The Winter's Tale

Not running but ballet watching

To mis-quote Stevie Smith.

Would the huge narrative translate to ballet?

It was the last in the season of Royal Opera House, Covent Garden ballets live streamed into cinemas all around the world. I was so excited to be able to see this new production of an interpretation through ballet of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.

There were several principal roles in this ballet by Christopher Wheeldon which meant the opportunity for some outstanding dancing by each. Wheeldon did not disappoint and I found myself unable to look away for a single moment throughout the whole ballet.

The dancing was incredibly beautiful and the sheer physicality of the performances took my breath away. I have to say that I am a great fan of modern ballet dance movement and some of the shaping and lines Wheeldon achieved here deserve much praise.

Not only did he manage to tell the story through dance but he described perfectly the deeply disturbing turbulence that the emotion of jealousy had unleashed in King Leontes. 

Then he changed the mood perfectly to create a Spring time pastoral feeling in  Act II for the Village Festival scene. The backdrop of a mossy rooted tree hung with jewellery was superb.

The final scene in which Leontes and Hermoine dance is extraordinarily powerful in its simplicity and pulls every last drop of emotion from the viewer. All of which is only made more sublime by Toby Jalbot's incredible musical scoring throughout this ballet. 

I would have liked to include some of the beautiful images but they are subject to copy right which I have not been able to obtain but you can click here to see some using the link. 

In terms of how the human body works the ballet movements are so extreme as to be unobtainable by most of us. That does not mean that the ability to think of ourselves in terms of getting the best from our bodies is not deepened by the inspiration of these wonderful dancers. It makes you want to work on your ability to stretch your limbs, to be able to balance and to maintain strength.

Running is not just about getting from start to finish as quickly as possible. In order to be the best you can, you need to think about cross training so that you build strength and stamina. In my case, after a recent fall, maintaining balance is a vital part of growing older and one that can be worked on. 

Watching these excellent ballets has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Inspiring in so many ways for my running and for the way in which ballet shows the extent to which the body can be trained and used.