THE WINTER’S TALE choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon (National Ballet of Canada). At the Four Seasons Centre (145 Queen West). To November 22. Tickets $37-$265. 416-345-9595, national.ballet.ca. Rating: NNNN
I’m always wary of the ballet/Shakespeare nexus. In my experience, it too often leads to extremes of bewilderment or boredom. But British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, his design team and the artists of the National Ballet of Canada have made this three-act ballet, based on one of Shakespeare’s late romances, way more gripping than it is confusing.
In the prologue and Act 1, Wheeldon delivers numerous plot points with great efficiency and clarity. Fluency by leads Piotr Stanczyk as the jealously unhinged King Leontes of Sicilia and Hannah Fischer as his uncomprehending yet dignified pregnant queen, Hermione, makes for an exciting opening hour. Xiao Nan Yu as Paulina, an imperious Head of Household/oracle figure, and Harrison James as Leontes’s childhood friend/alleged betrayer, Polixenes, show strong technique and acting chops. In fact, the entire company looks amazing – the talent pool runs very deep at the National these days.
After a gorgeous storm-at-sea interlude that blends lighting, projections and painted silks, Act 2 departs the dark drama of the Sicilian court for Bohemia, a pastoral land of energetic peasants. Staged around an enormous tree whose spreading branches are hung with glittering objects, this section is awash in dance.
Jillian Vanstone and Naoya Ebe especially shine as Perdita (the lost child of Leontes and Hermione) and Florizel, Prince of Bohemia. It’s less about characterization here than it is about engaging, thrilling physicality. Much as I enjoyed the kinetic show, I wish Wheeldon had exerted more dramaturgical backbone here by sacrificing some of the folk-flavoured group dances in favour of further psychological probing and character-building. That might have set the stage for a more satisfying conclusion.
Because, sadly, the whole thing runs out of steam in Act 3, where the structural flaws of Shakespeare’s original opus finally exhaust Wheeldon and team’s creative resourcefulness. Oddly, that’s only partly a disappointment. Even as the wacky narrative fails to resolve, there are delights to be discovered in the dance. Details like Paulina’s backwards bourree en pointe, her foot flexing with each step as she expresses the horror of human folly, give you pause and reel you right back in.
