Review - The Red Shoes

I think it's probably pretty apparent that since I'm a ballet superfan, I'm also a superfan of the film The Red Shoes.  I've seen it many times over the years and find it to be so beautiful - the colors, the dancing, the music.  Moira Shearer is just exquisite in the lead role and the idea of a battle of love vs art is an exciting one to me.  When I saw that choreographer Matthew Bourne was working on a version of The Red Shoes for his dance company, I was thrilled.  Ever since I saw Bourne's take on Swan Lake, I've been a huge fan.  Luckily, most of his productions have been filmed, so I've been able to check them out on tv, if not in person.  But when NY City Center said they would be presenting The Red Shoes, I immediately emailed my IHBB (Impossibly Handsome Ballet Buddy) and begged him to go with me.  I'm grateful it didn't take much begging.

I also heard that my favorite ABT danseur, Marcelo Gomes, would be performing!  Double, triple, quadruple woo hoo!  I simply adore Marcelo.  At first, he had been announced as dancing the role of Craster (the composer) at all performances, but that was amended and unfortunately we didn't get to see him dance last night.  Sad face.  But the show was still wonderful, whether we saw Marcelo or not.

When I first read about the piece, I assumed that they would use the music from the film in this new show.  But in reading further, I see that they couldn't really cobble together an entire score from The Red Shoes' movie music, so Bourne instead decided to use film music by Bernard Herrmann.  I love Herrmann's music!  So that was exciting to me.  It was very cool to pick up bits and pieces from recognizable film music inside this new work of dance.  I mean, hello, the score to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one of the most memorable, romantic, yet eerie, film scores ever!  And I felt very smart last night to pick out some of the music from Citizen Kane.  One piece of music, though, drove me nuts until it came to me in the middle of the night where I first saw it (yeah, yeah, it was a Shirley Temple movie, sue me).  

photo credit: Johan Persson

So, anyway, after all that blah blah blah, I had a terrific time at the theater last night.  I thought much of Bourne's The Red Shoes was gorgeous.  The set, with its revolving proscenium curtain, so we always knew if we were watching people on-stage or backstage, was genius, and the costumes were fantastic.  They were very evocative of the period and also of the film, but weren't slavish copies, which I appreciated.  To quibble a bit, I could see how people not familiar with the film would be confused about the story, and how it unfolded via the choreography, but I didn't have a problem and everything was so beautifully danced, I could forgive the ambiguities.

Matthew Bourne's company is not a ballet company, per se, but I thought the ballet choreography was lovely, especially in the stand-alone "Red Shoes" ballet that ended the first act.  It didn't try to copy the movie, but had an energy and passion all its own.  And I really loved how the scenery and projections enhanced the movement.  We saw Ashley Shaw as Victoria Page and I thought she was perfect.  Her dancing was so airy and light and her choreography was differentiated from every other ballerina, so she looked even more unique and special and apt to stand out.  Her poignancy at the end was also very striking, in the repeated movements of wanting the red shoes off her feet.  Instead of Marcelo Gomes, we saw Dominic North as Julian Craster, the composer who falls in love with Vicky.  He had a youthful elegance in his dancing and I especially liked his solos where he was dancing while 'conducting' the orchestra.  Sam Archer was the ballet impresario Boris Lermontov, who fought Craster for Vicky's soul (well, for her artistic soul).  He cut a very dashing figure, but it was hard for me to see him as a suitably imposing third part of the triangle since he did very little dancing.  I did enjoy the duet he had with Vicky after he cast her in his new "Red Shoes" ballet, but he mainly moved to the side of each stage picture and was a still presence, watching people's every move.  I mean, that worked well enough, but maybe a little more dancing would've helped even more. 

photo credit: Andrea Mohin

I especially liked Liam Mower as the lead danseur of the company, I thought his character and personality were wonderfully portrayed, both in his on-stage and backstage personas.  He seemed a very unique dancer to me, not quite like any other I've seen, so my eyes kept moving towards him.  But, really, everyone in the company was first-rate.  Bourne is expert at casting dancers who are also wonderful actors, adept at creating memorable characters with a minimal amount of stage time.  There were a few charming little dance scenes that were good for setting time and place, and for the company to establish characterizations, in between the big emotional duets between Vicky and her two masters (love and art/Craster and Lermontov).

yikes!  where's the stage?!

As you probably expected, I had a grand time at The Red Shoes, even sitting behind a VERY TALL man (thanks, dear IHBB, for trading seats with me for the second act!).  And I would love to be able to go back and see how the other casts dance the roles, especially Marcelo Gomes and NYCB ballerina Sara Mearns, but I don't think it's going to happen this week.  Time and money are currently in short supply.  I can only hope that the production comes back to New York sometime soon so I can enjoy the lush music (though I selfishly wish it had been played by live musicians instead of via a recording, though the sound design was quite rich and full) and the lovely dancing again.  And I think my weekend may include repeat viewings of The Red Shoes and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir - I've been inspired...