English National Ballet: Akram Khan’s Creature

[alison]

BTW, with regard to understanding the piece, it's worth mentioning that there was a useful article in this month's Links which went into quite a bit of detail about what the production was about.

[LinMM]

I didn’t see any notices about loud music yesterday but then just headed straight up the stairs to the top level and sat at one of the tables up there after buying a programme which I didn’t read properly just looked at the piccies and then got chatting to a friend. So wasn’t looking around very much. 

[Jan McNulty]

There are 12 reviews and a gallery in Today's Links - do take a look:

 

 

[Ian Macmillan]

12 reviews and a gallery feature!  Can anyone remember when we last had a first clutch of reviews on that scale?  

[Sim]

Thanks Jan.  Zoe Anderson is the lone voice who is full of praise!  Very glad that Jeffrey Cirio has garnered great reviews across the board.  

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

Thanks Jan.  Zoe Anderson is the lone voice who is full of praise!  Very glad that Jeffery Cirio has garnered great reviews across the board.  

Was Zoe there? The ballet is not, I think, a re-telling of the Frankenstein story, is it?

[Sim]

6 hours ago, capybara said:

Was Zoe there? The ballet is not, I think, a re-telling of the Frankenstein story, is it?

I couldn’t read the review properly as it is behind a paywall.  I haven’t seen the show yet but from what I have read it’s based on Wozzak (sp.?) with a bit of Frankenstein thrown into the mix.  

[simonbfisher]

“We left Giselle at the end of Act 1 … and now I am going to write my verdict on the whole ballet, though I have no idea what happens in Act 2.”
 

No, that doesn’t work, does it.

 

We left S W at the very end of Creature, standing ovation and cheers and all, very moved, and with a lot to think about. Thematically linked to Büchner and to Shelley, but very much its own creature (ahem), the desperation of the relationship with Marie, her helpless drudgery, the Creature’s wondering love, their beautiful pdd (actually a pd3 with a mop - think Cinderella and her broom then immediately forget her again), all make this readable as a love story. But it is much more than that. The manipulation of the Creature and the rest of the crew by the mad-Leontes-clad Major was a political statement; the decrepitude and eventual collapse of the set, their world, is too close to our own situation for comfort. Plenty to get one’s teeth into as far as the unravelling of the ideas is concerned.

 

Jeffrey Cirio, and the choreography created on the Creature himself, were extraordinary. He flows, he jitters, he silently screams, he weeps - quite beautifully. How he managed still to be standing at the end was a marvel. The movements of the Corps were mesmerising - and though repetitive at times, never tediously so. Repetition is their life, after all. All the supporting principal roles were clearly defined and clearly danced. Poor Marie and her broom have come in for a lot of stick (sorry) on here but we thought she was a fully developed and tragic figure - her acting and her dancing (when permitted, which given her lowly status was not often) were heart-rending.

 

Yes it was loud. The initial moments made our seats vibrate, but it was not constant and grew less noticeable as the ballet went on. As inveterate tutters at background muzak in restaurants we were not unduly disturbed. It is subjective, I know. The music in Act 2 with its assimilation of the Boléro was fascinating, and the voiceovers - of which we are not automatic fans - made sense and added to the helplessness of these last (?) humans, creatures all.
 

We have booked to see it again. 

[LinMM]

Well I stated clearly in my initial comments on this thread that I only saw the first Act so could only judge it on what I saw. 
I don’t think anybody else on the Forum who left early judged the whole ballet either. 
The comparison to Giselle doesn’t quite work as friends who stayed all said the mood and music and stage setting were all pretty much the same in this ballet whereas in Giselle the two Acts are quite different!! 
I agree about Cirio and Takahashi’s performances though Cirio was wonderful in the role even just in Act one and Takahashi projected her difficult situation in wanting to engage with the Creature but not wanting to upset the “social order” of the others brilliantly as this was very subtle but came across very clearly.
None of my friends so far want to see it again though stayed for the whole two acts!
Horses for Courses I suppose but glad that some were enthused by it. 
I suspect in general it will appeal to a younger audience.  
I would like to add that in 51 years of regular Dance Performance attending I’ve only left twice before the end! 
Once last Thursday and once about ten years ago when I was too tired to stay for the 4th Act of Swan Lake ( which was the old version with the lovely ending) which is not bad going in my view!! 

