An Evening of Music and Dance

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Author JimmyGuano Licence CC BY-SA 4.0  Source Wikimedia Commons

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet  An Evening of Music and Dance  Symphony Hall, Birmingham 11 Feb 2023  19:30

If there is one thing that riles a Mancunian it is the proposition that the city of a thousand trades somehow rakes precedence in the national pecking order.   When propounded by a southerner our usual riposte is "Oh I always thought the second city was London." But to be fair, Birmingham has some great institutions not least of which are the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Symphony Hall.

An opportunity to enjoy them both occurs every February in An Evening of Music and Dance.  That is a concert by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia with contributions from artists of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and students of Elmhurst Ballet School.  It is one of the rare occasions when the audience can see the orchestra on stage.  I imagine that it must be a liberation for the musicians to escape from the orchestra pit and share the limelight with the dancers they support for the rest of the year.

According to the Birmingham Royal Ballet's website, the programme was "hand-picked" by Carlos Acosta and Paul Murphy which perhaps explains the preponderance of works associated with the Spanish-speaking world.    The programme was as follows:

• Rossini The Barber of Seville: Overture
• Howard/Nunes Interlinked pas de deux
• De Falla El amor brujo: Ritual Fire Dance
• Rachmaninov/Ashton Rhapsody pas de deux
• Granados Goyescas: Intermezzo
• Pugni//Petipa/Vaganova Diana and Actaeon pas de deux
• Chabrier España
• Tchaikovsky/Petipa/Wright Swan Lake: Act III pas de deux
• Albéniz Tango
• Bizet/Acosta Carmen pas de deux
• Ginastera/Fajardo Estancia, Danza dek trigo and Malambo 
• Drigo/Petipa/Vaganova Le Corsaire pas de deux

The evening was compered by Marverine Cole.

The first ballet was Juliano Nunes's Interlinked, Pas de Deux to Luke Howard's score of the same name.  According to the programme notes it was created for On Your Marks, a triple bill to celebrate the Commonwealth Games which were held in Birmingham last summer.  It was danced by Tzu Chao-Chou and Brandon Lawrence, two very graceful but also very muscular dancers.  I stress muscular because they were clad in what appeared to be romantic tutus.  According to the programme the costumes and choreography do not distinguish between male and female performers often turning balletic conventions on their heads.  For me, that was a distraction but it was still possible to appreciate the virtuosity of the dancers. 

Having attended An Evening with Ashton at Elmhurst on 24 Jan 2023 I was particularly looking forward to Ashton's Rhapsody Pas de Deux. Ashton had created Rhapsody for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier in August 1980 on the occasion of the late Queen Mother's 80th birthday.  At Elmhurst, Collier had coached  Frieda Kaden and Oscar Kempsey-Fagg so her tips and recollections were fresh in my memory.  It had been a direct link with Sir Frederick himself.  The dancers who performed that piece at Symphony Hall were Max Maslen and Beatrice Parma. Throughout the piece, I recalled Collier's instructions to Kaden and Kempsey-Fagg such as "Lift her but not too high".  Altogether, it was a rare and precious moment.

Diana and Actaeon is a spectacular piece.  It begins with the entry of Diana practically jumping on pointe.  Actaeon joins her on stage with massive leaps It was choreographed by Agrippina Vaganova to the music of Cesare Pugni. The only time that I had seen the work before was when I watched Michaela DePrince for the first time.  I was bowled over both by her and the choreography (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013).  Tyrone Singleton and Sofia Liñares danced this piece at the Evening of Music and Dance.  Their interpretation was quite different.  Elegant, fluid and lyrical and while still exciting their performance was somehow, a little more restrained.  

There was an interval between Diana and Actaeon and España.  The first ballet of the second half of the show was the seduction scene from Act III of Swan Lake.  That pas de deux was performed exquisitely by Brandon Lawrence and Céline Gittens. Gittens is one of my all-time favourite ballerinas. Odette-Odile is one of her most impressive roles.  Her execution of Legnani's 32 fouettés was the high point of my evening.  In the full-length ballet, the piece is followed by pandemonium as Rothbart and his daughter exit the stage.  It is the last that audiences ever see of Odile.  As this was a concert, there was a reverence after the performance at which Gittens acknowledged her applause with the most enchanting smile.  I could not help thinking that she was much too nice for Odile.

Liñares returned with Lachlan Monaghan to dance the Interlude from Carmen which Carlos Acosta had choreographed for himself and Marienela Nuñes while he was still a principal with the Royal Ballet.  I had previously associated Carmen with Zizi Jeanmaire and to a lesser extent Maya Pliesetskaya though I had only seen them on film.  Acosta's version is based on one of the most haunting parts of Bizet's score.  It will be interesting to see the work in full.

Students from Elmhurst performed Danza del trigo and Malambo from Alberto Ginastera's Estancia which were choreographed by Sonia Fajardo.  According to the programme notes, the composer wrote Estancia for American Ballet Caravan whose choreographer was George Balanchine. The rhythm of Malambo is infectious.  The artists threw themselves into the work.  it was the most exuberant performance of the evening.

