August Bournonville/Nikolaj Hübbe:
”La Sylphide”
Harald Lander:
”Etudes”
Royal Danish Ballet
Old Stage
October 25, 2014
Nikolaj Hübbe had made his second production of”La Sylphide” the antidote of his first traditional setting. Changing important details in the story comes over less intrusive than expected, while radical changes in the second act décor become the straw that broke the camel’s back.
When Nikolaj Hübbe announced him game plan for the new production of “La Sylphide” it was received with caution by the ballet environment. Could “La Sylphide” survive a non-tartan setting and was the decision to make the witch Madge into a former male lover of James, taking it a step to far?
There were sound reasons behind some of his strategies. Since Sorella Englund retired from the role, several female character dancers had struggled to create a Madge, but neither could reach her level. And it was certainly not the first time Madge was danced by a man. In fact several male character dancers had done the part in drag.
In interviews Nikolaj Hübbe has also explained his decision to the gender change being somewhat influenced by his own relationship with the James character, and a need to kill the James within himself. Casting himself as Madge and thereby become the bane of James seemed a recipe that could close that part of his earlier career and identity.
In this production Hübbe as Madge actually do little that we have not seen before. It is a performance that by and large follows the traditional game plan. But by claiming a previous relationship between Madge and James, the key relationship in the ballet between James and the Sylph suffers irrevocable.
Suddenly James is caught between a former male lover, Madge, a female, Effy, and the Sylph so the relationship becomes a bit crowded.
The first cast James, Ulrik Birkkjær plays the role in act one as guilt ridden, and his decision to follow the Sylph seemed more grounded in panic than in love and fascination. She becomes his getaway strategy. This also becomes clear in Act two when he swears his allegiance to the Sylph. It looks like it is directed to be more like a desperate measure than a romantic pledge.
Susanne Grinder as the Sylph suffers not only the devaluation of her character, but is also robbed of several of her magic moments and effects, as well as being hit by a severe case of bad costume choices.
The strategy of changing the traditional Sylph costume and look in order to make the Sylphs more sensual and alluring backfires. Bigger wings, flapper hairbands, a looser top and a cummerbund instead make them smaller and fuller figured.
But that is not all. Designer Bente Løkke Møller and Nikolaj Hübbe decided to get rid of the painted woodland for act two and substituted it with a big white box instead. This design choice does not bring the Sylphs the freedom connected with a traditional white act. It dwarfs them and limits the access to the stage, which kills most entrances and exits. The magic is gone.
The ballet has no trouble in incorporating the choice to make act one into a stern grey and black environment, and the merry Scots into stone faced Presbyterians, but the second act box strategy not only harms the dancing. It seems weird that while being in the metaphysical place, it is not only possible to pick strawberries and find water, Effy, Gurn and Anna could also make their usual entrances and dialogs.
Nikolaj Hübbe’s Madge-Man managed to take the evil streak to its conclusion, but in the finale scene after bringing James down twice, he ran out of expressions. There was not a sense of guilt, regret or even triumph.
Alexander Stæger reprises his strong and likeable Gurn. Kizzy Matiakis’ Effy is a more mature and - in accordance to the strategy - a more severe girl. Mette Bødtcher is the sternest Anna ever seen and looks like she comes straight out of a painting by Danish artist Einar Nielsen, famed for his portraits of the stern and hard hit upon.
It is possible for the two remaining casts to change some nuances in the production, but the strategy of the white box seems to need some immediate and physical changes. Opening up the stage might at least help bring back the flow in the dancing. It is the component that has created the longevity of “La Sylphide”.
This is only the third décor for “La Sylphide” since 1964, if one includes the short lived Peter Schaufuss version. Adjustments in the design could and should be made so this production can be measured on its strengths and not only on it weaknesses.
The New Normal
This season RDB has hired 13 international dancers, and this is the biggest intake ever in the company’s history. The dancers is brought in to counteract a large group of dancers reaching retirement age, a decrease in in the ballet schools output, which have been record high for several years, and the decision to prolong the apprentice period with one year in order to strengthen the alumni’s academic schooling.
