The Royal Ballet's Nutcracker in the Merrie City

Wakefield from Sandal Castle

Author Tim Green
Creative Commons Licence
Source Wikipedia

The Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker, streamed to cinemas 8 Dec 2016

Immediately after watching the preview of Calyx and mingling with the artists and guests on 8 Dec 2016 I galloped down to Leeds central station, jeté on to a train to Wakefield Kirkgate where I had left my car the previous day for a dash down to London to give a talk on IP Planning for Brexit and chasséd  on over to Cineworld which was streaming the Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker live from Covent Garden. I arrived at the cinema at 17:29 and presented my driving licence as proof of my antiquity to claim an old age pensioner's concessionary ticket for the show.

"You're too late, love" said the man at the ice cream concession dourly. "Picture started about 'half an 'hour ago. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

Would you believe that Wakefield, originally called Waca's Field, was once known as the "Merrie City"? No neither would I. Never believe everything in Wikipedia. On the other hand, having observed the young folks of Wakefield on the Saturday night pub crawl that the proprietor of the Springfield Beauty Salon once told me was known locally as the "Westgate Run", I would not be at all surprised to learn that its name derives from "Whackers' Field."

"It's not on, tomorrow", I protested. "It's not a picture but a ballet screening. And the only thing that I am likely to have missed is Darcy Bussell's patter, twitter hashtags and trailers for forthcoming shows."

"Oh well suit tha'sane, love", said the jolly ice cream vendor as he took my money

I entered the auditorium just as the orchestra was striking up the first notes.

According to the trailer on the Royal Ballet's website,

"The Royal Ballet celebrates Peter Wright’s 90th birthday with his much-loved production of this beautiful classical ballet, danced to Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score."

Sir Peter Wright is amazing. I met him briefly at the cast party after the Hungarian Ballet had premiered his version of The Sleeping Beauty at Budapest Opera House (see My Trip to Hungary 21 April 2016). He moved about the stage like a 20-year old as the cast took curtain call after curtain call and then gave an excellent impromptu speech to the cast, guests and production crew. In our brief conversation, he asked me where I came from and what I did for a living. To my great surprise, he had remembered that information for he introduced me at our next meeting which was the London Ballet Circle's 70th-anniversary celebration to a lady whom I shan't identify with a son who is reading law in Manchester (see 70 Years of the London Ballet Circle 10 May 2016).

As I said in The Good Nutcracker Guide 31 Oct 2016 we are spoilt for choice for versions of The Nutcracker this year but my first choice is the Royal Ballet's. If you can't make it to Amsterdam to see Ted Brandsen's Coppelia then Sir Peter Wright's Nutcracker really is the next best thing. Having said that, Birmingham's is pretty good, Wayne Eagling's is not bad if you don't mind the transposition of the Stahlbaums to the banks of the Thames and the rodent king's reappearance in Act II (see Cracking 14 Dec 2013). As for the other Christmas shows, Christopher Hampson and Scottish Ballet can do no wrong in my book (see Scottish Ballet's Hansel and Gretel 23 Dec 2013 and the last Act of Northern Ballet's Beauty and the Beast impressed me when I saw it in 2011 (see Jane Lambert Ballet and Intellectual Property - my Excuse for reviewing "Beauty and the Beast" 31 Dec 2011 IP Yorkshire).

There seem to have been a few changes to the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker since the last time I saw it.  There is a new Chinese dance in the divertissements in Act II and the sets and costumes seem a bit fresher. Francesca Hayward was a beautiful Clara. I like versions where Clara (or, if you prefer, Marie) has something to do but I never want her to morph into the Sugar Plum. It's quite a demanding role because (a bit like Juliet) she has to persuade her audience that she is still a young girl but the dancing requires the skills and expertise of a principal. She was partnered admirably by Alexander Campbell as the Nutcracker. Two of my all time favourite dancers, Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonelli dazzled us in the final pas de deux. I should mention in passing that there is a young man from Novara who reminds me very much of Bonelli with the Dutch National Ballet as well as a young woman from Bologna with more than a little of Ferri's flair. And my favourite of the show? Well, how could it be anyone other than Gary Avis as Drosselmeyer? He was also at the London Ballet Circle's 70th where I was able to tell him how much I had enjoyed his work when I shook his hand.

I have learned from experience that the best is the enemy of the good. Having seen Brandsen's Coppelia it is probably not a good idea for me to see any of the other Christmas shows just yet. In any case, the Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker was sold out weeks ago. But I will be well over that when Scottish Ballet bring Hansel and Gretel to Newcastle in February.

Lady of the Camellias Streamed from Moscow

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Bolshoi Ballet, The Lady of the Camellias, HDTV transmission for Moscow, 6 Dec 2015

We don't see enough of John Neumeier's work in this country which is a shame because it is dramatic and beautiful. I saw a bit of it live on stage this year in two galas.  In March Alexandr Trusch and Lucia Solari danced the final pas de deux from his production of The Nutcracker in Leeds at Northern Ballet's Sapphire gala. In September I saw Marijn Rademaker and Igone de Jongh dance an excerpt from the Dutch National Ballet's production of La Dame aux Camelias (see A chance to see more of Neumeier's work: Dutch National Ballet's La Dame aux Camelias 18 March 2015) at the opening gala of the Amsterdam ballet season (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015).