The finale was Drigo's pas de deux  from Le Corsaire.  Although most of the score had been composed by Adolphe Adam I learned from the programme notes that Marius Petipa had incorporated music by other composers including Ricardo Drigo.  I also learned that Vaganova had created a pas de deux on Drigo's work which was performed by Riku Ito and  Yaoqian Shang.  Only English National Ballet includes Le Corsaire in its repertoire.  It is a work that would suit Birmingham Royal Ballet well.

This was a very interesting programme.   I was introduced to three composers, namely Ricardo Drigo, Alberto Ginestera and Luke Howard and two new choreographers, namely Juliano Nunes and Sonia Fajardo.   It was also good to meet the Elmhurst students some of whom will join the Birmingham Royal Ballet and other leading companies.   It was my first visit to Symphony Hall and I look forward to returning, perhaps for a concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra which I have so far heard only in recordings and broadcasts.   

Birmingham Royal Ballet - Polarity and Proximity

Polarity & Proximity website trailer from Birmingham Royal Ballet on Vimeo.


Birmingham Royal Ballet Polarity and Proximity 23 June 2018, 14:30, Birmingham Hippodrome

Yesterday I saw the Birmingham Royal Ballet at its best.  It performed a triple bill consisting of Alexander Whitley's Kin, George Williamson's Embrace and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room.  I had seen Kin before (see Vaut le Voyage - Birmingham Royal Ballet in Shrewsbury 25 May 2015) but not the other two.  I had, however, seen Williamson's Dawn Dances which the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company danced in their very first show in Amsterdam (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013 25 Nov 2013) and later in London (see  And can they fly! The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company at Covent Garden 30 May 2014).

When I first saw Kin in Shrewsbury.   I wrote:

"Kin was well worth the 200 mile return journey which took three hours each way. It began with a low, almost inaudible, hum like an electric motor which I think must have been a cello as the curtain began slowly to rise. The stage was dimly lit and I could just about make out a solitary female dancer dressed in black. As she began to move I think I recognized Yijing Zhang. She then danced the most beautiful solo. Had it been poetry of words rather than dance I would have described as elegiac. The other dancers entered also in black. The music changed to a persistent throbbing. I wrote a lot of notes on my cast list not all of which I can decipher now as I had to scribble in the dark. I can just about make out "gyrations" and "chaînés". I remember the most hauntingly beautiful pas de deux by Yijing Zhang and William Bracewell. I also remember some great turns by the males towards the end. This morning, I can also make out the noun "virtuosity." 

I apologize for the superficiality of this description but yesterday was the first time I had seen a very beautiful, multi-layered work which I think will require more than one viewing to appreciate properly. Marion Tait referred to the work's beauty when she had to announce its cancellation last week. I seem to remember that she also used the adjective "special". If she did she was right. The music was by Phil Kline and I think this was the first time I had heard his work. It is not a pretty score but it sets the mood perfectly and it allowed plenty of scope for interpretation. The set (very plain with just two features) and the austere black costumes were by Jean-Marc Puissant. The lighting which cleverly matched the atmospheric score was by Peter Teigen. Whitley assembled those elements ingeniously."

I can't really add to that. There were, of course, different dancers. Tyrone Singleton was the male lead and Jenna Roberts the female. They were supported by Reina Fuchigami, Yvette Knight, Alys Shee, Tsu-Chao-Chu, Max Maslen, Lachlan Monaghan and Edivaldo Souza da Silva. I am a big fan of Singleton and was glad to see him in the lead role. Physically powerful but also sensitive he was ideally cast.  Kin is a short but intense work.  A good start to the programme.  

The ballet that brought me to Birmingham was Williamson's Embrace.  This is the first of a series of new works commissioned under the Ballet Now programme. This is a joint venture between the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Sadler's Wells to "support two commissions each year, helping a total of six artists – one choreographer, composer and designer for each commission. They will create work that will premiere at either BRB or Sadler's Wells in London" for each of the next 5 years. As Ted Brandsen and Cassa Pancho are on the commissioning committee and as Juanjo Arques is another of the first choreographers to be commissioned, I take a personal interest in the project.

In the programme, Williamson writes:

"I think everyone knows what it feels like to be an outsider at some point and for any young people, our path doesn't always feel the simplest or easiest. Growing up can be frightening. Equally, I think everyone also knows what it is to have friends support you in your worries and anxieties. I want people to come away understanding what it feels like to be "other" but also to accept and embrace it in a positive way, hence the title." 

A note on the cast sheet added :

"Embrace tells the story of one man's journey towards understanding and acceptance. Unable to recognize himself in the swirling masses that surround him. It takes the kindness of one and the love pf another for him to let go of who he thought he'd be and embrace who he really is." 

The work has three lead characters and what I would like to call a chorus.  No less that 4 artists dance the subject of the ballet, namely "He", "Self One", "Self Two" and "Self Three."  The other leads are "She" and "Him". The chorus (my terminology borrowed from Cathy Marston after The Suit and  Jane Eyre) are called "Them".

Brandon Lawrence dances "He" and the curtain rises with him lying in an enclosed space.  Lawrence is obviously different in the sense that he is the only member of the cast of African or Afro-Caribbean heritage but that is probably coincidental for the character he dances is different also in sexual orientation and takes some stick for that from "Them".  One pushes him around but most avoid him.  He finds support from "Him", that is to say Max  Maslen and "She" Yvette Knight.

