Even more Sensational - Peter Wright's Coppelia

Nao Sakuma as Swanilda

Author Bill Cooper
© 2017 Birmingham Royal Ballet: all rights reserved
 Reproduced with kind permission of the company

Birmingham Royal Ballet. Coppelia, Hippodrome, 16 June 2017, 19:30


When I last reviewed a performance by the Birmingham Royal Ballet of Sir Peter Wright's Coppelia, I described it as "sensational" (see Sensational 6 March 2015). Having seen the ballet again on the company's home turf the only way I can describe the performance is "even more sensational." Maybe that should not be surprising for who better to perform one of Sir Peter's greatest productions than Sir Peter's company.

I made up my mind to attend the ballet last night at the very last moment after a pig of a journey home. I had driven to London the night before to take delivery of a massive set of instructions that could not be carried on the train. While down there, I attended a chambers' garden party that continued until after midnight and two conferences, one of which began with a volley of emails between 05:00 and 06:00 and a phone call shortly before 07:00. I left Plumstead where I had parked my car and cleared the river after an epochal wait for the Woolwich ferry.  There was heavy traffic on the North Circ and the M11. Congestion outside Cambridge on the A14.  As the A14 leads eventually to the M6 the idea of breaking my journey in Birmingham occurred to me. I called the Hippodrome on the off-chance that they might still have space and was told that they had one isolated seat in the centre of the rear stalls.  I grabbed it.  After battling with more traffic all the way into Birmingham, I rolled up at the theatre hot, bothered and exhausted with 15 minutes to spare.

Dropping by the Hippodrome was one of the best calls I have ever made. The performance was magic. It was just what I needed.  I had not had time to study the cast list but I knew we were in for a treat when I glimpsed the unmistakeable hair of Koen Kessels. He had conducted the orchestra of the Dutch National Ballet in Ted Brandsen's Coppelia last December. Nobody seems to understand Delibes's score better than Maestro Kessels. The curtain rose to Peter Farmer's village somewhere in Mitteleuropa. Nao Sakuma appeared.  I started to clap but nobody followed. Nor did anyone clap Joseph Caley when he entered the stage. Clearly, the balletic tradition of welcoming the male and female leads with a brief burst of applause that happens in almost every other theatre in the world is not followed in Birmingham. That is surprising because all of Birmingham Royal Ballet's principals are good.

Sakuma was a gorgeous Swanilda. I loved the way she threw her book at Caley after catching him making eyes at the humanoid on the balcony across the square. "Sukkel" hissed Swanilde in Het's animation. How she gave him the hardest of hard times when the ear of wheat did not appear to rattle. How she led her pals into Dr Coppelius's workshop while he was in the pub recovering from his mugging. How she dared the faintest of faint hearts to approach Coppelia.  How she coaxed the deluded doctor into believing his spell had worked as she sought to rescue her dopey (even at the best of times) boyfriend. And above all, I loved the final pas de deux in "Peace" which ends the ballet on a high. Whenever I see Coppelia I always wonder how long that marriage will last. Surely, such a brave, resourceful, spirited girl could surely have done so much better.

Of course, she falls for Franz because he is a hunk. The handsomest lad in a very small village in the middle of nowhere. Girls find him attractive and doesn't he just know it. After blowing kisses at a robot, he flirts with the leader of the czardas. Caley, whom I am sure is nothing like Franz in real life, fills the role perfectly. Even after nearly losing Swanilda he is silly enough to break into Coppelius's workshop. Good job there was no copper around (see R v Collins [1972] 2 All ER 1105, [1973] 3 WLR 243, [1972] EWCA Crim 1, 136 JP 605, 56 Cr App Rep 554, [1973] QB 100, a case that has entertained every law student in England for nearly 50 years). The silly twit deserved everything that happened to him. But Franz can dance. And how he can dance. All those great tours en l'air and entrechats and the final lift that left Swanilda dangling across his back in a curious sort of fish dive.

Dr Coppelius is a juicy character role and it was performed exquisitely by Michael O'Hare last night. Scorned as slightly screwy by the Burgermeister (Jonathan Payn) and the villagers when loud bangs and smoke erupt from his laboratory, he is surely more sinned against than sinning. Does he really deserve to be roughed up by the louts or have his home ransacked by girls on a hen night? I can quite see why he sought compensation from Swanilda's dowry.

We had a stellar cast last night. Many of my favourite dancers came on stage: Delia Mathews as Prayer and also one of Swanilda's friends along with Arancha Baselga, Karla Doorbar, Reina Fuchigami, Alys Shee and Yaoqian Shang; Rory Mackay as the publican and Old Father Time; Ruth Brill with Lewis Turner in Betrothal and earlier in the mazurka and czardas; William Bracewell in the call to arms with yet another favourite Brandon Lawrence from Bradford. Everyone in the cast was good and I congratulate them all whether I have mentioned them or not.

