The Royal Ballet: Frankenstein, May 2016

[Balletfanp]

Not all of us see Frankenstein as poor new work - improvements needed, yes - but not poor.

[Lindsay]

I understand that. That's why I said "some critics".

 

As one of the moderators said on a recent thread, the aim is for this to be a discussion site rather than a fan site and discussion can mean disagreement. I have tried to be civil and backed up my points with reasoned argument so I don't think there's any need to be defensive.

[Balletfanp]

I'm not being defensive - and yes, this is a discussion site. But since there have been a number of quite negative comments about Frankenstein (and I wasn't intending to single out anyone's in particular), I just wanted to make the point that a number of us really enjoyed it.

[Tony Newcombe]

I'm not being defensive - and yes, this is a discussion site. But since there have been a number of quite negative comments about Frankenstein (and I wasn't intending to single out anyone's in particular), I just wanted to make the point that a number of us really enjoyed it.

The audience responses at the performances I have seen, would suggest that the number was very high

[FLOSS]

There have been some interesting comments made about Scarlett's choice of choreographic language for this ballet and a suggestion that his dance vocabulary is fifty years behind the times. I suspect that if this work is finally judged to be a failure it won't be because the choreography was not sufficiently innovative and the vocabulary was firmly based on classroom steps, but because the ballet did not deliver the goods as far as effective story telling is concerned. This after all is a narrative work and the first job of a story ballet is to tell the story and not get bogged down in the doings of the subsidiary characters. The main problem with this ballet in its current state, it seems to me, is that there are occasions in which Scarlett has taken his eye off the essentials of the story and has given minor characters and events too much stage time and perhaps skimped some of the really important elements of the story. Those are short comings that are capable of remedy and may be sorted out when the ballet is in staged in San Francisco.

 

I don't think that it is reasonable to ask that choreographers should use new choreographic ideas in every ballet that they makes. Not everyone who is asked to create dance works is a born choreographer, and many who are, by which I mean that they have a facility for devising sequences of steps and giving them the structure that we associate with ballet, never achieve more than mere competence in their craft.It is for the choreographer to choose the dance language which appears to him/her most suited for the dance work which is being created. This choice will include selecting dance movements and styles which suit the cast and show them to best advantage and, in the case of a narrative work,ones which suit the characters and the situations in which they find themselves. A choreographer creating a ballet evoking a particular time or place will also have to make these choices. A critic is entitled to point out when there is a total mismatch between the subject and vocabulary or when the vocabulary is excessively limited but that is the limit of their permitted involvement.

 

Whatever this ballet is, it is not a story about a couple destroyed by sexual passion such as Manon, and as a result I am not surprised by the lack of passion and abandon in the pas de deux for Victor and Elizabeth. I think that we are expected to see their relationship as one of mutual love and affection rather than passion simply because they have grown up together. Remember Elizabeth is a subsidiary character and it is the story of Victor and his creation which should be at the centre of this work. This ballet tells the story of a man who plays God and who, because he creates a living being and challenges the divine order of the universe, is punished for his transgression.It is about over whelming intellectual ambition and hubris not love or lust.The society in which Victor lives is the well ordered world of the eighteenth century and we need to understand that and know what normal looks like, in order to see the effect of Victor's actions . If the audience does not know the norms of this society through what it sees on stage how is it to identify the appalling impact of his creation and his relationship with it?

 

It could just be that the very lack of choreographic innovation is deliberate.It could be that Scarlett expects his audience to be sufficiently savvy to understand that the set pieces for the corps in the birthday celebrations in act 2 and the wedding celebrations in act 3 are a deliberate evocation of ballet's ordered world rather than the result of a lack of imagination on his part. He might even have hoped that a few of us might have noticed and appreciated the references to Petipa and Ashton in this work a bit like Ashton expected his audience to appreciate his use and modification of a short section from La Boutique Fantasque in his own Les Rendezvous.

 

As for the critics they may be of assistance if you can find one who seems to see ballet performances in the way that you do but they are not reliable judges of the quality of new works or their staying power. I think that the only Ashton work that received their universal praise at its premiere was Fille while they were universal in their dislike of MacMillan's Manon.

Edited May 22, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jane S]

Plus ça change - this was the summing up from Peter Williams, editor of Dance and Dancers, of the first performances of Manon:

 

"I can think of no three-act work, apart possibly from Lavrovsky's ffirst ballet to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, that was considered totally successful from the outset. I am certain that with imaginative re-orchestration of the score, some judicious pruning, with the story clarified in greater production sense (perhaps a theatre producer shoud be engaged for all full-length ballets) then I think Manon could become a work of lasting value to the Royal Ballet's repertory."

