Snow White

The original Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Snow White, as with all their stories, is dark and gritty. This is what choreographer Angelin Preljocaj had in mind when he first put together this retelling of the tale. The 2008 production was in many ways on the cutting edge of contemporary dance. Now 10 years later it seems, well, adequate.

Preljocaj has done a fair job in telling the story, in spite of some incredibly odd choices. There are long periods of silence, including a long pas de deux between Snow and the Prince which is performed without music, only to be performed again with the accompaniment of the orchestra. Nothing steals the intimacy of the moment more than hundreds of people coughing with winter colds and awkwardly shifting in their seats. The Corp were quite loose in the opening, although given the context of the ball, it didn’t matter too much.  Mirea Delogu did an admirable job as Snow White, although an engaging level of emotion did take some time to come. Certainly Preljocaj has considered the Queen to be the dark central character of the piece, with long sections taking place in front of a cleverly devised mirror.  The Queens black cats provided some wonderfully evil moments, often upstaging their brooding mistress.

The costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier are for the most part stunning to look at. Except for those of Snow White and the Prince that is.  Snow White’s toga-esque incredibly revealing and utterly unflattering costume left little to the imagination as it draped like an ill-fitting diaper flapping around. The Prince had not one but two pairs of high waisted peach coloured pants, as if the first pair wasn’t enough. The Queen’s bustled dominatrix outfit was really quite spectacular, but it’s unclear whether it was this costume of a choreographic choice which meant that Anna Tatarova did more strutting than dancing, which eventually became quite dull.

The sets, designed by Thierry Leproust, are spectacular. There is a sense of Stalinist Russian in their construction. From Soviet style ballroom, to woods and then deep into a mine, Leproust transported the audience not just physically but emotionally.  If only the lighting had been so inspired. Patrick Riou’s design was so dark that often the dancers would disappear into the darkness, as would the audience’s emotional engagement.

The high point of the ballet, and well worth the ticket price, was the seven dwarves – in this production seven miners. They entered from holes high in a constructed rock wall and danced on stage and on the wall by virtue of pulleys leading to some incredible and mesmerizing feats of athleticism and choreography. This routine, and the beautiful score of Gustav Mahler saved what otherwise was a somewhat tired show. Snow White tries to do so much and achieves some of it. The show should be spectacular. It has all the requisite parts, but in the end, you will walk away wondering what all the fuss was about.

L.B. Bermingham

Photographer: Jean-Claude Carbonne