The Other Christmas Carol

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Finnish National Ballet A Christmas Carol YouTube Arte Concert 23 Dec 2024

In this country, we hear much about the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Swedish Ballet, but not much about their neighbours across the Gulf of Bothnia.  One of the artists I saw on my recent visit to Tallinn was Francesca Loi who danced Cinders's stepmother in Cristiano Principato's Cinderella.  I looked her up and found that she was with the Finnish National Ballet.  I explored her company's website and discovered it was founded just over 100 years ago.  It performs in a beautiful modern opera house.  It has a very interesting repertoire and its Artistic Director is Javier Torres,  Mr Principato, a soloist with the Estonian Ballet, has urged me to break my journey in Helsinki and watch the Finnish National Ballet on stage the next time I am in his area. 

One of its productions that I would love to have seen is David Bintley's A Christmas Carol.  It was performed in Helsinki between 30 Nov and 30 Dec 2024.  The next best thing to a live performance is watching them on TV.  That has just become possible because a recording of their performance will be hosted on Arte Concdert's YouTube channel until 27 Feb 2925.  I watched the video last night less than a month after seeing Northern Ballet's production at the Leeds Grand Theatre.  As I said in A Christmas Carol - A Reflection of a Golden Age 19 J\n 2025, Northern Ballet's production is one of my favourite ballets.  It is impossible to compare a video with a work on stage but if I could see Bentley's work in a theatre I believe I would admire it just as much.

Apart from the similarities that are to be expected in a ballet that is inspired by the same novella and shares the same leading characters Bintley's ballet is quite different from Gable and Moriconi's.  The score is by Sally Beamish who also wrote the music for David Bintley's The Tempest and David Nixon's The Little Mermaid.  I described her score for The Tempest as "enchanting" in my review of that ballet and I think her score for The Little Mermaid is one of the reasons for my headline Nixon's Little Mermaid - Perhaps His Best Work Yet in my review of Nixon's work.  Beamish discusses her score for A Christmas Carol in From a Sinister Atmosphere to Joyful Christmas Sounds.  The sets, costumes and projection design were by Anna Fleischle and some of the scenes were arresting.  The Christmas Yet To Come scene was literally spine-chilling even on a flat-screen telly.  Mark Henderson designed the lighting which was mood-changing even in the recording and would have been even more so in the theatre,

Bentley followed Dickens's story faithfully but he introduced some additional scenes such as Ali Baba, Long John Silver and Dox Quixote from Scrooge's childhood imaginings.  In his flashbacks to Scrooge's childhood and youth, Bintely explains how Scrooge developed as he did.  Something that I never fully appreciated from the original text.  Bimntley weaves in interesting new characters like three Jack Tars who are introduced by Tiny Tim's "I Saw Three Ships,"   Bintley's divertissements are often the strongest features of his ballets and they certainly distinguished this ballet.

In the film, Paul Murphy of Birmingham Royal Ballet conducted the Finnish National Opera Orchestra but I think Aku Sorensen directed them most other nights,  Scrooge was danced by Johan Pakkanen, Young Scrooge by Martin Nudo, Belle by Abigail Sheppard, Bob Cratchit by Frans Valkama and Tiny Tim by Janne Kouhia. I surmise that he is a student at the National Opera and Ballet School.  He discharged a very demanding role for a young artist with flair.  It included singing the first lines of a traditional English carol and calling for a blessing in a foreign language,  No doubt that is why he warned one of the loudest cheers at the curtain call. 

I strongly recommend this recording to my readers and I hope that the powers that be will bring this interesting company to London one of these days. There are some great photos and videos on the National Ballet's website including a short talk by Bintley.  Bintley comes from the next village but one from mine in the Holme Valley and I have twice had the pleasure of meeting him at the London Ballet Circle.  I was a frequent visitor to the Hippodrome when he was the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Director, and I am probably one of his biggest fans.