Yesterday afternoon I saw the whole of that ballet (albeit in two dimensions) streamed live from Moscow to the Huddersfield Odeon. I like other British ballet goers have been brought up on Ashton's Marguerite and Armand which he created for Fonteyn and Nureyev and is also based on the Dumas novel. Neumeier's ballet created 15 years later for the great Brazilian ballerina Marcia Haydée to Chopin's music is at least as beautiful and perhaps even more dramatic.

The synopsis for those who missed the transmission is here. Marguerite was danced magnificently by Svetlana Zakharova who was Giselle in October (see The Bolshoi does the Business - Giselle streamed from Moscow 12 Oct 2015) and Armand by Edvin Revazov. The production had been facilitated by Kevin Haigen of the Hamburg Ballet who represented Neumeier in Moscow. The excellent Katerina Novikova interviewed him during one of the intervals as well as Anna Tikhomirova who danced Manon Lescaut in the other. She was interviewed in costume which was gorgeous as Ms Novikova observed. The designs were Jürgen Rose's originals.

The ballet was beautiful but emotionally draining to watch as I tweeted at the end of the second interval

Awed by.@BolshoiOfficial's performance of The Lady of the Camellias. Very beautiful but also emotionally draining.

— Terpsichore (@jelterps) December 6, 2015

I long to see this whole ballet on stage. I could kick myself for missing it in Amsterdam earlier this year when I had the chance. Too much loyalty to Ashton I guess.

Au Revoir but not Adieu

Embedded pursuant to YouTube's standard licence

I was very tempted to attend the Royal Ballet's mixed programme to see Carlos Acosta's last performance on the main stage of Covent Garden on Thursday night for I was offered a ticket for the grand circle for only £100. The reason I was tempted was that I knew that I would see a little piece of balletic history. But then I would have missed Phoenix Dance Theatre at the Royal Opera House and I knew that that would be good too. Torn though I was I opted for Phoenix (see The Phoenix Soars over London 13 Nov 2015) as they are from Leeds. I see them nearly every time I attend an adult ballet class. Some of these classes even take place in their studios.

One of the reasons why I chose to watch Phoenix in the Linbury was that I knew the mixed bill would be filmed and that I would get a chance to see that film at the Huddersfield Odeon on Sunday, That is what I did. The Royal Opera House HDTV transmissions have just about got it right now. The show was introduced by Fiona Bruce who is an experienced TV presenter. Darcey Bussell interviewed Carlos Acosta and Kevin O'Hare and contributed anecdotes from her experience as a principal dancer. The programme consisted of four ballets: Liam Scarlett's Viscera. Jerome Robbins's Afternoon of a Faun, Tchaikowsky Pas de Deux by Balanchine and Carlos Acosta's Carmen. It was a thrilling programme showing the Royal Ballet at its best.

Ever since I heard Laura Morera's talk to the London Ballet Circle I have wanted to see Viscera (see Laura Morera 25 Aug 2015). Although the work was commissioned by Miami City Ballet it is associated with Morera in this country.  In the cinema transmission Morera was accompanied by Ryoichi Hirano and Marianela Nuñez.  Viscera is a spectacular ballet in three movements. It reminds me very much of David Dawson's Empire Noir which I saw in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch National Ballet's Cool Britannia programme earlier in the year  (see Going Dutch 29 June 2015) in that everything except the second movement is done on the double. There were spectacular turns and jumps by in the first and last movements and a delicious duet in the middle with the most delicate lifts and holds. The ballet was set to Lowell Liebermann's First Piano Concerto. You can get a taste of Liebermann's work from this concert performance of the third movement on this YouTube video.

Viscera was followed by an interval which showed an interview of Carlos Acosta by Darcey Bussell over tea. Acosta spoke about his career in England: how he entered ballet largely on his father's insistence, his short time with the English National Ballet where he actually contemplated giving up dance, his audition with the Royal Ballet, his career with the company and the two works that he created for it. Bussell shone as Acosta's interviewer. She coaxed the story from Acosta adding her own reminiscences here and there. This is what she does well.

The next act consisted of Afternoon of a Faun and the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.  These are two short works by two of America's best known choreographers.  Robbins's Afternoon  shares the music and title of Nijinsky's L'Après-midi but, as can be seen from archive film of the Nijinsky's work and a video of the Ballett am Rhein's performance of Robbin's, the narratives are quite different.  I am not sure which work I prefer. The Robbins probably makes more sense as it is set in a dance studio with the audience acting as a mirror on the fourth wall. Nobody is dressed in an animal costume or moves like a faun. However, Nijinksky's work for Diaghilev has the rich backcloth by Leon Bakst. Afternoon was danced by Vadim Muntagirov and Sarah Lamb. This was the first time I had seen them together and they teamed up well. Balanchine created the Pas de Deux from music that Tchaikovsky wrote originally for Swan Lake. It is a gorgeous work with male and female solos and a thrilling coda. It was danced magnificently by Steven McRae and Iana Salenko.

