TodayTchaikovsky and Twelfth Night: The Classics

nce upon a time

Tchaikovsky and Twelfth Night: The Classics Today

It is well known that a creative individual never thrives in a vacuum. They are starved of intellectual curiosity, creative flair, influences, whether they be good or bad. Any artist, writer, composer or dancer brings change to their domain, but at the same time can never fail to be a reflection of their environment. The endless interpretations of ancient stories, poetry, music and art brings new life to the original, but still retains the same elements. The most influential classic stories that have been endlessly reinvented include the works of Shakespeare and the Classical ballets. William Shakespeare is no doubt the most highly acclaimed and influential playwright of all time. His works are considered, frankly, biblical in the circles of English teachers, dramatists, actors and playwrights. Shakespeare’s plays still influence the arts today and the adaptations of his plays are always changing, yet still retain the human emotion and dramatic electricity that was evident when Queen Elizabeth I sat on the English throne. In 2015 we saw Michael Fassbender star as Macbeth in a new adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, “Macbeth”, directed by Justin Kurzel. Kurzel controversially edited the original text by removing Hecate’s speech and changing Macbeth’s visions into post-traumatic stress hallucinations. In 2012 “Twelfth Night” at The Globe, directed by Tim Carroll and starring Mark Rylance as Olivia and Stephen Fry as Malvolio brought the gender debate onstage. At the beginning of the production the audience witnessed the actors preparing themselves for their performance. They watched as the all male cast carefully put on their makeup and costume, emphasising Shakespeare’s intentions of showing the audience the comedic element of Viola, Olivia and Orsino’s love triangle. Yet despite the male dominance of the play the power of the female character was shown through the portrayal of Olivia and Maria. Alex Needham wrote in The Guardian “In other productions I’ve seen, a young, often beautiful woman plays Olivia. Played by Rylance, she could easily seem grotesque, but in a performance of incredible finesse and intelligence, he creates a character that exerts her power through wit and intelligence, not looks.” Clearly, Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted and influenced numerous times, certainly too many to document, and have changed over the centuries becoming more modernised, feminist and abstract - indeed The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company was founded in 2009 by Alaka. The numerous adaptations show significant change, but there can be no doubt that the fundamental elements of the power of Shakespeare’s language and storytelling cannot be altered.

nce upon a time

The world of ballet, like Shakespeare, has branched out and has spanned numerous interpretations of classic stories such as “Giselle”, “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker”. In December 2016 BBC Two went behind the scenes of the preparation of “The Nutcracker” in time for the Christmas season and it was clear that the choreography of Peter Wright, the creator of the classic production of “The Nutcracker”, had to remain exactly the same. The need for the balletic steps to be reproduced exactly the same as the original, however, was broken when Wright rehearsed The Chinese (Tea) Dance with two members of the Company. One of the dancers rolled backwards into the splits when he forgot the choreography. Wright enjoyed the cheekiness of it and so it was added into the iconic dance showing that changes to the rigid structure of the classic ballets are evident with each new dancer and choreographer bringing their new artistic flair.

Perhaps the most controversial choreographer, bringing significant change with him, can be said to be Matthew Bourne the founder of “New Adventures”. Bourne took the ballet world by storm with his version of “Swan Lake” first staged at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in 1995. Bourne controversially had the traditional female swan roles performed by men. Bourne still retained Tchaikovsky’s haunting music but reversed the view of the swan as a gentle, pure and feminine creature to masculine, violent and vicious. Indeed, in the climactic finale of Bourne’s production we see the swans peck their leader to death and in “The Dance of the Cygnets” we see the four male dancers mock and parody the traditional female ballet dancers. Bourne’s mocking of the traditional choreography shows the change in attitude toward the traditional view that ballet is for girls but continuously shows the power of dance in storytelling just as the original Russian ballet masters intended. The juxtaposition of the traditional versions of the classic ballets such as “Swan Lake” and the new interpretations of the classic productions reflect the change in the ballet world but also the way both equally reflect the grandeur and dazzling power of the original. All of these examples reflect the beauty and splendour that is achieved through the change and adaptation of the classic stories, but also the humbling reflection of the original works. Any artist, writer, composer or dancer should not be afraid to change, make mistakes, satirise and mock their influences. The splendour of the vast umbrella that is the Arts shows the way creating in a vacuum is useless. But of course change cannot come about without the reflection of the original. Eleanor S (Lower Sixth)