The Secret Lives of Dancers

The Secret Lives of Dancers is a documentary series that goes behind the scenes of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and gives us a glimpse of life as a professional dancer. Over three series, we have got to know the lives and training demands of the troupe as they prepare to make classical ballet relevant and appealing in a modern world - and it's worked. I have now seen more live ballet performances in recent years than previously, despite a lifelong love of ballet and dance. Looking out for the dancers we 'know' performing on stage makes shows even more fun. This third series began during the lead-up to a previous tour of Giselle, which unfortunately I missed on stage.

Ballet and other performing arts are essentially about storytelling. Sets, costumes and lighting can do some of the job but it's really up to the dancers themselves to pull it off. Conveying a story without words means that dancers need to be both expressive and technically accurate. The same steps can be danced in very different ways. I was totally mesmorised by Gillian Murphy's performance as Odile/Odette in Swan Lake last year. There was simply nowhere else you could look while she was on stage.

Currently screening at 7 pm Saturdays on TV3, The Secret Lives of Dancers shows the human side of ballet and the performing arts that will appeal to all ages.

Swan Lake

The  Royal New Zealand Ballet is celebrating 60 years in 2013 and on Thursday night we saw the company perform Swan Lake, accompanied by New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Tchaikovsky's masterpiece is a fitting celebration for the ballet, who are in very fine form.

Reviews are favourable and thoroughly deserved. The set is exquisite, conveying elegance, depth and mystique around the lake, which contrasts with the opulence of the palace. The costumes are a work of art themselves and work well with the highly technical choreography. (Count those jumps on pointes!)

Gillian Murphy playing the dual roles of Odette and Odile was beyond outstanding, if that's possible. It's hard to look anywhere else when Murphy takes the stage; her performance as the vulnerable Odette contrasted with the brash, self-assured Odile is truly mesmerising. Karel Cruz's legs go on forever, making every movement seem silky smooth. Rory Fairweather-Neylan delivered a strong, energetic performance as the jester and Sir Jon Trimmer appeared for a delightful cameo.

This production deviated from the traditional ending, which was a surprise but doesn't take away from the resplendent performance. Swan Lake by the Royal New Zealand Ballet really is a must see.

The Nutcracker

I adore The Nutcracker. It's my absolute favourite ballet and the score puts me in a childlike happy place each year in the crazy lead-up to Christmas.

Last night, I ticked off one of the things on my Well, I never list when I saw Moscow Ballet perform The Nutcracker in Wellington. (I kicked myself after missing out on the Royal New Zealand Ballet production of The Nutcracker a few years ago so resolved to put it right next time the show came to town.)



This was a highly technical production with the danseur playing the Nutcracker Prince deserving the highest accolades. His dancing was simply superb! The Arabian coffee soloists with their acrobatic infused routine also stole the limelight during the Land of the Sweets solos. I don't remember the mice being so sinister in the televised versions I've seen and was surprised at how ominous the model nutcracker looked before coming to life. I also expected the Sugar Plum Fairy to be pinky-purple but she was instead resplendent in white with a silver trim.

There is a good synopsis here if you're not familiar with all the characters and how they come to life throughout the ballet. Even if you don't know all of the Nutcracker Suite, you are probably aware of the muzak versions of the beautiful Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Waltz of the Flowers and Dance of the Toy Trumpets; thanks to repetitive advertising from cleaning product manufacturers. I implore you to see and hear each piece in its intended glory on a beautiful stage. I grinned for nearly two hours!

A totally magical evening and a childhood dream. Next time, I'd love to see The Nutcracker accompanied by a live orchestra.

Cinderella

My love of dance stems from learning ballet for six years during my childhood. More recently, we enjoyed watching the first two tv series of The Secret Lives of Dancers, which followed members of the Royal New Zealand Ballet while they rehearsed to go on tour. We got to know some of the dancers, celebrated their success and felt the pain of their injuries. A highlight of the 2011 World of Wearable Art Awards was the spectacular avant garde segment featuring the Royal New Zealand Ballet and accompanied by opera singers.

The cast of Cinderella

Last night, we saw the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Cinderella at the St James Theatre in Wellington. It was a real treat to see some familiar faces on stage, including the adorable Lucy Green as Cinderella and Abigail Boyle as the fairy godmother – two of our favourites from the tv show. The two stepsisters and stepmother (who were far from ugly) provided many moments of humour. Danseurs of note included a dashing prince, an exceptional grasshopper and a rare treat in the form of an appearance by ballet great Sir Jon Trimmer.

Cinderella is a delightful performance for ballet buffs and casual fans alike. The show is on for a couple more nights in Wellington before moving on to Invercargill, so there are still some chances to catch it around the country.

Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin

I have come to love reading biographies. My reading habits nowadays usually see me alternate a fiction title with a biography or memoir of some sort. There are a few which have really stood out for me, even several years after reading them. Mao's Last Dancer (2003), by Li Cunxin, is one such title.

Li Cunxin was the sixth of seven boys born into a peasant family in rural China during the 1960s. He describes growing up in poverty in a home filled with love and support from his parents and brothers, but very little in the way of food or material possessions. Opportunities are few, but then, quite suddenly, Li is selected as a possible candidate for Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy. What initially appears to be a fairytale unfolds, although the path is not easy. Li makes it to the United States, a capitalist country he was brought up to feel sorry for, for a three-month stint with the Houston Ballet. Naturally, things are not how he was led to believe and a huge culture shock results.

The book was released this week as a movie in New Zealand. Like most books I have read that have been adapted into movies, I was a little tentative about going to see it, wondering if it could possibly live up to my expectations or my love for the book. On the whole, it was pretty good. Li's childhood had much greater prevalence in his book, and this was mostly referred to during the movie in the form of flashbacks. As was to be expected, the movie focused more on his time as a dancer, and many specific details about the Chinese communist regime were implied, rather than explained. The dancing throughout the film was spectacular and there was barely a dry eye in the theatre at one particularly emotional point (I won't give it away). Well worth checking out.

The Nutcracker

Christmas is coming. The shopping malls are playing cheesy Christmas muzak over and over, and it's only 4 December. (For the record, most of them are Christmas songs, not carols, but anyway ...) However, this also means that it's time to start listening to Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Ahhh.

A Christmas ballet, it annoys me somewhat to hear Waltz of the Flowers, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Dance of the Toy Trumpets used to advertise cleaning products all year round. (I'm a purist; I can't help it and no longer apologise for it.) A delightful traditional children's story about Clara and various toys coming to life at Christmas time, the score also stands alone as a timeless and complete work on its own. I've yet to see a live performance of The Nutcracker but hope to change that one day.

I've had a traditional wooden German nutcracker since I was about 15, when all of our music group received one as thanks for playing for their Christmas concert. While it's a bit too small to crack actual nuts, it's one of my favourite ornaments.

I've been listening to The Nutcracker today while working, for the first time this Christmas season. I thought that listening to instrumental music would be a good way to take my mind off things at work, without the risk of getting myself caught up listening to lyrics. Turns out I was wrong, as I've really enjoyed listening to all the orchestra parts, but it's made me feel a lot better about some things. :-)