A Minor Miracle - Bringing Le Baiser de la fée back to Life

Sir Kenneth Macmillan

Source Wikipedia

Today at Ivy House, the former home of Anna Pavlova, a minor miracle occurred. Donald MacLeary, one of the stars of my youth, restored a fragment of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's ballet Le Baiser de la fée before my eyes.  

The idea of restoring one of Sir Kenneth's early works was that of his widow, Deborah. She and Clement Crisp had been invited by Ivy House Music and Dance to discuss Sir Kenneth's legacy at the London Jewish Cultural Centre. In February I had attended an interview by Mr Crisp of Dame Antoinette Sibley at the Royal Ballet School which had also been organized by the Centre (see "Le jour de gloire est arrive - Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp at the Royal Ballet School 3 Feb 2014). Though this event also involved Mr Crisp and included some fabulous ballet it was very different from the interview with Sibley.

The main difference is that it was not really an interview or even a dialogue. It was more a monologue by Mr Crisp with some choice interventions by Lady MacMillan. It was through her that we learned that the great choreographer relieved tension by knitting.  He would begin a new garment with every ballet and then abandon it as soon as the ballet was finished. Lady MacMillan told him that she would never wear any of his creations and she never did because the ballet was finished before the knitting. When Mr Crisp discussed Sir Kenneth's inventiveness Lady MacMillan reminded us of his reverence for Petipa. Lady MacMillan told us that Sir Kenneth did not say much but when he did it was generally devastating. Clement Crisp for his part reminded us of Sir Kenneth's musicality, the dark side of many of his ballets such as The Judas Tree and curiously of his knowledge of things that he should not have known about. I liked that format and learned a lot from both speakers.

A short interval followed the discussion after which the room turned into a rehearsal studio. The choreologist Diana Curry introduced the audience to Benesch notation. Although the technique was quite new in the 1960s Sir Kenneth always worked with a choreologist and much of Le Baiser de la fée had been recorded. However there was a significant lacuna and that was the solo where the bridegroom danced by MacLeary goes looking for his bride and finds himself waylaid by the fairy. Fortunately that scene had been recorded on film which Ms Curry had analysed and notated.

The role that Sir Kenneth had created for MacLeary was danced by James Hay, a soloist with the Royal Ballet. Ms Curry had taken Hay through her recording earlier in the afternoon. When I first saw him in the late 1960s and early 1970s MacLeary was easily the handsomest of the Royal Ballet's principals and I was delighted to see that the years had been kind to him. Even after 45 years he remains a very good looking figure now. He invited Hay to dance the solo as he understood it. "Too classical" said MacLeary "You are looking for your beautiful fiancée. Be more natural." Though MacLeary complimented the choreologist on her work it was not exactly as he remembered it with the result that the piece was less than a perfect recreation. But it was good and to bring back to life a ballet created years before Hay was born was to my mind nothing short of a miracle.

This afternoon was special in so many ways. Special in re-creating a beautiful ballet. Special for the insights into MacMillan's work and personality from those who knew him best. And special for taking place in the home of one of the greatest dancers of all time. Had there been no Lady MacMillan or Clement Crisp, had there not been a step of dancing, the experience of being in a room in which Pavlova once walked would have been memorable enough for me.

Amsterdam or London?

When I travelled to Amsterdam to see the Junior Company Dutch National Ballet for the first time last November nothing could have been easier or more pleasant.  Contrast it with my trek to the capital of my own country to see them again at The Linbury. That journey could not have been more trying and cost a great deal more.

The flight to Amsterdam lasted 45 minutes. Though we are not in Shengen customs and immigration took minutes to clear. Outside the terminal at Schipol airport a bus was waiting to take me to my hotel in the Leidseplein which cost something like 4 euros.  The hotel was literally across the road from the Stadsschouwburg where the Junior Company was performing.  You can actually see a bit of the theatre in the photo on the hotel's home page. I booked through Booking.com and got a room with a shower for under 100 euro. The hotel is about a quarter of a mile from the restored Rijksmuseum where I gorged my eyes on Rembrandt and the other masters.  The performance at the Stadsshouwburg was magnificent (see "The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013" 25 Nov 2013). After the show I consumed a traditional Dutch 3 course meal at The Pantry with a glass of beer for about 35 euros. I remember that the speciality of the house had a long Dutch name but looked and tasted very much like cottage pie. I then wrote my review using one of the hotel's computers in the business centre rather than its expensive wifi, had a good night's sleep and caught my bus back to Schipol at 06:30 in good time for my flight home.

I live in Holmfirth in the Pennines near the Peak District National Park. It is a beautiful part of the world and I have a 4 bedroom house with stunning views for the cost of a dog kennel in Kensal Rise. It is only 200 miles from London as the crow flies. No distance at all to an Angeleno or a Sydneysider.  But have you seen the train fares to Euston, King's Cross or St Pancras? Or the cost of parking at a mainline station car park? Or the time you need to allow to pick up your ticket from the temperamental ticket machines?

