18 – 20 April
Tchaikovsky’s lush score wants for nothing under the baton of Charlotte Politi, who conducts the Birmingham Royal Ballet Sinfonia in this spectacular show. The RBS have elbowed out some of the seating at the Bristol Hippodrome in order to bring the full orchestral experience to audiences of this premium touring production. Having the orchestra, as it were on show rather than tucked away in an orchestra pit, adds to the overall sense that with the BRB one is getting one’s money’s worth. As befits the nation’s premiere touring classical dance company, this production is big in every sense that adds value to a performance.
The settings by Philip Prowse give a sense of the grandeur of the court of The Sun King, which is the model for his conception; rich, flamboyant on a scale only available to a small number of national companies. The lighting by Mark Jonathan (adapted by Johnny Westall-Eyre) brings the set to life and adds atmosphere to support the changing moods of the music. Even the costumes, particularly noticeable in the parade of the worthies, seem larger than life and add to the sense that we are being taken as far from the everyday as a fairytale can transport us.
The famous European folk tale of a girl magically put to sleep by a malign actor can be reduced in its danced version to a battle between good and evil, represented here by The Lilac Fairy and Fairy Carabosse. The latter, a traditionally male role in ballet, dark and angular is played with malicious delight by Gabriel Anderson who has one of the best entrances one could imagine, aloft four familiars in a suitably threatening open sedan chair. His adversary in the metaphysical battle, The Lilac Fairy, is played by Tori Forsyth-Hecken as though she were made of ethereal stuff, all lightness, grace and goodness.
Caught up in the battle is the innocence of Princess Aurora, a blameless pawn in the supernatural tussle. Céline Gittens, whose smile never seems fixed, somehow gives the impression that she inhabits the music with a comfortable mastery of technique. Rotating on point she has the precision of a musical box princess.
Yasiel Hodelín Bello gives Prince Florimund all the natural grace and authority befitting a Ruritanian prince, bringing a lightness of movement that seems to belie his solid form. The pas de deux that follows the reviving kiss in act II expresses all the joy of a love at first sight.
This lavish production gives ballet fans everything they could hope for and is just the kind of thing to bring in new audiences with the display of world-class talents.
★★★★★ Graham Wyles, 20 April 2024
