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Dancing to the tune of Puccini
Wedding guests celebrate Butterfly's marriage. Pictures: Emma Kauldhar Madame Butterfly
Northern Ballet
Wolverhampton Grand
***** IF you thought Madame Butterfly was a
much loved opera by Puccini, think again, in the hands of David Nixon,
the tragic tale of heartless US Navy Lieutenant, Pinkerton, and his
Geisha bride, Cio-Cio San, has become a beautifully staged ballet. Nixon, the Canadian artistic director of Northern
Ballet since 2001, created the ballet for the then struggling company in
2002, and, like the cherry trees in the Japanese set, Northern, based in
Leeds, has blossomed into one of the leading ballet companies in the
country. This was Northern
Ballet’s first visit to the Grand and what welcome visitors they are
bringing not only Butterfly but a shorter, more classical opener,
Perpetuum Mobile,
choreographed by Scottish Ballet’s artistic director Christopher Hampson,
to Bachs Violin Concerto in E Major, complete with pianist Andrew Dunlop
on harpsichord. Madame Butterfly has all the makings of a tragic
opera, romance, love, betrayal and, finally, the death of our heroine
but the tale can be told equally in dance and, like the ballets of
Tchaikovsky, Puccini’s much loved score gives a sweeping, symphonic
canvas upon which the dancers can paint their tragic tale. Rachael Gillespie is just exquisite as Butterfly,
the Geisha chosen by the fates for heartbreak. Not only does she dance
beautifully but she can act, we not only see but we feel her fears, her
happiness, her pain and her final despair. Ashley Dixon is suitably smarmy as the marriage
broker setting her up with Pinkerton – for a fee -while South African
dancer Mlindi Kulas Cuban dancer Javier Torres is a dashing
Pinkerton, producing some fine dancing as the handsome lieutenant who
eventually sweeps a geisha off her feet in a romantic pas de deux before
sailing back to the US leaving her penniless and pregnant.
Their go-betweens are the US Consul in the
equally fated Nagasaki, Sharpless, danced with some style in a suit by
Sean Bates,who has the uneviable task of telling Butterfly Pinkerton is
married in the USA, and Suzuki, Butterfly’s loyal maid, danced
sympathetically by Ayami Miyata who hails from Japan. She is part of one of
the most haunting dances of the piece to the music of one of the best
known arias in opera’s repertoire, Un
bel di, (one fine day), a theme so
emotive that it will hold its own in any medium. Nixon has topped and tailed his retelling of the
story with traditional Japanese music which helps set the scene, the
final piece being a song which appears full of bitterness and anguish
leading up to Butterfly’s suicide by the only thing she has left in the
world, her father’s Samurai sword. The final dance, in blood red lighting, is
ritualistic, ever more frantic and sad as we watch Butterfly’s world
disintegrate having lost her husband, child and now her life. The child incidentally was played with
commendable concentration by tots Jessica Bill or Ava Hupperdine. Nixon also designed the excellent costumes, no
doubt helped by his wife, Japanese dancer and teacher, Yoko Ichino, and
he had a hand in the simple set designed by Steven Wilkins and
Griz Pedley. The set had tree branches which appeared from the flies in
blossom or autumn colours to show passing of time, and had little more
than a giant rising and falling sun and a simple Japanese house,
leavings a stage free for the story told by the dancers. Upon that is overlaid imaginative lighting from
Alastair West which sets moods, times of day and emotions from dawn to
sunset, spring days and happiness to the blood red of despair. Wonderful
stuff. Perpetuum was a much different proposition as a
curtain raiser. More a ballet étude than a narrative piece, with nine
dancers and a lovely pas de deux from Abigail Prudames, and Joseph
Taylor, who both trained at Elmhurst School for Dance. All to the Northern Ballet Sinfonia under John
Pryce-Jones who sound much bigger than their 11-strong touring
orchestra. Nixon has turned Northern Ballet around from a
barely alive basket case when he joined, into a world class ballet
company and it is to be hoped we will be seeing more of his charges in
the Midlands in the future to complement our own Birmingham Royal
Ballet. If you have never seen ballet and fancy giving it
a try, the classical bit is short and gives you an idea of the strength
and athleticism demanded of a ballet dancer and the main feature has a
simple storyline which is easy to follow with lovely music. If you are a
ballet fan, it is a treat. To 03-06-15. Roger Clarke
02-06-15
A view from the shoreline **** MOST people think of Puccini’s great
opera when considering Madam Butterfly, but here it was transformed into
a beautiful, emotional ballet by the hugely talented Leeds-based
Northern Ballet. The dancing was superb in the specially adapted
story of how American naval officer Lieutenant Pinkerton wins then
breaks the heart of teenage Geisha girl, Butterfly, who believes she is
entering a serious marriage. Puccini’s music was well performed by the
Northern Ballet Sinfonia, under musical director John Pryce-Jones, and
the use of traditional Japanese music in the tragic finale added
considerably to the dramatic impact. Rachael Gillespie danced with sublime technique
as Butterfly, and had an impressive partner in the handsome Cuban,
Javier Torres who looked every inch the military hero, and the pair
delivered a delightful, sensual dance before spending their first night
together. Mlindi Kulashe gave a suitably menacing
performance as the Holy Man, Bonze, angered at Butterfly’s decision to
betray her own religion to adopt her husband’s Christian faith, and
later in the role of would-be suitor Prince Yamadori. Fine contributions, too, from Sean Bates as the
American Consul, Sharpless, and Ayami Miyata, Butterfly’s maid, Suzuki. Before Madam Butterfly, members of the company
performed Christopher Hampson’s short, neoclassical piece Perpetuum
Mobile which proved a real bonus for the audience. Paul Marston |
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he
gives us both Bonze, the Holy man angry as Butterfly’s dalliance with
Christianity, and Prince Yamadori, Butterfly’s wealthy, preening,
pompous, pain in the proverbial suitor.