“Swan Lake” is arguably the most popular and most performed ballet in the world. This therefore presents a challenge to any choreographer who wishes to breathe new life into the one hundred and thirty-two year old classic, yet David Nixon’s Northern Ballet Theatre manages this with his new and exciting production of the ballet.

The action is moved from Imperial Eastern Europe to New England in 1912, and tells the story of Anthony who as a child when out swimming with his brother Steven, accidently lets him drown in a nearby lake. Forever haunted by what happened to his brother on that fateful day Anthony returns to the lake time and time again, until one day he glimpses in the water a world of swans, led by the beautiful Odette.

Months pass, and Anthony finds himself growing closer to his friend Simon, who has now come to replace Steven. The time of Anthony’s coming of age birthday party arrives and it is at this party he sees the beautiful Odilia, whose beauty immediately transports him back to Odette and her swans. The lake continues to haunt him, the guilt destroying Anthony and his relationship with Simon and Odilia.

Nixon gives his own stamp to the ballet by changing the setting and story. He also uses his own unique brand of choreography which works particularly well in this production. More traditional ballet companies would simply focus on the dancing, letting the story get lost in a sea of badly painted backcloths, mime acting and too many tutus. Yet Nixon places just as much emphasis on the narrative as on the dancing, in fact some of the company’s other productions have included having dancers sing and say lines on stage as well as dance.

A particularly clever piece of choreography is the use of bicycles and a football in an early scene where the young boys have just finished college. The use of these simple props give a better sense of realism to the piece and actually make you forget you’re watching a ballet at times. This said, Nixon is also respectful to Petipa’s and Ivanov’s original choreography of the piece and keeps most of the swan scenes identical to how they are more traditionally staged.

The entire company produce a wonderful performance, but particular note should go Kenneth Tindall and Keiko Amemori as Anthony and Odette who keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. It is also worth mentioning Dave Gillan’s set which evokes early twentieth century America perfectly, whilst still giving the flexibility and space for the dancers. And not forgetting Tchaikovshy’s beautiful music, which is sensitively arranged by John Longstaff.

All in all, a brilliant production that will make you see this classic ballet with new eyes!

Listings:

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

17 to 19 Mar

Tues – Thur eves 7:30pm

Thu mat 2:30pm (19 Mar)

Tickets: £10 - £30

Box Office: 0131 529 6000

www.eft.co.uk

Then touring until 26 March

This oldest of the popular ballets is delighting audiences at the Kings this week.

The Russian State Ballet of Siberia presents this enchanting ballet based on the music of composer Leo Delibes.  Dr. Coppelius, a magician and toymaker, and his ‘daughter’, Coppelia, live in a small town.  All the men of the town are mesmerised by Coppelia who sits on a balcony all day giving no-one her attention, including Franz ... much to the chagrin of his fiancé, Swanilda.  Franz and Swanilda are soon to be married and tradition dictates that the happy couple should receive a special gift to commemorate the occasion.  Swanilda and her friends decide to satisfy their curiosity about Coppelius by investigating his house.  They discover a magical room full of mechanical life size toys and it appears that Coppelia is, in fact, a marionette, too!  Franz has an alternative motive to enter the house and scales the wall to be discovered by Dr. Coppelius.  Coppelius uses his magical power to try to transfer Franz's life force into Coppelia to bring her to life.  But Swanilda has tricked the Doctor by disguising herself as Coppelia!  She escapes with Franz and her friends.  On the day of the wedding Coppelius forgives the couple for their intrusion and the entire town celebrate the happy occasion.

When you consider that the company has undertaken this national tour with four distinct productions (Coppelia, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Giselle) the spectacle and presentation of Coppelia was breathtaking.  In particular, the costumes were quite stunning.  As Swanilda, Anna Snegina was captivating.  She seemed lighter than air on points and her partner work with Vyacheslav Kapustin as Franz in the third act made the impossible seem effortless.  Alexander Kuimov was a charismatic Coppelius throughout.  Conductor Anatoly Tchepurnoi empowered this emotional Delibes score and was unnecessarily modest during the company bow.

This production will be replaced on Wednesday by performances of Swan Lake and again on Friday by The Nutcracker the same company until the end of the week.

Performances:
Kings Theatre, Glasgow 

Mon 23 & Tue 24 Feb (Coppelia)

Wed 25 & Thu 26 Feb (Swan Lake)

Fri 27 & Sat 28 Feb (Nutcracker)

Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed & Sat mat 2.30pm

Tickets - £13 - £30.50

Booking Fee - 0870 060 6648 (bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo –

Theatre Royal, Glasgow (17^th – 18^th Feb, 2009)

The “Trocks” jeté onto the Glasgow stage with a hugely entertaining look at ballet albeit from a very different perspective.

For those who have never heard of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, this is an all male ballet corps, who perform both the male and female roles in traditional and contemporary ballet pieces. This includes their now famous version of Act 2 of Swan Lake. For those traditionalists who think that they couldn’t watch Odette without seeing her “en pointe”, never fear, these extremely talented danceurs fully take on their role as ballerinas and that includes dancing en pointe. However, the dancing is only one part of this interpretation, and the comedy that comes from the dancers exaggeration of styles, and their displays of “prima ballerina” behaviours is equally as important. The facial expressions, aided by the unsubtle make-up, are themselves hysterically funny, and also tightly choreographed.

The comedy and dance came together beautifully, typified by the exceptional Grand Pas De Quatre, featuring Camilo Rodriguez, Claude Gamba, Christopher Lam and Joseph Jeffries. Each representing a famous ballerina from the original Le Grand Pas de Quatre, they brought the offstage rivalries onstage and gave a thoroughly deceptively comic performance. I say deceptive, not to describe the comedy, but to describe the talented dancing. You easily forget the skill required to perform many of these routines, and that it not only needs a talented dancer, but a “performer” to retain the energy in what could easily have been a one-gag show.

The simple sets, using only a backcloth, help to show off the far more elaborate costumes. The swans looked simply beautiful, even with the odd hairy chest amongst the troupe. I would also urge any audience member to purchase a programme for this show. Not only does it have lots of information on each of the cast members, but the continuation of the humour throughout helps to carry this show all the way home with you.

Catch the Trocks before they take flight from the UK in March. Tour details are listed below.

Performances:

17-18^th Feb            Glasgow, Theatre Royal            www.theatreroyalglasgow.com

20-21^st Feb            Edinburgh, Festival Theatre            www.eft.co.uk

23^rd Feb            Nottingham, Playhouse            www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

26-28^th Feb            Newcastle, Theatre Royal            www.theatreroyal.co.uk

3-4^th Mar            Milton Keynes Theatre            www.miltonkeynestheatre.com

6-7^th Mar            Salford, The Lowry                   www.thelowry.com

10-11^th Mar            Woking, New Victoria            www.theambassadors.com/newvictoria

13-14^th Mar            Wycombe, Swan                      www.wycombeswan.co.uk