Nixon's Little Mermaid - Perhaps His Best Work Yet

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Northern Ballet The Little Mermaid 19:15 2 Dec 2017 Sheffield Lyceum

In 2017 in Retrospect 7 Jan 2018 I chose Northern Ballet as my company of the year because of its three, new, full-length ballets:

"These were Kenneth Tindall's Casanova which I had expected to be good and was not disappointed (see Casanova - "it has been a long time since I enjoyed a show by Northern Ballet as much as I enjoyed Casanova last night" 12 March 2017 and Casanova Second Time Round 7 May 2017). Daniel de Andrade's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which I did not expect to like at all but was moved deeply (see The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - "an impressive work that was danced splendidly by Northern Ballet" 10 Sept 2017) and David Nixon's The Little Mermaid which I have yet to review but is, perhaps, his best work yet."

Here is my promised review.

There are many reasons why I liked The Little Mermaid. First, the libretto which follows Hans Christian Anderson's story closely. Secondly, the score. I applaud Nixon's commissioning Sally Beamish who had also composed the music for David Bintley's work, The Tempest (see The Tempest 9 Oct 2016). Thirdly, his casting which provided an opportunity for Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor to shine in leading roles.  Lastly, but by no means least, I admired Kimie Nakano's sets and costumes very much, particularly the underwater scenes in the first act.

The quality of this ballet that impressed me most was the detailed study of the mermaid's psyche,  She exchanged a carefree life below the waves with friends and family for an excruciating and lonely existence on land.  She gave up all that she had for the love of a human.  She did that not once but twice.  She had an opportunity to sink a knife into the prince who had spurned her and thereby return to the sea as a mermaid.  An opportunity that some women would have seized willingly even without the reward of personal transformation. Instead. she chose a path that she thought would lead to self-annihilation.

Much was demanded of the dancer who was to perform that role.  It had to be one of the company's younger members for the mermaid, like Shakespeare's Juliet, was on the cusp of adulthood. Also like Juliet she had to project a range of emotions, some conflicting as she grew up almost overnight,  Prudames was impressive in that role. Earlier in the year I had seen her in the preview (see First Impressions of the Little Mermaid 27 July 2017).  I noted then:

"I also liked some of the extracts, particularly the solo when the mermaid. danced by Abigail Prudames, discovers her new legs. Stranded on the shore she experiences pain for the first time. Prudames communicated that sensation chillingly. Much as Edvard Munch does in The Scream."

Three months on and after several weeks of  performances on tour she was even more impressive.

Though less is demanded of the male lead emotionally, the audience has to understand why the mermaid was prepared to sacrifice so much for him.  He has to be magnetically attractive, dashing and handsome. Taylor showed all of those qualties and more. Brave in the storm and compassionate on finding a beautiful, solitary. voiceless young woman on the shore,  Though captivated by her dancing he remained faithful to his bride.

The bride was danced by Dreda Blow, one of the company's leading soloists. A pretty role that she performed delightfully.

Other important roles were the lord of the sea (Matthew Topliss) who supplied the potion that transformed the mermaid into a human being as well as the knife by which she would have changed back, the mermaid's sisters, Ayami Miyata and Rachael Gillespie, two of my favourite artists who are always a pleasure to watch and the mermaid's affectionate and faithful friend, the seahorse, Kevin Poeung, another dancer whom I like a lot.  The corps had important tasks in the ballet, as sea creatures (or, in some cases, as bearers of such creatures), as sailors, fishermen and villagers. Altogether it was a very polished performance.

I had enjoyed the extracts from Beamish's score in the preview.  Having heard the whole work I liked it even more than her music for The Tempest.  I particularly liked the Celtic allusions that Beamish inserted subtly much in the way that Løvenskiold had done in his score for La Sylphide. There were Scottish or Irish echoes in the men's kilts (plain material without tartans) and in the human characters' names: Adair, Dana and Brina.

This production will visit the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh between the 22 and 24 March 2018. I shall be interested to know what a Scottish audience makes of the kilts and Beamish's score. It will then move on to Milton Keynes (close to two of the company's most devoted fans) in April and round of its tour at Leicester in May. No new full length works this year but with tried and tested favourites like Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre and The Nutcracker the company can expect another good year.

