Queensland Ballet: A Midsummer Night’s Dream -
Playhouse, QPAC, 1 April -
Following a trend aimed at maximising the creative output of smaller performing arts companies, Queensland Ballet (QB) has reached across the ditch to the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) for this co-production of Liam Scarlett’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. First performed by RNZB in 2015, this was its Australian premiere, and the sharing of costs has meant both companies now have a delightful new addition to their repertoire.
Scarlett, artist in residence at the Royal Ballet, and considered hot-property in dance circles, was obviously not fazed at having to follow other well-known ballet interpreters of the Shakespeare classic, like Frederick Ashton and John Neumeier. His take is innovative, very witty, but also gloriously poetic.
In Scarlett’s 'Dream the convoluted comedy of mischief and mayhem has been condensed to its essence. Therefore the back-story of Theseus and Hippolyta, and their wedding, is missing. The simplified result is a focus on the mercurial world of the fairies, ruled over by Titania and Oberon, into which stumble the four lovers as modern-day explorers, accompanied by a band of rustics, including the hapless Bottom.
The evocative Mendelssohn overture effortlessly sets the scene, (despite a couple of lumpy notes from the brass section opening night) and the curtain rises on a dark and glittering fantastical fairyland – the setting for both acts. Banks of fibre-optic fingers, sprouting polyp-like “flowers” glow incandescently in this starlit darkness – a fanciful forest that conceals a myriad of hiding places for fairies, at different levels. Beautifully lit by Kendall Smith, Tracy Grant Lord’s magical set (and costume) design, almost steals the show.
However, the accolades belong squarely with Scarlett’s choreography. Rooted in the classical technique, it nevertheless encompasses a wonderful feeling for covering space with spiralling off-balance turns and leaps, juxtaposed with moments of complete stillness, and always exquisitely phrased with the music. It must have been a joy to dance, as in this performance the company never faltered.
Laura Hidalgo was exquisite as Titania. Light as a feather, and with a boneless fluidity to all her movement, she also perfectly captured the character’s stubborn capriciousness. Her final pas de deux with recently appointed Principal Victor Estévez as Oberon, was a beautiful and poetic embodiment of the play’s final moments.
Estévez made an imperious Oberon. His sweeping, majestic solo at the top of the ballet was a glorious visual realisation of the equally majestic Hebrides Overture – one of a selection of orchestral works by Mendelssohn skilfully selected by QB Music Director Nigel Gaynor to supplement the Midsummer Night’s Dream overture and incidental music.
Camilo Ramos made a bumbling, but enthusiastic Puck – he is cast on alternate performances as Oberon – while Rian Thompson was a delight as Bottom. His signature dance, as the donkey, was a comedic assembly of high leaps, bottom gyrations and pawing pas de chat. His seven fellow rustics were also an amusing bunch, their immaculate technique never compromised by the shenanigans.
However, it was a bespectacled Clare Morehen (Helena), Vito Bernasconi (Demetrius), Yanela Piñera (Hermia), and Shane Wuerthner (Lysander) who collectively provided most of the merriment as their characters fell in and out of love. A very manic pas de trois, as Demetrius and Lysander battle for Helena’s affections, displayed masterful comic timing.
The strength of a company lies in its corps, and here the fairies, in frothy short tutus of lapis lazuli blue were a delight. Led by the idiosyncratic Moth (Tara Schaufuss), Cobweb (Lina Kim), Mustard Seed (Teri Crilly) and Peaseblossom (Tamara Hanton), they were all beautifully together en masse, but each also had her own quirky personality. Moving with a mercurial lightness, their very fast, tightly executed footwork and soft floating arms, was often punctuated by the sudden stillness of a tightly drawn up fifth position en pointe, as if hovering in the air. Magical!
DENISE RICHARDSON
Photos: David Kelly. Please click on thumbnails for captions.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs until 16 April.