Stephen A’Court
Header photo: Principals Ana Gallardo Lobaina as the Firebird and Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson as Arrow. Above, from top: Ana Gallardo Lobaina as the Firebird. Ana Gallardo Lobaina as the Firebird and Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson as Arrow. Principals Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson as Arrow and Kate Kadow as Neve. Artist Hannah Thomson as a Wastelander and Soloist Kirby Selchow as Elizaveta. Soloists Branden Reiners as Burnt Mask and Kirby Selchow as Elizaveta, with principal Ana Gallardo Lobaina as the Firebird.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new season of The Firebird, with My Brilliant Career, in association with Avis, kicked off tonight in Wellington, with the principal ballet getting the full season it deserved.
In 2021, The Firebird premièred in Wellington but its season was cut short due to COVID-19 restrictions and South Islanders never got to see the ballet. This time, all being well, it will have a full national tour, hitting Wellington, before travelling to Auckland, Palmerston North, Invercargill, Dunedin, and Christchurch.
It has been paired with Cathy Marston’s My Brilliant Career, based on the novel by Miles Franklin. Following the novel’s plot, it sees Sybylla Melvyn escaping her life living on her grandmother’s property, declining marriage proposals, though the ballet sees Sybylla’s role divided into two, with Katherine Minor as Syb and Jennifer Ulloa as Bylla. There is a welcome, flowing style to Marston’s choreography, from our introduction to Syb and Bylla, to the grand party with a bush dance on an Australian estate. David Fleisher’s costume design sees a pleasing use of pastels to convey greater affluence in 19th-century Australia, while the frames of a house are rearranged to signal the different settings, from Syb and Bylla’s Possum Gully origins to the estate of Five-Bob Downs. Paul Jackson’s lighting gave depth and mood, playing with the wooden frame to dramatic effect.
Stephen A’Court
Above, from top: Artist Jennifer Ulloa as Bylla and guest principal Victor Estévez as Harry Beecham in an early courtship scene. Artist Jennifer Ulloa as Bylla and guest principal Victor Estévez as Harry Beecham. Barn dance with RNZB dancers. Guest principal Victor Estévez as Harry and soloist Katherine Minor as Syb. RNZB company members in a barn dance scene. Principal Laurynas Vėjalis as Frank the jackeroo and soloist Katherine Minor as Syb. Guest principal Victor Estévez, soloist Katherine Minor and artist Jennifer Ulloa as Syb and Bylla.
Minor frequently pulls off lead roles and tonight was no exception; given that Ulloa played her character’s second side, there was a sisterly nature to the performances. Marston’s expressiveness for her characters showed here, and both Jemima Scott and Callahan Laird as Syb and Bylla’s parents came across convincingly, with Mother’s frustration and Father’s drunkenness.
The suitors—performed by Victor Estévez, Shaun James Kelly, and Laurynas Vėjalis—have supporting roles.
Edward Kemp and Jenny Tattersall were the dramaturg and stager, and Craig Wilkinson the video designer.
The ballet is arguably more optimistic than the book, with the clear message that no woman needs a man to define her. Seen with a 21st-century lens, it is easy to draw this conclusion, though with the lack of opportunity within the patriarchy when Franklin wrote her book, it wasn’t as clear-cut at the time (it was published in 1901).
The original score by Matthew Hindson deserves special mention as it not only keeps the action flowing, but is an equally expressive complement to Marston’s choreography. There is a cinematic sensibility to it, though happily more lyrical than the noise that passes for film scores in the 2020s. Hindson makes references to 19th-century Australian life, but says his work is rooted in the 21st century—a very accurate statement. The score never overshadows the ballet but, at the same time, can stand alone as a musical score to be listened to independently. Hamish McKeich conducted Orchestra Wellington for tonight’s New Zealand première.
After the break, Loughlan Prior’s The Firebird returned, once again with Ana Gallardo Lobaina in the title role, but with other dancers taking the remaining leads: Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson perfectly cast as the sympathetic Arrow, Kate Kadow as Neve, and Branden Reiners as the antagonist, the Burnt Mask, and Kirby Selchow taking a villainous turn as Elizaveta.
The impact of POW Studios’ visuals and animations, conceived by Marie Silberstein and Tim Hamilton, remains as inventive as when we first saw the ballet in 2021—Hamilton has since gone on to directing numerous films, including an upcoming feature, Pop, with the same eye for detail and proportion. The visuals, from burning orbs to a déluge that rivals the biblical one, never overwhelm and complement the story neatly.
Stravinsky’s score has its strong narrative qualities, rooted firmly in the beginning of the 20th century—it remains up to Prior’s clever reimagining of the plot, set in an environmentally damaged dystopia, to bring messages to contemporary audiences.
Tracy Grant Lord’s set and costume design convey this dystopia: earthy tones in a wasteland where people cannot have such luxuries as dyes for their clothing. The Burnt Mask dons the sort of face that you might expect from Mad Max Factor, while the Inferno—represented by four dancers who build on the Firebird’s wings, wear black tulle, adding to their mystery and otherworldly power.
It highlights not just the importance of treating the planet better and the preciousness of water as our natural resource, but inhumanity wreaked by some parties, balanced by compassion given by others.
In four years the story has become more poignant: regularly we hear about how water-intensive “AI” and chatbots are, how tech companies are using more than their fair share, diverting water from communities, and the senselessness of certain countries’ approach to our environment and ecology. It has never been more pressing as each year sees a new global temperature record.
This relevant story is told through classical movements, and at the risk of using the adjective cinematic too much in this review, it once again applies here, especially how Prior has adapted the Stravinsky score to the visuals on stage. Lighting designer Jon Buswell is a master of his game, working with the POW projections and the set, and we especially love what he does at the very last note, which we won’t spoil.
Gallardo Lobaina once again shines as the Firebird, in all her forms, free and captured, with a particularly emotive performance. The pas de deux between her and Guillemot-Rodgerson quickly establishes the core of the story. Prior keeps his ballet tight with how its plot unfolds; and there is enough action to tell the story with the pace demanded by modern audiences. Despite the harsh wasteland, there is hope at the end. Audience members who had not seen The Firebird were left spellbound and many gave ovations; those of us who had had the privilege in 2021 were reminded of its poignancy and how Prior has delivered a ballet for our times.
Jack Yan is founder and publisher of Lucire.
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