Christopher Wheeldon takes on the Bolshoi in a rare peak into the rarest of opportunities. .
Channel 4 have just screened a debut in ballet. The programme allowed viewers to glimpse something of the creative, passionate, difficult and sometimes catty world of ballet and choreography, but not through the prescribed voice of BBC reportage, instead from the point of view of those on the inside - the dancers themselves.
The documentary style programme tracked Britain’s hottest choreographer as he explored the unique opportunity to create a piece for the Bolshoi - the biggest ballet company in the world. But the most interesting aspect of the programme is the perspective from the inside - with filming, interviews and narrative all done by The Ballet Boyz - a group of male dancers used to working with Wheeldon.
The programme was unique on many levels - and had layers of narrative weaved into the story. An abstract choreographer trying to discover how to work with dancers used to being taught choreography with little creative output, an english choreographer struggling against cultural differences of working in Russia, the story of putting together a small piece in a number of weeks, and the story of two Ballet Boyz filming their choreographer friend at work.
The first line of story created elements of conflict. The dancers began uncomfortable with the process of working with Wheeldon to create movements themselves alongside him, instead of their usual practise of learning a fixed choreography with little input. Wheeldon was unable to get his creative juices flowing against their stilted uninspired reaction to his method of work, and the two week Christmas couldn’t have come at a better time. In the end the dancers warmed to his freer way of creating and were gald to be part of something new and different.
The second story involved the Bolshoi’s biggest star, Nicolai Tsiskaridze, who felt unable to respond to Wheeldon. Nicoli’s diva-like eye rolls and bitchy comments created a visibly awkward relationship between choreographer and dancer. At one point Wheeldon looks fed-up into the camera and says: ”i don’t like having my work being made fun of while i’m doing it.” The viewer saw the Ballet Boyz going to see Nicolai in his home, offering more insight into the life of a professional ballet dancer, and dispelling the hostile image of Nicoli we had previously seen in the studio. This was rounded off with Nicoli and Wheeldon joking about his next production after the performance had taken place.
Ballet lovers would have relished this rare chance to see how a short piece is put together in a few weeks - the pressures of time being prevalent. Wheeldon is the protagonist of the story. We follow him to St Petersburg and see him stand in awe in the studio where some of the greatest choreography was made - Sleeping Beauty. We see him grapple with the title of the story - and his endearing nervousness is constantly on display. “Dancers can smell fear,” he said. We see him giving press conferences and tv interviews from the insiders point of view.
But the most interesting story which acted as an undercurrent to the main action was the Ballet Boyz, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, acting as journalists - tracking Wheeldon and dancers giving close personal diary-like speeches to the camera. 
The Boyz started shooting Arts documentaries in 2005, and won an emmy for this programme as well as the Rose D’or Best Arts documentary 2008. Previously dancers for Wheeldon, Nunn and Trevitt were even roped into helping teach the dancers the choreography. One moment Nunn puts down the microphone a puts on a pair of ballet shoes - his suddenly beautiful arched point is flexed, proving how adaptable the Boyz are.
Their heart is with dancing, so they use their knowledge and expertise to make what is considered a traditional dance form accessible and appealing to a mass audience. They gain access to studios and befriend the dancers, allow us all to see just how normal, and utterly adnormal, their lifestyles really are.
It is a joy to been shown how dancer Maria Alexandrova buy ballet shows, and unfairly gets 90 per cent discounts.
Finally the documentary ends with the end product - Misericordes - which is breathtaking, and we realise how little of the ballet we were shown in its tremulous journey. The ending of the dance is beautiful, with the bars of black making a stunning backdrop to the momentous culmination. The Ballet Boyz brought ballet to people who would never usually get to see and are taking ballet to places it has never been before.
Bourne’s Scissorhands marries entertainment, magic and class
Not another pastel-jumpered satirical jab at 1950s American suburbia.? No, indeed not. Matthew Bourne’s striking ballet adaptation of Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands is not a tiresome grease-esque dancathon - it’s a modern balletic gloss on a beautiful and twisted story. Bourne takes what was already brilliant on screen, and transcribes it to the stage, moulding it into something altogether different.