There followed quite a long interval when I went in search of a hot dog to avoid the tweets and trailers which is the one part of the Royal Opera House's transmission that I wish the House would drop. Towards the end there was a short interview of O'Hare by Bussell in which they discussed World Ballet Day, the career of Carlos Acosta and his latest work Carmen.  Then the curtain rose on the last Act which was Carlos Acosta's Carmen.

Acosta is not the first choreographer to transpose Prosper Mérimée's novella and Bizet's score into ballet. Roland Petit created a version for himself and Zizi Jeanmaire in 1949. So, too, did Alberto Alonso for the Bolshoi and the National Ballet of Cuba with Maya Plisetskaya in the lead  (see Wikipedia's Carmen Suite (Ballet)). Neither of those works has stuck and I am not sure why.  It seems that a full length opera does not translate easily into a one act ballet. Whether Acosta's work fares any better than his compatriot's or Roland Petit's remains to be seen. If it does not, it will not be for want of trying. Acosta threw just about everything bar the kitchen sink into the mix - voice, flamenco, contemporary and a new character called Fate danced by Matthew Golding. Surprisingly, Acosta found no role for Michaela which might have been an interesting one for a ballerina. I have mixed feelings about the work but it was certainly exciting. Acosta danced Don José, Nuñez was Carmen and Federico Bonelli Escamillo. Fiona Kimm sang the fortune teller's role.

Whatever the strengths of the work the audience loved it. As you can see from the above video there was a flower throw. O'Hare made a speech. The whole cast appeared on stage, It must have been one of those memorable evenings that the Royal Opera House does so well. I stayed in the auditorium for as long as the video of the applause continued long after everyone else had left with the ushers glancing pointedly at their watches. I felt that was the least I could do for Acosta who has given me and many others so much pleasure over his long career.

Live Performances streamed from the Bolshoi and Covent Garden

This is the latest list of live ballet transmissions by the Royal Ballet and Bolshoi from Covent Garden and Moscow that I have been able to compile. There will be two Giselles to compare and two Nutcrackers. There will be new work from Carlos Acosta (Carmen) and Liam Scarlett (Frankenstein) and new productions of The Lady of the Camelias, The Taming of the Shrew and Don Quixote from Russia. 

Date	Company	Ballet	Chain	Review
22 Sept	Royal Ballet	Romeo and Juliet	Odeon	23/09/2015
27 Sept	“	Romeo and Juliet encore	“	"
11 Oct	Bolshoi	Giselle	Cineworld
8 Nov	“	Jewels	“
11 Nov	Royal Ballet	Viscera / Afternoon of a Faun / Tchaikovsky pas de deux / Carmen	Odeon
6 Dec	Bolshoi	Lady of the Camelias	Cineworld
16 Dec	Royal Ballet	The Nutcracker	Odeon
20 Dec	Bolshoi	The Nutcracker	Cineworld
24 Jan	“	The Taming of the Shrew	“
26 Jan	Royal Ballet	Rhapsody, Two Pigeons	Odeon
13 Mar	Bolshoi	Spartacus	Cineworld
6 Apr	Royal Ballet	Giselle	Odeon
10 Apr	Bolshoi	Don Quixote	Cineworld
18 May	Royal Ballet	Frankenstein	Odeon

If I get any more information I shall let you know.

Last Updated 29 Sept 2015

I hope Peregrine likes his carrots

In Act I of the Royal Ballet's version of La Fille mal gardée the wealthy farmer Thomas produces a pony and trap for Lise and her mother. The pony is called Peregrine and in the interval it was given a basket of carrots and apples by Darcey Bussell.  Bussell told us that it has a fan club on twitter. That was something that I really didn't know and I wouldn't have found out had I not attended the HDTV transmission of La Fille mal gardée at the Huddersfield Odeon yesterday.

It wasn't the only nugget of information that I picked up. My ears pricked up when Lesley Collier told Bussell that Sir Frederick Ashton was a sort of ballerina. I can't remember exactly what she said because I was startled but I remember she referred to something in his eyes and I couldn't help thinking "how true." As it happens I actually saw Sir Frederick dance a female role - one of the ugly sisters in Cinderella with Sir Robert Helpmann - but I wasn't thinking of that. I remembered the story about his seeing Anna Pavlova in Lima as a boy. It was the event that fired his interest in ballet.  Insights like that together with the voice over with Natalia Osipova where she mentioned how she was learning how to carry her arms in the English style (something to which Collier also referred in her interview with Bussell) are some of the advantages of HDTV.