Edited September 25, 2021 by LinMM

[capybara]

3 hours ago, simonbfisher said:

“We left Giselle at the end of Act 1 … and now I am going to write my verdict on the whole ballet, though I have no idea what happens in Act 2.”
 

No, that doesn’t work, does it.

 

We left S W at the very end of Creature, standing ovation and cheers and all, very moved, and with a lot to think about. Thematically linked to Büchner and to Shelley, but very much its own creature (ahem), the desperation of the relationship with Marie, her helpless drudgery, the Creature’s wondering love, their beautiful pdd (actually a pd3 with a mop - think Cinderella and her broom then immediately forget her again), all make this readable as a love story. But it is much more than that. The manipulation of the Creature and the rest of the crew by the mad-Leontes-clad Major was a political statement; the decrepitude and eventual collapse of the set, their world, is too close to our own situation for comfort. Plenty to get one’s teeth into as far as the unravelling of the ideas is concerned.

 

Jeffrey Cirio, and the choreography created on the Creature himself, were extraordinary. He flows, he jitters, he silently screams, he weeps - quite beautifully. How he managed still to be standing at the end was a marvel. The movements of the Corps were mesmerising - and though repetitive at times, never tediously so. Repetition is their life, after all. All the supporting principal roles were clearly defined and clearly danced. Poor Marie and her broom have come in for a lot of stick (sorry) on here but we thought she was a fully developed and tragic figure - her acting and her dancing (when permitted, which given her lowly status was not often) were heart-rending.

 

Yes it was loud. The initial moments made our seats vibrate, but it was not constant and grew less noticeable as the ballet went on. As inveterate tutters at background muzak in restaurants we were not unduly disturbed. It is subjective, I know. The music in Act 2 with its assimilation of the Boléro was fascinating, and the voiceovers - of which we are not automatic fans - made sense and added to the helplessness of these last (?) humans, creatures all.
 

We have booked to see it again. 

 

You make some very good and interesting points here, Simon.

You also make me wonder whether it is (more than usually) beneficial to watch Creature with someone whom one can process the ballet with? I, for one, have shared thoughts on this thread which might have been better aired in a conversational exchange of reactions.

 

 

[annamk]

4 hours ago, simonbfisher said:

“We left Giselle at the end of Act 1 … and now I am going to write my verdict on the whole ballet, though I have no idea what happens in Act 2.”
 

No, that doesn’t work, does it.

 

 

 

Well OUCH ! 

 

I said I left at the interval and I wrote my piece on the part of the ballet I saw; I have no idea why you think that doesn't work. 

 

It's great that you loved it, I went very much wanting to but I sat through Act 1 twice and both times I found it unbearable. 

 

 

 

 

[LinMM]

Generally I only leave comments here on this forum which are positive about dancers and ballets I’ve seen. So does it mean that if you do feel negative about something it is better not to comment at all? 
Im happy to keep my experiences to myself if people feel being negative (occasionally) is inappropriate rather than others undermine that what I experienced was real for me. 
 

[Lizbie1]

If the first half doesn't provide sufficient incentive for a fee-paying member of the audience to stay for the second, then that in itself is a valid criticism.

[Sim]

44 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Generally I only leave comments here on this forum which are positive about dancers and ballets I’ve seen. So does it mean that if you do feel negative about something it is better not to comment at all? 
Im happy to keep my experiences to myself if people feel being negative (occasionally) is inappropriate rather than others undermine that what I experienced was real for me. 
 

Absolutely not, Lin. Constructive negative comments are very welcome.    

[bridiem]

19 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

If the first half doesn't provide sufficient incentive for a fee-paying member of the audience to stay for the second, then that in itself is a valid criticism.

 

Precisely. If someone is being paid to write a critique of the work, they have to stay to the end to give a full account of it; if anyone else is so unimpressed after an hour of it that they leave, they have every right to share that experience with others as long as they make it clear that they didn't stay for the whole work. People who post on this forum love dance/ballet and from my memory hardly ever leave before the end of a work, so the fact that so many did is I think both sad and significant. 

[LinMM]

The thing is I didn’t take leaving at the interval lightly! 
I was undecided until the very last minute before the final announcements etc for the audience to retake their seats. 
I jokingly said to a friend no doubt the second half will be really different if I leave and I’ll regret it!  Because although  I had not read the  Programme notes I did have this gut feeling that it wasn’t going to be that different (as turned out to be the case) and the thought of another hour of what felt like to me of a very loud and claustrophobic experience was just too much on that particular evening for whatever reason .....inspite of Cirios performance so far. I didn’t go out that evening with the intention of leaving early!! 

