Beauty and the Beast from Nordic Ballet – Leeds Grand Theatre

Director and Choreographer: David Nixon CBE

Conductor: Daniel Parkinson

There is something comforting about a traditional ballet. While modern media adaptations are fun and innovative (such as Matthew Bourne’s recent Edward Scissorhands revival or ongoing tournament a Peaky Blinders by Rambert Dance) and contemporary adaptations of classics breathe new life into old stories (as in the Bourne film). Romeo and Juliet), Northern Ballet are always reliable when it comes to dressing exactly what you expect, with tulle and tutus galore and to have an audience as breathless as the dancers.

beauty and the beast it very much lives up to that standard. The story is taken back to the original fairy tale, beginning with the transformation of a narcissistic Prince into a Beast when he insults the wrong fairy. Elsewhere, Beauty and her two vain sisters live with their Father and unexpectedly fall on hard times. When the Father is out looking for work, he stumbles into the Beast’s seemingly abandoned castle, trying to take a beautiful rose he sees blooming there as a gift for his favorite daughter. The Beast demands Beauty as payment for the insult. Over the next few days and weeks, they fall in love and the Beast transforms back into the Prince he once was. As the Disney movie says, it’s a story as old as time.

The ballet can be difficult to follow story-wise due to the nature of telling the plot purely through movement, but even for someone unfamiliar with the fairy tale, this adaptation would be easy to parse. The wonderful David Nixon’s choreography flows from scene to scene without any set piece overstepping its welcome. He doesn’t abuse the chorus, as is often a problem in ballet (indeed, the company’s only full dance is the final wedding). Little touches like the sisters’ petulant repeated double stamp or the servants’ close-to-the-clock jingle give real insight into the characters and who they are. This is especially evident in The Beast (Harris Beattie in this performance), whose animal movements are fascinating to watch (it’s also completely unfair how Beattie can only jump four feet up with no apparent effort). Contrasting it excellently is the wonderfully soft dancing of Beauty (Saeka Shirai). She is grace personified even as she rejects Beattie’s Beast’s initial advances. Watching the pair fall in love and truly believing that this is what ballet is all about.

But the beauty of this ballet is not only in the dance. David Nixon’s costumes are a mixture of cascading fabric and starched stiffness that really emphasize the fairytale unreality of the world while highlighting the dancer’s bodies and movements. The Beast’s ugliness is shown by emphasizing the strength of his legs and back, rather than heavy prosthetics, and really emphasizes the animal nature of the character without compromising Beattie’s dancing ability. Duncan Hayler’s set is an oppressive mass of black and green, a snakeskin feel, with hidden climbing walls. Beauty’s bed of roses is a masterpiece. Tim Mitchell’s lighting is exquisite, especially during the moon transformation scene. It all adds up to a visual feast for the eyes.

There are some odd choices though. Not bad, just weird. A delayed entry for an extended scene change. A set of leprechauns who are excellent dancers, immediately grotesque but in such a comical way that it seems to undermine the seriousness of their scenes (while that’s probably the point, they feel a bit out of place, as fun as they are to be clock tromping camp on stage). And while everything else leans towards the “traditional, if tall” design, when Beauty’s house is reclaimed, a modern truck suddenly appears on the scene, with sunglassed thugs to occupy it. The anachronistic feel is a little jarring. After this, the family ends up living in an abandoned tour bus, but its design has a wooden feel to it, so it doesn’t seem quite as out of place – it would have been interesting to see the truck created in a similar way.

On a similar note, if you’re lucky enough to have a seat overlooking the orchestra, you’ll notice that rather than the traditional formal attire, the musicians are wearing t-shirts and waving signs that say “Keep Nordic Ballet Live.” This is due to funding cuts, which from September will mean some Northern Ballet touring productions will be accompanied by recorded music rather than live. While the quality of the show would still be high, they would absolutely lose something if this decision went through, not to mention the effect on the livelihoods of the musicians themselves. The live orchestra is a character in itself and it is hoped that their petition will be successful in keeping this extra bit of magic alive. After all, music is magic in the heart Beauty and the beast, and where would we be without him?

Runs until Sunday, June 9, 2024