English National Ballet’s ‘Coppelia’
The English National Ballet have had a great year. The decision to bring back Tamara Rojo as their Artistic Director has proved successful as her mission for global domination is certainly under way. For years now this company has sort of been second best, consistently contending with the Royal Ballet and never quite catching up to their first class status. This has always been a real shame, after all, it’s quite often the ENB dancers who enter our world more often, whether this is through TV appearances or Glastonbury festival (how cool was that?!). But going unnoticed is not going to cut it for the fiery Rojo. She plans to tackle their issues and so far she has been doing a wonderful job. Perhaps I’m slightly biased as Rojo once brushed my hair in her dressing room when I was a little girl and I’ve loved her ever since. But with her plans to move the company to a different location and to possibly shorten the length of touring that they are contracted to do, Rojo seems determined to bring ENB up to the Royal’s level. Much of this will also be through a change in repertoire. The Royal are renowned for their diversity in what they bring to the auditorium and with an array of vibrant new choreographers creating new pieces, they really seem to have it all- the ability to perform the classics as well as sell out the Opera House for new Scarlett or McGregor. Tamara knows this, and a few months ago we saw her slickest move yet- to bring a mixed bill with new works to the ENB. It paid off. I still get goosebumps when I think of what I saw and ‘Lest We Forget’ was one of the highlights from the past year. Tam is showing all of her haters that she can boss out a mixed bill yet still commit to the classics and here enters the charming ‘Coppelia’, a ballet that I haven’t seen since I was probably having my hair brushed. I commend ENB for bringing me back to my childhood through their wit and beauty.
As the curtain lifted on this delightful ballet, the stage shone in golden hues of light and yellowy brightness, confirming that this was going to be a charming story for the audience. Enter Shiori Kase, the delicate dancer who was entrusted by Tamara to bang out a fabulous opening night performance. She didn’t disappoint. Perhaps her acting wasn’t as strong as it could have been, but this isn’t MacMillan and Swanilda doesn’t demand Laurence Olivier levels of acting. Kase did, however, possess the perfect balance between sweetness and mischievous that is needed to make Swanilda believable. Here is a young girl about to commit to marriage with Franz, her cheeky fiance whose wondering eye gets him in a sticky situation in the second Act. At first we see her reluctance in this union as she questions Franz’s fidelity but she later realises her love for him and accepts that they are destined to be together. I’ve made it sound much heavier than it is, for this is a sweet ballet and hardly has space for in depth roller-coaster emotions. Kase pretty much perfected Swanilda though, and showed this progression from reluctant teen to loving woman. We see her grow up from curtain up to curtain down and I think this is the core theme of the ballet. Kase is a very pretty dancer and clearly has a strong technique from her lingering balances on pointe to her sharp pirouettes. She will do well in the company and I think will be best suited to Ashton ballets and these light hearted classics. I can’t quite picture her as Odette/Odile or Juliet but perhaps she will prove me wrong.
Kase’s sweetness was well counter balanced by Yonah Acosta, who took the lead as the wannabe lothario, Franz. It seems to be almost written in the stars that as Carlos Acosta’s career begins to wind down, his nephew Yonah’s career is soaring up. He is so reminiscent of his uncle and they are heart-warmingly similar. Yonah is certainly moving in the right direction and is showing great potential to replace the hole that will form once Carlos retires. He is charismatic in his characterisation of Franz and couldn’t be better suited to the role. He has wonderful comic timing and technically he is dynamite. High jumps, light on his feet and good presence on stage, this dancer will go far. I saw him as Mercutio in ENB’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and although I thought it was slightly over-acted at times, he understood the character which, in my eyes, gets you half way there when doing Shakespeare. I’m assuming there are plans for him to take over from Muntagirov’s absence, however, I feel that his promotion to Principal was slightly premature. Perhaps with Muntagirov’s departure Tamara felt she needed to lock Yonah down, but although I agree he is Principal worthy I feel he needs a year or two longer. On his own he is strong and controlled but I think his partnering technique has to improve before he can be crowned one of ENB’s stars. I noticed some slight wobbles and uncertainty while he partnered Kase and although together they bounced well off each other with flirtatious eye contact and tenderness, I never felt truly comfortable when he lifted or supported her. With Muntagirov you can see him throw the ladies around and always have your heart safely where it belongs because you trust he will catch them where he throws them. With Yonah, and perhaps because he is shorter, I think he needs more experience in being that body of strength that is needed from a partner.
But back to the show! Visually the whole production was authentic and the props used for Act 2 were exciting and depicted the mysterious and chaotic Dr Coppelius. Although I find the doll impersonation in this Act slightly tiresome especially with the Spanish and Scottish variations, Kase was pretty to watch alongside Michael Coleman’s eccentric yet moving portrayal of Dr Coppelius. All is resolved in the third Act and this is where we see the technical side of the choreography come into its own with the Dawn and Prayer solos (both of which were danced well by Crystal Costa and Lauretta Summerscales) and the final wedding pas de deux. Yonah successfully rose to the challenge of his variation with high leaps and clear control while Kase demonstrated secure balance and musicality. Overall the company were all believable in their roles as I watched the likes of Max Westwell (major crushing on this guy), Lauretta Summersclaes (fast becoming one of my favourite dancers) and Anton Lukovkin (the blonde cheeky chappy of the company) all conversing in character in the back ensembles. What I like about ENB is that they are a team and this comes across in the big group dances likes the ‘Mazurka’ in Act One. The sincerity of the friendship amongst Swanilda’s friends was beyond believable and they all seemed like giggly girls who you could imagine standing at a bus stop after school. There isn’t really a sense of competition here, well it certainly doesn’t show on stage, so with this you get a naturalistic portrayal of the setting of this ballet. Although the choreography is not as demanding as say Ashton’s ‘Fille Mal Gardee’, this is classical ballet at its best. The Degas-esque silhouettes of the ballerinas and the bright expressions of all on stage made for a beautiful opening night.