First Impressions of The Little Mermaid

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Northern Ballet  Beneath the Surface  26 July 2017 18:00 Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre

I attended David Nixon's presentation of extracts from his new ballet, The Little Mermaid, which, ironically, Northern Ballet will premiere at one of the most southern venues in the United Kingdom on 21 Sept 2017. From the little bits on show last night, it looks quite promising.  The presentation was recorded and is available on Northern Ballet's YouTube channel which I have embedded above so you can make up your own minds about the show.

What I enjoyed particularly last night was the music which is by Sally Beamish. As Nixon said. she wrote the score for David Bintley's The Tempest which I described as "enchanting" in my review of the 8 Oct 2016, I also liked some of the extracts, particularly the solo when the mermaid. danced by Abigail Prudames, discovers her new legs. Stranded on the shore she experiences pain for the first time. Prudames communicated that sensation chillingly. Much as Edvard Munch does in The Scream.

Yesterday's presentation was very different from Casanova Unmasked in Feb when Kenneth Tindall appeared with Nixon and his dramaturge, John Kelly., with Kerry Muzzey listening in from Los Angeles. Except for the dancers and the Q & A at the end, it was very much a one man show. I guess that is because Nixon is his own librettist as well as his own costume designer.

Hans Christian Andersen's stories have inspired at least two other works this year: Sir Matthew Bourne's Red Shoes which has recently finished its UK tour and Paul Chantry's Sandman for his own company which will launch in September.  I know of at least one other version of The Little Mermaid, namely Christopher Moore's for Ballet Theatre UK which I reviewed in Pure Delight - BTUK's Little Mermaid in Southport 27 April 2014. This is not a happy story but then not all ballets are. La Bayadère is not exactly a bundle of laughs and nor is Giselle, Romeo and Juliet or Swan Lake.

I was intrigued by at least one aspect of the scenario which Nixon did mention in his speech and I was surprised that nobody asked it in the Q & A.  I did get the chance to put it to Nixon at the reception which followed the presentation. The questions that were asked were not all that probing. Patsy-patsy stuff about whether dancers really do feel pain - try one of the Academy's adult ballet classes, madam, then you'll know. Another question seemed to be about the health and safety issues of doing Macmillan and some other choreographer.  Nixon responded by discussing the artistic challenges in shifting from one choreographer to another which was much more interesting, The questioner intervened to say that he had answered the question that she had intended to ask. "I know you so well," he replied kindly.

The Little Mermaid will snake its way round the country between opening night and Leicester on 8 May 2018. No plans to open in London or Manchester (or even Salford) and it will not hit Yorkshire until the 26 Nov when it will open in Sheffield followed by a stint in Leeds.

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.

In Praise of Bintley

Yesterday was my first visit to the Hippodrome but it won't be the last

It seems only yesterday that I read in About the House or it may have been the Dancing Times that the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet would move to the Birmingham Hippodrome and be known as the "Birmingham Royal Ballet". I was bemused. As a Mancunian I have never had much time for Birmingham. "If they want to move out of London" I said to myself "there are far better cities. How about Manchester? The second city though we Mancunians say that honour actually belongs to London. Or if not Manchester another town with character, history and fine architecture with lovely countryside nearby. Edinburgh, perhaps, Bristol, Newcastle or even Liverpool which, despite a century of relative economic decline, still has the magnificent Pier Head as well as the Phil with its exquisite gents' loo. Mais pourquoi Birmingham!"

Although I have followed the Birmingham Royal Ballet ever since it was known as the touring company and never miss a season when it visits The Lowry I had never been to The Hippodrome before. I have been to opera houses  all over the world including The Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Sydney Opera House, the Semperoper in Dresden, Lincoln Center and, of course, Palais Garnier in Paris.  I had seen the Birmingham Royal Ballet on its trips to its old home at Sadler's Wells but it never occurred to me to visit the company in its new home until a year ago.

