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“The Wind in the Willows”
ROH2
Linbury Studio, ROH, Covent Garden
15 December to 13 January

“The Nutcracker”
Royal Ballet
ROH, Covent Garden
13 December to 13 January

“The Nutcracker”
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
8 to 24 December

by John Percival
copyright 2006 by John Percival

And which of the London shows this Christmas did I enjoy most? Well, don't be shocked, but actually it was an opera, not a ballet: the Glyndebourne Opera's “Die Fledermaus” brought to Sadler's Wells for a couple of performances. I'm not going to discuss the musical aspects here, attractive as they were. I'll mention however that the choreographer, Nicola Bowie, was making her Glyndebourne debut but has worked widely in Europe and the USA, including 15 years as head of movement at English National Opera. Presumably she shared responsibility with the director, Stephen Lawless, since the whole cast was constantly moving up and down stairs or round the stage, and the show altogether, both acting and singing, was tremendous fun.

Actually, Will Tuckett's staging of “The Wind in the Willows” at Covent Garden's Linbury Studio Theatre is also a show with dancers rather than a ballet. Some of its best moments in fact have nothing to do with dance, especially the carol singers who end part one, and the snowfall that engulfs not only them but much of the audience too. The production (previously given with different casts in 2002 and 2003), is based on Kenneth Grahame's book of the same title, written in 1908 to entertain his young son, which in 1929 had already inspired a play by A. A. Milne, “Toad of Toad Hall”. I am told that most people know the story; if — like me — you don't, it's all about various animals whose adventures burlesque those of Edwardian gentry. The first half introduces the famous characters one by one, which proves undramatically episodic, but the action grips more in part two when the pushy Toad, having stolen the motorcar he coveted, is sent to prison, escapes, but then needs help from his friends Mole and Ratty to release Toad Hall from the weasels and stoats who have occupied it.

There are absolutely brilliant designs by the Quay Brothers, made up of objects that transform almost miraculously from one purpose to another. The poet laureate, Andrew Motion, wrote a commentary which I find sometimes coy, sometimes heavy-handedly philosophical; luckily you often cannot follow it because the narrator Michele Wade gabbles away and anyway is often drowned out by the band playing a score which composer Martin Ward based on the music of Kenneth Grahame's contemporary George Butterworth. The cast this year is OK, not great, except for one outstanding performer, Luke Heydon, a former Royal Ballet character principal who retired early to become a garden designer but still occasionally takes on an interesting role. Or two contrasted roles in this instance, as the gloatingly wicked Chief Weasel and the gangling, silly, would-be attractive Washerwoman who facilitates Toad's escape: both of them wonderful (and he fits in appearing as a friendly otter too).

I cherish the hope some year of not needing to sit through “The Nutcracker” but it hasn't happened so far. This is not Tchaikovsky's best ballet — he was given far too silly a story — but we all know that thanks to the insight of Anton Dolin with Festival Ballet and George Balanchine with NYCB, both in the early 1950s, the voluptuous charm of his music has become the salvation of companies all over the world by ensuring full houses time after time.

Birmingham Royal Ballet has the best British production, by its former director Peter Wright, but I didn't travel there this year. Even so I had to attend two versions in London. The Royal Ballet's London production is also by Peter Wright but very different from BRB's. It began life as an attempt to get as close as possible to the long-lost original, but Wright has introduced changes year by year that make it look cramped and fussy — even borrowings from the Birmingham version look wrong in this different context. The outcome lacks both drama and fun. However it does sound good with Boris Gruzin conducting the ROH orchestra.

Nine leading couples are announced to share 25 performances. Miyako Yoshida and Federico Bonelli had the first night. She has left the company to live in her native Japan, and appears now only as a guest: her dancing is neat and pretty, but maybe a bit thin nowadays; Bonelli's shows a smooth fluent strength. The outstanding individual contribution came from Ricardo Cervera as Hans-Peter, the Nutcracker: he was a fine partner for little Clara (Iohna Loots), showed brilliant technique in his many solos, and carried it all off with smiling ease. Steven McRae and Michael Stojko dazzled, too, in their Russian dance, and Alastair Marriott's playing of Grandfather was lively. But the flashy treatment of the story's kingpin, the magician Drosselmeyer, defeated Gary Avis's attempts to make him credible.

English National Ballet's “Nutcracker” takes its amusing tone from the witty designs by the cartoonist Gerald Scarfe — characterised by having the Snowflakes and their Jack Frost partners leap on stage from inside a giant refrigerator. Before that, Drosselmeyer, magician and story-teller, starts the tale by opening up a giant book to reveal the scene. Christopher Hampson has changed his choreography a bit this year (not always for the better) but such episodes as doddery but lecherous Grandpa pursuing his tarty girlfriend Miss V. Agra, or the students dressed as Christmas presents for the Bonbons dance, remain amusing. The dancers are pretty good, led in dazzling style by Daria Klimentova and Dmitri Gruzdyev as Sugar Plum and Prince on opening night, with Yat-Sen Chang as usual bringing the house down with the sheer bravura and joy of his Russian solo. ENB is introducing “Alice in Wonderland” and “Giselle” to follow “Nutcracker” in its holiday season this winter; more about them anon.

Volume 4, No. 45
December 18, 2006
copyright ©2006 John Percival
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