Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Christopher Wheeldon’s brilliant THE WINTER’S TALE warms and chills the heart

• By drediman
• January 21, 2016
• No Comments

There have been some memorable ballet adaptations of Shakespeare plays: Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Frederick Ashton also adapted the play into the classic The Dream), and Alexei Ratmansky’s misunderstood The Tempest quickly come to mind. Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation of The Winter’s Tale, which this week is making its American premiere at the Kennedy Center courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada (in a co-production with the Royal Ballet), may be the finest and most satisfying of the bunch.

I applaud Mr. Wheeldon for seeing in the The Winter Tale’s lopsided structure the potential for inspired dance theater, even though the play is by no means considered top-shelf Shakespeare (it’s an odd story of tyranny and redemption which at times seems muddled and unfocused). Indeed, Wheeldon’s adaptation does a few remarkable things. Firstly, he takes Shakespeare’s complicated plot and and succinctly and thoughtfully adapts it without feeling rushed, even managing to add some cinematic flair to the storytelling (he ingeniously adds a brief prologue that brilliantly sets up the ballet). Secondly, Wheeldon uses Shakespeare simply as a springboard; the immense emotional impact of the piece is Wheeldon’s doing. In the ballet, he creates a world in which emotions are more complicated than meets the eye and actions have irreparable consequences. I left the theater in a bittersweet state of mind: although I was swooning from the richness of it all, there was also an unmistakable chill in my heart. Lastly, without sacrificing any momentum in the plot, the ballet is crammed with plum roles for ballet companies to display their deep benches.

What’s becoming increasingly clear is that Mr. Wheeldon is Jerome Robbins’ heir apparent. He has an equal genius for both movement and storytelling that was Robbins’ trademark. And like the old master, he has transcended the world of dance to direct and choreograph on Broadway (you can currently see Wheeldon’s wonderful staging of An American in Paris at the Palace).

The Winter’s Tale also features a lovely commissioned score by Joby Talbot. The elegantly stage-filling yet simple designs are by the reliable and prolific Bob Crowley (subtly lit by Natasha Katz). I would also like to put in a shout-out for Basil Twist, who here created some inspired and eye-popping sea effects and an impressionistic bear that’s one of the most successful I’ve seen (typically a  directorial and design problem point in the plot). Lastly, but certainly not least, are the dancers at the National Ballet of Canada, who were simply magnificent last night, dancing with an ethereal lightness and genuine expression. At the performance I attended, the company was led by a sextet of dramatically nuanced performances – Evan McKie (Leontes), Jurgita Dronina (Hermione), Elena Lobsanova (Perdita), Brendan Sae (Polixenes), Francesco Gabriele Frola (Florizel), and Sventlana Lunkina (Head of Hermione’s household). Bravo!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE WINTER’S TALE
Dance
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Opera House)
2 hours, 45 minutes (with two intermissions)
Through January 24