It was only after seeing the ballet that I began to understand the roles of the first, second and third selves, Lachlan Monaghan, Haoliang Fen and Aitor Gaelnde.  With the benefit of ex post facto ratiocination I think they represented the selves They ordain for He.  At a superficial level most will remember the tender duets between Lawrence and Maslen.  Rare examples of same sex love on the stage. There are also conventional duets with Knight

Williamson created this work to a specially commissioned score by Sarah Kirkland Snider who is best known for her orchestral and chamber music. Although the music for Embrace is not buzzing in my head in the same way as Philip Glass's, I thought it was appropriate.  I was however even more impressed with Madeleine Girling's set and costume designs.  In particular, I liked her windows which reminded me of a multistory building - prompting the thought that He might be driven to crash through of them - and the translucent trousers and skirts.

The last work of the afternoon was the most exhilarating, the most exuberant, the most energetic and hence the most fun. Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room to Glass's score had us tapping our feet and almost dancing in the aisles. The curtain rose on Maureya Labowitz and Jade Heusen in what appear to be striped pyjamas. They are joined by the boys, Galende, Monaghan and Gus Payne. Off go Lenowitz and Hausen and on come Roberts and Lawrence.  It is more like a party than a ballet. The pyjamas give way to red tops and striped bottoms and vice versa, then red leotards and dressed with the men bear chested with belts of red around their trousers. Every possible jump, or turn you have ever seen was performed to crescendos of incessant music.  Fouettés followed by tours en l'air.  Though the theatre was less than full the applause was deafening.  Everyone seemed to leave the theatre with a bounce.

I had a great day in Birmingham yesterday which started with my friend Sarah Lambert meeting my train who introduced me to two of her dancing chums in the Bacchus bar. One of them, Charlotte, is  an accomplished theatre and live event designer and technician from Sheffield.  I told them about Powerhouse Ballet and invited them to class.  They in turn told me about their work with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and they invited me back to their show in two weeks time.

Birmingham is a long way from Holmfirth and takes almost the same time and costs nearly as much as a trip to London. A long way and a very long day. But yesterday was well worth the trek and looking around the auditorium I found that I was not the only Northerner to have made the trip.

Postscript

The following remark has given rise to a mini-twitter storm:

"Brandon Lawrence dances "He" and the curtain rises with him lying in an enclosed space.  Lawrence is obviously different in the sense that he is the only member of the cast of African or Afro-Caribbean heritage but that is probably coincidental for the character he dances is different also in sexual orientation and takes some stick for that from "Them".  One pushes him around but most avoid him.  He finds support from "Him", that is to say Max  Maslen and "She" Yvette Knight."

I am not going to resile from those words but I shall explain them.  Early in the ballet "He" is jostled by a member of the chorus.  If you see an incident on the street where a person of African or Afro-Caribbean heritage is being jostled then you would draw only one conclusion.  On seeing jostling on the stage I drew that same conclusion.  Now remember that this ballet is about being an outsider and self-acceptance.  It is clear from the programme notes and indeed the choreography as the ballet unfolds that there is another different reason why He is an outsider. Even though it was  serendipitous it does not mean that a reaction on seeing what appears to be a theatrical representation of racial abuse should be discarded.  On the contrary it added to my appreciation of the ballet.

I do not see any basis upon which the above words could have been construed as an inference that Lawrence was cast as He otherwise than for his artistic qualities.  Any such suggestion is arrant nonsense.  Lawrence is an outstanding artist as I have acknowledged in all previous reviews.  No dancer becomes a soloist in one of the world's great ballet companies unless he or she is outstanding.

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.

Birmingham Royal Ballet brings Shakespeare to York

York Theatre Royal

Source Wikipedia
Creative Commons Licence

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Shakespeare Triple Bill, York Theatre Royal, 14 May 2016, 19{30


Birmingham Royal Ballet has a lot of links with Yorkshire. Brandon Lawrence, one of my favourite dancers, comes from Bradford and David Bintley, the company's artistic director, comes from the next village to mine (see My Home and Bintley's 12 May 2015. "We like coming to York" said Jade Heusen in the talk before the show and I think I speak for most theatre goers in this county when I say that we like having you here but we wish we could see a lot more of you. Not just the Northern tour and not just in York but in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Hull and any other theatres in the county that are geared up for dance.

I asked David Bintley about that once and he seemed receptive to the idea. He said that he had first seen ballet at the Alhambra and that it would also be good to see Northern Ballet in Birmingham. One of the reasons why that does not happen now is the perceived need to build up local loyalty for regional ballet companies, but I don't think it works like that. Three of Northern's biggest fans of my acquaintance live miles from Leeds. Two in Buckinghamshire and one in Merseyside. I for my part feel a particular attachment to Scottish Ballet which was the first dance company that I got to know. I do not see it anything like as often as I wish because it is in Glasgow which is further away than Birmingham. I am also a Friend of Ballet Cymru, Ballet Black, the Dutch National Ballet and Covent Garden. I donate regularly to Northern Ballet, attend all its shows and take at least one adult ballet class there every week but I am just as much a fan of English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Anyway, this beautiful company (or at least part of it) was in York last Saturday night and it brought a programme of ballets based on the plays and sonnets of Warwickshire's most famous son, William Shakespeare. The programme began with Wink choreographed by Jessica Lang to a score by Jakub Ciupinski. It was followed by three pas de deux from Ashton's Dream, MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet and Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew and concluded with José Limón's The Moor's Pavane.  I was attracted to the show by the prospect of seeing the three pas de deux which are among the best bits of three of my favourite ballets. I was not disappointed. They were danced exquisitely and were the highlight of my evening; but I liked Wink too and The Moor's Pavane somewhat more.