 

And incidentally, I don't think even Fille was universally proclaimed a masterpiece at first - I can remember at least one critic frothing with rage about it!

[FLOSS]

Jane. I bow to your superior knowledge perhaps I should amend my comments about Fille by saying it had near universal acclaim. But that does not spoil the point that I was trying to make that professional critics have a long and inglorious history of getting it wrong, whether they are writing about ballet, opera, the spoken theatre or books. Many critics loathed Sleeping Beauty because they did not consider it a real ballet.The Times of London denounced Rigoletto as being "the most uninspired, the barest and the most destitute of ingenious contrivance" while in Paris critics declared that the opera "has barely any chance of being kept in the repertoire". As for academics well I have lost count of the number of them who denounced Dickens because he was not Tolstoy or any other major European writer you care to mention. Presumably the problem with Dickens was the fact that he was read by a large proportion of the population rather than being only known to the enlightened few.

Edited May 22, 2016 by FLOSS

[LinMM]

I think that there have been some very informed reviews of this ballet and I cannot possibly comment with the level of knowledge some people on this Forum have about ballets and their choreographers.

I tend to want to give choreographers the benefit of the doubt .....in the sense that when they were creating they had a definite purpose and goals in mind......however when they (or anybody creating anything) really put themselves on the line they just never know whether others will "get" what they were trying to do.......where they were coming from......and of course it's impossible to please everybody!!

 

It's very difficult to for me to judge any new work on a one off viewing as I think there is to much to take in and it's easy to miss things which on future viewings may strike you (how can I have missed that!) ......all I can say is whether overall I enjoyed it and ..crucially.. would I want to go and see it again.

 

Well I went on Wednesday the 18th so saw the original cast and I did enjoy Frankenstein and I do want to see it again so at least on that score Scarlett has been successful for me.

 

I thought the sets for the first Act were very good especially the recreation of that old Medical theatre and some of the affects as good as many a film on the subject......I wouldn't have liked to have been McRae underneath that contraption going up and down....stage props can be a tad scary at times....but it did its job.

There was some lovely dancing between Bonelli and Morera but I agree with others who say this was not about a "great passionate affair" Victor always seems to have that preoccupation which doesn't allow for full on passion but is a more gentle affair and Morera portrays her tenderness and concern for Victor beautifully....with great artistry form her throughout.

After all his efforts I did think it would take more than a few bottles being thrown around for Victor to so immediately reject his creation .....perhaps more interaction here? .....but perhaps it is like this in the book....does he try to get to know him in the book?

In films on the story he is usually at loose wanting to be accepted by others but being rejected....this largely shown in Act two in the ballet.

For me Act two went on a just a bit long inspite of some pretty splendid dancing from the boy who played William ......and I thought this was a brave decision by Scarlett to give so much of the dancing to such a young dancer....one of the things I may have missed here is seeing Frankenstein plant the locket on Justine .....so although I knew this from the notes .....if I hadn't had any I wouldn't have known how it came to be in her possession. Although it was very well done the subsequent hanging of Justine all seemed a bit over the top .....as if she would have killed William ...unbelievable ......but maybe to show that unpleasant side of humans ......too quick to judge sometimes.... ..which ties in with what Victor has created in Frankenstein.....somebody not so monstrous .....rather too human like for comfort!!

Act three was very dramatic and I think my favourite of the three Acts. Although at first in the ballroom scene ... did a bit of a double take on the costumes ......and even the score here .....a feeling of dejas vue from somewhere....had we suddenly dropped into Cinderella?.....However I liked the dancing in this and Frankenstein haunting the scene.....absolutely brilliant form McRae here to convey this menace so well....

The pas de deux between Frankenstein and Elizabeth just terrific from the two leads..... Morera communicating her absolute horror of what was happening so well. The final confrontation between Victor and what he had created was edge of the seat stuff and I thought again McRae was brilliant in creating the pathos of his rejection......a definite sense of huge loss and waste and misunderstanding ......so relevant for current times....as he walks at the end into the flames.

 

It is interesting why Scarlett chose this theme ....perhaps he has said somewhere......I didn't buy the full programme at £7 just the cast list and brief notes on the storyline. But I'd does have some modern resonance ......we are still trying to recreate ourselves via Artificial Intelligence etc....So perhaps there are still some lessons to be learned from Frankenstein! Creator beware!

