Review: The Peony Pavilion, National Ballet of China

The Peony Pavilion, presented by the National Ballet of China with the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra

State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, 15-18 March 2012.

Approximately 2 hours with one interval

The Peony Pavilion is a love story that takes place within a dream. Du Liniang, a beautiful woman from a wealthy family, falls asleep by a peony pavilion and dreams of a handsome scholar whom she has never met. Unable to find him in the real world, she dies of a broken heart and ends up in the Underworld. Her story moves the Infernal Judge to release her ghost back into the land of the living to find and marry the elusive scholar. The ballet ends with an unusual wedding ceremony fitting for the union of phantom and mortal.

The performers are a joy to watch and the strength of the corps de ballet is noteworthy. The principal dancers demonstrate their fine-tuned technical and dramatic abilities admirably, and the fluid execution of the first act pas de deux between Liniang (Zhu Yan) and her lover (Li Jun) captures beautifully the artless passion of first-time love.

Some aspects of the production are inevitably lost in translation. The sexual metaphor of taking off shoes in Chinese culture, for instance, comprises one of the most enduring images of the production, and these sexual connotations are underlined by the use of Debussy’s L’apres-midi d’un Faune, bringing to mind the daring and erotic Ballets Russes production of the same name choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky in 1912. However, it is unlikely that the majority of audiences will make the connection between these two elements.

Similarly, the concept of using three dancers to portray one character is potentially confusing for the uninitiated. The role of Kunqu, the operatic vocalist, who represents the heroine’s moral restraint, is particularly difficult to place without referring back to the programme. Unlike the Flower Goddess, who represents the heroine’s passion, Kunqu’s movements do not explicitly link her to the heroine and her unfamiliar lyrics, sung in Chinese, are of no help to western audiences in making such leaps of imagination.

The second act, including both the Underworld and wedding scenes, is structurally far clearer than the first, which possesses a quality of sameness that does not match the drama of the plot. Despite the size of the State Theatre, the stage feels crowded with dancers in several scenes of the first act; whilst the principal dancers manoeuvre past each other admirably, one unfortunate corps de ballet member proved the victim of circumstance on the opening night and fell during one of the ensemble’s opening sequences in the first act. The production, however, is evidently very well-rehearsed and no doubt greater familiarity with the stage will prevent such a mishap in future performances. The second act, meanwhile, proved lucid and engaging.

The final wedding scene is the show’s stunning highlight; taking place in front of the translucent, grey-white backdrop – a liminal space somewhere between Heaven and Hell – figures from the two realms circle the young lovers performing repetitive gestures in a bizarre ritual. The pace and volume of the ceremony intensifies until finally, red peony petals fall from the sky in a rousing climax. The sustained and streamlined build-up of this scene in terms of orchestral and ensemble strength and pace is at the heart of its effectiveness.

Ballet clichés were somewhat overused throughout; whilst this may have been a result of an attempt to incorporate the essentialism of Chinese operatic convention – for instance, in emphasising demure nature of the heroine characteristic of the zhengdan (tragic or serious heroine) – it nonetheless detracted from a full realisation of the choreographic potential of the storyline. Though choreographer, Fei Bo, possesses a background in contemporary dance, there is little evidence of this in the ballet, which is fairly traditional in its movement vocabulary.

Overall, however, The Peony Pavilion is an enjoyable, high-standard production and a unique showcase for the world-class talents of the National Ballet of China. As a Chinese love story in the vein of Romeo and Juliet, it has a broad appeal despite the unfamiliarity of various elements related to operatic convention and Chinese metaphor used throughout, and ballet-lovers will find this production well worth their patronage.

To book tickets and for more information, visit
http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au

Review written for Dance Informa Magazine

Ivan Cavallari to farewell WA Ballet

2012 will be a busy year for Ivan Cavallari, Artistic Director of the West Australian Ballet, who recently announced that he will leave the company at the end of this year to take up a position as Artistic Director with Ballet du Rhin in Alsace, France. Until then, he will have to juggle responsibilities as the effective head of both companies.

Fortunately, Cavallari is no stranger to hard work. A principal dancer and choreographer with the Stuttgart Ballet before his move to Australia, he has seen the company grow from an ensemble of 19 dancers to one of 36 over the course of his six years with the West Australian Ballet. The company is currently celebrating its 60^th Anniversary year and will soon boast a new set of studios.

Cavallari will take fond memories of his time in Australia back to Europe. “My very first impressions [of Western Australia] have nothing to do with the company,” he says. “Meeting the dancers and all of that seemed very normal. But I think it was the isolation…I remember on my first day, I left the hotel at 10pm to go for dinner and couldn’t find a place so I said ‘Okay, let’s go for a beer’. I could not find a place for that either,” he laughs.