Through trial and error over the years I have worked out that the best way to London is to drive to Luton Parkway (164 miles away) where I can park for £2 after 17:00 and take Thameslink to Farringdon or Holborn Viaduct for £9.35.  When the M1 is clear the drive to Luton Parkway from Dodworth takes 2 1/2 hours - only an hour longer than  the drive to Sheffield or Manchester and the time you have to allow for parking and getting your ticket. But right now the M1 is not clear. There is a 20 mile stretch of roadworks from Derbyshire to Sheffield which will take a year to finish and when there is an accident as there was yesterday it takes hours for the carriageway to be cleared.  If you break your journey in London even at a Travelodge you're talking about serious money. And as for restaurants ..... £75 for a curry for 3 in Drury Lane.

Even more annoying than the prices and congestion in London is the arrogance of London audiences who can't acknowledge excellence from outside when they see it.  They were presented with excellence by Scottish Ballet two weeks ago (see "Scottish Ballet's Timeless Romeo and Juliet" 15 May 2014) and all that they could do was grumble that Pastor's ballet was not the same as Macmillan's. I have already mentioned the reluctance of the audience at the Linbury to give those marvellous kids of the Junior Company the accolade that they had received in Amsterdam and which they so richly deserved in London after dancing their hearts out ("And can they fly! The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company at Covent Garden" 30 May 2014). And when I happened to mention in a discussion on Ballet Black that Christopher Marney is my favourite living British choreographer I was answered by a post of a long list of others the inference being that I can't possibly have seen very much. When I pointed out that my respondent had omitted David Nixon and Tindall from his list I received an even more condescending observation in reply.

So I have been looking round for an alternative to London and I think I have found it in Amsterdam.  Just look at the programme of the Dutch National Ballet for the coming year. Right now they are touring with Ashton's Midsummer Night's Dream and Paquita in Dreams. Next month they are launching Pastor's Tempest. Having been thrilled by Scottish Ballet's Romeo and Juliet I am eager to see more of his work.  It may not be possible as the 21 clashes with Northern Ballet's Mixed Bill and the 29 clashes with Northern Ballet Academy's Friends Gala. But I will be back for van Dantzig's Swan Lake in September (of which we got a little taste on Thursday) and Jewels and Cool Britannia next year.

Of course I won't give up on London altogether. I still love the Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Rambert, Ballet Black and so much more.  You will still catch me occasionally at the House, the Coliseum and the Wells.  I am braving the roads yet again tomorrow to see Clement Crisp interview Lady Macmillan and Donald Macleary's Masterclass at Ivy House, Anna Palova's old home at 15:30. I am staying over to see Chris Marney at the London Ballet Circle. But London had better look out. Amsterdam, Paris and Copenhagen are serious alternatives for a change of scenery.

Sibley

The greatest ballerina I have ever seen was Fonteyn but the one I love the most is Sibley. She was at her prime when I first took an interest in ballet. As I wrote in Ballerina on 1 July 2013

"Who is the greatest ballerina of all time?" I am sometimes asked. It is impossible to say. We can only know our contemporaries and, even then, comparisons are invidious. Each dancer is a star for a reason and the qualities that make a star of one dancer may be quite different from those that make a star of another.

But I can name my favourite dancer of all time and that is Antoinette Sibley. During her prime I could not see enough of her. I lost count of the number of her performances that I saw. Some praise her line, others her technique but, for me, it was the expressiveness of her face. Particularly her eyes. Above is a tribute of photos compiled by the RAD of which she was president. It is a lovely reminder of a great dancer and a still ravishingly beautiful woman."

Thanks to the London Jewish Cultural Centre and the London Ballet Circle whose excellent newsletter drew my attention to this event I shall see that wonderful artist again at the Royal Ballet School on 2 Feb 2014 (see Ivy House Music and Dance "Dame Antoinette Sibley with Clement Crisp, An Afternoon at The Royal Ballet School"). Alas that event is now sold out but I was lucky enough to get a ticket and I shall review the event afterwards.

This visit to the Royal Ballet School is not the London Jewish Cultural Centre's only connection with ballet. Its home is Ivy House which was formerly the home of Anna Pavlova.  The Centre has published a lovely leaflet on the ballerina and her home on its website.  The leaflet shows Pavlova nestling a swan and it was The Dying Swan for which we remember her.

It is clear from its website that the London Jewish Cultural Centre does wonderful work not just in ballet or even the arts but in confronting racism, promoting education, running clubs and a vast range of activities for the young, women indeed everyone. We all benefit from such activities in one way or another and the Centre deserves our support.  The "How to Help Us" page suggests ways to do it.