Ballets 182

The first time I saw *The Four Seasons*, I was mesmerised. I was a fledgling student at the Royal Ballet School, and the sheer scale and grandeur of it all overwhelmed me. This was not a traditional story ballet, there was no plot as such, just the beauty and brilliance of movement set to the most powerful, thrilling, and awe-inspiring music I had ever heard: Verdi. It was revolutionary then, and in many ways it still is today. Verdi's operas have a raw, visceral power and are steeped in Italian romanticism. To translate this into the language of ballet was an extraordinary feat. It is, in fact, nothing short of genius.

The work is credited to choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and although that’s technically true, the idea seems to have stemmed from a more collaborative process with the Bolshoi Ballet. Back then, MacMillan had a very real sense of artistic freedom. He was bold in his ideas, a fearless innovator and truly a master craftsman.

Verdi’s *Four Seasons* is not based on the traditional calendar; it uses each of the four seasons as a theme. It was first performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1979 with a star-studded cast that included Maya Plisetskaya, who was in her 50s and had an aura of goddess-like power around her, especially in her stunning performance as *Winter*, where her controlled fury and passion, a little chilling perhaps, are beautifully chilling and captivating. Her *Spring* pas de deux with the equally masterful Yuri Vlasov, then still in his prime, showed another side to Plisetskaya: grace and femininity with the ability to seemingly defy gravity as they flew through the air in perfect synchronicity. They also both moved with incredible agility, light as air, but in *Summer*, Vlasov was particularly breathtaking as he moved with astonishing speed and energy. But of course, with any good dancer, technical mastery must be invisible, serving the interpretation of the role.

Although, with the benefit of hindsight, *The Four Seasons* is arguably, one of the greatest ballet creations of the last century, I’ve read that the first reviews were very mixed. I can only assume that ballet lovers at the time were struggling to deal with such a departure from traditional classical ballets such as Swan Lake, which had, until then, dominated the stage, for so long. Even those critics who were generally pro-MacMillan found the combination of classical balletic forms, mime, and *that* Verdi, to be incongruous at best. Of course, what they didn’t know, was that Macmillan had already choreographed extensively to classical music for The Royal Ballet and already gained some renown for his groundbreaking works including Manon and his controversial version of Romeo and Juliet.

While the Bolshoi première was the catalyst that enabled the dance world to embrace the masterpiece, the *Four Seasons* is most widely known through the stunning and unforgettable 1980 film adaptation which has also since been adapted to VHS and DVD. There is a slightly different cast from the live premiere, with Ekaterina Maximova replacing Maya Plisetskaya as *Winter*. With such breathtaking cinematography by Mikhail Vartanov, featuring spectacular aerial shots, we are given the best seats in the house and a truly intimate glimpse into the world of classical ballet.

The choreography and musical score have to be seen and heard together to truly appreciate the work’s genius. In terms of MacMillan’s innovative style, this was revolutionary for classical ballet. *Winter*, in particular, is stark and stripped down in its elegance, with movement that’s forceful yet controlled. In fact, every nuance in Verdi’s music is reflected in the dancers’ every step. The very heart and soul of his music resonate with the dancers’ interpretations of every note and gesture. The very air seems to shimmer, freeze, sizzle and rage to match the music and dance. And with each successive season, we move further away from traditional balletic forms, into more modern choreography.

In the early 80s, I had the privilege of working with one of the dancers from that Bolshoi première. As a young dancer I had asked her how difficult it was to be a ballerina with the Bolshoi, and in perfect English, she said “Oh, darling, ballet is a serious business and we are just working girls!” The innocence of her statement belied the rigorous physical and mental discipline required to become, and remain a professional ballet dancer. I learned more that day about the true meaning of the profession than I did in the many years I trained at The Royal Ballet.

While, The Royal Ballet would also come to appreciate this extraordinary work, *The Four Seasons*, along with MacMillan’s *Romeo and Juliet*, has become the cornerstone of ballet repertoires all around the globe, as it was at the Bolshoi, but *Romeo and Juliet*, and his other seminal work *Manon*, did not come to fruition without The Royal Ballet, and MacMillan's lifelong affinity for the Company.

Perhaps it was the power of the musical score, which allowed the dancers to really unleash their unique physical artistry, that made *The Four Seasons* such an instant success. Each movement flows effortlessly with, and reflects the emotions of the music. MacMillan was blessed with incredible intuition when he decided to choreograph Verdi.