There was loud applause at the reverence but, sadly, no flowers. In another auditorium and perhaps at a different time the stage would have been ankle deep in cut flowers throw after a show like that.  A massive bouquet of my county's reddest roses, then, to Sakuma.  Flowers, too, for each and every lady soloist. Indeed, each and every lady who appeared on stage. And a resounding cheer for each and every one of the men who partnered them so gallantly. "You are so lucky to have this company in your city," I said to a lady who was at the ballet for the first time. "The Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the great companies of the world." How I wish it could have made its home in Manchester instead. 

The Tempest

Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Tempest, The Hippodrome, Birmingham, 8 Oct 2016, 19:00

Even before the curtain rose I knew I was in for a treat. The clues lay in the blue curtain with its lines suggesting a swirling ocean with a tiny bejewelled model barque in the centre together with the cries of seagulls and a gentle lapping of waves. The lights dimmed and the silhouette of a seemingly floating figure approached the model and carried it away. The curtain rose and the scene changed to a ship's bridge with jolly, dancing mariners whose mood swiftly changed as flashes of light indicated that their ship was entering a storm.

It often takes time for me to get to like a new ballet. It took two years for me to appreciate Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale (see Royal Ballet "The Winter's Tale" 14 April 2014 and The Winter's Tale Revisited - Some Ballets are better Second Time Round 20 April 2016) and I am still not there with Jonathan Watkins's 1984 (see My First Impressions of 1984 12 Sept 2015 and 1984 Second Time Round 24 Oct 2015).  The Tempest is different in that it was love at first sight. I think it is my favourite work by David Bintley so far. In fact, I can't remember a time when I was as excited as I am now about a new British full length ballet since the days of Sir Frederick Ashton.

David Bintley's libretto follows Shakespeare pretty faithfully (see "The Plot" in Wikipedia's entry on The Tempest). It makes powerful roles for Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel and Caliban. Prospero's masque for Miranda and Ferdinand provides a splendid opportunity for a delightful divertissement that included charming dancers for Ceres and Juno as well as other classical deities. The antics of the drunkards provide another opportunity, especially when they discover the dressing up box in Prospero's cave after which they are set upon by a pack of dog shaped spirits. 

Although the ballet - like the play - is about raw human emotions such as greed, resentment, ambition as well as love it is leavened by those divertissements.  The need for such relief in the form of divertissements was understood by Petipa and indeed by Ashton and Bintley as it was by Shakespeare. The complete absence of such relief, as in Akram Khan's Giselle, makes for a very drab work indeed. As I noted in my review of the remake:

"At least in the traditional Giselle there are some happy bits such as the crowning of Giselle as harvest queen. There was nothing like than in Khan's. Just a morose folk dance for the landlords who were heralded by blasts that sounded like factory sirens or perhaps fog horns. Very intense and just a little depressing."

The freshness and exuberance of the work continued even into the reverence which was a little ballet in itself. The dancers did not simply bow or curtsy.  They danced into their applause. This performance really did deserve a standing ovation and I was one of several who rose at the curtain call.

Last night, Prospero was danced magnificently by Iain Mackay, Miranda delightfully by Jenna Roberts and Ferdinand plaintively by Joseph Caley. Mathias Dingman was a great Ariel and Tyrone Singleton a fine Caliban. It was good to see Michael O'Hare as Alonso and Céline Gittens as Ceres and Delia Matthews as Juno and Prospero's wife. There was superb character dancing from James Barton a the jester and Valentin Olovyannikov as the drunken butler.  As I say so frequently whenever I see this magnificent company, everyone in the show danced well.

Bintley's choreography was (as always) sparkling. There were spectacular chaînés and  fouettés for Ariel, beautiful pas de deux for Ferdiand and Miranda after they first met and as their love developed, delightful dances for Ceres and Juno and plenty of arabesques and opportunities to admire the corps. According to Gerald Dowler's programme note this ballet had been 30 years in the making and the reason for the long gestation is that Bintley had been waiting for the right composer. Quoting Bintley, Dowler wrote:

"I heard Sally Beamish's music in 2012 and it all seemed to fall into place."

It was well worth the wait. Beamish's score was enchanting. I particularly liked her use of the flute to indicate voices or underscore excitement. Equally impressive were Rae Smith's designs. The waves and ship were even more realistic than in The Winter's Tale. The peacock throne was especially impressive. All the more remarkable as the sets have to be portable as this ballet is to be taken on tour.  Combined with Bruno Poet's lighting, something close to magic was created on stage.

Now this ballet really will last. It was created in collaboration with the Houston Ballet Foundation and the Houston Ballet will present it to American audiences in Spring.  If I know Americans - and as a graduate of one of their finest universities and have made many trips to their shores I think I do - they will relish this production at least as much as I do. So, too, will audiences in the rest of the world.