Sylvia, Royal Ballet | reviews, news & interviews
Sylvia, Royal Ballet
Sylvia, Royal Ballet
That zany thing, a nymph ballet, gets a bewilderingly bad first night out
Places, please, deliciousness, please. This is Delibes, a man whose music goes with delectable disbelief, and this is that zany thing, a Fifties nymph ballet, so let us sip hallucinogenic Arcadian cocktails and leave normality at the cloakroom. But the sheer prettiness of Léo Delibes's ballets (La Source, Coppélia, Sylvia) is too much for most dancemakers to digest. Even a choreographer so oozing charm as Frederick Ashton made no classic with his 1952 staging of Sylvia. Last night, given the bumbling performance by the Royal Ballet after a few years’ absence, it came over even more as a ballet best to have on iPod.
Satyrs and nymphs are tricky for today’s stolidly educated audiences, who rarely have the faintest idea of the erotic and emotional thrills of tales of half-human, hugely hung goats or semi-divine huntresses who will shoot a man dead sooner than look at him. Handsome, none-too-bright chaps roam through classical myth's deceptive landscapes, inadvertently upsetting naiads and dryads, or being pursued for no fault of their own by deities with a bet to settle. Goddesses forever bound to chastity find their hearts distressingly melting when a shepherd crosses their path.
These are gloriously wild subjects for music theatre, and opera makes maximum capital of them, stringing out moments of self-discovery into heartstopping arias, or conjuring up amusingly fantastical staging. Perhaps because the more capricious passions such as jealousy or romantic cussedness are much harder to convey in gestures without turning into melodrama, in ballet one is left with the age-old plot of girl meets boy, girl disses boy, girl realises her mistake, they get married.
So it is with Sylvia, a nymph of the bitter feminist goddess Diana, who does her duty by shooting down Aminta, a mooning shepherd admiring her, but little realises that Diana and love-god Eros are having a squabble in which Sylvia and Aminta will be the patsies. Orion, one of the oversexed god-louts who roam Arcady (played of course as a swarthy Turk with big pawing hands), kidnaps Sylvia for his plaything, but Eros, determined to humiliate humourless Diana, fixes it so that Sylvia gives up her chaste calling and has a grand Russian-ballet-style wedding with her shepherd (Act Three pictured right), while Diana has a fit. Not a plot to be probed too deep for Women's Studies, perhaps, but ripe for conspiratorial wits determined to create high-flown, artful entertainment of a balletic kind.
The Covent Garden staging pays homage to the Fifties styling by Christopher and Robin Ironside (fascinating essay in the programme by Christopher's daughter, the agony aunt Virginia Ironside), with lashings of Arcadian scenery and props: temples, Erotic bows and arrows, charming huntress helmets, bad Oriental concubines and a florid ship that deserves an alternative life as a cocktail bar. What such an artfully hedonistic theatrical entertainment then needs in performance is gallons of fun-loving finesse and a peach of a ballerina, capable of luring you inescapably into her charisma and glamour, and making you believe every last impossible thing she tells you with her glancing eyes, her beckoning fingers and her exquisite, pawing little toes. Originally it was Margot Fonteyn, the goddess of style and music.
But last night’s performance was given with a deflating absence of care and sheer imaginative effort that once again levels questions at how on earth the Royal Ballet expects to bewitch new generations with ballet’s wonders if they can’t give a convincing impression of loving it themselves. With most ballets, as with jokes, it’s less the substance than the way you tell them. This kind of casualness kills a period-piece like Sylvia stone-dead, dancers dropping constantly out of style when off the ball, as if still in the studio, little regard paid to the refinement of feet and épaulement, and a bewildering lack of engagement with the music.
A fair portion of blame rested with the music-making itself; Delibes’s delights emerged in disarray from instrumentalists not keeping good time or pitch, too much bombast and too little relish. The highlight of Act One, the entrance of the hunting nymphs, is like a potted Ride of the Valkyries, and conductor Boris Gruzin, a Russian from the Mariinsky, whacked the volume setting exhilaratingly for it but failed to counterpoint it with the sensual tendernesses and sweetmeats elsewhere in the score. Act Three, with its party dances for goats and gods, the pizzicato solo for Sylvia and the honeyed violin solo of the pas de deux, was more fun to listen to. Concertmaster Peter Schulmeister’s tone emerged almost shockingly sensual in the rough company elsewhere in the pit.
Marianela Nuñez is a girl blessed with scintillating leg action, glorious flying jumps and a climactic way of throwing herself into the six o’ clock arabesque penché that can make you feel lightning has just struck the earth, yet she neglects the slapdash impression of her arms and the exultant wit that she could bring if she showed more musical interest. She raced the orchestra through her solos, a girl on a mission to get the job done, quite possibly the most efficient nymph in Diana’s establishment. Little chance of believing she would spare passing tenderness for the palely loitering Aminta of Rupert Pennefather (pictured below right), a reticent young man at the best of times who looked positively intimidated most of the time last night.
