An American in Paris

When my parents first got a video player in amongst the Carry On movies was a healthy collection of musicals. From big names like South Pacific, The King and I and West Side story to less familiar ones like Gigi and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers I loved them all. So when La La Land came out I was excited, finally another great musical to add to my back catalogue, but I was disappointed, checking my watch throughout. It had potential, but the singing felt weak, it relied on one song throughout and the dancing was not up to scratch, it left me wanting to go home and raid my collection of Golden Era musicals.

But yesterday was a different story, I finally got to see An American in Paris, created for the stage from the original Gershwin film (not one I have seen) and I was beyond excited. From the minute I heard the production was being put together I couldn't wait to see it, it was a long wait from the opening in Paris, through the Broadway run and US tour before it finally hit the London West end stage, but it was worth it. 

From the first sight of the poster I had a feeling this was going to be a musical I would love, well before any of the awards were won, I had my eye on a ticket. So last night we took our seats in the stalls with an empty stage and a single piano set ready for magic. It was a classic musical story, with love at its, core but of course it wasn't simple, there were turns and troubles on the way and the ending? Well check out the poster and you'll figure it out.

Part of my excitement was the involvement of Christopher Wheeldon, I love his ballets and I was excited to see what he had done with an American in Paris. The choreography had his distinctive touch, but with the classic musical elements firmly in place, all beautifully danced by Leanne Cope and Robert Fairchild and the cast around them. The dancing felt natural within the story, one of the advantages of a musical set around a ballet company and a cafe with a piano. 

Despite never having seen the film, we found many old favourites in the score, I Got Rhythm, S'Wonderful, I'll Build a stairway to Paradise and You Can't Take That Away From Me. The score carried you through the evening, set change were seamlessly carried out by the cast, often a dance in themselves. The design was fresh, clean and bright from the costumes to the set, the team managed to keep it modern without losing the post-war chic. I would have happily paid to watch the second ballet as part of any triple bill and the girls costumes were among some of my favourite ballet costumes. 

An American in Paris is truly a trip back to the Golden Era, I danced my way home on a musical high (ignoring the sideways glances of my fellow commuters), still singing the songs and my review summary is shamelessly stolen from the words of Ira Gershwin, the evening was 'S'wonderful! S'marvellous!'

Broken. Motionhouse

A colleague had to give up tickets for Broken thanks to a work trip. Although contemporary is not really my thing I always like to try new things so headed off to opening night with a friend who is a fan of all things contemporary.

First up the 'music' or as we both agreed noise. It simply felt computer generated and didn't really drive the production forward. But put that aside the production was a series of disjointed scenes. Each scene incorporated nature breaking down from rock structures to volcanoes to caves to an earthquake, the difficulty being that it felt like the scenes were trying to tell a story but just didn't.

In each section the dancers worked with the amazing animations using poles and straps to add an extra dimension to the gymnastic movement. However, at times I felt the dancers distracted from the animations which seemed to move with the sound track instead of against it. The movements seemed jerky and although clearly required strength and skill, you could see the workings rather a smooth movement which would have drawn you in. There was often too much going on at any one time to allow you to focus or take it in and an over reliance on repetition became dull. I also found the exaggerated turn-in difficult and at times a  unattractive angle, although I accept they weren't striving for turn out to me it felt awkward.

All being said there were some good moments particularly the segment where the guys wore head lamps and the girls came in and out of the backdrop. We were also incredibly impressed at the precision the dancers used when interacting with the backdrop and animations. They seemed to hit the right spot every time, right on cue which really made a difference. Others in the audience seemed to love it with whooping and cheering but our overarching opinion was that it hadn't been a wasted evening but we probably wouldn't put this at the top of our watch list again.

Mr Wonderful: a celebration of dance

It's been a while since I was here but last night I went to Sadler's Well to see Mr Wonderful, an evening of dance in celebration of the life of dancer Jonathan Ollivier and I was inspired to write again.