As I remarked in my review of the company's  performance in Birmingham in Ashton's Double Bill 21 Feb 2016, I cannot even hear Mendelssohn's music let alone watch The Dream without thinking of Dame Antoinette Sibley who is my all time favourite ballerina or indeed Sir Anthony Dowell who partnered her in this as in all ballets so beautifully. It makes me root for tissues. Titania was danced by Karla Doorbar who looks a little bit like Sibley and Obseron by the magnificent Chi Cao. I think I enjoyed watching them even more than I did Sakuma and Caley in Birmingham.

Ideally an interview or at least a pause should have finished that performance but it was followed immediately by another treat. Tyrone Singleton and Celine Gittens danced the second pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet.  I had seen Singelton as Romeo once before when he took over the role from Jamie Bond at very short notice but this time he was dancing with Gittens and when those two are together the result is magic. I saw them in Coppelia at The Lowry last year and they were sensational. They were sensational again last Saturday night.

The last pas de deux was from one of my favourite ballets (even though I have only seen it once) by my all time favourite choreographer, John Cranko, and its was danced delightfully by Elisha Willis and Iain Mackay. It was from the part of the ballet that starts with a battle of wills but ends with the first signs of attraction and softening by Katherina. It is an amusing but also very beautiful piece and the change in mood is caught by the choreography. This work was created for the Stuttgart Ballet and it is performed not nearly as frequently as it should be in this country.  I look forward to Birmingham's production at the Hippodrome next month very much.

According to David Mead's programme note Wink comes from the first line of Shakespeare's sonnet 43 "When most I wink, then do my eyes best see." As it was also derived from the sonnets I could not help comparing Lang's work to Kate Flatt's Undivided Loves for Phoenix Dance Theatre which I reviewed in Phoenix's 35th Anniversary Tour 18 Feb 2016 and I have to say that I think I liked Flatt's work more. The score was stronger and the choreography more interesting. The black and white slabs that are intended to represent pages according to the programme note were distracting. I found it hard to get into the work and maybe need to see it again when I have not driven from Holmfirth to Bradford, Bradford to Manchester and Manchester to York all in the same day. What could not be faulted was the dancing and so many of my favourites were in that work including Singleton, Gittens, Cesar Morales, Yijing Zhang and Ruth Brill.

Created in the year of my birth The Moor's Pavane is a classic of American dance that I have long wanted to see. It tells the tragedy of Othello to the music of Purcell in 20 short minutes. Morales was the Moor, Yvette Knight was Desdemona, Chi Cao was Iago and Yijing Zhang was Emilia.  A powerful, very beautiful but also quite disturbing work. It is performed without props. The story is told entirely by the music and perhaps also by the lighting.

I should say a word about the theatre. Built in the ruins of St Leonard's Hospital it is one of the most beautiful and intimate theatre that I know.  it was established in 1744 and has staged many great productions. In her talk Jensen mentioned that it was adapted well for dancing. I can well understand why the company likes performing there. Situated not far from the Minster and almost opposite the art gallery and some lovely public gardens with a pleasant cafe and bistro the theatre is a tourist attraction in its own right,

Birmingham Royal Ballet comes to York

At this time of the year the dancers of the Birmingham Royal Ballet split into two tours. One goes to Durham, York and Shrewsbury while the other visits Poole and Truro.   Each tour has a different programme.  The Northern programme consists of ballets based on Shakespeare's plays and sonnets and features Wink, the pas de deux from The Dream, Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew and The Moor's Pavane. The Southern programme includes two of may favourite works, van Manen's Five Tangos and Ashton's Monotones II.

I have a ticket for the Northern tour in York and am looking forward to it tremendously. I always associate The Dream with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell who are my favourite dancers of all time and I cannot watch that ballet without thinking of them.  Cranko is my all time favourite choreographer and The Taking of the Shrew is pretty close to the top if not the very top of my favourite ballets. I am also looking forward to Jessica Lang's Wink very much indeed.

However I would love to have seen the Southern tour as well.  Last year that tour visited High Wycombe which is less than two hour's drive from Holmfirth but Poole and Truro are just too far away.  I have checked the trains and even the airlines but that would mean taking a whole day off work or missing the Northern tour.

Happily both Monotones II and 5 Tangos are danced not too infrequently by the company so I should see them one day. Also, we have a really super cast for Saturday which includes Tyrone Singleon, Céline Gittens, Chi Cao and Ruth Brill to mention just a few. It should be a real treat.

A Good Outcome from an Unhappy Event - Singleton's Fine Performance

Romeo and Juliet 2016 tour trailer from Birmingham Royal Ballet on Vimeo.
 The Birmingham Royal Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, The Lowry Theatre, 5 March 2016

Sometimes a good outcome can result from an unhappy event. There are countless tales of actors and sportsmen as well as dancers stepping into a role at the last minute and rendering a magnificent performance. That happened last night when Tyrone Singleton danced Romeo in Birmingham Royal Ballet's performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Lowry Theatre in Salford.