Another is the detail that cinema audiences see. Let me give you just one example.   I must have seen a dozen performances of Fille on the stage over the years including two in the last 9 months but I had never noticed the significance of the scarves until last night. At the beginning of Act II Simone picks two scarves out of a chest of drawers. Her daughter chooses the pink one at first but her mother wants to wear that and she gives her a yellow one.  During Act II Simone pops out to collect Thomas, Alain and the notary so that they can seal the marriage contract. Colas, however, has managed to sneak in to the parlour and is hiding below some sheaves of corn. He emerges and the lovers dance a pas de deux in which they exchange scarves. Colas was wearing a pink one and Simone finds Lise wearing a pink scarf and not the yellow one when she returns from her errand. It is her first intimation that something has been going on. That and the corn sheaves all over the floor rather than in the neat pile in which she had left them.

So I learned a lot of new things about Ashton's ballet in the Huddersfield Odeon that I would never have discovered in the best seats of the stalls in the Opera House itself.  In the past I have compared the Royal Opera House's transmissions very unfavourably with Pathé Live's transmissions from Moscow. The House's transmissions are definitely getting better. They would be better still if they could hire the admirable Katerina Novikova.  I love Bussell but I want to remember her as a ballerina not as a TV celebrity. That's why I can never bring myself to watch Strictly. The House should also lose the tweets though I have to say that I smiled when someone said that he would never touch KFC again after seeing the hens in the ballet.

So what of the performance itself? Steven McRae was a splendid Colas. He is a great dancer with enormous charm and humour. I've never met the man but if I did I know I would take to him. I'm much less sure about Osipova. She is also a great dancer. Her jumps are magnificent. But there are some ballets where you don't need virtuosity and Ashton's Fille is one of them. You need a sweet dancer like Laura Morera who opened the season (see The Best Fille Ever 18 April 2015) or Maureya Lebowitz whom I saw in Nottingham last year (see Fille bien gardée - Nottingham 26 June 2014 27 June 2014). "Is this what Ashton intended?" I thought to myself as I watched the closing scene of Act II as Lise in her wedding dress leaps jubilantly round the stage. I feel really terrible expressing even the mildest reserve about Osipova. She is, as I said above, a great dancer and in some roles such as Tatiana in Cranko's Onegin she is perfect. I know she tried last night. Though she is not a natural Lise she is still a delight to watch.

As for the other dancers, I liked Philip Mosley's Simone very much. He is a fine character dancer. Paul Kay was good as Alain too as was Christopher Saunders as his father. I congratulate Michael Stojko as the cock and each of the hens. Meaghan Grace Hinkis told us how hot and uncomfortable it is to dance in the hen suit. "It's a real workout" she added. They only have a mesh aperture in the mask for vision and that headpiece can easily be dislodged. I liked all Lise's friends. But my favourite character artist yesterday was Gary Avis as the notaire. Not so much because of his dancing (though he is always good) but for his portrayal of a country solicitor. He must have some connection with the law because he reminds me of so many of those who have instructed me over the years.

Altogether, it was a lovely evening and it has tempted me back to the Huddersfield retail park for the encore on Sunday.

Grigorovich's Swan Lake in Bradford

National Media Museum

Photo Wikipedia

Last Saturday Bradford City Association Football Club beat Premier League leaders Chelsea by 4 goals to 2, a remarkable achievement for a first division club. But the city has more than just a successful football club to celebrate. It has fine public buildings such as the City Hall, Salt's Mill and St George's Hall, a great cathedral and, more recently, some impressive mosques, famous sons and daughters like the Brontës, Hockney and Delius and some great museums including the National Media Museum.

The National Media Museum is part of the Science Museum Group. It has 7 floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions on photography, television, animation, video games, the internet and optics. It often hosts temporary exhibitions on those topics. It maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility. It has 3 cinemas where it hosts the Bradford International Film Festival. One of those cinemas is named after Cubby Broccoli who made the Bond films. It was to that cinema that Pathe Live transmitted Yuri Grigorovich's production of Swan Lake. That was probably the best venue outside the theatre to see the show because it attracted a mature, appreciative crowd who had seen ballet before.

Pathe Live treats its audience like adults. It has an excellent presenter in Katherina Novikova. Yesterday she interviewed Ludmila Semenyaka who had danced Odette-Odile as well as many of the other great roles and Artemy Belyakov who danced von Rothbart (or "the evil genius" as he is called in Grigorovich's production) in yesterday's performance. It would have been nice to have had an interview with Denis Rodkin who danced Siegfried and Svetlana Zakharova who danced Odette-Odile. However, Rodkin did talk to Ms Novikova in the interval of The Nutcracker transmission so I know what he is likely to have said (see Clara grows up- Grigorovitch's Nutcracker transmitted directly from Moscow 21 Dec 2014). Mercifully Pathe Live does not see the need to project audience tweets during the screening unlike the Royal Opera House's screenings.

