Ballet Theatre UK is a company which offers young dancers, either still in training or taking their first tentative steps out into the big wide professional world, the chance to tour a full-scale production, taking their ballets to theatres and towns which are not normally accustomed to such culture! The school, based in Leicestershire, takes students from around the world, and offers a BA (Hons) in Ballet Performance for talented dancers aged 16 and over.
Here, in the backwater that is Middleton, a town on the northern fringes of Manchester, the Arena stage was brought to life with the beautiful and highly Romantic music of Dvorak (obviously due to budget and being on tour on pre-recorded playback tracks), and a company of 20 young and talented ballet dancers.
The tale of Beauty And The Beast is perhaps best known in its Disney form, but there are so many variations to this legend that every time I see a production of it (whether pantomime, theatre, musical, or indeed as in this case ballet), there are always some differences in the storyline, which never ceases to surprise me.
For a touring company, the costumes were all lovely and worked well; and a minimalist set utilising back-cloths and a few gates on wheels, sufficed adequately. Lighting too was simple but effective, as was the clever use of haze during the 'transformation'.
Heading the principal dancers was Germany's Miriam Kennerth, dancing the role of Beauty. She showed great skill and he line was beautiful, showing great poise and fluidity of movement. Performing opposite her was Ewan Hambelton as the Beast. Again, a talented principal and his fight scene with Beauty's father, as well as his final pas-de-deux with Beauty were a couple of the show's highlights. Beauty's father was danced by Paul Menue, and I enjoyed his first pas-de-deux with Beauty at the start of the production greatly. Whilst the fourth protagonist in this version is the Enchantress, danced here with precision and skill by Miharu Sugahara.
Four other principal dancers performed the roles of Beauty's two sisters and their respective husbands, and these had various dances throughout, in differing combinations. All were a joy to watch and worked excellently with each other. They were, Yuko Ojima, Sophie Piper, Nathan Anson, and Oliver Russell.
Add to these 8 a small, but dedicated corps, which sadly, for this reviewer at least, didn't appear and dance enough as a full company - we only truly saw them at their best during the denouement / finale sequence. However, the pictures they created and the way they added to the more intimate scenes by being statues etc, was creative and interesting.
Add to these 8 a small, but dedicated corps, which sadly, for this reviewer at least, didn't appear and dance enough as a full company - we only truly saw them at their best during the denouement / finale sequence. However, the pictures they created and the way they added to the more intimate scenes by being statues etc, was creative and interesting.
These are fledgling professionals at the start of their journey, and all showed great ability and potential this evening, and all worked superbly as an ensemble. My only real disappointment was that the choroegrapher, Christopher Moore, didn't utilise the corps as a whole ensemble more than he did, and that the whole ballet was danced very much on the same dynamic the whole evening. We never truly got anything other than "medium" (or in musical terms, mf). Even the fight with the wolves was still performed at this pace, and even when Dvorak's music was scored with feverishly-paced passing notes with discord running into harmony, the dances were still beautiful and elegant.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 13.10.22
on - 13.10.22
No comments:
Post a Comment