The English National Ballet are back in Oxford with a revival of Derek Deane’s Alice in Wonderland. This is a production that has not been seen here since 2000 and seems to me to be as fresh and colourful as it was on its first outing in the mid 90s. Sue Blaine's designs remain delightful, a tribute to the work of John Tenniel, of course, but also drawing on the traditions of decoupage that must have occupied Alice Liddell's family long into the winter nights. There is also a gesture, in the subdued colouring, towards early photography, an intelligent nod to the photographic obsession of Lewis Caroll. What was particularly attractive was the way in which the faded colours and crumpled texture of, for instance, the backdrop of pressed flowers is echoed exactly in the costumes.
I would, however, have been much happier without the Dali-eye glinting at me from the bottom of the rabbit hole. It introduced a frisson of Freud which, I think, was misplaced, and the memory of that glaring eye rather undermined the innocence of a later fantasy sequence that gave us the only real pas de deux of the evening between a grown-up dream Alice and her imagined lover, the wonderfully energetic as well as funny Dmitri Gruzdyev, one of the well deserved stars of ENB.
The part of Alice was danced by Maria Kochetkova, with magnificent footwork, great charm and stamina, for she was on stage for nearly the entire ballet. I also enjoyed her pouting and the way she turned her feet inwards in both the prologue and epilogue perhaps to emphasise the difference in age between herself and her bookish sister. Derek Deane has provided her with choreography that echoes the best of Ashton, and her precision shows in those moments when individual soloists come together for a phrase of music or a step, and then return to their own business - a good example is the scene with the Duchess which had touches of La fille mal Gardee's Widow Simone. The Duchess, incidentally, was played on the night I saw it with delicious camp excess by James Streeter, a member of the ensemble who did not even merit a biography in the programme, but has clearly taken all the best from Les Dawson and Frankie Howerd, muttering wordlessly beneath frightful makeup. Laurent Liotardo was another ensemble player who turned up as the Caterpillar. Really, ENB is in very good shape if the general company artistes are this good in character parts. The Queen of Hearts, Sarah McIlroy, made a wonderful entrance worthy of anything in The Prestige (lots of magic in this show!), and raged like the best: she reminds me of a young Glenda Jackson - more Elizabeth than the Music Lovers!
Which brings me to the Tchaikovsky.
Drawing on some slightly obscure pieces, (The Tempest, and the Album for the Young) one was sometimes left pining for the more memorable melodies of Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty. While Alice provides spectacle and charm, it fits uncomfortably into the constraints of a traditional ballet. Two notable exceptions were the dance of the flowers (the waltz from the 3rd movement of the fifth symphony) and the opening of act 2 (the Festival Coronation). Carl Davis has woven together, and arranged (in two cases a string quartet and a piano piece) a score that showcases what a good orchestra can do, but I am afraid there is still something that reminds me of film music about it and this is not a score you will leave the theatre humming, however clever the arrangement, suitable or satisfying the selection.
This is a ballet, however, to take the children to, and unreservedly to take friends who need an introduction to the world of dance. The story romps along with inventive fidelity to the original, and yet also nods to the classics of dance - there is a great moment towards the end when a quartet of lobsters just hints at the cygnets in Swan Lake and the waltz of the flowers recalls a similar waltz in Nutcracker and also in Sleeping Beauty, but its design also gestures towards La Bayadere. I felt maybe that this production remains a bit light in terms of dance, but it is full of energy and I am sure it will delight and open many eyes to the possibilities of ballet.
I would, however, have been much happier without the Dali-eye glinting at me from the bottom of the rabbit hole. It introduced a frisson of Freud which, I think, was misplaced, and the memory of that glaring eye rather undermined the innocence of a later fantasy sequence that gave us the only real pas de deux of the evening between a grown-up dream Alice and her imagined lover, the wonderfully energetic as well as funny Dmitri Gruzdyev, one of the well deserved stars of ENB.
The part of Alice was danced by Maria Kochetkova, with magnificent footwork, great charm and stamina, for she was on stage for nearly the entire ballet. I also enjoyed her pouting and the way she turned her feet inwards in both the prologue and epilogue perhaps to emphasise the difference in age between herself and her bookish sister. Derek Deane has provided her with choreography that echoes the best of Ashton, and her precision shows in those moments when individual soloists come together for a phrase of music or a step, and then return to their own business - a good example is the scene with the Duchess which had touches of La fille mal Gardee's Widow Simone. The Duchess, incidentally, was played on the night I saw it with delicious camp excess by James Streeter, a member of the ensemble who did not even merit a biography in the programme, but has clearly taken all the best from Les Dawson and Frankie Howerd, muttering wordlessly beneath frightful makeup. Laurent Liotardo was another ensemble player who turned up as the Caterpillar. Really, ENB is in very good shape if the general company artistes are this good in character parts. The Queen of Hearts, Sarah McIlroy, made a wonderful entrance worthy of anything in The Prestige (lots of magic in this show!), and raged like the best: she reminds me of a young Glenda Jackson - more Elizabeth than the Music Lovers!
Which brings me to the Tchaikovsky.
Drawing on some slightly obscure pieces, (The Tempest, and the Album for the Young) one was sometimes left pining for the more memorable melodies of Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty. While Alice provides spectacle and charm, it fits uncomfortably into the constraints of a traditional ballet. Two notable exceptions were the dance of the flowers (the waltz from the 3rd movement of the fifth symphony) and the opening of act 2 (the Festival Coronation). Carl Davis has woven together, and arranged (in two cases a string quartet and a piano piece) a score that showcases what a good orchestra can do, but I am afraid there is still something that reminds me of film music about it and this is not a score you will leave the theatre humming, however clever the arrangement, suitable or satisfying the selection.
This is a ballet, however, to take the children to, and unreservedly to take friends who need an introduction to the world of dance. The story romps along with inventive fidelity to the original, and yet also nods to the classics of dance - there is a great moment towards the end when a quartet of lobsters just hints at the cygnets in Swan Lake and the waltz of the flowers recalls a similar waltz in Nutcracker and also in Sleeping Beauty, but its design also gestures towards La Bayadere. I felt maybe that this production remains a bit light in terms of dance, but it is full of energy and I am sure it will delight and open many eyes to the possibilities of ballet.