It was Ruth Brill who put me right. She gave a talk to the London Ballet Circle. She spoke about the Hippodrome and its audience and how they cherish the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I listen to her because I admire her dancing so. She is such fun. She loves to dance and she communicates her joy to her audience. So I made a mental note to see the Birmingham Royal Ballet in the Hippodrome one day.

That day arrived yesterday because it was the 25th anniversary of the company's move to Birmingham and the 20th anniversary of David Bintley's appointment as the company's artistic director. Earlier in the day I had been in Leeds watching the Northern Ballet in class and listening to a discussion on narrative ballet by a panel that included Christopher Hampson and Graham Watts (see Three into Two won't go 20 June 2015). Sadly I had to miss the choreographic sharing with new works  by Kenneth Tindall and Constant Vigier which I had expected to be (and Gita confirmed was) the best part of a very long day. But it was worth it for I would not have missed last night's show in Birmingham for the world.

The advertised performance was a double bill - The King Dances which I had discussed in my post of the 23 May 2015 and Carmina Burana which was Bintley's first work after his appointment as artistic director. I will review the performance of those works but not here because they each deserve a post of their own. The evening began with an unfamiliar overture which we learned was Prospero's theme. It is part of a new score by Sally Beamish for The Tempest and it had never been performed in public before. The curtain rose with Robert Parker standing by a lectern. "I wish I could say that that fanfare was for me" said Parker who flies aeroplanes as well as being artistic director of Elmhurst but it was for another. A photo of Bintley flashed on screen to thunderous applause. For the next few minutes Parker summarized Bintley's life and career with pictures of scenes from his ballets. The summary ended with a photo of the great man in Aston Villa's colours. Birmingham is where he has made his home and brought up his children, explained Parker, and it is where where he supports one of the city's great football teams.

There was a pause of a minute or so before the curtain rose on The King Dances and to say that that was special is an understatement.  It was one of the most enthralling performances I have ever experienced in the theatre. As I said above I will save the details of the review for another day but I don't think I have ever experienced anything more chilling than the images of hell conjured up in The Third Watch or anything more dazzling than the sight of William Bracewell glimmering in gold before the rising sun.

The evening continued with Carmina Burana and the company danced their hearts out. Although Bintley has made his home in Birmingham he comes from Honley which is almost the next village to mine (see My Home and Bintley's 22 May 2015). I long suspected that he had been influenced by the Choral. I actually asked about the artistic influences on his life when he visited the London Ballet Circle last month. Carmina Burana confirmed my suspicion for much of the glory of that ballet comes from the soaring voices to Orff's score.

After the curtain fell the crowd went wild. The applause was deafening. They yelled. They cheered.  They whooped. They clapped till their palms were sore. Several in the audience, including me, felt compelled to rise.  There was the usual reverence with its succession of curtain calls for the principals and then Michael Clarke, chair of the company's directors, walked on stage. He gestured to us to stop clapping. "That applause wasn't bad" he said "but the next round will be thunderous for I have found David Bintley," He beckoned Bintley onto the stage and the crowd erupted even louder than before. Bintley joined hands with the conductor and dancers and the applause exploded like a cannonade. Clarke told us that Peter Wright was in the audience. It was a very special moment.

I was a bit dazed after exiting the theatre. It is in the Chinese quarter of Birmingham which I think must be the fun part of town. There were crowds in the streets.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time. The Hippodrome is a lovely theatre. There are plenty of bars serving all kinds of refreshments. I ordered an espresso before the show and a very interesting soft drink consisting of squeezed apple juice and cinnamon for the interval and had plenty of change out of a fiver.  The seats were comfortable. The acoustics were good. The staff were courteous.  I found free street parking a few hundred yards from the theatre. Would you believe that they charge for parking on waste ground up to 22:00 in Leeds even on a Sunday. I can quite see why the Birmingham Royal Ballet made its home at the Hippodrome. Yesterday was my first visit to that theatre but it will certainly not be the last.