The 02 Arena - 18th June 2011
Being a bit of a theatrical purist, the thought of ballet in an arena makes me uneasy in the same way as the thought of live theatre screened at cinemas does; not because of an innate snobbery, quite on the contrary, as a devout live performance kinda gal, I prefer performance being just that, live; immediate and visceral, the venue itself is irrelevant. In my ever so personal opinion the presence of a screen immediately makes live performance something else. When observed by a dislocated audience chomping at popcorn their perception is inexorably manipulated by the one pointing the camera and the thought of ballet on such a huge scale seemed in the same respect to alienate the audience from the liveness of the dance; just as the audience at a music gig watch a screen instead of the ants on a stage – would the 02 crowd watch the screens and disregard the ants pirouetting. In short, it would take a lot to convince me that the nuance and subtlety of ballet and live performance could transcend such a vast arena.
Theatrical nip-picking aside, the Royal Ballet are on to something. Art on the whole is no longer restricted to a venue, a genre or indeed an audience. With the works of Banksy adorning the walls of cities for all to see, any film available at the click of a button and theatre occupying old warehouses to street corners, the realms of performance are no longer rigid or confined. We exist in an age when anyone from any walk of life can experience or find or interpret something as art if they chose to. The highly traditional form of ballet is arguably dated and losing it’s relevance in today’s world and art culture. No longer can it claim its ‘high art’ label and expect that to be enough. Art perspectives aside in our current economic climate a genre cannot alienate an already dwindling audience in fear of abandoning tradition, so perhaps what the Royal Ballet did here was a brave and much needed step towards making ballet accessible to a wider and younger audience; and what better forum than in this iconic space.
As a ballet there is no better choice for tackling a wider audience head on. A story everyone knows and a score everyone will recognise (yes, you’re fired jokes were there for the taking) ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a ballet wrought with emotion, passion and sincerity. The absence of the famous dialogue if anything enhanced the visceral impact of this tragic tale and had the 20,000 strong audience gripped from start to finish. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is not a ballet of times gone by; just as Shakespeare’s original text redefined love stories and influenced millions that followed, this ballet is similarly momentous. Unlike ‘Swan Lake’ when the prima ballerina as Odette/Odile completes a breathtaking sequence of 32 fouettes (spins and kicks) ending with a double pirouette, perhaps the hardest sequence in ballet choreography, it is the naïve and excitable Romeo who performs for his Juliet in an attempt to woo her. This is certainly not a ballet to showcase the beauty of the prima ballerina but a ballet wrought will male angst and athleticism and to a nation more familiar with pirouettes on a football pitch than on a stage, this is quite something to behold.
The 02 arena is an epic space and in order for the ballet to reach those in ‘the Gods’, screens, unfortunately are a completely necessary device; yet the fundamental problem being that ballet as a genre does not lend itself to realism, which is what the screens suggest. For example during the climatic sequence in which Tybalt slays Mercutio, the images projected across the arena show Mercutio’s pained expression as he leaps and pirouettes through his last dying moments. On stage, this is completely accepted, but when the screens project Mercutio’s face the sequence becomes almost ridiculous and detracts from the poignancy of the moment. With credit to the Director, a Brechtian approach to the pre-recorded footage was applied, which served as a reminder to the audience of the theatricality of what they were seeing, but this stil didn’t seem to gel the performance. Ultimately the screens were a distraction from the liveness of the form and disjointed the action.
The screens did however create an interesting contrast to the orchestra ‘pit’. Hovering just above the stage and just below the main screens, the orchestra pit was completely subverted. This juxtaposition of live music and pre-recorded footage confronted the very nature of performance in the twenty first century and the ever blurring boundaries of art.
Ballet is an art form rooted in tradition, a highly codified sequence of pliès and port de bras, it enchants some and alienates many; ‘Romeo and Juliet’ hence was a brave choice in a venue more familiar with TakeThat than Tchaikovsky. Although it did not necessarily work on all levels, the bold production unquestionably attempted to free the rigid form of ballet. The 02 arena wasn’t perhaps the best venue, the sheer scale of space provides a huge challenge to the very nature of the form; pyrotechnics and aerial acrobatics may be perfect way to make the tiny Miss Minogue fill the space but the same techniques cannot really be applied to our fair Juliet. Yet this production has I believe laid the gauntlet for others to follow – this year we have seen ballet thrust into the mainstream with the success of Natalie Portman’s infamous portrayal of the ‘Black Swan’ and ballet inspired couture; Ballet has never been so in Vogue, so it is the perfect time to experiment.
The Ballet Russes, Nijinksi, Matthew Bourne are amoung some of the greats of the ballet world; each took convention and had their wicked way with it, would they have chosen the 02 arena? Perhaps not, but The Royal Ballet have taken a much needed and admirable risk and I hope that this paves the way for many to follow.
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