Grigorovich's version of Swan Lake is different. As I have noted von Rothbart becomes "the evil genius". The show is compressed into two acts instead of three or four. There is no prologue explaining how Odette became a swan, no gift of a bow, no trip by the lads to the lake to try it out, the lovely divertissements in the royal palace in what is normally Act III are turned into a pitch by the various princesses and the whole episode takes place in Siegfried's imagination so that nobody has to jump into the lake in the last scene. Looking on the positive side there are expanded roles for the jester (danced by Igor Tsvirko) and also for von Rothbart danced by Belyakov.

Now I was brought on Ashton's version for the Royal Ballet  which has been lovingly preserved by English National Ballet (see What Manchester does today 10 Oct 2014) and I have to say that I do prefer that version. I don't take kindly to change for change's sake when it comes to my favourite ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake but that's not to say that I am against innovation. Grigorovich's versions of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker do work though not perhaps as fairy tales as much of the magic of those stories is removed from them. 

Overall I enjoyed the performance very much indeed. Tchaikovsky's magnificent score remains which was conducted well by Pavel Sorokin. Above all there was some glorious dancing. Particularly the pas de deux in the seduction scene in the palace. Rodkin and Zakharova are fine artists. His jumps and her fouettés were thrilling. They were both supported well by Tvirko and Belyakov and a splendid corps. Simon Virsaladze's designs did not show up well in the cinema but they may well have been more impressive on the Bolshoi's historic stage.

The last production in this series of transmissions will be Ivan the Terrible on 19 April 2015. That is not a ballet that is well known in this country and I have never seen it. The transmissions that I have enjoyed most have been of ballets that are not performed here regularly such as A Legend of Love, Spartacus and Marco Spada. I look forward to Ivan very much indeed.

Clara grows up- Grigorovich's Nutcracker transmitted directly from Moscow

The audience at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1858

Photo Wikipedia

I saw The Nutcracker in a whole new light this afternoon. Most of the productions of The Nutcracker that I have seen focus on the divertiseements in the land of the sweets culminating in the dance of the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier - Wayne Eagling's version for English National Ballet being the big exception (Cracking! 14 Dec 2013). Yuri Grigorovich version, which was transmitted this afternoon live from the Bolshoi Theatre to cinemas around the world, focused on a young girl's transitioning into womanhood and her falling in love with her nutcracker.

Accordingly, Clara (who is called Marie in the Bolshoi's version) has a much bigger role than in most productions. Today she was danced by Anna Nikulina a leading soloist with the company. Her partner was Denis Rodkin. In the interval Rodkin explained that his ambition to dance was fired by seeing a production of The Nutcracker on television in which Ekaterina Maximova danced. He asked his parents where he could learn to dance. They told him about the ballet school warning him that it would be no easy life. Undeterred he started ballet lessons and has not looked back since. As in the Eagling version, Clara dances the sugar plum role though in a white tutu rather than a plum coloured one. Similarly, the nutcracker dances the part of the fairy's cavalier. The ballet ends with Clara wearing a wedding veil.  But although Clara imagines herself as a young woman it is only a dream. She wakes up in her parents' living room  in her nightie with her nutcracker in her arms.

There were some other interesting touches. The mouse king, danced today by Vitaly Biktimirov, is a major character. He appears in the first act in a puff of smoke in the Stahlbaums' living room and disappears down a hole with the nutcracker in another puff of smoke in the second.  Eventually the nutcracker emerges triumphant bearing the mouse king's skin and crown. The second act takes place not in a land of sweets but in a forest dominated by an enormous Christmas tree. The divertissements are very slick each following in quick succession even before the previous dancers have left the stage.

The character who holds the ballet together in this version as in all others is, of course, Drosselmeyer. He is in every scene from the Stahlbaums' party to the apotheosis. Today Andrei Merkuriev danced Drosselmeyer.  Pensive, alert, inspired by brain waves, he was very well cast for the role.

As in all Bolshoi transmissions the ballet was introduced by Katherina Novikova. She is an excellent presenter. Fluent in English and French she is an incisive and perceptive interviewer. I had her in mind when I conducted my interviews with Gavin McCaig and Ernst Meisner and his talented young dancers.

Every time I see an HDTV transmission I notice something new. Today I noticed the floor of the stage give a little whenever a dancer jumped. Something I have never noticed even when I have been in the front row of the theatre.

The Bolshoi's "A Legend of Love" streamed from Moscow

 A Legend of Love is not well known in the UK which is a pity because there is a lot to like about the ballet. A fine score by Arif Malikov, spectacular choreography by Yury Grigorovich and striking set and costume designs by Simon Virsaladze. It was first performed by the Kirov (now the Mariinsky) Ballet in Leningrad (St Petersburg) in1961. Grigorovich introduced it to the Bolshoi when he moved to Moscow. The Bolshoi performed it for the first time in 1965 with Maya Plisetkaya and Maris Liepa in the leading roles.

