score that is chock full of  absolutely banging tunes. Aside from those richly symphonic familiar melodies that we all know and love, the work is littered with exquisite references that draw upon Latin and Baroque influences to name but two. And to have the opportunity of hearing the score played live by the magnificent  ENO Orchestra (under the baton, on press night, of Vadim Nikitin) only adds a further layer of delight to an already fabulous occasion.

Ballet of course demands that its narrative be played out through dance. Movement and nuance are everything - and Tachkin has coaxed virtually flawless work from his entire company. Prima Ballerina Irina Kolesnikova plays Odette (and also Odine, Rothbart’s daughter - google for a more detailed plot summary), bringing perfection in her poise and presence. Compelling us to empathise with her plight, Kolesnikova is a picture of enchanting athleticism, while her pirouetting (and at a ridiculous rpm!) is almost Regan-esque in its intensity. Denis Rodkin dances Siegfried - a man who looks as good as he dances and, to use the Cockney vernacular, is clearly as fit as a butcher’s dog. His powerful moves appear effortless - and as he picks up and spins Kolesnikova, we have a rare chance to witness poetry in motion.

It’s not just these two though. Dmitriy Akulinin brings a captivating menace to Rothbart and in the ensemble there is excellence too. Sergei Fedorkov’s Jester is a delight, pirouetting and cartwheeling across the stage with as much acrobatic talent as dancing skill in his delivery. Likewise, the Four Little Swans’ routine provides another delicious moment, while the entire Corps De Ballet are just immaculate - not only in their dance - but in how they hold themselves poised and still on both sides of the space, frozen in time for what must be agonising minutes, framing the action that's playing out centre stage 

The production’s sets are as enchanting as the tale with Act 2 in particular, set in Siegfried’s castle, bearing the Gothic illusional finesse of an MC Escher graphic. In short, a marvellous evening's dance and a production that should appeal to both connoisseurs and novices alike. Now that’s what I call ballet!

Runs until 2nd September

Cinderella - Review

Sadler's Wells, London

*****

Music by Prokofiev

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Liam Mower and Ashley Shaw

Witty, gothic and yet strangely enchanting, Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella returns to Sadler’s Wells for the festive season before heading out on tour. Where last year’s Christmas offering from Bourne’s New Directions company was The Red Shoes, this year it’s all about the glass (or rather, the sparkling diamanté) slippers as the classic fairytale, scored by Prokofiev is translated onto London during the Blitz of 1940.

Bourne’s Second World War staging was first aired in 1997, before a revival in 2010 leading to this 2017 slightly re-worked reprise and it makes for an uncompromising interpretation of the famous yarn. The best fairytales have always melded magic with monstrosity and Bourne’s vision upholds that fusion as goodness fights to triumph over evil.

The psychodrama here however is harrowing. We all know how the tale traditionally pans out, the wickedness of its opening chapters defining Cinderella’s family. Bourne however takes the darkness deeper. One of Cinderella’s step-brothers attempts to molest her, her stepmother tries to murder her and even the show’s hero - in this narrative a downed RAF pilot - is shown to be both physically and morally flawed.

In removing the traditional "royalty and castle" from the story, Bourne still preserves the classic three acts. The first depicts Cinderella’s domestic misery. The second, famously the Ball, is here shifted to London’s Café de Paris on the night that the venue was (as tragically occurred in real life) bombed during a German air raid.

The third sees the pilot searching London’s streets and tube station blitz shelters for the beautiful woman whose shimmering slipper he retained after she was taken away injured from the explosion. Bourne lobs in some novel twists, but rest assured there’s a pleasingly happy ending.

Ashley Shaw again assumes the responsibility of leading ballerina, in the title role and, as in The Red Shoes, is magnificent. Without referencing the technical intricacies of Bourne’s choreography, suffice to say that Shaw translates poetry into movement. Her love, desire and fears are all exquisitely portrayed in a performance that appears as exhaustingly athletic as it is artistically beautiful.

Opposite Shaw is Andrew Monaghan as Harry, the Pilot. Wounded and bomber-jacketed, he’s not the fairytale’s handsome Prince, rather a decently loving (and beautifully danced) everyman, who falls for the downtrodden heroine.

There’s not a fairy godmother to be found here. Instead, Liam Mower dances The Angel, gifted with magical powers to make Cinderella’s wish come true. Mower too is magnificent.

Amongst an excellent cast, a nod to Michela Meazza as Sybil the Stepmother. Bourne’s programme notes acknowledge a reference in Sybil to the 1940’s screen legend Joan Crawford – and Meazza beautifully embodies the aura of Crawford’s cruel mystique.

The influence of cinema again pervades Bourne’s work. There is a broad monochrome ambience throughout, interspersed with vivid flashes of colour, alongside assorted hints to movie classics that captured the 1940s. The reference to Brief Encounter in the final act (albeit without the standard Rachmaninov soundtrack) is a particular treat.

Bourne's dark interpretation of the story sits at odds with our expectations of the Cinderella narrative. But the challenge is a good one that creates a stunning interpretation that holds a mirror up to ourselves. Catch it now at Sadler’s Wells – or make every effort to see this enchanting ballet as it tours the country.

Runs until 27th January 2018, then tours. Touring dates here.

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Red Shoes - Review

Sadler's Wells, London


*****


Based on the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Ashley Shaw

The influences of cinema on Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes are everywhere. Walking into Sadler's Wells one sees that the stage is hidden behind an old style cinema curtain. The impression is both enchanting and effective, for Bourne’s latest offering is, in its elements, a ballet about a movie, about a ballet.