I am a supporter of ENB and currently a Friend as I have been for some years and inspite of this “lapse” I am still looking forward to seeing their Raymonda in January. 

 

[alison]

I thought ENB said there would be a link to the cast sheet on their website, but I can't find it.  Can anyone help, please?

[bangorballetboy]

7 hours ago, alison said:

I thought ENB said there would be a link to the cast sheet on their website, but I can't find it.  Can anyone help, please?

here you go: cast sheets

 

[this is the first link you find if you google “ENB creature cast sheets”]

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

here you go: cast sheets

 

[this is the first link you find if you google “ENB creature cast sheets“]

 

I was advised at SW to go to the ENB website, which I did, and under the heading Creature (at the top of the website, as you would expect) you can easily find the casting for each date, but I couldn't find the actual cast sheets with the full info. It seems from this link that you can find them if you scroll down to 'explore our blog' - but why would you do that? Maybe you can also find them under the Creature heading, but it's not obvious (at least to me...) if so.

[bangorballetboy]

If you ever want to find online cast sheets, I find google is the easiest (and usually quickest) way.

[alison]

Hmm, yes, clearly it is - thanks, BBB.  But having been directed to the ENB website to look for them, I did expect to be able to find them there quite easily without using Google

 

Edit: Ah, so it appears on the blog.  That's something else I haven't yet been able to spot an intuitive link to.

[alison]

Anyway, getting back to the subject of noise levels, I took earplugs with me yesterday but found I didn't actually need to use them.  I found the sound loud, but tolerable, so I'm guessing some tweaks to the volume may have been made since Thursday.  That said, I definitely had signs of a migraine coming on last night, and have a dull headache this morning - whether there's a definite connection I wouldn't like to say.

[Pas de Quatre]

Thank you one and all for your honest opinions, this will save me wasting money on a ticket.  I was one of the few on this board who didn't really like Akram Khan's Giselle either.  To my mind the choreographic content was repetitive and and not very original, so I was bored.  It could have been condensed into a satisfying 1 Act ballet as some people have suggested for Creature.  For the same reasons, I no longer go to see Hofesh Schecter works, too loud, dazzled by light directed at the audience, and ultimately not very interesting or satisfying!

[Richard LH]

4 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

I was one of the few on this board who didn't really like Akram Khan's Giselle either. 

I couldn't stand it, frankly!

[Josette]

I have tickets to see two performances of Creature in February in Chicago.  I will take earplugs.

[LinMM]

If you didn’t like Khans Giselle I think it will be much harder to like Creature!! 
Though of course you never know...Creature could strike a chord with you in some way so I’d never say don’t go and see it!! 
His Giselle could never replace the original no way but if you can think of it as a different ballet then it can work or did for me. 
His Giselle was a bit loud but not as loud as Creature was ....but whether that’s down to Sadlers Wells itself I don’t know as I saw Giselle in Southampton. 
However there is so much more variety taking place on the stage in the Giselle at least some scene changes!! It seemed a lot more relatable to for me. There was also a lot more contrast between the first and second Acts! 
And yes I know .....I haven’t seen the second Act of Creature yet.....but from what others who I trust say it doesn’t change much between the Acts in both atmosphere or musically. 

Perhaps ultimately I just don’t share Khans ultra bleak view of humanity ...in the ancient and ongoing struggle between Darkness and Light I tend to think Light will prevail.....although if he’s going to be proved right in this I just hope I’m long gone by then!! 
 

[fromthebalcony]

I have read all the comments with interest, as I have tickets for Chicago. I loved Khan's Giselle, although I thought the corps dancing in the second act was a bit weak. I also thought some of the music was loud, but grew accustomed to it as the ballet progressed.  I have seen enough of the Creature videos and have followed the dancers' comments on Instagram to know that, although a bleak story, that, at the very least, I will appreciate the work that has gone into the production. I am glad I am going to see it twice, as I often times need several viewings of a production before I can appreciate it. I will certainly be reading the plot/production notes. It's interesting. I saw many people comparing the rape scene to Manon. I think about Manon, and if I did not know the story, if I were a first time ballet attendee, I would definitely need to read the plot notes. 