 

Anyway I would like to see again and can recommend a trip to see it for those who haven't as yet ...and it will be interesting to see ..if ..or what Scarlett feels he needs to change. The irony is can one ever be completely satisfied with anything one has created?

[jmhopton]

Like LinMM above I too wanted to see Frankenstein again as I enjoyed it at first viewing but there was just so much going on I felt I needed to see it again. However, not living near London and having used up all my ballet budget for this season I had to make do with the Preston Odeon last Wednesday and Southport today as Preston wasn't showing the encore performances. However, huge disappointment, the encore performance was cancelled due to technical problems that I think was related to the satellite. I have already posted my experience on the ROH website and asked why they had to rely on satellite as it wasn't a live broadcast and surely a filmed copy could have been sent to encore cinemas. The staff at the cinema couldn't have been more friendly and helpful but it was a wasted afternoon and a huge disappointment not to see Frankenstein again, especially as it's not scheduled for next season at the ROH.

[Pulcinella]

I wish I could join in with this discussion but being unable to see it at the ROH or the live cinema broadcast I was looking forward to seeing it this afternoon at an encore showing only for the cinema not to get a satellite feed so I have now missed my chance.

[Angela]

Not everyone who is asked to create dance works is a born choreographer, and many who are, by which I mean that they have a facility for devising sequences of steps and giving them the structure that we associate with ballet, never achieve more than mere competence in their craft.

 

Exactly. That's what I thought about this ballet. Unintentionally, your words may be worse than every bad review, because I think "competent" or craftsmanship is not enough for a great ballet. I want the born choreographer, that spark of art, imagination, fantasy, different. If he can tell a story: fine. If he invents new, exciting steps: fine. If he uses just the old steps and nothing else, but I have to cry or think about it several days afterwards: wonderful. For me, nothing of this happened after Frankenstein.

 

I don't think it helps Scarlett if you put him in one row with MacMillan, Ashton, Petipa and even Dickens just because at some point in their career they got mixed reviews, too.

[Fiz]

We went to see Frankenstein again. I love it even more. The pathos and pain are real qualities in it. The dancing was faultless. For me, Steven MCrae has come of age in the role of the Creature. I cried twice, when he was dancing with William and again at the end plus there were chunks of misery when Justine is falsely accused and hanged and for Elizabeth's bewilderment and the horror of her final pas de deux. I think the tavern scene could be usefully omitted and the time used to show Victor's growing obsession with reanimation and the rest of the time to show more of the Creature's alienation from society. That is my only niggle.

[Fonty]

I was hoping to watch this at the cinema, but unfortunately I had another commitment today.  I thing there is one showing at a local cinema on Wednesday, fingers crossed I can see that.

 

So, not having seen it, I would be interested to know how Scarlett is able to interpret the music.  For me, ballet is the visualisation of music.  I don't necessarily want innovation, or wonderfully unique combinations of steps.  I just want to feel that the dancers are at one with the score.  Of course, this does depend on how good the music is, but even if it is not particularly memorable, at least I want to feel moved by the sight of choreography which strives to link up with the music in the best way possible. 

[cavycapers]

So I rocked up at my local Odeon tonight to see the encore and was told it was this afternoon! Did anyone else have this problem? I remember thinking when I read it that it was later than usual when I was putting it in my diary, but thought maybe it was for the adult content. Did I read it wrong, or did anyone else see it advertised at this time?

[Guest Guest]

So annoyed to be deprived of seeing the Frankenstein Encore by Vue.  I learnt today that ROH Encore screenings are either delivered by satellite feed or venues can record locally and screen within 7 day of the live broadcast.  To avoid the risk of disappointment again I'm going to check this in advance from now on and stick with the cinemas that offer the latter. My impression unfortunately is the big chains like Vue don't care about the ballet/opera audiences enough as it's not a big source of revenue for them.

[Timmie]

Yasmine Naghdi as Justine, the most heartbreaking one for me

 

Naghdi was the most heartbreaking Justine of them all.

 

For once I’m almost glad to have missed a Naghdi performance! Watching Meaghan Grace Hinkis hang was horrifying enough for me.

 

there were chunks of misery when Justine is falsely accused and hanged

 

That hanging scene was truly disturbing - almost taking it too far I thought. 

