In the midst of a North American tour, the Ballet Jörgen Canada Company’s beautiful production of Anastasia ran at Toronto’s intimate Betty Oliphant theatre from October 2nd to the 4th.
Tara Butler played the historical Russian Princess Anastasia, daughter of the Tsar family, who ruled Russia until the family was tragically executed by revolutionists in the early 20th century. The ballet’s storyline centers on the 80-year old conspiracy theory surrounding the young princess—mainly, did she escape her family’s fate?
An enchanting story, this production isn’t heavy on historical facts. Artistic director and company CEO Bengt Jörgen omits crucial historical elements like the influence of “Holy Man” Grigori Rasputin and the violent death of Tsar Nicholas II. Jörgen was inspired to create Anastasia because of his “personal interest in Russian history…from the late 1800s through the early 1920s.” An intent to make the ballet a family-friendly production has discarded history to focus on Anastasia’s romance with a fictional kitchen-boy named Dimitry. With career highlights that include Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the fairy-tale Cinderella, portraying an on-stage romance is no challenge for Jörgen. Much chemistry was palpable between the princess and the pauper as they risked their lives to survive the revolution.
The ballet’s choreography was elegant and traditional, but it began with an element of playful roughhousing between the two young lovers. As Anastasia transforms into an elegant, mature woman, the style of dance morphs along with her, culminating in a series of refined performances like the Great Waltz. Anastasia, delivered into the arms of a group of military officers, is steered down a continuous line of stunning pirouettes and lifts.
Jörgen also surprised the audience with unconventional ballet moves. Ballerinas traded in their graceful strides for some long-established Russian dance-steps, appropriate for the period and setting. Performed on table platforms, the stomping energy of the traditional moves reverberated throughout the entire theatre.
Costumes were kept simple, but they made a powerful statement as Anastasia fabricates various designs with only a single piece of cloth. Minimal structures were also used in the set designs, but with the right lighting, the ballet was able to set up a variety of backgrounds.
With a score by Ivan Barbotin that conjured the terror of the period, Bengt Jörgen’s Anastasia was enjoyable to the very end, capturing the passion of young love set to dance.