Better value came from Gary Avis (pictured above left) who always gives good villain, chucking himself into Orion’s jumps as fiercely as he rolls his eyeballs; Laura Morera’s raging Diana and Paul Kay’s nimble Goat also stood out like good deeds in a dullard's world. At the nether end of which, the fruity mugging in Act Two of the two Slaves, Fernando Montaño and Dawid Trzensimiech, and their astonishingly untidy gambols and tambourine-bashing. If a company is going to put on a minor work, I would expect them to focus all their finest persuasive arts on it - they could start with the dancers themselves.
- The Royal Ballet performs Sylvia tonight, Saturday, 9, 10, 12, 15, 19, 26 November and 1 December. Other Sylvias are Lauren Cuthbertson, Sarah Lamb and Zenaida Yanowsky
- See what's on at the Royal Ballet in 2010-11. Read all Royal Ballet reviews on theartsdesk
Recordings of Delibes's ballets on Amazon: Sylvia/La Source, Coppélia (with Paris Opera Orchestra and Jean-Baptiste Mari/Charles Mackerras)
Explore topics
Share this article
Add comment
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Dance
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Screenshot%202024-10-30%20at%2017-39-09%20theartsdesk.com%20%28%40the_arts_desk%29%20%E2%80%A2%20Instagram%20photos%20and%20videos.png?itok=W02US5i5)
![Deus ex machina: Dionysus (Tommy Franzén) takes pity on grieving Ariadne (Kristen McNally) in Minotaur](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Tommy%20Franze%CC%81n%20%28Dionysus%29%20and%20Kristen%20McNally%20%28Ariadne%29%20in%20Minotaur%20%C2%A92025%20Tristram%20Kenton%20%281%29.jpg?itok=GHMuDnZY)
![Beneath notice: Reece Clarke as Eugene Onegin and Marianela Nuñez as Tatiana in John Cranko's 1965 ballet 'Onegin'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Reece%20Clarke%20%28Eugene%20Onegin%29%2C%20Marianela%20Nun%CC%83ez%20%28Tatiana%29%20in%20Onegin%20%C2%A92025%20ROH.%20Ph%20Andrej%20Uspenski%20%283%29.jpg?itok=lc8fkuJx)
![Star cross'd: the company in the climactic fight scene from Fools](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Northern%20Ballet%20dancers%20in%20Fools.%20Photo%20Robert%20David%20Pearson.jpg?itok=JZBH7-SV)
![Clouds of glory: Artists of the National Ballet of Canada in Crystal Pite's latest work for that company, 'Angels' Atlas'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Artists%20of%20the%20Ballet%20in%20Angels%E2%80%99%20Atlas.%20%20Photo%20by%20Karolina%20Kuras.%20Courtesy%20of%20The%20National%20Ballet%20of%20Canada.jpg?itok=z_YnkYQc)
![Every one's a fruit and nut cake: the Marzipan-Zwiebelflöten, or marzipan flutes, in the Kingdom of Sweets](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/ENBnutcrack2024JP_04354-Edit.jpg?itok=7Td4p_5i)
![Powerful physicality: the company of Swans](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/MATTHEW%20BOURNE%27S%20SWAN%20LAKE.%20The%20Company.%20Photo%20Johan%20Persson.jpg?itok=ETNp88A_)
![Gotta dance: Nadine Higgin as Theo, Grace Saif as Pauine, Daisy Sequerra as Posy and Yanexi Enriquez as Petrova](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Nadine%20Higgin%20%28Theo%20Dane%29%2C%20Grace%20Saif%20%28Pauline%20Fossil%29%2C%20Daisy%20Sequerra%20%28Posy%20Fossil%29%20and%20Yanexi%20Enriquez%20%28Petrova%20Fossil%29%20in%20Ballet%20Shoes%20at%20the%20National%20Theatre.%20Photographer%20Manuel%20Harlan-097.jpg?itok=aIs8I1_X)
![Flawless technique: Marianela Nuñez as Cinderella, heading for the ball](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Marianela%20Nun%CC%83ez%20as%20Cinderella%20in%20Cinderella%2C%20The%20Royal%20Ballet%20%C2%A92024%20ROH.%20Photographed%20by%20Andrej%20Uspenski%20%285%29_0.jpg?itok=LE1QcUZi)
![Sam Amidon working with Holly Vallis and Rachel Poirier in rehearsals for 'Nobodaddy' at Teac Damsa, An Ghlaise Bheag, Ballydavid](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/unknown_17.jpg?itok=20DBUZy1)
![War of the worlds: Akram Khan and Mavin Khoo as warring siblings in GIGENIS, inspired by the Mahabharata](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Akram%20Khan%2C%20GIGENIS%20the%20generation%20of%20the%20Earth%2C%20image%20credit%20Maxime%20Dos%2C%20Productions%20Sarfati%20%284%29.jpg?itok=y5fhMCRM)
![Vegetarian option: the Royal Ballet corps as Crake's bioengineered replacements for humans](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Wayne%20McGregor%27s%20MADDADDAM%2C%20The%20Royal%20Ballet%20%C2%A92024%20RBO.%20Ph%20Andrej%20Uspenski%20%289%29.jpg?itok=v6BJT809)
Comments
...
...
...