BALLET REVIEW: The Great Gatsby - The Grand Theatre, Leeds.

David Nixon's ballet, 'The Great Gatsby', based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name, proves unequivocally, that the medium of classical ballet is alive and well. Of course we have always known this, but there are not too many contemporary ballets around, and when you do find them, they undoubtedly mix some more modern dance styles or play about with the form. This was pure ballet, and it was all the more glorious because of it.

Richard Rodney Bennett's score was the perfect choice for this scenario, and just as you can't have thunder without lightning, you can't have dancing without music. The right score, the right sound, and skilful performing of that sound is so essential to the overall experience. The Northern Ballet Sinfonia under Johnathan Lo was all of these things and more. 

Set, costume and lighting designs were all magnificent and all helped to create the decadent world of the 'roaring 20s' with ease. Costumes inspired by Chanel simply flowed with grace and elegance, filling the stage with an air of nostalgia even though no-one was ever a part of that world. The set was designed around eight tall side flats which moved in and out and around the other smaller set items placing each scene change inside them in a variety of configurations. Other scenery occasionally was flown down or brought in from the wings, and all looked and felt authentic to the era without it becoming too much or obtrusive. And the lighting design subtly and effectively created a range of daytime outdoor effects from misty dusk to morning sunshine, whilst the subtlety continued with his indoor lighting too. All of which created a wonderful carpet for the ballet dancers to portray their story onto.

It would be wrong of me to try and critique the technical ability of the dancers, I am in no way qualified to do so. Their grace and lightness surprised me. I was close enough this evening to hear them breathing! Knowing just how long and hard one has to train to become even half as good as the dancers in this evening's show, how they managed to find the energy and keep the technique throughout I shall never know, let alone, remember all the steps! Breathtaking, and every single dancer this evening was simply superb. Moreover, close-up, as I was, it was wonderful to see the expressions and small moments of body language which would have been lost further back in the auditorium. These dancers were truly acting, and portraying real characters, believing in their narrative and their part in the story. This is something that I find lacking in many ballets.. the dancers dance, and their acting abilities are left to chance. Not here. These principals were real, we believed them. 

Where this ballet falls down just a little is in the actual storytelling. The narrative stays close to the original novel, but there is little in the way of gravitas (substance) in the ballet. Even the second act which should be much darker, was still much more an expose of 1920's upper-class America, rather than a Noir-esque criminal tragedy. There was little in the narrative to suggest Gatsby's interest in the criminal underworld, or that indeed, there may be more to it than simply meets the eye. It's a small point, but for me an important one. Without either knowing the story beforehand or reading the programme notes, this part of the story can so easily be lost amidst the joyous Charlestons, jives and jitterbugs of the continual party.

I continue to be in awe of the power and the beauty of dance, and Northern Ballet's production of The Great Gatsby is intensely and poetically magical in both these regards.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 8.3.23