My first encounter with the ballet was watching a rehearsal during World Ballet Day on 1 Oct 2014. I saw an HDTV transmission from Moscow at the Wakefield Cineworld this afternoon. An HDTV transmission is not the same as watching a ballet in the theatre but Pathé Live's broadcasts are the next best thing. Although the Royal Ballet's transmissions are getting better they are still some way behind Pathé Live (see "Manon Encore at the Huddersfield Odeon" 20 Oct 2014).

The scenario for the ballet was contributed by the Turkish poet and playwright Nâzım Hikmet who based it very loosely on the 12th century Persian poem The Labours of Ferhad. There is a synopsis on the Bolshoi's website but the point to remember is that the hero, Ferkhad, chose to sacrifice his love for the beautiful Princess Shireen in order to secure a water supply for his drought ridden neighbours. Very public spirited. Indeed very socialist minded.  Just the sort of thing that Stakhanov might have done.

There are six strong roles in the ballet:

• Queen Mekhmene Banu danced by Maria Allash
• Ferkhad danced by Denis Rodkin
• Princess Shireen danced by Anna Nikulina
• the vizier danced by Vitaly Viktimirov
• a stranger danced by Eugeny Golovin, and
• the jester danced by Igor Tsvirko.

Grigorovich inserted some exhausting looking jumps for the men, particularly the jester in act II and at least as many fouettés for the Queen as in Don Quixote or Swan Lake. Indeed, he really put that character through her paces forcing her to adopt the most awkward, angular poses including one that resembled a table with one leg thrusting in the air like a flag post,  Nearly all her movements were en pointe even in the reverence at the end.  The effect was spectacular - one feat after another - just as in a firework display.

The most remarkable thing about this ballet is that it was created by very young men.   Malikov was in his late twenties when he wrote the score and Grigorovich was in his early thirties when he choreographed it. Both of those gentlemen are still alive and Malikov was in the audience.  He was interviewed by Katerina Novikova in the second interval and it was wonderful to see him as he rose to acknowledge applause in his box when a spotlight beamed on him just before the start of the third act. He took a bow to thunderous applause at the end of the show when the conductor invited him onto the stage. 

In her interview Ms Novikova asked him about his teachers and mentors. He listed a number of distinguished composers and musicians culminating with Shostakovich. Charmingly and not at all cheesily he noted that the title of the ballet was A Language of Love and wished everybody a little bit of love in their lives.

One of the reasons for the success of Pathé Live's transmissions is the remarkable Ms Novikova.  Always elegant - today she wore a smart blue top and trousers - fluent in French and English and very knowledgeable her discussions and interviews are as unmissable as the dancing.  As well as Malikov she spoke to Rodkin who was down in Moscow from the Mariinsky. She got him to talk about how the great dancers of the past, Liepa and Plisetkaya, had inspired him and how he had realized his ambitions of dancing Spartacus and Ferkhad by the age of 24. 

Last week I was driven to the hot dog stand after the umpteenth gushing tweet about "Federico" and "Marianella" not to mention the platitudes of the presenter. The Bolshoi and Pathé Live know they are good. They have sufficient self-confidence not to need such endorsements. They make good use of the intervals. They don't refer to their principals as Denis and Maria as though they were the neighbours from number 36. They have what the Americans call class and therein lies the difference.

Post Script

I posted an edited version of this article on the BalletcoForum blog and received the following responses from a lady I know only as "Amelia" and a gentleman called "Bruce Wall".

Amelia wrote:

"Thank you, Terpsichore, for your tribute to this remarkable ballet, which, in my view, should be seen on the Bolshoi's historic stage.

I just want to mention that the 24-y-o Rodkin has never been a Mariinsky's dancer. The Bolshoi has been his only employer since 2009."

I replied:

"Thanks for that information, Amelia.

I was foxed by the absence of a hypertext link to Mr Rodkin on the Bolshoi cast list but the presence of a link to him on the Mariinsky's site. I should be grateful if you could shed some light on the apparent anomaly.

I am afraid that I do not follow either company as closely as I should wish because I see them only when they visit London (and even then only once or twice a season because I live 200 miles from the capital).

You on the other hand do follow the Russian companies much more closely and I am always grateful for your information and opinions."

Mr Wall wrote:

"Terspichore, Denis Rodkin was one of the two prized private students of Nikolai Tsiskaridze, when he was still with the Bolshoi prior to becoming the Acting Rector of the Vaganova School. The other was Angelina Vorontsova ......  She is by all reports a lovely dancer and......, is now with the Mikhailovsky Ballet and features prominently in that company's NYC season at the Koch theater next month frequently dancing with I. Vasiliev."

I thanked him for that information as well.

If anyone else can assist us with information about Denis Rodkin's background and antecedents I should be glad to hear from them.  I know this blog is read in Russia so I should be particularly glad to hear from anyone who follows ballet closely in that country.

