Tag Archives: Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Swan Lake
★★★★★

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

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Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Reviewed – 13th December 2018

★★★★★

“Wild and vicious, curious and testosterone fuelled, like creatures from an ancient myth made flesh”

 

This restaging of Matthew Bourne’s iconic Swan Lake is superb. It is wild, funny, vicious, lyrical and heartbreakingly beautiful. The first incarnation of the show was in 1995, and it caused quite a stir, replacing ballerinas in tutus and feathered headdresses with muscular male dancers, but it won the hearts of audiences straight away, encouraging more young men to become dancers, and building a new audience for ballet. The audience tonight was enthralled throughout, with that incredible stillness that only the very best in theatre and dance can create. And when the curtain came down the standing ovation was total, instant and long. We didn’t want to let the dancers go.

Dancing the Swan and the Stranger tonight was Will Bozier. He is powerful and irresistible as the sexy, leather trousered stranger at the Royal Ball, and compelling as the Swan, inhabiting the strange avian otherworldliness of the choreography with passion and strength. Dominic North’s Prince is a fish out of water at the court, a lost young man who we immediately feel for. His first sight of the Swan is electric, and his joy when they finally dance together is palpable and moving. His acting is extraordinarily good, and gives his character a reality that is rare in dance.

Carrie Willis, as the girlfriend is a treat. She is a TOWIE princess, at sea in the Royal world, annoying, sweet, hilarious and loveable. Even when dancing in the ball scene she kept her quirky character intact. Katrina Lyndon is fabulous as the queen, clearly enjoying male intention, particularly when the Stranger arrives, and incapable of understanding her son. The female ensemble are strong, and when the smouldering, sexy stranger arrived, they approached him, there were no shrinking violets here, they knew what, or rather who, they wanted. And they managed to dance it in heels.

The power of the ensemble of swans is extraordinary. The sound of bare feet on the stage, their audible breathing, the hissing…. Wild and vicious, curious and testosterone fuelled, like creatures from an ancient myth made flesh.

Lee Brotherson’s design creates the world of the court, the street and the seedy club with an atmospheric and vivid aesthetic, beautifully complemented by the drama of Paule Constable’s lighting design. Its always good to have a live orchestra, and Tchaikovsky’s music is still running through my mind as I write. Matthew Bourne and his team have created a masterpiece. I hope it will live on for many more years.

 

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Johan Persson

 

Swan Lake

Sadler’s Wells Theatre until 27th January

then UK Tour continues

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Medusa | ★★★½ | October 2018
The Emperor and the Concubine | ★★★★ | October 2018
Dystopian Dream | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Layla and Majnun | ★★★½ | November 2018

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

 

Dystopian Dream

Dystopian Dream
★★★★★

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Dance, Reviews, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dystopian Dream

Dystopian Dream

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Reviewed – 27th November 2018

★★★★★

“a hybrid piece of dance-musical theatre with as much emphasis on the tech as the physical performers and music”

 

Dancers Honji Wang, Sébastien Ramirez and vocalist Eva Stone bring Nitin Sawhney’s 2015 album Dystopian Dream to life in this compelling performance. This fusion of hip-hop, contemporary ballet and aerial work accompanied by live singing, artful visuals and beautiful costumes is a feast for eyes and ears.

Sawhney has written scores for TV and film as well as releasing multiple studio albums, with his full body of work earning him the 2017 Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award. Sawhney has composed music for the Sadler’s Wells stage before, having worked with Akram Khan since 2002. Where Dystopian Dream differs is that the dance performance has been born after engagement with the music, rather than a collaborative process between composer and choreographer.

Company Wang Ramirez’s interpretation reflects the genre-bending nature of the music, taking inspiration from breaking to ballet and combining these with complex and clever aerial work. As performers, Honji Wang and Sébastien Ramirez have distinctly personal modes of expression which are, on their own, engaging to watch. The most exciting moments, however, come from the unique blend of their styles in duets between the pair, particularly during the track ‘Dark Day’ accompanied by the haunting vocals of Eva Stone.

Stone’s presence on stage is mesmerising; on more than one occasion did I find myself watching her sing in relative darkness, as opposed to the better lit and more active dancers. That is not to say that Stone’s only role on stage is to sing. Quite the opposite. She joins Wang and Ramirez in a playful pas de trois, is hung and swung around the stage and finally stood on top of, all whilst elevating the soundtrack with her darkly soulful voice. It’s truly impressive how flawless she sounds throughout.

Shizuka Hariu’s modernist set design is integral to the performance. Spread between two tiers connected by a curved ramp, it was able to cast its own shapes and shadows onto the stage, by virtue of Natasha Chivers’ lighting design. Yet it also provided a surface on which to project and enhance the interactive visual effects developed by Yeast Culture, lead by Nick Hillel.

This is not your average show. It’s a hybrid piece of dance-musical theatre with as much emphasis on the tech as the physical performers and music. The aerial operators, visuals, set, lighting and costumes by Hussein Chalayan all come together to create a whole much greater than just the sum of its parts.

Reviewed by Amber Woodward

Photography by  Johan Persson

 


Dystopian Dream

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Medusa | ★★★½ | October 2018
The Emperor and the Concubine | ★★★★ | October 2018
Layla and Majnun | ★★★½ | November 2018

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com