Michaela DePrince's Coppelia

Modern Films Coppelia

 

Modern Films Coppelia BBC 2 18:15 27 Dec 2022  and iPlayer

On the evening of 27 Dec 2022, the BBC broadcast Modern Films' Coppelia in the UK. Readers who missed the transmission can still catch it on the iPlayer.  It was choreographed by Ted Brandsen and has much in common with his production for the Dutch National Ballet which I reviewed in Brandsen's Coppelia on 12 Dec 2016.  The main differences are that the score is by Maurizio Malagnini and not by Leo Delibes and it is very much shorter.  Most of the dancers are or were in the Dutch National Ballet and some of the designs seem to be the same.

For me, the main attraction of this film was that it featured Michaela DePrince. Because I have strong connections with Sierra Leone, I took an interest in her even before she joined the Dutch National Ballet (see Michaela DePrince 4 April 2013). When I learned that she had joined the Junior Company I flew out to Amsterdam to watch her dance (see The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet - Stadsshouwburg Amsterdam 24 Nov 2013  25 Nov 2013).

DePrince introduced me to the rest of the Junior Company which included some outstanding dancers. Through them, I got to know the rest of the company which has given me enormous pleasure over the last 10 years.  Some of its members have become dear friends and acquaintances and I have made many more friendships among its regular ballet-goers.  I am therefore grateful to her not only for her performances but also for the introduction to the company and its fans. 

DePrince is now in Boston which is a lot further away.  Modern Films' production was one last chance to see her with members of the Dutch National Ballet.   She danced Swan, the lead role in the film. Traditionally the heroine is called Swanhilde though, in Brandsen's stage production, she is known as Swantje. Daniel Camargo who has also crossed the Atlantic but was formerly a principal of the Dutch National Ballet danced Franz.  Dr Coppelius was danced by Vito Mazzeo.  Swan's friends were Nancy Burer, JingJing Mao and Sasha Nukhamedov, Franz's were Timothy van Poucke, Sam Sjouke and Edo Wijnen and Igone de Jongh was the ballet teacher.  Darcey Bussell, one of the few cast members not to be in HNB danced the mayor.  Floor Eimers, Giovanni Princop and Rachel Beaujean were also in the film.

I enjoyed it more than Scottish Ballet's Coppelia but not as much as English National or Birmingham Royal Ballet's or indeed Ted Brandsen's stage version.  I think that is because all those companies retain Delibers's score which contributes so much to the ballet.   It was lovely to see DePrince again as well as other members of HNB.  I am not sure that I would have liked it as much had the cast come from any other company.

The Nutcracker and The Mouse King

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Author Hans Gerritsen  (c) 2021 Dutch National Ballet (all rights reserved 

 

The Music Theatre The Nutcracker and the Mouse King 18 Dec 2021 and 24 Dev 2021 13:00

Between 1991 and 2003 Wayne Eagling was the Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet. In that role, he collaborated with Toer van Schayk to create The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.   On 18 and  24 Dec 2021 the work was live-streamed over the internet to audiences around the world. I watched both performances.

This ballet includes the Mouse King in the title for a reason. In other productions, the role of the mouse king is quite limited.  He leads his mice into battle against the toy soldiers and begins to gain the upper hand until Clara clobbers him.  In Eagling's version, he appears first at the Stahlbaums' party, later as a nightmare as Clara tries to sleep, next as the leader of the mice and finally in a duel with the prince.  The battle between mice and soldiers seems to symbolize a struggle between chaos and order which echoes in the boys' mithering their sisters or the Arabs dragging their captives.

Eagling's collaboration with van Schayk has led to all sorts of fantastic creations.   A giant pink-eyed monster rodent, an autonomous walking robot of a nutcracker and the fantastic machine with its circular centre-piece that at one point turns itself into a massive feline compete with a moving paw in the final confrontation with the mouse king and a ruined temple for the mirliton scene.   So much more compelling than a kingdom of the sweets with the Spanish, Arabs and Chinese dances representing chocolate, coffee and tea.

The two shows had different casts and each is to be congratulated.  Clara was danced by Maia Makhateli on 18 Dec and Riho Sakamoto on 24. Sakamoto has recently been promoted to principal which pleases me considerably as I have been following her progress ever since she joined the Junior Company in 2014 (see Riho Sakamoto promoted to principal).  Makhateli was magnificent as she always is and was partnered gallantly by Jakob Feyferlik,   Also impressive were Edo Wijnen who danced the nutcracker, Vito  Mazzeo who was Drosselmeyer and James Stout who was the mouse king.   Sadly I do not yet have a cast list for the Christmas eve matinee and I can't be sure who performed the leading roles other than Sakamoto.

Live screening is better than nothing but it is not the same as attending the theatre.   Theatre - particularly ballet - is two-way communication.  A good audience lifts the artists to new heights.   I am sure the dancers were aware that viewers like me around the world were cheering ourselves hoarse and clapping till our palms were sore but that's not the same as hearing us.  The Netherlands like the UK has had to cope with the "o" strain at the worse possible time and the season may have to be curtailed for public health reasons.  But one day the pandemic will be over in both countries.  When it is, my priority will be to watch this ballet live.

Kammerballett

Kammerballett

Photo Altin Kaftira
(c) 2016 Dutch National Ballet: all rights reserved
Licensed by kind permission of the company

Dutch National Ballet Kammerballett Stopera, 7 Sept 2016

Kammerballett (literally Chamber Ballet in German) was created by Hans van Manen for the Netherlands Dance Theatre (Nederlands Dans Theater) and was first performed in the Hague in 1995. It is set to the music of Domenico Scarlatti and features a piano and a lot of chairs as well as the dancers.

Photo Altin Kaftire
(c) 2016 Dutch National Ballet: all rights reserved
Reproduced by kind permission of the company

The leading dancers in this piece were  Vito Mazzeo and Igone de Jongh but they were supported by a very distinguished cast: Rachel Beaujean, Floor Elmers, Juanjo Arques, Ernst Meisner, Marijn Rademaker, James Stout and Alexander Zhermbrovskyy. Ernst Meinser and Juanjo Arques are particularly well known to British audiences as they danced for the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet respectively. It was very good to see them both on stage again.

The above photo shows the principals with the other dances sitting on the chairs in the background.