 

I know the world seems bleak right now, and people might just want to go to the ballet for a reprieve. However, I really do believe from hearing Khan speak about the ballet, and listening to and reading what Cirio and Takahashi have to say, the work has meaning. One of the things worth remembering here is Khan's heritage and his viewpoint as a minority, and potentially an "outcast" himself. I wonder also about the first cast of Cirio/Takahashi and their potential feelings of portraying their roles, especially Cirio as an outcast creature, considering their minority status. These are all just thoughts I am mulling over - I am looking forward to seeing it for myself to make the determination. I certainly appreciate all viewpoints represented here, but much of the time, I try to follow the dancers' and their feelings on new works like this. To me, it seemed as though they were all touched immensely by dancing in this work. That speaks volumes to me.

 

I also remembered an article from a few years ago that I thought pertinent here:

 

https://www.out.com/theater-dance/2015/10/30/where-are-todays-political-ballets

[bridiem]

36 minutes ago, fromthebalcony said:

I have read all the comments with interest, as I have tickets for Chicago. I loved Khan's Giselle, although I thought the corps dancing in the second act was a bit weak. I also thought some of the music was loud, but grew accustomed to it as the ballet progressed.  I have seen enough of the Creature videos and have followed the dancers' comments on Instagram to know that, although a bleak story, that, at the very least, I will appreciate the work that has gone into the production. I am glad I am going to see it twice, as I often times need several viewings of a production before I can appreciate it. I will certainly be reading the plot/production notes. It's interesting. I saw many people comparing the rape scene to Manon. I think about Manon, and if I did not know the story, if I were a first time ballet attendee, I would definitely need to read the plot notes. 

 

I know the world seems bleak right now, and people might just want to go to the ballet for a reprieve. However, I really do believe from hearing Khan speak about the ballet, and listening to and reading what Cirio and Takahashi have to say, the work has meaning. One of the things worth remembering here is Khan's heritage and his viewpoint as a minority, and potentially an "outcast" himself. I wonder also about the first cast of Cirio/Takahashi and their potential feelings of portraying their roles, especially Cirio as an outcast creature, considering their minority status. These are all just thoughts I am mulling over - I am looking forward to seeing it for myself to make the determination. I certainly appreciate all viewpoints represented here, but much of the time, I try to follow the dancers' and their feelings on new works like this. To me, it seemed as though they were all touched immensely by dancing in this work. That speaks volumes to me.

 

I also remembered an article from a few years ago that I thought pertinent here:

 

https://www.out.com/theater-dance/2015/10/30/where-are-todays-political-ballets

 

I understand what you're saying, fromthebalcony, but I think that ultimately all that matters is what appears on stage - that's the only standard by which a work can or should be judged. But I hope you do enjoy it!

[Beryl H]

I'm in two minds about going, the fact the it's so easy now to get Gift Certificates from the ROH and SW makes it easier to cancel too. Did anyone see Isaac Hernandez on Saturday afternoon, a good review might help.

 

I'm wondering how the music for Midnight Bell will sound at SW, at the small Theatre Royal it was perfect, it used a recorded soundtrack as there are short songs which the dancers mime to, although it is an original brilliant score, hope it doesn't suffer through over-amplification too! It says in the programme that SW is the only larger venue the tour is playing at.

[Scheherezade]

I haven't yet posted my reaction to Thursday night's Creature, partly because I found the experience so disturbing and partly because I wanted to see how I would feel, and what I would recall, after the intervening weekend.

 

I did stay to the end and whilst I agree that a clapometer at the interval would have recorded a very muted response, I do feel that the relentlessly gut-wrenching content of act 1 would have made it very difficult to erupt into loud and spontaneous applause. This was not, however, the reaction when the cast, choreographer, conductor and production team came onstage to take their bows to a prolonged and very noisy show of appreciation.

 

I came to the production more or less blind, having deliberately avoided any videos, interviews, articles or other discussions about the work. I knew that the idea had moved on from Frankenstein to, possibly, Woyzeck, and correctly assumed that this would be portrayed in the distinctive Kathak-inspired manner that we have come to expect from Akram Khan (ie a variation on his uber-successful Giselle) but that apart, I hadn't a clue as to the content, the characters, their motivations or the message.