Singleton stepped in because Jamie Bond was indisposed. Apparently he sustained an injury minutes before the curtain rose. That came as a blow because Bond is one of my favourite dancers. I enjoyed his performance as Beliaev in A Month in the Country on 20 Feb 2016 and I had been looking forward to seeing him as Romeo ever since.  But of course that is secondary to the welfare of a dancer.  The company gave no details of the injury and I am sure that I speak for everyone in wishing him all the best.

However, although I was disappointed not to see Bond, Singleton made up for it.  He is another of my favourites and I may be wrong but I think yesterday was the first time that he danced Romeo.  He had danced Benvolio and Paris in Romeo and Juliet before so he would have known the ballet well but Romeo is a very demanding role requiring considerable dramatic as well as virtuosity. With four pas de deux - particularly the last one as Romeo carries Juliet's seemingly lifeless body around the stage - several big sword fights and lots of ecstatic solo jumping - there is more than enough demand for technical skills. All I can say is that he carried it off very well indeed and I congratulate him on his performance.

Of course a great Romeo needs an excellent Juliet and we had a particularly good one in Nao Sakuma. This is another challenging role for the dancer has to grow before the audience's eyes from playful infant into an adult with capacity for all consuming love and considerable courage and determination. This is one of the great theatrical roles not just in ballet but in any media and it is big challenge for any ballerina. I have seen Lynn Seymour and Margot Fonteyn dance those roles but I don't think either of them thrilled me more than Sakuma did last night. She has a real understanding of the character. The acid test of a great Juliet is her solo in her bedroom as she contemplates her options after the double shock of Romeo's departure and her parents' order to marry Paris sinks in. Sakuma emerged from it as pure gold.

There were lots of other fine performances last night.

Valentin Olovyannikov was a great Tybalt. Why do my fellow Mancunians boo fine artists after magnificent performances just because they dance the villain's role? Too many pantomimes, I guess. We all admired his performance. I hope he takes those boos as compliments for I am sure that was the intention. Also, is Tybalt really any worse than the other young hooligans in the Montague or Capulet families.  I suppose he did stab Mercutio in  the back but wouldn't Benvolio, Mercutio or even Romeo have done the same given the chance?

Talking of Mercutio and Benvolio, Mathias Dingman and Jonathan Caguioa gave fine performances of these roles.

So, too, did Steven Monteith as Paris. According to his twitter feed he is about to retire.  He will be missed. In the first interval I bumped into Janet McNulty of BalletCo Forum and her companion. "I don't know why she bothered with Romeo when she had such a good looking Paris" Janet said. In view of Singleton's striking good looks, his height and slender, athletic frame that is quite a compliment. Again, I am sure I speak for everyone in wishing Monteith well in the next phase of his career.

As for the women, it is always a pleasure to see Delia Matthews. I was so sad to learn that she had been injured in Les Rendzvous (see Birmingham Royal Ballet in York 21 May 2015). It was lovely to see her back in top form as Rosaline. Ana Albutashvili was a fine nurse. I particularly loved her dance with Romeo and his mates as she tried to deliver Juliet's letter fending off the groping and bottom pinching but palpably relishing the kiss from Romeo. Yijing Zhang was a passionate Lady Capulet: spitting blood at Romeo after he had despatched Tybalt but still capable of at least some empathy for Juliet as her dad laid down the law. And although they were not on stage for long it was great to see Maureya Lebowitz who had impressed me as Lise (see Fille bien gardée - Nottingham 26 June 2014 26 Jan 2014) and Céline Gittens who was an adorable Swanilde (see Sensational 6 March 2015) again.

All danced well and this review would rival a telephone directory in length and turgidity if I were to give every dancer his or her due. I really wish I had brought flowers to throw on stage in the Covent Garden tradition even though I would probably have been bundled out of the Lowry and banned from ever returning. But it would have been worth it for all the artists danced so well. Maybe flower throws are a London practice we should import for shows like last night's as well as clapping when the principal appears. I clapped as Singleton and Sakuma appeared in scenes one and two but inaudibly. So frustrating!

This was the first time I had seen MacMillan's ballet without Nicholas Georgiadis's sets. They are so rich and add so much to the show. But although I prefer Georgiadis's designs simply because I associate them with some great productions in the past, Paul Andrew's worked well too.

The other great ingredient of this ballet is the music and Koen Kessels interpreted Prokofiev's difficult score magnificently.

Having moaned about my fellow Mancunians for booing Tybalt and not clapping the principals or throwing flowers I must commend them for turning out in force last night. I couldn't see a single empty seat. So different from the Hippodrome two weeks ago.  In my review of the Ashton's Double Bill 21 Feb 2016 I wrote:

"For some reason or other the theatre was far from full which is disappointing for a performance by a company of the calibre of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Although there were some cheers and bravos - mainly from me - and one or two people on their feet - there were not all that many curtain calls. It was a good show and BRB deserved more appreciation. I am sure they will do better when they bring Romeo and Juliet to the Lowry."

I am so relieved that was the case. My birthplace is the second city of the United Kingdom not simply by dint of numbers but also in its appreciation of excellence.

Oh Fortuna

Birmingham Royal Ballet - Carmina burana trailer from Birmingham Royal Ballet on Vimeo.

