Indrani Roy Misra and Katy Roy - regular guests at Ranan events and screenings at repertory sessions - on the Ranan Repertory session where we watched Matthew Bourne's version of Swan Lake at Ranan, 27 October 2010, preceded by a brief discussion on ballet in general and Bourne's work in that context.
"It’s the other face of a swan. It’s another face of ballet. A tale yes, but without the ‘fairy story’. It is down to earth. Downright beautiful and unforgettable. Mathew Bourne has turned the story of Swan Lake on its head without losing either the balance or the magic."
[Indrani Roy Misra]
"Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. What? Really? You mean the one with the all male swans? Seriously? I read about it somewhere in the last century and was intrigued. Then I watched the film Billy Eliot ; the brief glimpse right at the end of The Swan, leaping on to the stage to Tchaikovsky’s familiar music – how exciting, how I would love to see this."
[Katy Lai Roy]
INDRANI ROY MISRA
It’s the other face of a swan. It’s another face of ballet. A tale yes, but without the ‘fairy story’. It is down to earth. Downright beautiful and unforgettable. Mathew Bourne has turned the story of Swan Lake on its head without losing either the balance or the magic. It’s contemporary without being disdainful of the past. It is different not for the sake of change in style, but for the change of perspective as per today’s scenario.
The Prince is there. The Queen is there. All the royal trappings are there. Along with the feeling of being trapped. In pointless tradition. In suffocating form. With truncated freedom.
Mathew Bourne tells the story of a prince, not that of a cursed princess who’s turned into a swan. It is the story of a prince cursed by customs of royalty who longs for the freedom of a swan.
The swans in this Swan Lake don’t just glide along gracefully, pining for freedom. These swans show the strength of their muscles, they flap their wings in protest. . They are no pushovers. They make their power felt. And this is how.
Mathew Bourne doesn’t use a magic wand. He uses imagination. In story telling. In choreography. In the use of Tchaikovsky’s hauntingly beautiful music.
This Swan Lake tells the tale of today’s Prince Charming, saddled with do’s and don’ts, lonely to the point of desperation, preyed upon by the paparazzi, with no freedom of choice. Bourne tells this tragic tale with subtle humour. It is satiric in every step of the queen, every jut of her chin, every move of her regal head and every look of her eye. The drama is revealed convincingly through the dance movements and the use of the body and facial expressions.
The sculpted body of the prince in all its muscular strength is contrasted by the look in his eyes. Confused, lost, yearning for the comfort of love and a taste of freedom. His attempts at breaking the law only to be pulled back, summararily by the authority of the queen and the system, has its own tragicomic nuances. While you laugh at the situation you cry for the prince.
This Swan Lake is male-centric. The men are shown at their physical best. The dances, the pirouettes, the hands and feet, the formations, the synchrony, the totality of it all leaves you breathless with its energy . Even the shadows are drawn into the mesmeric choreography!
It depicts the plight of a caged man surrounded by swans who are men. With strong instincts. Who can, at will, fly into the open sky. The stifled prince, in his gilded cage can break free only in death.
You don’t miss the fragile, ethereal beauteous swans at all. You are transfixed with the power of these swans. They may not be delicate, but they are spellbinding….
The use of contemporary costumes instead of tights and tutus hardly seems out of place.
The dancers twist and turn and tango as flowingly and airily as if the costumes were of no consequence. They leap into the air and turn on their toes dressed in gowns and suits and shoes, with utmost grace and abandon!
The sets are grand as the setting demands, but not fussy. Bold and minimal, yet forceful - a telling picture.
The music is used discerningly, portions repeated to highlight a situation. To make a mosaic of moods rather than depict a straightforward story through a series of cadences.
The dream like Swan Lake has broken out of its picture perfect frame into Mathew Bourne’s 3D rendition, through drama, definite delineation and a certain distinction between truth and beauty.
That was a sigh. This is a tug at the heartstrings.
KATY LAI ROY
Wednesday, October 27, 2010:- a Ranan film evening. Always interesting and stimulating. The discussions can go anywhere. And to watch Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. What? Really? You mean the one with the all male swans? Seriously? I read about it somewhere in the last century and was intrigued. Then I watched the film Billy Eliot ; the brief glimpse right at the end of The Swan, leaping on to the stage to Tchaikovsky’s familiar music – how exciting, how I would love to see this.
And now I find that Vikram Iyengar had this DVD up his sleeve, but under his hat, all these years!!
So first, over cups of tea, we shared our layperson’s impressions of conventional ballet. The ballerinas on points, the men in tights doing impossible leaps, lifting and supporting the prima ballerina. Stylised facial expressions, delicate dancing, formal posture. The romantic and fantasy depiction of a story drawn from distant legends. Remote. Idealized.
Then we watched some conventional Swan Lake ballet. It’s almost a cliché. Say “ballet” to most people, Swan Lake comes to mind. We all know the moonlit lake, rows of ethereal swan maidens in white tutus, the poses of the pas de deux, the cygnets’ playful formations, the ballroom with the dances from different countries, the black swan, the dying swan….
Revelation Number 1
It’s not a cliché! It’s many ballet companies using the same music and inspired by the same choreographic text, by Petipa, was it? That’s why it’s all so familiar!
Then we watched Matthew Bourne’s version for Adventures in Motion Pictures. I’m still in a blissful state of shock.
Revelation Number 2
A known piece of classical music can be re-interpreted to mirror contemporary society. Characters added, subtracted, stories rewritten. A satire even, commenting on paparazzi, royal families, rigid protocols, dysfunctional families, even a sort of send up of ballet, in the play within the play.
Revelation Number 3
Contemporary dancers can also be powerful actors, expressing with their faces and their bodies much more detail, characterization, emotion than I have ever expected from conventional ballet….the young cadet’s swagger, the Girlfriend’s class difference from the Royals, so many small touches in minor and major characters. The unfolding facets of the Queen’s character was brilliantly expressed by Fiona Chadwick.
Revelation Number 4
Swan Lake without ballet shoes or points! Tchaikovsky in high heels, doing Elvis, disco, in Fred and Ginger routines; did not look incongruous. Brilliant concept, sharply presented.
Revelation Number 5
Vikram had told us to look out for this…especially at the ball, each bit of the dance took the story forward, not just another set piece showcasing a dancer’s ability.
Revelation Number 6
Oh my god, the swans. When you actually think about it, swans are not fragile slender creatures. They can be vicious, territorial and fierce. The athleticism of the swans reminded me of good male Bharat Natyam dancers I have seen, graceful, dramatic, powerful.
Revelations Number 7, 8, 9 and 10
Adam Cooper as The Swan. At the lake he was elusive and enigmatic; he was a non human, wild creature, not tameable. As the Black Swan/Stranger, we immediately understood him because of the contemporary context, and then by his amazing dancing and acting. This was the most opposite I have ever seen between the White and Black Swans …the Black Swan expressed all the latent cruelty and danger that I’ve never seen from any Odile in black tutu.
And after seeing Adam Cooper, oh yes the Prince probably was a good dancer too, I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t watching!
I wish our two Alan Strangs could have seen this; they would have sat at the edge of their chairs throughout, as I did. Are you listening, Shadab and Lav? Call Vikram at once.
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