Ballet Black Takes York by Storm

Nina Simone

Author Gerrit de Bruin Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 Source 
amazingnina.com Courtesy o Re-Emerging Films

 

Ballet Black Then or Now and Nina: By-Whatever Means 23 June 2023 19:30 York Theatre Royal

I have followed Ballet Black for several years and have seen some great ballets by them including Chris Marney's War Letters, Arthur Pita's A Dream Within a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Cathy Marston's The Suit and Christopher Hampson's Storyville.  Every one of those works was impressive but none has impressed me more than their performance of Nina: By Whatever Means at York Theatre Royal on 23 June 2023.

Nina was created by Mthuthuzeli November.  Having seen his ingoma for Ballet Black and Wailers for Northern Ballet I came with high expectations.  Often that leads to disappointment because high hopes are rarely equalled but on this occasion, they were greatly exceeded.  November is one of Ballet Black's Senior Artists. He first came to my notice on 2 May 2015 when he appeared with Londiwe Khoza on Ballet Centrak's tour (see Dazzled 3 May 2015).  I have been following him ever since.  I particularly enjoyed his performance as the wolf in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Red Riding Hood as did my friend. Joanna Goodman, who also reviewed the show (see Sexy Wolf Stole the Show! 5 March 2017).

In Little Red Riding Hood November showed he was an actor as well as a virtuoso, but that is by no means an end to his talents.  He is a composer contributing the score as well as the choreography to Wailers.   He also created some of the music for Nina and designed its sets.  In the Q&A that followed the performance, we learned that the idea for a ballet on the life of Nina Simone had been his. Dramaturge and librettist can also be added to his catalogue of accomplishments.

The ballet started with the young Simone as a child in rural North Carolina. It followed her training as a classical musician in New York and the debut of her career as a nightclub singer.  Simone suffered mental distress at various stages of her life which Alves called her "demons" in posthumous correspondence in the programme notes.  Those dark periods were represented in the ballet too.   

Simone was much more than an outstanding artist.  She was one of the drivers of political and social change that I witnessed first-hand as a graduate student in Los Angeles in the early 1970s.   That was the climax of the civil rights movement but there were also protests against the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and the beginnings of the women's movement.    In a maelstrom of change, Simone stood firm and tall.   

In casting Isabela Coracy as Simone, November practically brought Simone back to life,   A scene that haunts me is of Coarcy with her clenched fist in the air as the dancers swirl around her to chants of "power".  That is how I remember Simone in real life.  

The audience exploded in applause.   We Brits are not the most demonstrative - particularly not those of us who live in Yorkshire.  At the reverence, every single member of the audience rose to their feet.   I was hoarse from cheering and my hands throbbed with clapping.   I think we all felt that we had seen something special that night,

Nina was the second part of a double bill that night.  The first was Will Tikett's Then or Now.  I shall not attempt to review it because I missed the start owing to acute congestion on the way into York city centre. What I saw of Then as Now I liked a lot    Happily there will be another chance to see the double bill in the Autumn as the company will dance again in Watford. Norwich, Durham and the Lowry.