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Carmina Burana, Hippodrome, 20 June 2015

David Bintley comes from Honley which is almost next door to mine (see My Home and Bintley's 12 May 2015). It is not possible to grow up in this part of the world without coming across The Choral. It performs at least three series of concerts to full houses in Huddersfield Town Hall every year. In The Choral 19 Dec 2013 I reviewed one of its concerts and wrote:

"So what's all this got to do with ballet or even dance?" I hear you say. Well I did reserve the right to go off topic occasionally for an exceptional concert and this was certainly exceptional. And we dance in Huddersfield as well as sing (see "The Base Studios, Huddersfield"). We produced David Bintley of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I don't know whether he had any connection with the Choral or even attended a concert but you can't live in this part of Yorkshire without knowing about it. The Choral must have been part of Bintley's cultural heritage."

I asked Bintley about his cultural influences when he addressed the London Ballet Circle last month and he confirmed that my suspicion was right. However, my suspicions would also have been confirmed by the performance of Carmina Burana at the Hippodrome on 20 June 2015 to celebrate Bintley's 20th anniversary as artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the 25th anniversary of the company's move to Birmingham.

That was a very special evening which I have already described In Praise of Bintley on 21 June 2015. Two works were performed that day:  Bintley's latest ballet The King Dances, which I reviewed in A Special Ballet for a A Special Day 23 June 2015 and Carmina Burana the very first that he created after he was appointed artistic director of the company. I had come to see The King Dances but Carmina Burana was a treat. A multimedia spectacular. A feast as much for the ears as for the eyes. This was the first time I had seen the ballet and how and why I had missed it all those years is a mystery.

Carl Orff's score has always been popular, particularly O Fortuna. Bintley translated her into the Empress of the World, a blindfolded woman in black shift on high heels representing blind fortune. She danced alone completely oblivious to human merit and indeed the human condition. On 20 June 2015 she was danced brilliantly by Céline Gittens. I have seen quite a lot of that dancer this year and my admiration for her has grown in every performance. Incidentally, I was delighted to read about her promotion in the company. I offer my congratulations to her and the other dancers who have been promoted to the enormous number that she and they must already have received (see End of Season Announcements 29 June 2015).

In the Carmina Burana Orff set to music several secular poems about medieval life. Bintley created what are effectively 6 mini-ballets around each of those poems. O Fortuna was an encounter between lady luck (the Empress Fortuna) and seven seminarians. Spring celebrates the fertility of the earth but also of womankind. It is set in a maternity ward with women who are either about to give birth or who have given birth against a backdrop of drying sheets and nappies with the hapless father or naive body danced by Jamie Bond. The next scene is bucolic with village lads in their colourful jackets and the village lasses in their pony tails competing for the attention of Elisha Willis. The second seminarian, Matthias Dingman (who has also been promoted) in a boiling rage seeks solace in the tavern where he and five gluttons in fat suits are served Daria Stanciulescu in a tureen. Finally, the third seminarian, Tyrone Singleton, returns to Fortuna in the Court of Love where he is stripped to his underpants. One of the most effective and affecting endings to a ballet that I have ever seen.

But there are three other stars to this ballet: the designer Philip Prowse who designed the magnificent and spectacular sets and costumes, Philip Mumford for his lighting and the singers of Ex Cathedra. We in Huddersfield like to think that the Choral has a unique sound which you can best appreciate in the Dies Irae of Verdi's Requiem. Birmingham's magnificent choir Ex Cathedra came closer to that sound than any choir I have heard before or since.

Carmina Burana is of course 20 years old but to me it was as fresh and vibrant as if it had been created yesterday.

Birmingham Royal Ballet in High Wycombe

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Quatrain, Matryoshka, Beauty and the Beasrm Swan Lake, Facade, Wycombe Swan

Last Wednesday I saw the programme for Birmingham Royal Ballet's Northern Tour in Shrewsbury (see  Vaut le Voyage - Birmingham Royal Ballet in Shrewsbury 28 May 2015). Yesterday I saw the programme for its Southern Tour at the Wycombe Swan Theatre in High Wycombe. This was also a mixed bill which offered new work as well as old favourites but unlike the programme for the North the southern programme included extracts from two of the company's full length ballets, Beauty and the Beast and Swan Lake.

As I said in It Takes Three To Tango 19 May 2015 I had been attracted by new ballets from Kit Holder and Ruth Brill. I had recently seen and enjoyed two other works by Holder and also two ballets based on the music of the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. I have always admired Brill as a dancer and I knew of her interest in choreography from a talk that she gave last year but I had never seen any of her ballets. I had expected much from both choreographers and I am glad to say that my expectations in each case were greatly exceeded.

Even though the music for Holder's Quatrain was by Piazzolla it was very different from 5 Tangos and Fatal Kiss. There was no red and black or sultry tango dancing. In fact, nothing specifically Argentinian at all.  In so far as it reminded me of anything at all it was Ashton's Symphonic Variations with its simple costumes and geometric patterns on the backdrop. In the case of Quatrain the backdrop can best be described as four converging planes which made me think of strips of graphene for some reason or other on a dark blue background.  These were echoed in the dancers' costumes which were the same colour though the patterns were a different geometric design.