I'm often cautious about new ballet, I struggle with the more abstract contemporary pieces. However, this evening had a programme and cast you couldn't miss and was truly a showcase of the wonderful world of dance as well as celebration of male dancers.

Matthew Bourne hosted the evening with warmth and humour. Holding the variety of pieces together he drew us through Ollivier's life in dance. Opening with an excerpt from Bourne's Sleeping Beauty you soon saw the theatrical nature of the night ahead. So highlights?

Mr Wonderful was revived after 25 years a fun humorous piece and hard to believe the dancers put it back together with just 2 rehearsals.

Rambert School's Gypsy Souls, a whirling group of gypsies took over the stage and brought a smile to our faces. Hats off to the dancers who lost his bandana and proceeded to dance with it in his hand, not missing a beat.

Given how often I listen to Paganini it is no surprise to find Marcelo Gomes and Charles Yang's piece next in my list. Gomes and Yang sparked off each other, leading each other on to the end, the dancing and playing both outstanding. I'll be watching The Royal Ballet's Rhapsody through different eyes next week.

I had never heard of the Michael Clark Company before this evening. They brought Bowie and Ballet together with strong striped blazers and a man on pointe shoes. The company brought attitude and I will be booking to see more from them.

Ollivier was a great mentor, inspiring many young dancers and especially boys. It was touching to have the boys from Re:Bourne join the programme to perform Tidal. The ebb and flow of the company bringing the sea to life.

To be honest the whole night was a highlight but the evening went out on high with excerpts from Bourne's Swan Lake. The men brought strength and grace to the lake with powerful performances, I'm sure there was a bit of black Swan in all of them. In a touching finish the cast crept back on the stage to watch a film of Ollivier performing The Swan ending with cast audience in a well deserved standing ovation.

There's always something about a gala, seeing smaller pieces less often performed and all the best bits of the bigger ballets. This gala had something else. A spirit and a joy that brought the ballet to life and made sure I'll be heading back to the barre and to see more from the companies on stage.

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Cassandra

So it's been a long time since I posted here. I wrote up my last Royal Opera House visit for work, do have a read here and let me know your thoughts: http://www.auroracomms.com/communications/ballet/.

Rodin, Eifman Ballet, Coliseum

I went to this ballet with anticipation but no real expectations. Sitting in the stalls, I was able to take in the beauty of the Coliseum as a theatre. I was excited at the prospect of seeing a company that is new to me, my first Russian ballet company.

I bought a programme but didn't read it until after the performance, so I based my understanding of the story on the Metro article from this morning. This was a ballet to watch from the stalls, or at least the front row of the lower circle, the faces are key. There wasn't a pointe shoe in sight and this was refreshing, allowing the dancers to move soundlessly. Sitting close to the stage you could see every tiny movement and their technique was amazing.

It was an emotional rollercoaster, tears welled up and I laughed. I loved the blend of ballet and something verging on musical theatre, bringing light and shadow to the piece. However, I missed live music, the Coliseum sound system sounded tinny, but I got my ear in eventually. The score blended seamlessly with the dancers into a great artistic piece.

I was disconcerted at first by scenes from a mad house and I took a while to unpick Rose from Camille, reading the programme first would probably have helped on this point. I loved the moments when dancers became marble, sculpted into sometimes unbelievable shapes their discipline was incredible. I felt that by act two the process of creating a sculpture was lost and the poster piece, the Gates of Hell was skated over and lost. That said my colleague felt it was a natural evolution of the piece.

I was impressed by the simplicity of the sets and the way the corp blended in and out of the backdrop. The mental institute scene at the end dropped like a bombshell, much as I guess Camille may have felt, a surreal experience in the realism of a studio.

I felt the ending was abrupt I wanted more... But I'll be back to see the Eifman Ballet, their technique was incredible. I've read the programme, I caught the key points without it. I say beg, borrow or steal ticket but be sure you can see their faces.

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