It is not an easy task to include such a big varied group, and on the Brunch & Ballet program on Saturday where the company class is done on stage on stage with an audience, Nikolaj Hübbe focused on the new dancers, clearly in order to make them understand his ways of thinking ballet technique. It was a lesson hard needed because six of them were to dance in company classic “Etudes”, the same evening.
When this production by Thomas Lund and Nikolaj Hübbe was first presented a few seasons back it was a landmark of how strong the new RDB corps had become in an impressive short period. For this production Thomas Lund is alone in the director’s seat, supported by Silja Schandorff and Jean Lucien Massot.
Although still containing it core qualities, it was evident that a few more rehearsals would have been in order. Especially to get the new corps members to fit better into company style. It must also be said that the same conclusion goes for the second act in “La Sylphide”, where the new intake was struggling stylistically.
Save one girl and one boy, the new intake was cast as the black girls, the group who present the basics of the classical technique. Last time around the black ensemble was the big revelation of the production. This time the unity was hurt, but it must be said that the height difference in the group was also an issue. For the last 5 – 6 years RDB School has produced a cadre of tall strong girls. On paper it might be tempting to bring in some shorter girls. Let’s face is - there are some brilliant short guys in the company. But the height differences within the black girls were abundantly clear and created breaks in the lines and groups. The one new girl in the white ensemble was clearly having a ball, but did not subscribe to the principle of adjusting to the group. She became a stand out for all the wrong reasons.
So the revelation did not reoccur. And its shows that there must be a strong focus to get the new intake integrated in the company style. It must be said that one of the new girls Coralie Grand succeeded in the most Danish employ as one of the sylphs in the romantic interlude.
The principal roles were in the safe hands of J’aime Crandall, Alban Lendorf, Jon Axel Fransson and Gregory Dean, where especially Jon Axel Fransson stood out.
When J´aime Crandall made her debut as the ballerina, it was the performance that really showed her as a potential company star. She then presented what I can only call a more modern take on the material. It showcased her skills and most importantly her special ballerina brand of clear and sharp dancing.
This time around she either choses or is coached into a more traditional presentation of the role. I think she should be allowed more freedom in the interpretation and to be her own unique kind of a ballerina.
A Bit of Disappointment
It can be said with some reason that “La Sylphide” and “Etudes” is the works that the RDB should be judged on. In this case it equals lover marks on both accounts. There is nothing wrong in choosing a bolder strategy and testing the Bournonville heritage. But in this case, as in Hübbe’s “Napoli”, the choices also inflicts more than you bargained for.
Changing the relationship between Madge and James has severe consequences for the key relationship and indeed the whole ballet. Making a bold décor decision can jeopardize the whole production. I do not believe that these consequences have not been visible during the rehearsal period and could have been counteracted accordantly by bringing the Sylph more into focus and adjusting décor and costumes that clearly did not work.
What it takes is the realization that changes have consequences and deal with them. When choosing strategy A, changing the relationship between James and Madge, it must be considered how that inflicts the whole story. That will open up either new possibilities or the realization that the new idea cannot work in the context.
Regard the décor issues, this is not the first time the ballet have been let down by design choices that harms the production more than it helps it. It should be possible to adjust and change what clearly does not work. Looking at “The Lady of the Camellias” one of the great joy is Jürgen Rose’s décor. Spacious, yet specific and able to change the settings by simply putting two wicker chairs and a table in the back to create the country feeling or by creating a theatre by placing eight chairs and a curtain. That is the works of a designer who knows how to design for ballet. Bringing on a designer who predominantly has designed for drama is taking a big risk and it looks like there has been no or little dialogue on the specific needs of a ballet design.
It must be the Ballet Master’s job to ensure that these simple procedures are in place. And it must be his responsibility to ensure that the production is adjusted. Taking care of these issues could actually help his ballet reach is original goals.
Photos by Costin Radu Copyright (c) Royal Danish Ballet:
1. Ulrik Birkkjær & Susanne Grinder as James and The Sylph
2. Nikolaj Hübbe as Madge
3. Kizzy Matiakis, Ulrik Birkkjær and Alexander Stæges as Effy, James and Gurn
4. Alban Lendorf, J'aime Crandall & Jon axel Fransson in "Etudes"
Wiew videos of the productions here:
http://kglteater.dk/det-sker/forestillinger/sason-2014-2015/ballet/sylfiden-og-etudes
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