The choreography was fascinating with some unusual movements such as the men appearing to sit on the women while they were on all fours as though they were settees, the women appearing to rest on the backs of the men as they adopted the same position moments later and one of the women flexing her toe in the face of a man.  You can see what I mean from the video that I have embedded above.

Karla Doorbar, Momoko Hirata, Céline Gittens and Yoaqian Shang danced the female roles and Jonathan Caguioa, Jamie Bond, Yasuo Atsuji and Mathias Dingman the male ones. A very strong cast for a very demanding ballet.  The work was in four movements no doubt representing the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires which was the title of the score but the ballet also owed more than a little to Vivaldi which was acknowledged in the quotation at the very end of the work.

In a talk that she gave with Jonathan Payn in the theatre's Oak Room just before the show, Brill explained that Matryoshka (the title of her ballet) is the name given for the Russian dolls that fit inside one another. She had chosen Shostakovich's Waltz No 2  which conjured up images of swirling crinolines and beaux in evening dress. Crinolines don't come cheap and obscure the dancers' legs and feet. She stripped her costumes down to essentials which were red crinoline frames against white petticoats for the women and black trousers, shirts and red cummerbunds for the men.

The choice of music and designs was inspired. They gave great scope for Brill's choreography with her serious jumps for the men and fetching and feminine gestures and movements for the women. Having danced to another work of Shostakovich's on the one and so far only occasion that I have been inflicted on the public I can say from personal experience that his music is fun to perform. Certainly, Brill's dancers - Laura Day, Miki Mizutani, Lewis Turner, Caguioa and Yaoqian Shand in the Polka and Vallentin Olovyannikov, Rory Mackay and Gittens in the Waltz - looked like they were having fun. Brill said that she had created the ballet earlier this year expecting it to be a one off.  That would have been a pity. I am so glad that David Bintley chose to include it in the Southern programme. I am sure that Matryoshka will become a popular item in the company's repertoire.

The next work in the programme was a Bintley ballet - Beauty and the Beast which I saw at The Lowry last September (see Bintley's Beauty 1 Oct 2014). The scene that the company had selected was the pas de deux when Belle first meets The Beast towards the end of Act I. Doorbar was Balle and Atsuji The Beast. They danced beautifully and the crowd loved them.

Beauty was followed by the pas de quatre from Act I of Swan Lake. Although the original choreography was by Petipa there has been a lot of input from Bintley and his predecessor as Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Sir Peter Wright.  In that scene Siegfried (danced by Tyrone Singleton) is pondering his new responsibilities now that he has come of age which includes finding a princess to marry. His companion Benno (Dingman) tries to distract him by introducing two courtesans (Angela Paul and Laura Purkiss). This scene links Siegfried's birthday celebrations and his swan hunt where he meets Odette and it contains some real pyrotechnics with lots of jumps for Benno and some tricky turns and pointe work for the courtesans.  Despite their charms Siegfried is not in the mood for womanizing though he is up for shooting a few swans with the new bow that his mother had given him for his birthday. No ballet company can go far wrong with Swan Lake. Everyone knows and loves the music. There is nothing like a few fouettés and tours en l'air to delight an audience.

The last part of the programme was Façade, Frederick Ashton's ballet based on William Walton's setting of Edith Sitwell's nonsense poems. This is another favourite. It was first performed in 1931 by Ninette de Valois's Vic-Wells Ballet, the precursor of both the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet. It is a very funny, whimsical  work with colliding highland dancers, a saucy milkmaid and even a tango to make up for the one that I had expected but didn't find in Quatrain. Turner, Day and Doorbar danced Scottish Rhapsody. Brill was the milkmaid in Yodelling (charming and cheeky in pigtails and dirndl) with Joshua Lee, Jared Hinton and I think Mackay though the programme said Edivaldo Souza da Silva. Hirata danced the Polka. Payn and Caguioa danced a hilarious foxtrot with Jade Heuson and Purkiss. Lorena Agramonte, Alys Shee and Yaoqian Shang danced the Waltz with Mimi Hagihara and hung around for Bond and Dingman in striped blazers and boaters to perform the Popular Song. Finally Paul and Mackay danced the Tango Pasodoble to strains of Beside the Seaside.  A few minutes after the curtain fell the audience heard a muffled cheer from the stage. I don't know whether we were supposed to hear it but we did and it amused us and delighted us all the more.

I have already mentioned the talk before the show. I find such talks very useful though I rarely manage to attend them. Payn and Brill introduced themselves and told us how they came into dancing and summarized their careers to date. Then they talked about the show.  Brill also told us how she had created Matryoshka. Though I try not to have favourites we balletomanes just can't help ourselves. I do delight in watching her dance because she loves to dance. I suppose all dancers who reach that standard must do so but she radiates her joy even more than most. I have had the pleasure of meeting her briefly off stage through the London Ballet Circle on two occasions and can report that she is as graceful with her public off stage as she is delightful as a dancer.

It was good also to hear Payn. He too delighted me on stage last night. He explained that he was standing in for Holder who had done similar talks in the other venues. Holder asked to be excused last night because yesterday was the Cup Final and he is an Aston Villa supporter. I hope he is not too disappointed with the result. His team did very well just to reach Wembley. If it is any comfort to him he delighted a lot of folk in High Wycombe last night.