Sitting in the Gods at Sadler’s Wells with the whooping, wolf whistling young people at the show (a testament to the variety of people Bourne draws in to the ballet arena), I was transported from my seat to a the strange and wonderous world that Edward found himself in.
Bourne integrated moving visuals right from the start - projecting a spiralling ‘Once upon a time…’ narrative onto a transparent screen in front of shadows moving across eery scenes behind.
This gradual easing into the ballet was similar to that of a film. You settle into your seat, and the first few scenes wash over you and you barely take them in, so it’s best to have a few non-active opening credits to allow the audience to adjust to their new reality.
Ultimately the plot remains unchanged. Apart from, pivotally, the reason for which Edward has his scissor hands. Bourne gives a new, rationalised explanatory background to Edward’s past (explained in the video below). The rest is generally continuous with the original, but in condensed form for the silent stage.
What immediately jumps out at any audience, or those who wish to make comparisons with 1950s style musicals because of the large number of group jive dances which take place, is the utter slickness of the choreography. The characterisation of the four families who make up Edward’s neighbourhood was emplyed in every last detail. Set design by Lez Brotherston brings this to the fore - with rows of jaggedy detached houses in extreme perspective into the horizon.
The plot, though dark and completely unique, is fairly straight forward, and themes of insecurity,being the outsider, love, kindness and finally, Edward’s final lonely fate, are easy to see, and are danced out beautifully between Edward and Peg Boggs in between bouts of group show-stoppers.
The character of Peg Boggs is played a little to flatly. Her shallow sentiments don’t seem enough to attract someone of such a depth and complexity as Edward. But their duets are moving. Particularly in the garden sculpture scene. Edwards long lines and fluid movements contrast his awkward interaction with the neighbours, mirrored by Peg’s own lucidity.
There is a thick black line of satire running throughout the ballet, but what delights is the fact the audience is constantly entertained - in the most literal sense of the word - in that minds are suspended in an imagined reality, where hedges move, time stands still in rapture, and a boy with sharp edged hands can never truly experience love although he is so tender.
Danny Elfman’s dynamic score carries the level of suspended consciousness throughout the story, never letting you dip back into the dull tones of reality. Bourne’s ballet is a festive heart-warmer, but steers clear of Christmas cheese, adding an intellectual gloss to high entertainment, and paving the way for the darker and intense reflection of modern society we see in Dorian Gray a year after Edward Scissorhands debuted.
Strictly misses a beat in voting fiasco: viewers take to the message boards
It must be acknowledged that after Sachsgate and rigged phone-voting last year, hundreds of viewers have been watching the BBC through squinted suspicious eyes.
A growing distrust of Auntie has meant that the Beeb needs to prove its worth more than ever, and continue to persuade customers that the company is worth their money, time, and loyalty. But once again viewers nationwide were let down by the mother of all media, as the voting system on Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing broke down.
On Saturday evening nearly 11 million people tuned into the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing. A show which I have praised over the years because, unlike its sing-song equivalent, it judges dancers on their technique, expression, and improvement rather than whether they can sell commercially or have some sordid sob-story background.
I also applauded the show’s voting system, which took the judges opinions (who are all either professionally trained or have years of dancing experience across all disciplines) into account when deciding who stayed in. This meant the best dancers won. Hence my general un-bothered response to the John Sergeant (can we coin Sergeantgate? Probably not) debacle. He was not a good dancer and so should not have stayed in the dancing competition. Some argue he should have stayed because the show is as much about public entertainment as it is about dancing. But he had run his course as good entertainment for the show, and it was time those who clearly had two left feet should go. Commentators on the message board on the BBC’s webpage for the show disagree. They think Saturday night’s disaster started way back when Sergeant left.
So what exactly happened?
Tom, Rachel and Lisa were left in the semi-final (accordingly, if Sergeant had stayed, three would be in the final next week anyway). The producers decided to continue knocking out one couple per week, which meant the final would actually be what a final is supposed to be - that is, a dance-off between two couples.
