UK Theatre Network

Underneath the Floorboards – BalletLORENT at Northern Stage, Newcastle

Anything that helps get kids hooked on theatre and the arts, at the earliest age possible, is a good thing in my opinion. So much the better when the production is of the quality of balletLORENT’s ‘Underneath the Floorboards’.

Aimed at the under 5’s, this enchanting show tells the story of John (Jon Beney) as he prepares to pack up his toys in readiness for moving house. Whilst in the process, he discovers a strange world beneath his bedroom floor. But, when he can’t find his way back, he worries he’ll be left behind . . . until a host of weird, wonderful and curious creatures begin to appear from the shadows.

Firstly, he meets a shy fawn (beautifully brought to life by the amazingly agile Gwen Berwick), then a mischievous, shaggy character called Gruffy (Gavin Coward) and, finally, the enigmatic Mimic (Philippa White), who mirrors the movement of those she meets.

Ben Crompton’s story is beautifully beguiling and is simple enough for the youngsters to engage with and, because it isn’t contrived or patronising in the least, it is strangely absorbing for adults, too. The piece integrates Kit Haigh’s music and catchy songs seamlessly and Matt Britten’s lighting design creates evocative atmospheres extremely effectively.

Paul Shriek’s costume design incorporates a range of fabrics, textures and colours to stimulate the youngsters’ sense of touch and sight and, indeed, they are actively encouraged to be tactile with them.

The show has an intimate setting, to ensure a comfortable viewing experience for both children and adults, with ease of access to encourage the young people to freely interact with the performers and the story.  The theatre space has been kitted out with a soft floor, cushions and a seated area.  This approach continues to champion the defined methodology delivered by balletLORENT and Northern Stage intended to entertain and inform this age group.

Liv Lorent’s choreography compliments characterisation and it is the perfect way of introducing movement and dance to small children. It has been carefully constructed to enable them to safely get close to the dancers without putting themselves in harm’s way.

Indeed, every aspect of this delightful dance production is commendable and the most ringing endorsement of all came from the youngsters, some of whom engaged with the piece so actively that they almost stole the limelight from the four highly-talented dancers.

Steve Burbridge.

Reviewed at Northern Stage on Wednesday 26 January 2011. Transfers to Gateshead Old Town Hall on Thursday 27 & Friday 28 January 2011.

Prokofiev was commissioned to write a ballet by the Kirov Theater in 1934. When he proposed Romeo and Juliet as the subject, the Kirov objected stating that “living people can dance, the dying cannot.” Prokofiev next approached the Bolshoi Ballet Theater. After seeing the score in summer 1935 the Bolshoi declared the ballet undanceable. The work only received a premiere on 30 December 1938 at the Brno opera House in Prague. Now the Moscow City Ballet is touring with this famously difficult ballet as one of its productions and quite successfully so.

Natalya Povago’s design presents the Elizabethan era with rich, colourful period costumes, and imaginative drapes evocative of the Renaissance Italian art of the time. As this is a touring production there is only one town square set used for all three acts but the dancers have our imagination design the rest.  

The tragic ending of the play is foretold in a graphic prologue of Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Mercutio carried in inverted crucifix by pallbearers from beyond the grave. This tableau is repeated as an epilogue which completes the dramatic circle. The rivalry between the two families is established in the opening scenes with clashes of the two opposing families wearing green and purple. The costume colours act like those of opposing street gangs; with the dancers evoking animosity and cementing the drama of the story from the start. Sergei Zolotarev’s Mercutio is a young, funny swashbuckling hero. In contrast, Tybalt (Danil Orlov) is portrayed as an aggressive, virile, no-nonsense fighter with a deep brotherly love for Juliet, their closeness apparent when he gives a red dress to her that she is wearing throughout much of the performance. Alevtina Lapshina captures the innocence and joy of Juliet perfectly. The scene in Juliet’s bedchamber when she teases her nurse effectively shows her playfulness and youth. The balcony scene – although without a balcony – is enchanting as the two ill-fated lovers seem to fly through the air. When they get married in secret they cannot help kissing each other whilst they should be praying, to the dismay of Friar Lawrence. The tension builds up and Romeo is accidentally responsible for the death of his friend Mercutio as the scenario becomes darker. The dawn parting duet is deeply moving and Romeo’s final dance with Juliet’s seemingly dead body disturbing.

The choreography (Victor Smirnov-Golovanov) is impressive and dramatic through most of the ballet although the exposition is somewhat slow moving. All the main characters are well cast except for Paris (Anton Nosov) who seems very rigid and not quite convincing. The orchestra is conducted by Igor Shavruk.

The Moscow City Ballet will next perform Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty at the Lighthouse (Poole Arts Centre) in Poole from 8^th to 12^th February.

                   

“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