I should say a word about the theatre. It is situated on the edge of the town centre with its own car park which operates an ingenious number plate recognition system.  Motorists don't need to pay and display or even pick up a ticket. The registration number is stored in the computer and you key in that number into a touch screen terminal when you leave. The computer calculates the charge which you pay in coins. Alternatively, you can pay on-line. I do wish other car parks operated that system. There is a restaurant and bar with very helpful staff and managers, They served up cranachan - one of my favourite puddings - which I last savoured with Michelle Hynes of Inksters at a restaurant in Merchant City in Glasgow in 2010. I like this theatre very much and I look forward to returning in the Autumn to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet's Giselle.

When I reviewed the Birmingham Royal Ballet's show in Shrewsbury I mentioned my own connections with Shropshire. On the long drive south I listed to Peter Day's Saturday Classics. Imagine my delight when Day chose John Betjamen's A Shropshire Lad.

I have now seen both the Northern and Southern programmes of the Birmingham Royal Ballet this month and I enjoyed them both enormously.  I have even attended a talk by David Binttey,  I look forward to his Carmina Burana and The King Dances in Birmingham on 20 June 2015.

Sensational

Giuseppina Bozzacchi., the first Swanilde

Photo Wikipedia

Outside London ballets are like buses. You wait for ages for a show and then three come along at once. In Leeds Northern Ballet were dancing Jean-Christophe Maillot Romeo and Juliet last night.  In Southport Richard Alston Dance Company were performing at The Atkinson. At The Lowry the Birmingham Royal Ballet brought us Peter Wright's Coppelia.

Which to see? Northern Ballet is almost family to me. I know many of its dancers. I take classes in its studios. Its new production received rave reviews from the Scottish press. But it is on for over a week though until yesterday nobody knew the casting. Richard Alston was in the North for only one day but Southort is not close and his company will be back. Coppélia is a ballet I know well and love and Tyrone Singleton and Céline Gittens were cast as Franz and Swanilde. These are two of my favourite dancers and while  I had seen them individually many time before I had never before seen them dance in principal roles together. Yesterday was almost the 20th anniversary of its entering the Birmingham Royal Ballet's repertory, In the end it was the prospect of seeing two of my favourite dancers dance in one of my favourite ballets with sparkling choreography and Peter Farmer's designs that proved irresistible.

I am so glad I chose Salford because yesterday's performance was sensational.  It takes a lot to get an English audience to its feet, particularly in Manchester because we Mancunians have a distressing habit of cutting the tall poppies down to size. Especially anything from Birmingham which has the preposterous temerity to claim to be the second city when everybody else acknowledges Manchester's superiority in just about everything except ballet. But there were members of the audience other than me standing and clapping at the end of the show. Not everybody it is true and the theatre was by no means full but the buzz and chatter in the foyer and on the tram back to town indicated that everybody loved the show and that we had seen the company at its best.

Why was that? Much of the credit must go to the principal dancers, Singleton and Gittens, who danced magnificently.  Tall and slender and almost indecently good looking Singleton is one of the best male dancers this country has produced. Athletic and accomplished he is a thrill to watch and the choreography provides ample scope for his virtuosity. Particularly the pas de deux in the last act. Gittens was an adorable Swanilde. Spirited and feisty, how we burned with indignation as she watched her fiancé eye up the talent just before their wedding day.  And how our hearts almost missed a beat as she and her mates prowled around Dr Coppélius's workshop setting off one automaton after another.  Brave girl.  Alone in the presence of a madman intent on sucking the life force out of the drugged and slumbering Franz she mimicked the movements of the robot wearing its clothes as she tried to revive him.

Yesterday morning I had tweeted:

@CelineGittens and @ty_sing are two favourites but I've never seen them dance principal roles together. I think they'll be sensational.
— Terpsichore (@jelterps) March 5, 2015

And indeed they were but so was everybody else.   Maureya Lebowitz (another favourite as you can see from my review of her Lise in La Fille mal gardée) was a gorgeously sexy gypsy. Small wonder that Franz could not keep her eyes off her. Samara Downs, Angela Paul, Feargus Campbell and Mathias Dingman danced a great mazurka and czárdás in Act I. Rory Mackay was a fine burgomeister and Jonathan Payn a doughty publican rescuing poor old Dr Coppélius from his muggers.

Act III is one long divertissement around the tolling of the bell - hence the title Dance of the Hours. Brandon Lawrence, yet another favourite, danced Father Time, Karla Doorbar Dawn, Yijing Zhang Prayer, Ruth Brill (one of three very special dancers in different companies who are not yet principals but who nevertheless somehow make my spirits soar) led Work, Laura Purkis and Max Maslen danced Betrothal and Oliver Till led War.

But the character who dances in all three Acts and holds the ballet together is Dr Coppélius. His role was performed brilliantly by Valentin Olovyannikov. Coppélius is a complex character - part villain, part clown, part victim - brilliant but just a little mad, tragic but in the end redeemed riding immediately behind the happy couple on the cart as they and the bell leave the stage. Olovyannikov portrayed his character beautifully.

Having seen English National Ballet's Coppélia in Oxford recently I thought I might compare them but I can't because they are such different works and I can't say that I like one more than the other. Each production has its own strengths and delights and in each company there are some very special dancers. Coppélia is not danced anything like as often as it should be because it has an interesting plot and stunning choreography. The ballet going public have been treated this year to two magnificent productions.