In the way that, back in 1948, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger created the Oscar winning movie that itself had been inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale - so too, nearly 70 years later has Bourne taken that movie and re-imagined it onto the dance stage. 

But this ballet is so much more than a glorious re-imagining of a classic film - for where Powell and Pressburger invited Brian Easdale to score the movie, Bourne has actually shifted his musical focus to Easdale's contemporary (and fellow Academy Award winner) Bernard Herrmann - and assisted by Terry Davies' magnificent orchestrations, a new musical composition for the ballet has been carefully stitched together, drawn entirely from Hermann's scores. The choice of music is inspired - and as cigarette smoke hangs in the air of nearly every scene, whilst the shoes may be red, the very essence of this production is noir.

The story revolves around Victoria Page, prima ballerina in the Ballet Lermontov and her role within "The Red Shoes" ballet within a ballet. The first half spills across locations in London and Monte Carlo and as Page moves closer to the first half's closing routine of the Red Shoes ballet itself, a doomed love triangle emerges. Boris Lermontov burns with an unrequited jealous desire for his star. Page however only has eyes for Julian Craster (Lermontov's orchestra conductor) and it is clear that both she and Craster are madly in love with each other.

Act Two tracks the trio across Europe and as much as Bourne's visionary choreography relates the narrative, so too does Lez Brotherston's stage design, with curves of balustrade immediately evoking the French Riviera. Brotherston draws upon the simplest concepts of design, married to 21st century technology. Suspended from a gantry, that itself moves across the stage in a way that the Starlight Express designers could only have dreamed of, the aforementioned cinema curtains evolve into the proscenium arches of opera houses, before melding into tugged back glimpses of the triangle's respective boudoirs as passions smoulder. Elsewhere, Brotherston’s evocation of a Monte Carlo steam engine is every bit as effective as his creation of a Mississippi steamboat for Sheffield's Showboat last Christmas.

But the beauty of a Bourne ballet is the visionary dance. As Victoria Page, Ashley Shaw drives the show, a mixture of poised passion and pathos. Bourne coaxes so much expression from her, both facial and in her movement, that the story flows effortlessly. Sam Archer and Dominic North as Lermontov and Craster respectively offer equally poised and perfectly weighted support to Page's arc. 

The Red Shoes Ballet sequence itself is of course enchanting. Duncan McLean’s projections providing a eerily ethereal backdrop to Bourne’s interpretation of the fairy tale. Alongside Shaw, Michela Meazza, Liam Mower and Glenn Graham as key dancers in the Ballet Lermontov provide a perfect complement to the story's detail. 

Sold out at Sadler's Wells for the rest of the run, a continued bravo to Sir Matthew and his New Adventures company for spending the next six gruelling months on the road, touring The Red Shoes around the UK. Whether one is a lifelong ballet devotee, or completely new to the genre, the show is unmissable. Kill to get a ticket!

Runs until 29th January 2017 - Then on tour. Tour details here

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty - Review

Sadler's Wells

*****

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Ashley Shaw

Charles Perrault's classic fairy tale comes to the stage this season as Matthew Bourne completes his trilogy of Tchaikovsky's complete ballets. Sleeping Beauty (originally premiered in 2012) follows Swan Lake and The Nutcracker in typical Bourne style - it is clever, gripping and awe-inspiring.

Bourne pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance with striking choreography, so those looking for a typically Disney-esque treatment complete with dancers en pointe, will need to look elsewhere. But to anyone who is keen to experience the best of a small, innovative and enthralling company, this Sleeping Beauty is a delight.

The story is divided into four acts, each spanning a different period in time and - augmented by Lez Brotherston's fantastic costuming and set design - takes the audience on a journey through dance history. Beginning in 1890, with a nod to classical ballet, the tale progresses through 1911 to today, with movement on the more modern side of contemporary.

It is Bourne's desire to incorporate the 100 year sleep of Princess Aurora into the production that plays a pivotal role in this version of Sleeping Beauty, laying the gothic foundations of this self-described 'gothic romance.' The fairies are vampires, allowing the story to jump into the future without losing its characters to the mortal rite of death. And while there are dark undertones, an original use of puppetry also maintains the element of comedy.

Highlights include the dance of the fairies, which sees six striking solos merging neatly into one stellar piece; a scene set in the 'land of sleepwalkers' with fluid movements and the majority of the company on stage; and the wedding scene which, with its harsh undertones and choreography reminiscent of Christopher Bruce's Rooster, is truly captivating.

While these scenes may not sound familiar, it is worth noting that for all of the liberties Bourne has taken in telling this classic story, it firmly remains faithful to a “once upon a time” beginning and a delightfully happy ending.

Performances by Dominic North, as Leo the Royal Gamekeeper and Adam Maskell, as Carabosse the dark fairy and her son Caradoc are noteworthy. Both embody the spirit of their characters seemingly with ease - as the sweet and ever faithful Leo and sinister villains respectively. And Ashley Shaw's Princess Aurora is spell-binding, capturing the essence of the mischievous yet lovable royal daughter perfectly.

An outstanding production, in terms of originality, creativity and majesty, Sleeping Beauty is an unmissable masterpiece.

Runs until 26th January 2016

Guest reviewer: Bhakti Gajjar