[pianolady]

Saw the encore screening this afternoon- I found dancing, music and choreography had me hooked from the very beginning and those sets were superb I thought. The Creature had me moved to tears- for me the ballet captured the horror and the pathos- even after everything that happened, it left that sense of pity and horror which is the mark of tragedy. I especially liked the way the Creature weaved into the ballroom scene- I took this as weaving into Victor's imagination before appearing for real.

 

A couple of small things- I really liked the simplicity of the symbolic, recurring red and blue colour schemes of the costumes and backcloths - the only thing was that the dancers didn't always show up very well in the ballroom scene at the beginning. Also, the Creature appeared twice from behind Victor in Act 2, bringing a slightly comic panto effect of 'he's behind you' to my mind which was distracting from the drama- creeping up on Victor more from a side angle would have avoided this.

 

I'm in two minds about the hanging scene- I agree it was horrific- although of course it brought home the horror of Victor/the Creature's actions all the more. I loved the arrogant surgeon in Act 1, brilliant acting, and his dismissive and flirtatious attitude to the female nurses chimed in well with the theme of difference that ran through the ballet- I thought this was brought out well, with the class difference of Justine, the inferior position of the women within the dissecting room, and ultimately culminating in the difference of the Creature. I agree the Tavern scene might have been better replaced with more focus on Victor and the Creature- or with Victor's creation and destruction of the female creature.

[alison]

I'd forgotten - I'm sure I had to suppress the urge to shout "He's behind you!" at one point in the proceedings

[LinMM]

Really sorry for those who missed this because of problems at the cinema how disappointing for you......but the ballet will come back into Rep again I'm sure as it deserves to.

 

That evening last Wednesday I think I had had my fill of horror in the end.

I'm reading the new short story collection by Mark Hadden at the moment and these are VERY dark indeed.

 

After watching Frankenstein and the haunting images of the final Act I went home and was reading the end of the story "The Island" in bed ........a wonder I didn't have nightmares .....enough horror for one evening I think.

[Alice Shortcake]

I wonder if 'Frankenstein' will be released on DVD?

[Fiz]

I've just asked the Royal Ballet that on Twitter, Alice. No reply as yet.

[Mummykool]

I wonder if 'Frankenstein' will be released on DVD?

I can't see how they can given San Francisco Ballet have yet to premiere it. There were distribution restrictions in the USA for or that reason.

 

Shame as I'd love a copy.....

[Fiz]

I forgot about that. Yes, they won't release before the premiere by San Francisco ballet.

[Mummykool]

According to the ROH website this morning, they are in talks about releasing a DVD. Fingers crossed....

[Fiz]

That is good news! I suppose the DVD could be encoded so it wouldn't play across the Atlantic.

[Alice Shortcake]

I've just had a reply from the ROH - a DVD of 'Frankenstein' is in the works but it won't be released for six months or so, probably in time for Christmas!

[Fiz]

I know what I want for Christmas then! Thanks, Alice!

[Mary]

I hope the dvd is the first cast because McRae's performance  deserves to be preserved. It is the one thing that has stayed with me from seeing the ballet last week. A very haunting, and in fact tragic performance. As happens so often, the applause burst out before the very end, which was a great shame-  I did want to savour his walk into the flames: it was a brilliant moment.

[JennyTaylor]

I had my 2nd viewing tonight. Tristan Dyer and Sarah Lamb (same as I saw last time) but otherwise different and Nehemiah Kish as the Creature.

 

I liked it more but also retained some of my initial sensations.

 

Act 1 - enjoyed but no emotional highs

Act 2 - dull.  This frustrates me a lot as there is so much story line in here. I can't fault the dancers at all, for me it just doesn't take off emotionally.

Act 3 - now I know it's Cinderella, I'm fine with that, as I like Cinderella. Really concentrated on the Creature and how he flits in and out.  Final climax was tremendous. All 3 dancers gave their all and the final 2 pdds were exceptional.

The audience reaction was extremely enthusiastic and there were some standing in the Orch Stalls. I think Act 3 and the climax carries it.  If only we could reach those peaks a little earlier too. 

 

Loved Nehemiah Kish as the Creature, very moving performance. One of the best things I have ever seen him do.  Now, if he is such a good dramatic actor, what would he make of Rudolf? Just a thought.  Along with many others on this Forum, I feel very strongly that the Creature is sadly underused  - more please in the 2nd iteration (I'm sure there will be one). 