Producers were slow to notice that the way the judges had scored the three couples meant those voting for Tom and Camilla by phone would be wasting their money. A look at how the votes work highlights the fact is that the voting system was generally flawed in the first place - the producers should have seen it coming a long time ago…
Who gets knocked-out is decided on three levels. Firstly, the judges mark the dancers out of ten - giving them a total score out of 40 which ranks them on the leader board. In this case, the person top of the leader board would get three points, second would get two and third one. Secondly, the public phone-in (for between 15 and 80p a minute) to vote for their favourite. In this case, the couple with the most votes from the public would get three points, the second two and the couple least voted for by phone would get one point. After the phone-in votes the two couples with the lowest number of points would have a ‘dance-off’ and the judges would ultimately decide who goes. This system seems quite complicated but its merits lie in the fact that both the public and the judges have quite a balanced sway over who stays - meaning it is a combination of dancing talent and public likability which keeps you in the game - the show does what it says on the tin, being both a dancing competition and a TV entertainment programme.
But in this last-but-one round the judges either cleverly decided on purpose, or unknowingly, gave Rachel and Lisa and their partners an equal score - giving them both three points and leaving Tom and Camilla with just one. This meant that however many people voted for Tom, he would still have to be in the dance-off. Of course the problem then is the BBC would again be ripping off customers - gaining money from those voting for Tom, despite the outcome being the same.
The BBC noticed this incredibly obvious flaw in the voting system too late. They did not turn off phone voting and instead said that all votes this week would roll over to the next. But the public and the judges base their vote on how each couple dances that night.
The whole thing was a sham. Floods of complaints not litter the Strictly website, demonstrating their renewed distrust in the broadcaster. One commentator wrote:
I think the whole thing was a big stitch-up, with the judges manipulating the result to make their choice of finalists inevitable.
Someone else wrote today:
I personally hope they change the scoring system next year, with the judges just giving comments - and scrap the stupid dance off please.
Commentators, and Strictly lovers, agree on the message board that the dance-off is a bad idea. It was introduced last year, and before that was a combination of judges’ scores and public votes. Commentator -lightonmyfeet - said that even the message boards need to be looked at properly - merging threads and moderation.
Today on the message boards Strictly viewers have been coming up with their own alternative voting systems for next year - talking about tie-breaks and the balance of judge/viewer voting. Commentators also think that too many ten scores were being given out this year, meaning less variation in scores, and giving the judges less credibility.
Perhaps Strictly producers should listen to their viewers online to ensure the future of the programme continues to be a success and considers the public. It is clear those watching the show are captivated by the dancing, but they expect a higher standard of competency from the show’s producer. It is completely unacceptable that they have been let down in this way. If so many viewers are online, why is phone-voting the norm and could not spectators be encouraged to vote online (costing them nothing)? The Strictly website forums have 262631 posts about the show, with over 13260 threads about different topics and are updated by posters every three seconds.
Today comments on the message board also demonstrate an anger at how the message boards themselves are managed - and argue producers should take note of what is being said and incorporate the comments into decisions about the future of the show and its voting system.
One post reads:
It strikes me that there are a lot of posters with views about these things - considered views, not just reactions. If these forums were not such a mess, then the boards could be a proper vehicle for SCD fans saying how they feel. OK the BBC may not listen but it strikes me that as things stand the views on these forums are not likely to be listened anyway. Improving the forums goes hand in hand with improving the show.
Irina saves the St Petersburg Ballet
In the ballet world it is generally not a good sign if you have never heard of a company you are about to see in a city outside of London.
Russian companies have caught Britain in a scam - a blind day-time robbery. Venues across the UK are eager to book in Russian companies, even the smaller ones, because they think, being Russian, they will be good. This was the case with Moscow City Ballet in Bath earlier this year and the Moscow Circus who came to Bristol last year. I had been starved of any classical content for months, and could not afford to travel to London to get my regular fix. I was lured into the fall pretense of greatness by the Russian ballet stigma - the country has produced some of the most beautiful dancers in the world, and boast number one company the Bolshoi. But Moscow City Ballet produced a shambolic production of The Nutcraker. I would have walked out half way through if I weren’t expecting complementary interval drinks.