Today, after decades of *The Four Seasons* continuing to be one of the most sought after ballet works, it still commands such powerful audience reactions, and that, I feel, is the true hallmark of any successful work of art: it never ceases to amaze.

• The Conductor

• Although a lot has been said about how this production came to fruition, there seems to be some controversy about who first approached the Bolshoi about commissioning this new work: the great Russian conductor and conductor laureate of the Bolshoi Yuri Simonov, or the late, great Russian-born but Americanised maestro, Alexander Lazarev. They worked very well together and created an extraordinarily magical collaboration in the production and conducting of this remarkable ballet, but Simonov, whose talent was as renowned as the Bolshoi itself, was the only conductor featured in the ballet's premiere in 1979.

• The Production Designer

• David Walker, known to ballet enthusiasts for his designs in countless stage productions and collaborations with renowned ballet companies including The Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, amongst many, has also contributed a stunning design aesthetic to The Four Seasons. Walker created designs that are minimalist, but powerful in their visual simplicity and focus. They allow the dancers’ movement to become the dominant focus.

• The Lighting Design

• As a lighting designer, I can only marvel at the beautiful collaboration and interplay between lighting design and dance that this production affords, It was the gifted, and legendary, Peter Mumford, who lit *The Four Seasons* premiere and that very distinctive look - particularly the darkness of winter and the shimmering radiance of summer. In addition, the beautiful detail with the spotlights which he incorporated on stage - which again enhanced and defined every move that MacMillan choreographed - allowed the performers' work to have maximum visual effect.

• Costume Designer

• One would be hard-pressed to find someone who hadn’t heard of the legendary designer, designer for the Russian National Ballet, and Russian ballet costumes icon, Yury Petrukhin, who was not just the designer, but also the creator of this exquisite ensemble for the production and for some 200 dancers and a truly unforgettable aesthetic for *The Four Seasons* in a timeless colour palette which makes his costumes look, to this day, not dated.

I’d like to highlight again how much I truly feel the creative process of a successful ballet must involve an intricate weaving together of all of its different elements. And MacMillan, with his immense talent as a choreographer, really was able to capture every facet of Verdi’s extraordinary work in his own vision.

A review of *The Four Seasons* would be remiss if it did not also explore each of the four individual parts: *Winter*, *Spring*, *Summer* and *Autumn*, each being an impressive movement sequence on its own. In total the work runs for a staggering, and incredibly fast paced 75 minutes.

The pace seems to shift, slightly as we begin *Spring* but the transition feels almost magical as the scene moves to a backdrop of light, airy, spring greens. With the warmth of a new season there are new moves that are less staccato, which is so often a key characteristic of classical balletic techniques. The moves are, instead, a little more fluid, almost floating with graceful ease, giving a real sense of light-heartedness, as they progress towards a powerful and passionate *Spring* pas de deux. *Spring* also brings a shift from the dramatic and quite foreboding black outfits to vibrant pinks and oranges for the female dancers.

*Summer* seems to offer another, very noticeable shift, with intense movement, and an almost wild sense of energy - from the heat of the sun and, arguably, the most virtuosic ballet in terms of physical skill and movement, from both dancers and corps. The overall atmosphere also intensifies. Although this has to be some of the most beautiful choreography MacMillan ever created, there is always an undercurrent of sadness running throughout the choreography that adds a truly remarkable dimension to the ballet's complexity.

And finally *Autumn* completes this phenomenal and quite dramatic composition. The scene itself changes once again to reflect the palette of autumn - brown, orange, yellow, burnt umber and deep ruby reds - it’s here that Verdi and MacMillan seem to have found common ground in their creative visions - with the almost elegiac theme which evokes thoughts of the end of one season, and the transition to the start of another and also the cyclicality of nature’s continual, cyclical change.

*The Four Seasons* is more than just ballet. It is an artistic force to be reckoned with, and I think the dance world, both critics and public alike, should applaud it more loudly - a masterpiece that deserved every bit of its acclaim. It continues to provide its audiences with a sublime and profound ballet experience and it is this, I feel, that makes the work, for all its technical virtuosity and skill, transcend the category of classical ballet and rise above the ordinary to truly iconic levels.