 

Cue the repetitive, cut and paste voice-over giving a sinister emphasis to fragments of Richard Nixon's conversation with the Apollo 11 astronauts which, coupled with Jeffrey Cirio's jerkily ominous responses, signposted the fact that he was the victim of a less than benevolent experiment. I wasn't able to pick up on the sub-Arctic location or the reason for the experiment. I was, however, uncomfortably aware of Vincenzo Lamagna's highly amplified 'sound design' which was so overwhelmingly loud that I was extremely surprised to see that Gavin Sutherland and the ENB Philharmonic were also performing live. For those who left at half time, there was a fairly short and notably lyrical choral section towards the end that served as an effective counterpoint to the rest of the score.

 

If asked to describe the production in six words, those words would be: powerful, poignant, terrifying, disturbing, uncomfortable and bleak. Unremittingly bleak. There was an unsettling sense of unease throughout that I found extremely difficult to shake off and for that reason I won't be returning for a second viewing in a hurry but for all of that I do feel that Creature has something to say and for that reason alone I would urge anyone who has not yet seen it to go, and sit through, at least once.

 

Another, and many might say far more compelling, reason to go along is the quality of the dancing. Jeffrey Cirio is utterly electrifying as the eponymous Creature and Erina Takahashi's gentle, downtrodden keeper, Marie, served to highlight both the horrific fate of the Creature and the sadistic brutality of Fabian Reimair's Major. There were notable performances, too, from each of the remaining soloists: Ken Saruhashi's Captain was danced with dash and elan when given the chance but I couldn't at all figure out why he was there (perhaps the programme notes would have helped) and the same has to be said for Stina Quagebeur's Doctor, whilst Victor Prigent's sympathetic Andres, the only other character with any trace of compassion, could easily have been missed in this unsettling exploration of the darkest corners of humanity. As others have pointed out, all of these secondary characters were woefully undeveloped and underused when, with a little more dramatic narrative, they could have brought some much-needed light and shade to this bleak and overwhelming study of helplessness, hopelessness and despair.

 

As it was, we were left with a world of control, exploitation and abuse; a world peopled by a robotic army ruthlessly trained to pledge absolute obedience to its sadistic commander, A world in which the worst face of the holocaust was transposed to a dystopian future devoid of compassion and all but the faintest glimmer of humanity.

 

From the whoops and cheers at the end - and make no mistake, they were richly deserved by a cast that gave their absolute all - I would imagine that Creature will resonate far more with a young audience, although having said that, part way through the first act my daughter whispered to me: "I don't like this", and when, after the interval, she asked her equally young neighbour what her impressions were, her neighbour remarked that she would have preferred something uplifting like the recent run of Singin' in the Rain, more particularly during a global pandemic.

 

Perhaps, then, it would be more accurate to say that Creature is more likely to appeal to a young audience that has not developed a prevailing appreciation for classical ballet. Because whatever my own misgivings, I cannot help thinking that for anyone who questions whether classical dance has a future, the answer would be: "This is it".

 

 

 

 

 

[alison]

2 hours ago, Beryl H said:

Did anyone see Isaac Hernandez on Saturday afternoon, a good review might help.

 

 

Yes, I did.  I thought he was very good, but as my first viewing of a completely new work I have nothing/nobody to compare to.  What I would say is that the title role looks to be a hugely demanding one for the dancer, physically and emotionally.

 

My immediate reactions were that I thought the first act could probably do with some trimming, and that I wasn't sure whether it was a work which might not be appreciated better from closer to than the Second Circle.  I realised several times, especially during the second act, that my attention had been in the wrong place, and that I'd missed important things happening.  I think also a more complete view of the set might have helped.

 

This is all said on the basis of having skim-read the interview with Khan that I highlighted the other day, but with no other input prior to the performance.  I'll probably post some more thoughts once I've had a chance to see it again, but at the moment I'm still digesting it.

[maryrosesatonapin]

8 hours ago, fromthebalcony said:

.... Cirio as an outcast creature, considering their minority status.

After feeling repulsed by Khan's Giselle (IMO the moments of electrifying choreography did not nullify the truly horrendous 'music') I have no intention of going to see Creature, but I very much appreciate everyone's reviews here.  

A question re Cirio though - does he have a minority status? Is that how he sees himself?  Just curious.  I bet his performance was stunning!  But, for me. the described soundtrack would eliminate any enjoyment of the dancers' abilities.

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, maryrosesatonapin said:

A question re Cirio though - does he have a minority status? Is that how he sees himself? 

 

His father was born in the Philippines. I have no idea how he sees himself, though.

 

He is a superb dancer IMO - my favourite of the ENB men.