The Winter's Tale - Time to eat my Hat

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I am just about to place a couple of hats in the microwave. One is The Winter's Tale which I damned with the faintest of praise in Royal Ballet "The Winter's Tale" 14 April 2014. The other are the Royal Opera House's HDTV transmissions which I described as "good quality hamburger" in Giselle and I was even less polite about Don Quixote. Tonight I floated out of the Huddersfield Odeon after watching the HDTV transmission of The Winter's Tale with a smile from ear to ear.  Act I, which had dragged last time, simply flew for me.  The tension was palpable.  Act II, which had saved the ballet for me the first time I saw it revealed fresh delights. Act III with the triple reconciliation was sublime.

Now this is how I should have felt on 12 April 2014 when I saw the same show in Covent Garden. This is the reason why I think I got it this time but not then.  Act I, the longest of the three Acts, is crucial to the appreciation of this ballet and the key to appreciating that Act are the contortions of Leontes's body and the expressions on his face. These were prominent on screen but I missed them entirely when I was in the House.  It may be that the interviews before the show - particularly the one with Watson - were helpful for they alerted the audience as to what to look out for.  Wheeldon had remarked how Watson could turn his body into the most remarkable shapes to express his anguish and so he did. Those contortions and facial expressions exerted enormous tension.  In the second interval Wheeldon had described his cast as "actors who dance" rather than the converse. Leontes's build up of jealousy and loathing until his explosion of rage exemplifies those qualities magnificently.

Having cracked Leontes's emotions I found myself appreciating the other features of Act I. The complex textures of Joby Talbot's score, Bob Crowley's designs and Natasha Katz's lighting.  I even got to see the bear.  Its muzzle, which was so clear on screen, was just a length of cloth when I saw it live.  I was already looking forward to Act II but I found new detail in the dancing, new rhythms in the score and best of all the expression on Lamb's face when McRae asked her to marry him. I had also liked Act III on 12 April but this time I took in Cuthbertson's final pas de deux with Watson properly. As an expression of love it was simply beautiful.

I noticed from the tweets that I was not the only one who enjoyed the transmission more than the live show. This was a particularly good broadcast, much better than Giselle or Don Quixote.  I think this is a ballet that does work well for cinema but I also think it is a work that needs to be seen more than once to be appreciated properly.

I love the Royal Ballet very much having followed it for nearly 60 years. I love the House more than any other theatre in the world.  I love all the dancers who have ever trod its boards. It is so good to be able to write this review.

Royal Ballet "The Winter's Tale"

"Pursued by a Bear"  Royal Ballet "A Winter's Tale" 12 April 2014

I expected so much of The Winter's Tale.  I had been looking forward to it for months. A new work by Christopher Wheeldon based on Shakespeare by a fine choreographer for our national company with a stellar cast. It should have blown me off my feet.  Well I quite liked the show but blown off my feet? I wasn't.

Perhaps my expectations were too high.  Had I thought about it more I would have concluded that Shakespeare is very difficult to set to ballet.  I can think of only two ballets based on Shakespeare that really work. One is Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet and the other is Cranko's Taming of the Shrew (see "Stuttgart Ballet's "Taming of the Shrew" - well worth the Wait"  25 Nov 2013). Northern Ballet's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" also works but only because Nixon has gutted the play and written his own plot based on a post war touring company's train journey to Edinburgh (see "Realizing Another Dream" 15 Sept 2013). Had I thought more about the topic I would have reminded myself that A Winter's Tale is one of Shakespeare's least performed and least read plays and that is for a reason.  It is best known for the stage direction for Antigonus: "Exit pursued by a bear."  A Winter's Tale is not one of Shakespeare's best works and it is very difficult to get into.

And so it was on Saturday with the ballet.  Now I have to say that I was not in the most receptive frame of mind when I entered the Royal Opera House. I had a horrible journey down to London and I had been working late throughout the previous night. I had skipped breakfast and had only a light lunch.  Consequently I was tired and hungry. Had I not paid a lot of money for my ticket I would have gone straight to bed. Moreover, the reason that I had to work through the night was that I had spent a couple of hours in Huddersfield town hall listening to the Choral's performing one of the most memorable concerts I have ever attended or am ever likely to attend.  It may be that anything after that concert was going to be an anticlimax.

I say all this because Act I left me quite cold. Well perhaps not quite cold because Edward Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson are always exciting and Bob Crawley's designs were impressive, especially the galleon in full sale. But the story was very heavy going and the accompanying music by Joby Talbot did not help.  The ballet is very long.  It starts at 19:30 and ends at 22:30 and the longest bit is Act I which lasts 49 minutes.

Act II is very different.  Set around a gnarled moss covered tree there is a festival with exuberant dancing accompanied by the most infectiously vibrant music.  Perdita danced by Sarah Lamb and Florizel by Stephen McRae fall in love.  They are spied on and discovered by Polixenes, king of Bohemia, who threatens to kill them but they set sail to Sicily with the king of Bohemia in hot pursuit.  Little details like the fact that Bohenia is landlocked don't seem to have bothered Shakespeare or even Wheeldon.   However there is such a thing as poetic licence and this is a case where it applies.  Nevertheless, this is is the best bit of the ballet and that is possibly because it is the part that owes least to Shakespeare.

