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Tasty treat with a dark centre
Flying high: Chi Cao in Frederick Ashton's Les Rendezvous. Picture: Bill Cooper Darkness and Light
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Hippodrome
***** BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet returned home to
the Hippodrome with a summer programme and, as if by magic, the clouds
duly rolled away and the sun was shining again. Coincidence but a bright and cheery opening with
the men in colourful
Les Rendezvous is as if summertime has been turned into dance. It was choreographed by Frederick Ashton for the Vic-Wells company in 1933 to the ballet music from French composer Daniel Auber’s opera L’enfant prodigue.
Then it was Alicia Markova and Stanislas
Idzikowskyin the lead roles
The light hearted opener was followed by a much
darker piece of history, Frederick Ashton’s ballet set to Franze Liszt’s
music , Dante Sonata, which in turn was inspired by Dante’s Divine
Comedy. When it was first performed, early in 1940,
Britain was in the dark days for World War Two and this was Ashton’s
vision of conflict, good against evil, light against darkness,
allies against axis. It was first revived in 2000 by BRB but was only
reconstructed thanks to the incredible memory of Jean Bedells who made
her debut with Vic Wells ballet in 1937. Born in 1924, the daughter of Phyllis Bedells,
who was regarded as the first British Prima Ballerina, she sadly
Mark Jonathan’s lighting is dark and threatening
as we see the children of darkness, led by Samara Downs and Tyrone
Singleton, take on the children of light, steered by Jenna Roberts,
Elisha Willis and Iain Mackay, making his first appearance since his
horrific ankle ligament injury while dancing the Prince in The
Nutcracker in November last year.
It was a role he described as not as physically
demanding as many in his repertoire as a principal, but it did serve its
purpose, giving him minutes under his belt and building match fitness,
to place his recovery in footballing terms. It was still a performance
of some quality whichraised his light brigade above the murkier dark
side. A mention here for pianist Jonathan Higgins who mastered a Liszt
sonata said to be one of the most challenging in the piano repertoire.
He well deserved the curtain call at the end. The final piece, again by Ashton was Façade
set to music taken from William Walton’s Façade – an
entertainment from 1923 in which he accompanied poems by Edith
Sitwell. After the depths of Dante this is a much lighter
piece, full of comedy, with Laura Day, Reina Fuchigami and Mathias
Dingman as Scottish dancers, Jade Heusen as a milkmaid wooed by three
yodelling mountaineers, Yasuo Atsuji, Jared Hinton,and Luke Schaufuss, a
wild polka from Elisha Willis and then in a whirl of chiffon and white
djayed delight, a foxtrot from Ruth Brill, Alys Shee, Valentin
Olovyannikov and Jonathan Payn which brought out as many laughs as you
can manage in a well performed dance. A waltz from Ana Albutashvili, Karla Doorbar,
Stylised, ham and completely over the top, their Tango Pasodoble was a gloriously funny end to a splendid evening.
A
one-woman Polka danced with attitude by Elisha Willis
The Dante Sonata was closer to classical ballet but the lighter hearted Rendezvous opening with groups of friends meeting in a park on a bright summer’s day and the final Façade, with their pas de deux, trois, quatre and up, demanded perfect synchronisation otherwise it would have been beyond a mess, it would be heading into train crash territory. But for the whole evening, in every piece, when
dancers needed to dance as one they managed it perfectly which is no
mean feat, with every leap, landing, step and gesture in perfect unison. A mention to for the Royal Ballet Sinfonia under
Philip Ellis who played to the usual high standard we have come to
expect. Darkness and Light runs to 07-06-14 with La Fille mal gardée
running from 11-06-14 to 15-06-14. Roger Clarke
04-06-14 Iain Mackay talks about his battle to return from injury
Dancing around the shadows ***** WHEN you see a production of this sublime
quality it’s obvious why the Birmingham Royal Ballet is such a precious
jewel in the city’s crown. Three contrasting short ballets by famous
choreographer Frederick Ashton enable the company to display a whole
range of skills in humour and drama – a visual delight. Opening with Les Rendezvous, the dancers in
brightly coloured costumes criss-cross the stage at speed to the music
of Daniel Auber in a series of solos, pas de quatre and ensemble dances,
as friends and acquaintances meet joyfully in a park setting. It is a piece that also allows the brilliant
principals Nao Sakuma and Chi Cao to perform at a high level. There is a complete change of mood in the second
ballet, Dante Sonata, which has fragile innocence confronting desperate
evil – the Children of Light against the Children of Darkness, performed
to the music of Franz Liszt, and this piece sees a welcome return from
long injury by Iain Mackay. The third ballet, Façade (music by William
Walton), is a joyous finale, packed with humour as it opens with dancers
in kilts for Scottish Rhapsody, then Yodelling has milkmaid Jade Heusen
showing unusual skill with her hands as well as her pins, while
mountaineers Yasuo Atsuji, Jared Hinton and Luke Schaufuss contributing
a bit of mischief. Elisha Willis sparkles in Polka and there is a
memorable Tango Pasodoble featuring Rory Mackay as A Dago and Celine
Gittens, A Debutante. How the first night audience loved this couple. A quality performance, too, by the Royal Ballet
Sinfonia conducted by Philip Ellis. To 07.06.14 Paul Marston
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blazers
and boaters and the women in glorious summer dresses. We could have been
on the banks of the Seine or the Thames a century or more ago and you
almot expected three men in a boat to sail by.
died
in April this year in April, 
Miki
Mizutani and Mariko Sasaki carried on the ballroom theme with a
waltz while Kit Holder and Lewis Turner took us back to the blazers and
boaters and the days of Vaudeville with Popular Song with
finally Rory Mackay as A Dago and Céline Gittens as a Debutante
providing an ending to send everyone home with a smile on their face.