"The Firebird," "In the Night," "Raymonda Act III"
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London
22 December2012
by Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2012 by Judith Cruikshank
Like most other ballet companies around the world the Royal
Ballet is in the middle of a long run of that perennial box office favourite,
"The Nutcracker". But to bring a little
light into his dancers’ lives director Kevin O’Hare has introduced a mixed bill
of ballets which have been in the company’s repertoire for some years, but have
been little seen of late and it was interesting to see how a new generation of
dancers coped with the demands made on them.
Itziar Mendizabal was making her Royal Opera House debut in
the title role of ‘The Firebird’. I
don’t know whether she has danced the role before – she was born and trained in
Spain dancing with companies in that country, in Zurich and in Liepzig before
joining the Royal Ballet – but it was a most assured performance. She’s dark, very slender, with a good jump
and appears to have the necessary stamina for the role.
What I particularly liked about her interpretation was the
way she conveyed the dangerous, non-human nature of the creature. Firebirds can be evil she reminded us and owe
no allegiance to men, even Tsars. This
made for a striking contrast with Bennet Gartside’s warm and likeable Ivan
Tsarevitch. Gartside isn’t usually cast
in princely roles (he’s an excellent Prince Gremin but that’s different) but
this one really suits him. His Ivan may
be a little rustic, but he knows how to behave when there are princesses around,
and he’s definitely the man in charge.
The Enchanted Princesses have clearly been working on their
ball skills – there were very few dropped apples, but I thought Kostchei’s
creatures rather too well-mannered; energy and attack are more important here
than straight lines, and I don’t know why Gary Avis chose to play Kostchei
himself for comedy rather than as a figure of terror.
Jerome Robbins’s ‘In the Night’ could be described as a
minor work, but a minor ballet by a great choreographer is still worth
seeing. Consisting of three duets in
contrasting mood, each danced to a Chopin nocturne, it demands real emotional
commitment from the dancers. But for the
most part this cast seemed to hold back rather than letting go.
Sarah Lamb and Frederico Bonelli – he hampered by a
singularly unflattering jacket – were competent and conventional. And although Alina Cojocaru danced
exquisitely in the final, passionate duet, little of the emotion came across. Only Zenaida Yanowsky, partnered by Nehemiah
Kish really seemed to relish Robbins’s choreography, luxuriating in the
movement, although she could with advantage, add a touch of wit to the
affectionate nature of the choreographer’s take on a mature and loving
relationship.
Finally, Rudolf Nureyev’s staging of the wedding dances
from Petitpa’s ‘Raymonda’, to which he added variations from earlier in the
ballet. Classical dance doesn’t get any
grander than this, especially in Barry Kay’s sumptuous gold and ivory decors
and costumes. It needs plenty of attack
and a real understanding of classical style.
Sadly, both these qualities were lacking. There is more to a classical variation than a
series of steps, although these were mostly beautifully performed. But the sense of structure, the inner dynamic
of the variation were absent, and the pretty Hungarian-style flourishes with which
Petipa embellished his dances went for nothing.
One longed for Nureyev himself – gone now for twenty years - to
encourage the dancers to abandon their polite restraint and, as that fine
ballerina Lynn Seymour put it, discover “what Petipa’s classicism is and what
it means”.
Leading the Hungarian dance, I admired Ryoichi Hirano,
partnering Christina Arestis. In the
principal roles Yanowksy was again supported by Kish who somewhat unwisely
added unnecessary flourishes to his variation.
Lovely as she was in the Robbins, here in this most testing of roles, it
seemed that Yanowsky’s classical technique has lost some of its edge, but she
revelled in Glazounov’s melodies and the choreography showed the glorious sweep
of her dancing to advantage. And it was
reassuring to see that in Nureyev’s hectic finale to this great showpiece the
dancers really appeared to be enjoying themselves, born along by the music and the
choreography to embrace the moment.
If Robert Clark’s playing of the Chopin Nocturnes was
somewhat pedestrian, the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conducted by Barry
Wordsworth more than made up for any lack of feeling and excitement in the two
other works on the programme. But if
this is a sample of the type of programming director Kevin O’Hare has in store in the way of
triple bills, then the outlook is promising for both dancers and audiences.
Photos:
Christina Arestis and Ryoichi Hirano in "Raymonda Act III". Photo Tristram Kenton, courtesy ROH.
Itziar Mendizabal and Bennet Gartside in "The Firebird". Photo Tristram Kenton courtesy ROH.
Federico Bonelli and Sarah Lamb in "In the Night". Photo Tristram Kenton, courtesy ROH.
Artists of The Royal Ballet in "Raymonda Act III." Photo Tristram Kenton, courtesy ROH.