The final Act like the first is set in Sicily with a chastened Leontes (Watson) visiting the graves of Hermione and their son.  The Act ends with his visiting a statue of Hermione who suddenly springs to life Don Juan style - oh brother - but she, her daughter Perfita and Loeontes reconcile in a most beautiful pas de trois which prompted the lady next to me to fish for a tissue and even I found moving.

So did this ballet live up to expectations? Well not exactly. But it was not bad.  I want to see it again but I want to take a break before I do.  It will be broadcast on HDTV to cinemas around the nation on 28 April.

Marco Spada Streamed From Moscow

Joseph Mazilier, choreographer of Marco Spada  Source Wikipedia

Pathé Live's HDTV transmissions from the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre are the next best thing to a seat in the stalls and in some ways better because you gain insight into the production through interviews with the artists and the creative team. I wish I could say the same about the Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season but I can't. I was distinctly underwhelmed by the broadcasts of Don Quixote and Giselle and I preferred to watch The Chelmsford Ballet dance The Nutcracker on the night that The Sleeping Beauty was transmitted.

There are a number of reasons why Pathé Live's transmissions are better than the Royal Opera House's. The first is that they use their cameras more intelligently with shots of the full stage for much of the action with close ups only of the solos and pas de deux upon which spectators in the auditorium would wish to focus. Secondly, they employ a personable and knowledgeable presenter in Katerina Novikova, Darcey Bussell is a wonderful dancer and I admire her greatly but she is no presenter. Her quotation from Balanchine and interview with Sir Peter Wright when she introduced Giselle were distinctly laboured, Thirdly, Ms Novikova interviewed David Hallberg who danced the title role and the choreographer Pierre Lacotte. I love Lacotte's story of how Nureyev tore off a bit of the table cloth and promised to make himself for all the rehearsals if Lacotte would only give him the title role. Fourthly, Pathé Live dispenses with the live twitter feed of gushing but often ill-informed superlatives that I find distinctly irritating. Finally, I enjoyed the shots of the foyer during the interval, particularly of the little girl practising her turns oblivious of her international audience and the svelte young lady waving at the camera as she was making her call who was only too aware of it. I also liked the glimpse of the stage after the curtain fell when the cast clapped Hallberg and Evgenia Ovbraztsova and the two principals were peeked between the folds before taking a final bow.

So, Covent Garden, look and learn. This is how HDTV ought to be done.  There is nothing wrong with the dancing, choreography, music or designs in London. Bring the artists to the camera and tell us more about the production.  Let the audience feel as though it is actually in one of the greatest opera houses of the world.

Turning now to the production, Marco Spada or the Bandit's Daughter is not a new work. It was first performed at the Paris Opera in 1857 and was apparently very successful but it is not a work that is performed very often today. It was choreographed originally by Joseph Mazilier (who is perhaps better known for Paquita and Le Corsaire) to a score by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber.  The ballet was revived for the Rome opera house by the French choreographer Pierre Lacotte. Yesterday Lacotte recounted the story of how he and Nureyev were at a restaurant when the discussion turned to Lacotte's work. Nureyev asked Lacotte what he was doing and Lacotte replied that he was working on a new version of Marco Spada. Nureyev had not heard of the work and asked Lacotte for the story. After Lacotte told him the plot Nureyev exclaimed that that was the role for him and that he really wanted it. Lacotte protested that was impossible because Nureyev had engagements all over the world.  At that point wrote out and signed the pledge that I have mentioned above. I have been giving some thought as to whether the promise would have been enforceable and I think it would. At least in England and other common law countries.  After all the promise to cast Nureyev there and then would have been sufficient consideration. Not a bad scenario to give to first year law students.

Spada was danced by Hallberg who reminds me a little of Nureyev. He is a powerful young man and thrilling to watch. i have never seen him live on stage and I am going to make a point of seeing him whether in London, New York or Moscow. Ovbraztsova is delightful. Sweet and light but with considerable power and energy. She is someone else I really must see. Other major roles were danced by Olga Sminova (the Marchioness Sampietri), Semyon Chudin (Prince Frederici) and Igor Tsvirko (Count Pepinelli). In the first interval Ms Novikova asked Lacotte what were the biggest problems for the Russian dancers in adapting to one of the French classics and he replied speed, precision and detail. Well there was nothing loose or slow about any of yesterday's dancers from the corps upwards.

Unusually, Lacotte had designed the sets and costumes as well as the choreography. They were sumptuous and impressive. I left Wakefield Cineworld feeling that I had actually seen a ballet rather than a reflection of one. Maybe not the fillet steak upon which the lucky people in the Bolshoi feasted but definitely better than the high quality hamburger dished up at the Huddersfield Odeon in January.