"Beauty & The Beast" by Northern Ballet.
Nottingham Theatre Royal.
Don't you just love the story of "Beauty & The Beast"? What, you don't know what this is all about? Well, shame on you, let me tell you.....
So now you know the story, you need to see it retold in ballet form, because it is exquisitely beautiful.
Beauty, gentle and modest, the opposite of her sisters, is sent to the Beast’s castle to save the life of her father and is portrayed by Dominique Larose. She looked as if she was floating above the stage at times, her dancing was so light and delicate.
The Beast is played by Kevin Poeung. Cursed by the evil fairy, the Beast lives a solitary life in his castle with just his manservant, Alfred, and his servants, and hopes to earn Beauty’s love to lift the spell. The make up is black and white macabre and the physicality of The Beast reminds me of a cross between an ape and a two legged centaur.
Prince Orian is vain, egotistical and self-centered, the Prince lives a superficial life, which is how he managed to get himself on the wrong side of the evil fairy La fee Magnifique. Portrayed and danced beautifully by Jonathan Hanks. there's a section where The Beast seems to dream that he, as The Prince, is dancing with Beauty, which is completely mesmeric.
Prince Orian's manservant, Alfred, is played by Fillippo Di Villo.
Beauty's Father, who is also Father to her sisters Chantelle and Isobel is portrayed by Harry Skoupos; as with all the other dancers, an excellent character actor as well as an excellent dancer.
Chantelle and Isobel, Beauty’s socialite sisters, have a passion for fashion and an insatiable appetite for spending their father’s money, are played by Heather Lehon and Julie Nunes. A nice comic touch with this pair, especially in the scene where the debt collectors load them on the removal lorry, and the state of undress they come off the lorry.
There is an evil fairy called La Fee Magnifique, sister to La Fée Luminaire. She is the one who transforms Prince Orian into a beast and is played by Sarah Chun.You need no words with performers like these; one, because the story-telling is so very good and two, because the costumes tell you straight away which characters they are and their good or bad personality.
La Fée Luminaire is the good fairy and portrayed by Rachael Gillespie. She tells the Beast that true love can break her sister’s curse. Rachael's costume was like a cape of silver or gold leaf, so delicate it looked as it billowed out behind her as she danced. If the costume had caught on anything, I imagined it flitting away on the backdraft of the dancers, never to have been seen again; maybe falling from the roof of the stage weeks later like a piece of confetti.
Aside from these amazing dancers there were a whole plethora of other dancers, performing as the Prince's friends, the sister's friends, debt collectors, goblins, sprites and wedding guests. The debt collectors, Jackson Dwyer, Bruno Serraclara and Andrew Tomlinson also providing merry mirth with their image.
Choreographed by David Nixon CBE and set to a hand-picked score of classic music from the likes of Bizet and Debussy, played live by Northern Ballet Sinfonia.
There are no words that I can type to describe just how beautiful the dancers and the kaleidoscopic choreography is. It has to be seen to be admired, to be appreciated.
David is also responsible for the costume design, assisted by Julie Anderson. I've mentioned several of the costumes and they are truly spectacular.
Duncan Hayler's set design is just as spectacular as he takes you from palaces to a dark woodland where Beauty's father and her two sisters have to slum it in a broken down bus, complete with washing line on the roof. Scenes bathed in romantic moonlight, as well as rocky dells where the Beast often reposed, half way up the rocks and giant white roses, including the one that Beauty gets to sleep in.
The Lighting Design is by Tim Mitchell and is visual perfection.
The arrangement of the glorious music is by John Longstaff, topping everything off with one of my all-time favourite compositions from Saint Saens, Symphony #3, which you may recognise from a 1978 chart hit by Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley, "If I Had Words" which borrowed heavily from Saint Saens. It was also featured in the film "Babe".
Watching and appreciating ballet for me is the equivalent of a good shoulder rub. It relaxes me and makes me feel at peace with everything and that I am in good hands, which I am with a prestigious dance company such as Northern Ballet.
This may not always be the case going forward though as we learned tonight that due to funding and the constant increase in the cost of living, Northern Ballet may have to cut back on live musicians. Seeing a live orchestra who perform so beautifully together is a treat and a boon to any live show, be it a musical, drama or ballet, and to lose these musicians, who by the way are freelance so if they don't play, they get no pay, would be a massive loss to live shows such as this one.
You can help by signing their petition at megaphone.org.uk/p/KeepNorthernBalletLive
"Beauty & The Beast" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 7 October.
No comments:
Post a Comment