5 – 7 January
The Bulgarian Varna International Ballet Company danced their way into the hearts of a captivated Bristol audience last night as part of its first tour of the UK, in which it visits 24 venues over the course of three months.
Home to the biennial Varna International Ballet Competition, the company has become a hub for young dancers from across Europe looking for an opportunity to start their careers. A quick glance through the company’s list of 37 performers revealed dancers from, amongst others, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, France and the UK.
Accompanied by a 26-piece orchestra conducted by Musical Director Stefan Boyadzhiev, tonight’s performance was marked by a sense of lightness, a charming delicacy of movement, no better illustrated than by the shimmering delight of twenty dancers performing the Dance of the Snowflakes at the end of Act I.
The Nutcracker is a simple story of a girl, Marie, drifting off to sleep after creeping back to the Stahlbaum family drawing room to see her beloved nutcracker doll, following a Christmas Eve party. The doll has been given to her by her eccentric godfather, the magician Drosselmeyer. In her dream the nutcracker is turned into a prince who she later helps rescue from an army of mice and its queen with the help of toy soldiers. She and the prince then visit an enchanted land of sweets presided over by the Sugar Plum Fairy, before reawakening as Drosselmeyer magically transforms the prince back into doll form – a beautifully realised piece of theatre that prompted the audience to burst into applause before the final curtain.
On the Hippodrome’s large stage there was ample room for this large company to fully exploit its talents. Vittorio Scole as the prince cut a majestic presence throughout – his ciseaux split leaps were a joy to watch. Federico Farina’s command of the role of Drosselmeyer was a stand-out of the night, his angular forms accentuating a sense of otherness in the mysterious toy-maker. Francesca Busquets lit up the stage as the lead in the Spanish dance while Megan Reid won particular affection for her sparkling French dance. Perdita Lancaster as Marie danced so lightly as to appear to defy gravity.
Touring to multiple theatres demands simple staging. Varna has put most of its production energy into its costumes, at times quirky, but always eye-catching and stylish. A digitally animated back screen filled in for ‘real’ scenery. At times cheesy, with echoes of a Jacquie Lawson e-card, the spectacle was none-the-less appealing, with the quality of the dancing always holding the eye. Yordan Bogdanov’s harp playing, Zdravka Atanasova’s percussion and a warm-toned horn section gave extra sparkle to Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score.
★★★★☆ Simon Bishop, 8th January, 2023
Photo credit: Arabella Neville-Rolfe