Artistic Directors are often dazzled by the Russian accolade, thinking that being Russian equals terpsichorean greatness, but it doesn’t. Small Russian companies play off the fact that middle class ballet veterans in small cities want to see something at Christmas time, and will pay money to go to a production often because it may be the only ballet they will get to see all year.
After my university years led to a cold cynicism against companies I had not heard of I was reluctant to go to Wales Millenium Centre’s latest production of Swan Lake from St Petersburg Ballet Theatre. But, as is the case for most ballet lovers, there was near to nothing else on offer before Christmas, so it was that or nothing for Cardiff residents.
Again, the first half left me crudely disappointed. The costumes, as with Moscow City, looked like they had been re-hashed from old productions of The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. Boringly traditional the men wore white tights and puffed sleeves and the ladies in waiting even wore fairytale-style headdresses with long veils. And I knew I was in for a ride when the male lead ran vigorously onto stage with jelly leg thighs and an air of fat-kid melodrama about him.
The opening scenes were intensely unimaginative and relied on what is in actual fact a simple plot and does not need such heavy explaining to a knowledgable audience. I was relieved to be transported to the lake side and hoped that not much could go wrong with a corps of swans in white feathery tutus. No sooner had we left the Prince’s palace, however, that I soon realised I was never going to be transported to that magical land.
The screaching violins began to massacre Tchaicovsky’s beautiful score, and, hilariously, two plastic swans on a travelator began to jerk clumsily across the back of the stage - followed by another comically with a tiara on it’s head. This was, no doubt, to represent the transformation of the swans in the moonlight to their human form. But it set the tone for a ballet of farce.
The Corps were incredibly out of time, and the clunky choreography was loud and ungraceful. Once more I had the feeling of being brutally and cruelly scammed out of my money by the theatre, and was ready to leave before Miss Kolesnikova ran exuberantly onto stage.
Irina Kolesnikova is a beautiful world famous ballet dancer. Her long limbs enrapture you into her snare, suspending your breath with her every elogated movement.
She captivated me for the rest of the performance. And even made the staging and scenery of the second and third parts seem marginally better.
But Miss Kolesnikova is let down by a limp, out of time, corps de ballet, who fail to give her the support she needs to be part of a truly great Ballet company.
Miss Kolesnikova is truly the star of ballet company, and it is she who sets them apart and brings them up from the standards of the Moscow City Ballet.
Here is a clip of her at Odile in the second part:
And here earlier as Odette (note the man here is different from the performance in Cardiff):
What disappointed the most about going to see the St Petersburg ballet was the lack of innovation and use of new modern technologies. There are so many other incredible ways that the creative designers could have thought to represent the swans spell. Use of video to show certain abstract themes is becoming more and more popular in modern ballet, and should be incorporate into the Classical pieces. A video backdrop with some good graphics and phtography could have done well here to show the swans taking human form. And Matthew Bourne has only demonstrated with his latest, Dorian Gray, the vast opportunities that arise from incorporating moving image and other creative mediums into the ballet arena.
Finally, the ultimate let-down was the scewed ending. One of the best moments in Swan Lake is the final cllimactic ending of the prince diving into the lake to drown because he cannot be with his lover. A true Romeo and Juliet moment. But the directors chose to give Swan Lake a happy ending - making Odette resume her human form and live happily ever after with the Prince. This was another pathetic alteration to a stunning story of love and anguish. If Irina lives on I will continue to see the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, but without her, they are a dated company who are hindered by an inability to keep up with the times.
Britney Murders the Dance Floor
I was shocked and appalled at Britney Spears’s performance on X-factor on Saturday. After a temultuous few years of drugs, alcoholism, media scrutiny and head-shaving, it was never going to be a touch on her old highly professional and polished shows, but I was expecting something with at least a little more effort.