“That was actually quite a shock at the beginning, but once I got into a routine I began to appreciate a lot of things that somewhere like Western Australia can offer, and how fruitful that quietness can be for creative people, so I began to appreciate the good side.”

The flip side, however, has been the distance from his family and friends.  In October 2010, Cavallari flew back to Europe to be with his partner who received a bone marrow transplant in Germany the following month. “I suppose that’s the reason I started to look around and see if there was an opportunity in Europe. I just could not deal any longer with travelling four times a year and not having a real presence here or there. You come to realise there is not much you can do psychologically or morally about such situations.”

Despite the challenges, working with the West Australian Ballet has been an enriching experience, says Cavallari. “I’ve had many opportunities to develop myself as a person and as an Artistic Director. You have to be able to multi-task, it’s not just about choreographing or teaching but also working parallel with the management and keeping everyone’s motivation up. When I first came to Western Australia I had to learn the new systems, the political system – there’s politics even in the artistic system. You become aware of such things as the company’s relationship with the orchestra and how you can use money in the best way, so one becomes very conscious of everything.”

Cavallari is grateful for what he’s learnt. “I just have to say a big ‘Thank you’ to Western Australia. Now I know what it means to be an Artistic Director. I will not start my new job so completely naked. If similar problems arise I’ll know that I can afford to approach them in a more positive way.”

With the extraordinary task of running two ballet companies on opposite ends of the world ahead of him, Cavallari confesses he will need a lot of focus, planning and inner reserve to get through this year. “I will try to have a joyful year,” he resolves.

When I ask what drives him, he pauses for a moment to reflect. “Look, I’ll be very sincere. I always put my faith in God’s will and I try to follow his advice. Whenever I feel desperate about a situation I pray to him that something will happen. He’s never left me.”

Celebrate the West Australian Ballet’s 60^th Anniversary season with, Ballet at the Quarry at The Quarry Amphitheatre, City Beach, 10 February – 3 March 2012. For more information, visit www.waballet.com.au

Originally published in Dance Informa Magazine

Review: Jecko Siompo’s ‘We Came From The East’

Melbourne International Arts Festival

Malthouse Theatre

October 2011

Indonesian choreographer Jecko Siompo’s Melbourne Festival offering, We Came From The East, is a light-hearted exploration of the roots of hip-hop. “Hip-Hop was born in Papua, you don’t have to believe me, but my great grandmother told me,” says Siompo. Starting with this simple premise, Siompo traces the journey hip-hop may or may not have taken from Papua, through Indonesia and finally to New York.

Performed in Siompo’s trademark “animal pop” style, this piece is nothing if not energetic. It’s a frenetic blend of contemporary and tribal dance styles infused with the shuddering movements, screams and yelps of wild animals set to a lively and highly percussive soundscape. The ensemble dancers handled the fast-paced choreography reasonably well, whilst the acrobatic displays of the male performers added an extra physical dimension to the piece. The popping and locking sequences were less well-executed, perhaps owing to the different backgrounds of the dancers, though this did not prove a major hindrance to the overall design of the choreography.

The piece could, however, have benefitted a great deal from a stronger conceptual direction. The overarching theme of the show was hinted at only briefly, most explicitly in a vocal mosaic of interviews and musings on the origins of hip-hop. In the final scene, the dancers donned bright-coloured jackets, marking the arrival of contemporary hip hop; how we got there, however, remains a mystery. Meanwhile, a few odd quips and some seemingly out-of-place references to Pinocchio only further obscured any insights to be gleaned.

The choreography also suffered from a lack of light and shade. There were indeed signs of progression throughout the piece; the heavy use of floor work in the initial stages of the performance was replaced by more upright passages, the plain costumes and heavy tribal body paint was balanced by the contemporary final sequence. The dancers’ verbal passages progressed through several different languages, presumably Papuan and Indonesian dialects, through to English. Nonetheless, Sempo’s choreographic style proved somewhat limiting in this respect, at times becoming overly repetitive.

Soloist Jakob Yaw, stunningly painted half in black and half in white in perhaps a nod at his heritage, performed his role with strong presence and assurance.

The shortcomings of this production were ultimately minimised by Sempo’s playful, joyful approach to this piece. We Came From The East is a show to be embraced not for its profound insights nor its technical wizardry, but for its most basic contribution as an energetic and uncomplicated tribute to the ever-evolving and awe-inspiring world of dance.

Stravinsky & Balanchine: A Partnership

Tune in tonight (Friday 11th June) on 3MBS 103.5 FM at 8pm for the 2- hour special:

STRAVINSKY & BALANCHINE: A PARTNERSHIP

Produced and hosted by yours truly, the show will feature commentary, quotes and music from seven of the pair’s collaborative ballets: Apollo, Jeu de Cartes, Danses Concertantes, Renard, Agon, Orpheus and Violin Concerto.

You can listen via radio, or via live internet streaming at www.3mbs.org.au. Don’t miss it!