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The Magic Flute Ballet - March 07-2004
Ballet finely crafted,
fabulously entertaining
"Fantastic," "brilliant," "wonderful" were just some of the accolades
on the lips of ballet enthusiasts as they spilled out the Royal
Theatre Friday night after giving a long standing ovation to the Royal
Winnipeg Ballet's luscious, audacious and powerful new production, The
Magic Flute.
Adapted from Mozart's final opera, written in 1791 shortly before he
died, it reflects his favourite trilogy of themes -- chaos, quest and
resolution. And in the hands of ingenious choreographer Mark Godden,
it is a finely crafted and fabulously entertaining work.
There is never a dull moment, from the electric opening with its
risqué phallic frenzy to the clouds of ankle-deep powdered snow that
dancers spin and skate through in the final scene as they portray the
redemptive power of love.
Godden follows the basic story but surprises with the injection of
modern props and technology, ranging from a giant suspended electrical
outlet, television sets with burning log scenes and floating plastic
cherubs, to rock-show lighting and surround-sound.
While some of his gestures reflect a contemporary angularity, the
classical references abound and the costuming is whimsical with
candy-coloured gladrags, wigs and shoes, yellow tights and lamé pants.
The ballet tells the story of television-addict Tamino who is sent on
a mission to find Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night. He is
seduced from his TV by the queen's saucy sirens, who spice up his life
and hide his remote control.
The queen is danced by a brilliant Tara Birtwhistle, who resembles a
black cyclone storming around the stage. In one scene, she steps
on-stage to the boom of a thunderclap, then manages to dance, rage and
flex her muscles all at the same time.
Johnny Wright plays a dashing Tamino, while Pamina is danced by
CindyMarie Small, who is mournfully moving in a beautiful scene where
she pleads with him to speak. Feet flexed, she dances an
angst-drenched pas de deux, lunging forward, fists beating in slow
motion.
These two characters exhibit the spiritual side of love, in
counterpoint to Victoria-born Sarah Murphy-Dyson, who dances an earthy
and erotic Papagena to Jesus Corrales' marvellously
testosterone-driven Papageno. He is a splendid actor as well as
dancer, and she is superb in a three-minute solo, dressed like a white
ninja to fool and tempt him.
Alexander Gamayunov captures the mystical essence of Sarastro,
Pamina's father, while swirling majestically in a challenging full
length saffron velvet robe.
Throughout the ballet, Godden revels in a seemingly endless lexicon of
movement, creating a fluidity and velocity of gestures that is
sometimes dizzying. Arms are a blur in the opening scene but later
become incredibly beautiful as gestures echo across the stage with
different accents and acceleration.
This performance has legs -- not only the beautiful ones belonging to
the 20 talented dancers -- but the staying power and creative juice it
takes to go on the road.
Created in Winnipeg just four months ago, it has already toured six
cities and played to sellout audiences in Ontario. It will no doubt be
an international winner as well.
And while the plot is complex, the stage design is not -- in fact,it
has no legs at all, in the set decoration sense. The traditional
scenery "legs" that grace each side of a classical ballet stage have
been replaced by businesslike banks of spotlights. The unencumbered
stage seems enormous as a result.
Artistic director André Lewis explains the company is always looking
at ways to break down the elitist feeling that exists in some people's
minds about ballet, "but I think we have succeeded very well here.
"This ballet really moves people, especially the little touch of
Winnipeg. The snow is not an expensive trick, but very effective."
© Copyright 2004 Times
Colonist (Victoria)
reprinted
with permission
Story Credit: Grania Litwin
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