A testament to her former glory days, X-factor showed an edited clip of her previous music videos which, cut and pasted together, created a raunchy array of sexy top hot pop talent.
After a hyperbolic introduction by a booming voice over, we cut to the live performance with a siloutted Britney behind white curtain - the anticipation for our pop hero was immense.
The white curtain dropped to reveal a dishevelled, worn out, overweight looking Britney in what can only be described as the ultimate anticlimax.
Her performance included mostly strutting, chest push-outs, and flabby bum wiggles. If Britney was planning on making a come back you would think she would try to market herself a little differently. Perhaps as an older, mature woman, who has dealt with enough in life to produce something with a bit more emotion and a little less flesh.
But no, Britney tried to fit into the hot pants she wore when she was 19, and the result was an an abismal attempt to squash herself back into a mould of her former self - with blond head flicks and cringey hip thrusts, and little else. Brittany can never be what she was, and should stop trying.
Take the video for Slave - the first time Britney burst out of her image as a sheltered teenage virgin, and decided to show the world she was a sexually charged promiscuous man magnet, with incredibly slick dance moves and abs to die for:
Now compare to her recent performance of Circus on the X-factor;
One can give Miss Spears a little slack since she has been through a fair amount for someone so young - mark the bags under her eyes as she speaks to Dermot O’Leary. But it is the dancing ability which I so used to love her for - and for which I now mourn over.
The ultra tight Timberlake-like moves that got tweens all over the world recording, rewinding, and learning dance moves to match the pop-locking clicking catchy rhythms (as I also cordially did), were no longer there. Not even a glimmer of her former fitness, physique and talent - Britney couldn’t even manage to mark out a series of eight steps.
Her latest music video isn’t much better:
Some fellow colleagues have said it was nice to have Britney back on their screens, and at least she was a little fun. But technically the performance was a flop for dancers across the UK who must have been sitting their thinking- I could do a better job than that.
Perhaps Boris is right - we need a shot of high culture blasted into society - this mass produced pop trash, which X-factor will only continue to contribute to, does nothing for our cultural well-being or the future of good dance.
Ctrl.Alt.Shift
Cuban ballet herald, Carlos Acosta proved in Friday’s Independent that dancers are always cultural aware and tapped into the art stream. But I noticed at the bottom of the article that Carlos is an ambassador for Ctrl.Alt.Shift.
I had seen powerful stark adverts for the magazine which made bold statements about what the company stands for: co-creation, and empowering people to make a difference. The front of the magazine reads:
But from the Acosta article I found out they do so much more - and now are moving into the dance sphere to provide a platform for young people to speak out about the issues they face.
The magazine comes out quarterly, there’s a web community, there are flash protests. Sam Roddick on BBC Breakfast calls it “satirical and cutting edge”.
After a bit of research I soon realised that I nearly let something incredibly unique and special slip past my notice - Ctrl.Alt.Shift’s recent production at Sadler’s Wells:
See the video here.
No wonder Mr Acosta is on board (along with Nitin Sawhney). The company has a number of outreach and creative programs aimed to bring young people together in new and innovative ways. I wish I could have been there to see the performance at Sadler’s Wells today - a collaboration with the London’s top dance venue to use the medium of movement to explore issues surrounding HIV and modern Africa in the UK (to music from The Streets, GoldieLocks and Mystery Jets). The performance would also feature videos showing the journey each dance group took to create their work.
I hope to speak to one of the organisers to find out more about this exciting new venture. Visit www.ctrl.alt.shift.co.uk for more info.
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to the Digital Dancer.
Here we will discuss all new things happening on the dancing stage to do with digital advances and use of technology.
Ballet is often seen as an art form which is stuck in tradition and averse to modernisation.
But new bright things are happening in the ballet and contemporary dance world which must not go unnoticed.
Here I will document things new interesting things from various performances and aim to interview the young aspiring choreographers dominating the modern dance scene.
Watch this space for the first blog coming soon.