 

I'm sad I didn't make it to see the 1st cast, as I do like to compare.  Oh, ROH please make some changes as this does have potential

[MAB]

Finally saw this work on Tuesday night.  It is not the worst full length ballet I've ever seen, that dubious honour goes to Le Riche's Caligula.  Had I not been with a friend I would have walked out after the first act.  I hated Winters Tale (with the exception of the middle act), but this one has not a single redeeming feature. 

 

Thank goodness for Woolf Works for reassurance that the full length genre hasn't quite died yet. 

[alison]

 

I hated Winters Tale (with the exception of the middle act), but this one has not a single redeeming feature. 

 

Not even the designs, MAB?

[Jamesrhblack]

A second viewing last night confirmed initial impressions from the premiere. There is much that is good, even more than that in Acts 2 and 3 but the structure of Act 1 doesn't work at all: there is just too much narrative exposition and it is surely significant that the emotional and dramatic temperature rises as the ballet continues as there is more dancing, and Scarlett is very good at conveying character and emotion through movement. The friend I was with, who is interested in dance but would not consider themselves an expert, picked up immediately that the Tavern scene is redundant. I'm sure it is there (as is the Tomb scene) to cover technical changes but I am sure other, more convincing choices could have been made. Certainly, Act One has too much emphasis on Victor's relationship with Elizabeth at the expense of his response to his creation. We need to see more of that if the depth of his, and The Creature's, misery is to read in Act Two.

 

Some people have grumbled about the dancing servants in first scene. Even in a narrative ballet I'm not convinced that everything has to be literal. Surely, the intention is to create an impression of a settled, hierarchical world where everything is essentially in balance as in Shakespeare's use if dance as a resolution in several of his plays

 

Similarly, isn't the return of the children in the Pas de Deux to show that as yet Victor and Elizabeth remain undeveloped emotionally. Similarly, doesn't Elizabeth wear the same dress in Act Two to show that she has remained unchanged unlike the journey that is destroying Victor?

 

As for the book, we need literally to worry that The Creature has carried it around for seven years and only now discovered it. Perhaps he'd just not realised its significance. Surely, what matters is that he finds it at a point where he is able to understand its significance.

 

This time, the Third Act registered most strongly (at the Premiere I'd found Act Two spoke most to me) and I was impressed again at the score's ability to contrast nineteenth century pastiche dance (also in Act Two) with a more broodingly intense response to the emotional situation.

 

Nehemiah Kish was tremendous. His loose, long limbs really have the impression of having been stitched together and he conveyed both real misery in his solos and malice in his interactions - the forceful courtesy to Elizabeth ("You will acknowledge me") was chilling and he was aided in this by Sarah Lamb's wonderfully expressive eyes watching with a horrified fascination. I've enjoyed Tristan Dyer in several works since he caught my eye soaring across the stage in perfect unison with Akane Takada in DGV and was interested to see him in a principal role. He has an attractive presence, beautifully neat feet and legs and an emotional directness that is very compelling, his big solo at the end of Act One was thrilling and he handled the demands of partnering Lamb and the much larger Kish extremely well, the slight awkwardness with the latter seeming almost to enhance the situation. His relatively compact stature may work against him in a wider repertoire (I appreciate that hasn't held McRae back) but this was an impressive and affecting performance.

 

Good work from Luca Acri as Henry (as fleet but less characterful than Alexander Campbell I thought), beautiful fluidity and emotional engagement from Yasmine Naghdi (more affecting for me than Meaghan Grace HInkis) and a wonderful study in icy restructure that crumbles from Kristen McNally. Hugely impressed again by Guillem Cabrera Espinach as William - a real dancing role beautifully acted too.

 

So, much to enjoy and engage with. Revisions to the Act One structure and presentation, some cuts in the dance numbers in the next two acts and cut the bodies on the steps - they just look ridiculous to me - and there could be a very accomplished ballet here that engages our minds as well as we seek to take responsibilities for our actions and behave with honesty to those around us.

[Fonty]

Finally saw this work on Tuesday night.  It is not the worst full length ballet I've ever seen, that dubious honour goes to Le Riche's Caligula.  Had I not been with a friend I would have walked out after the first act.  I hated Winters Tale (with the exception of the middle act), but this one has not a single redeeming feature. 

 

Thank goodness for Woolf Works for reassurance that the full length genre hasn't quite died yet. 

 

Not sure I would class Woolf Works as a full length ballet.  When I saw it, I thought it was 3 one act ballets united by a common theme, and any one of the acts would stand alone as part of a triple bill.