ENB Lest We Forget (April 6th, 2014)

English National Ballet's

Lest We Forget

On Sunday April 6th, I attended the matinee of the English National Ballet's Lest We Forget, a collection of four pieces commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The only ballets I'd previously seen live were The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland, both with the National Ballet of Canada, as well as recordings of Coppelia, Giselle, and Swan Lake. Essentially, all classical ballets, so seeing something more contemporary was a new experience. Overall, despite it being like nothing I'd ever seen before, I very much enjoyed Lest We Forget. I've divided my thoughts up based on each piece and a general summary at the end. Everything's point form, as I didn't take notes during the show so it's just me pulling together sometimes-vague memories. 

Disclaimer: I know very little about ballet, its terminology, the rules of choreography, etc. so if I've gotten something wrong, apologies. I'm applying my Rhythmic Gymnastics background with my small amount of knowledge of ballet (based on having danced for just under a year) and hoping for the best. But really, artistry and choreography are in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, this is all just my opinion/thoughts. 

Also, I made a point of not reading too much about the pieces before I saw them. I wanted to watch them and form an opinion on what I thought they were about and then read what they were supposed to be about, and see how well I thought they communicated the meaning. As it turned out, I 'misunderstood' most of them and actually got Second Breath and No Man's Land confused with each other. I'm not sure if that's a me thing or if that's the way it would've looked to anyone who saw it without reading the summaries of the pieces beforehand.

No Man's Land:

- Not my favourite piece of the evening, though the duet made me cry. It was so beautifully danced, and incredibly poignant. My historian brain was a little annoyed at the manipulation of facts about the death toll in WWI, but of course I understand artistic manipulation. Some things have to be… redesigned to fit the idea of the piece. 

- Main issue is that I just didn't get it. It was repetitive (same lifts over and over - this was actually an issue through most of the pieces). I got the point, but I don't think the execution was as elegant as it could've been. All gorgeous dancers of course, but too much emphasis on butt/leg stroking/patting and costume removing/replacing (seriously, keep the vest on or take it off. Pick one!)

- The yellow gloves annoyed me at first, but they grew on me. I probably would've scrapped the back of the apron for the girls; it was distracting and unnecessary. Wasn't really sure about the costume change for the principle female dancer in this piece. I probably would've kept her in the same styles of the others, but changed the colour instead of putting her in a completely different costume.

- This piece was nice and as I said, the duet made me cry, but as compared to the others it was somewhat forgettable. 

Firebird:

- Gorgeous, gorgeous dancer playing the Firebird (Kseniya Ovsyanick). Beautiful extension and lines, lovely expression. Fierce when she needed to be, but weak and vulnerable at times as well. Struggled with the costume change a bit (looked like it got caught on her shoe?) but managed to get it off in the end. She reminded me of Ganna Rizatdinova with a bit of an Obrasztsova look about her. Anyway, she was wonderful. I have a soft spot for pointe, so I liked that the girls in this dance were all en pointe. 

- Loved the guy with the solo part in the middle; powerful, fierce, very in time with the music. It was a nice moment.

- Only complaint is that the number of people in the dance could've been cut in half (four could easily have been removed). That many people seemed unnecessary. I would've removed either the 'purple' or the 'black' dancers and had their parts combined into one. There were just too many people on stage, and it didn't add anything to the piece. It got distracting, especially when they got out of time with each other. There was one point where the vast number of people worked to enhance the idea of confusion on stage and opposed to being a detriment to the focus, but I still would have whittled down the number a bit.  

- This was my favourite piece though; I liked the variety of choreography, the beautiful lifts, and the stunning costumes. The intricacies made it more interesting to watch, and the concept was probably the easiest to grasp of the four pieces. 

Second Breath:

- Mixed feelings about this piece. Some parts were incredible; the synchronisation was stunning. But it got REALLY repetitive. The were a good 90-120 seconds where they were doing the same thing over… and over… and over… It was nice the first few times but it lost its effectiveness after three or four.  

- The ensemble bits were beautifully danced though. I question the choreography a bit, but the dancing itself was stunning. It's so weird for me to see men who are expressive with gorgeous legs, arms, and feet, since I'm used to the horror that are male figure skaters and gymnasts (mostly gymnasts. I can't stand men's gymnastics). 

- Didn't like the acro-esque element at all. I think something went wrong with one bit because it looked very… wrong, as if they were struggling to compensate for an error. But the standing-on-shoulders thing was too reminiscent of Acro Gymnastics and really didn't fit with the rest of the ballet, or even the rest of the individual piece. That's the main dislike of this piece. 

- The duet in the middle was stunning. Absolutely beautiful. No awkward lifts, beautiful choreography, beautiful dancing. 

- And finally: Abs. That is all. 

Dust:

- It was cool to spot Joan Sebastian Zamora, a dancer from my favourite documentary First Position, in this. He was part of the ensemble, but it's great to see how far he's come since First Position. 

- Adored the intricacies of the 'wave' the dancers formed with their arms. It was breathtaking. 

- What I didn't like was the dancer at the beginning (and throughout the piece) contorting himself, slapping and scraping at his back, etc. I think they were trying to allude to PTSD, or the mental and physical damage done by war, but it looked a bit too exorcist (edit: apparently PTSD was not what they were getting at, but that's what it came off as). I thought it was nicely danced and obviously everyone worked very hard, but I just didn't feel the solo male dancer's character that much. Maybe the beginning bit should've been a bit shorted and that might've made the character more tolerable.  

- Really, I thought this piece was a bit weird. But weird in a good way, even if I didn't really get it. Probably my second favourite piece of the evening, after Firebird. 

The general impression of Lest We Forget is that the duets and solo dances were its strongest parts. The ensemble dances were less well choreographed (repetition galore!). However, it was a beautiful, dark, thought-provoking show, and I very much enjoyed it. Highly recommend going to see it, whether you think it's up your alley or not. It's completely not what I usually like, but definitely worth seeing.