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 Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet as fairies in The Dream. Pictures: Bill Cooper Ashton Double Bill
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** TWO thousand
and sixteen sees the 400th anniversary of the death of William
Shakespeare and Birmingham Royal Ballet are marking the event with no
less than seven ballets inspired by the Bard, starting with
The Dream. This is one of two very different ballets in the
double bill, with both from the repertoire of Sir Frederick Ashton, seen
by many as the creator of the English style of ballet. The Dream, as the name
suggests, is a piece of whimsy based around
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
with Joseph Caley and Nao Sakuma superb as Oberon and Titania, king and
queen of the fairies, and Mathias Dingman a delightfully mischievous
Puck. It is Puck who causes all the confusion with his
love potion administered to various characters sleeping in the Forest of
Arden – the place appears to be littered with people fast asleep. When
those treated by Puck wake up they fall in love with the first creature
they see. Puck also adds to the muddle he is creating by giving Bottom, the leader of the rude mechanicals, who are a sort of travelling company of rustic actors, an ass’s head - and no prizes for guessing what the first thing Titania spots when she wakes up. You got it in one. Jonathan Caguioa provides an amusing Bottom,
dancing en pointe as well for those who think it is merely the preserve
of ballerinas. If this was not enough of a mix-up we have the
lovers Hermia, danced by Samara Downs and Lysander, danced by Tom
Rogers, who turn up in the forest hoping to elope, and they are pursued
by Jamie Bond’s Demetrius who has been promised Hermia by her father –
are you keeping up at the back? – and who, in turn, is being chased by
his former love Helena, danced by Laura Purkiss. Oberon tells Puck to sort it out and make
Demetrius fall for Helena with his magic potion, but he manages to mix
up our lover boys and Oberon pitches in with his two pennyworth of fairy
dust to make matters worse so that we end up with not only Demetrius but
also Lysander desper So we end up with balletic fisticuffs in an
amusing battle of the sexes in a delightful quartet before Oberon tells
Puck to sort it out, son, and so, after yet another sleep, the ass
becomes Bottom once again, Hermia and Lysdander are in love once more
and Demetrius sees the light, with a little help, and falls again for
Helena – with everyone believing they are waking from a dream, including
Titania, who has made a bit of an ass of herself.. With everyone living happily ever after again it is also an opportunity for a stunning pas de deux from Joseph Caley and Nao Sakuma.
The music incidentally was by Felix Mendelssohn who wrote music for the play towards the start and again at the end of his career. Adding to the performance were the girls’ voices
from Birmingham Cathedral Choir. The second Ashton
piece, A Month in the Country,
was a completely different animal, premiered 12 years later than the
dream in 1976, and tells a simple tale of common or garden lust. Handsome, dashing . . . available Beliaev, danced
imperiously by Iain Mackay, arrives at a posh Russian country house as
tutor to Kolia, the son of the household, danced with boyish charm, by
Mathias Dingman. Kolia has a touch of hero worship for his tutor,
especially when he receives a kite as a gift, but little does he know
that he is in a long queue of those showing an interest in the new
arrival. There is Vera, danced by Karla Doorbar, his
mother’s ward . . . and then his mother, Natalia, danced by Delia
Mathews, and even the maid Katia, danced by Yvette Knight, who all have
the hots for the new teacher and are in the market for private lessons. With Vera and Katia the relationship girlish
infatuation, more playful and flirtatious than serious with Vera
admonished by Natalia when she is found cavorting with the tutor. But
that we discover was more about removing a rival in her own pursuit of
Beliaev, capturing her prey as soon as the coast is clear. The subsequent pas de deux between Mathews and
Mackay displays real, raw passion. You expect ballet duets to be
sensual, after all they are usually portraying a stylised romance, but
there is a charged sexual content to the dancing here between a
frustrated, unfulfilled housewife and a dashing tutor with nothing to
lose but his job. It can’t last of course and Natalia’s husband Yslaev, danced by Michael O’Hare, has no intention of being a cuckold, so Beliaev is told to pack his bags and leave at once – after a mere 35 minutes in the job. The parting is a touching moment in itself as both reflect on what they have lost. He leaves saddened, but no doubt will be heading for another willing housewife, while she is left with her shame and empty life. The design and costumes by Julia Trevelyan Oman
sets the ballet in the 1840s, the same time as the original Ivan
Turgenev five act play from 1855. They are sumptuous and full of imagination, such
as the bridge in the garden at the rear of the stage seen through French
windows where we see people entering and leaving – much more interesting
then exit stage left (pursued by a bear, of course, if we want to keep
the Shakespearean connection). A mention too for pianist Jonathan Higgins, who
handles the extensive and complex solos in the music by Frederick Chopin
superbly and of course the always excellent Royal Ballet Sinfonia
conducted by Paul Murphy. Two very different ballets, with very different
styles and both beautifully danced. The
Ashton Double Bill
continues until 20 February. Roger Clarke 17-02-16 There is a special
First Steps
programme for children at Birmingham
Hippodrome on Friday, 19 February, which is an hour long introduction to
ballet through The Dream, aimed at children aged three to seven. A storyteller will explain the story and explain
some of the technical tricks used in staging the show as well as
introducing excerpts with the full Royal Ballet Sinfonia and BRB
dancers. The show starts at 1pm, with tickets £10. The Shakespeare season continues next week with Romeo and Juliet from Wednesday, 24 February to Saturday, 27 February.
At the doublet**** TWO short ballets featuring the exciting
work of Sir Frederick Ashton, one of England’s most influential
choreographers, highlight the diversity of the Birmingham Royal Ballet
in this double bill. The stories are totally different, but each one
gives the dancers an opportunity to display their wonderful skills and
sublime movement. In the opening ballet, The Dream, danced to music
by Mendelssohn, the company present a fascinating version of
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with mortals and fairies
involved in a spot of mischief when Oberon clashes with his Queen in a
dispute over a young page. Joseph Caley and Nao Sakuma are superb as Oberon
and Titania, and there is a particularly interesting performance, full
of humour and invention, from Mathias Dingman as Puck who transforms the
rustic character, Bottom, into an ass, leading to an unlikely love
match. On the wrong end of Puck’s magic, Jonathan
Caguioa, complete with an ass’s head, delivers some lively,
gymnastic-style dancing which the audience loved on opening night….as
the company launch a year-long commemoration of Shakespeare’s death 400
years ago. Choristers from the Birmingham Cathedral Choir
make an important contribution to the ballet, their voices combining
with the cleverly designed set to create an almost eerie atmosphere at
times. The second ballet, A Month in the Country,
involves love and jealousy at the plush home of a Russian family, with
Delia Matthews a delight as bored but passionate housewife Natalia
Petrovna who takes a shine to handsome new tutor, Beliaev (Iain Mackay).
He also stirs the emotions of Natalia’s pretty young ward, Vera (Karla
Doorbar), leading to friction in the household. Chopin’s music is played by the Royal Ballet
Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy, and there is a particularly
impressive solo contribution from pianist Jonathan Higgins. The double bill runs to 20.02.16 Paul Marston
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for Helena’s affections leaving poor old Hermia, who was the most
popular girl in the forest when she went to sleep, left out in the cold
when she wakes up.