Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote – all three ballets are familiar, crowd-pleasing favourites, although UK companies no longer trot them out on a regular basis.
Which might explain the packed houses at the King's Theatre last week for Sofia National Ballet, despite the Bulgarian outfit being an unknown quantity (and their arrival coinciding with a mini heatwave).
Giselle (✶ ✶ ✶ ✶) was the high point, and probably a good indication of what this company can offer when not governed by the pressures of a whistlestop tour that hurtles them round the country, pausing to give 34 performances in nine cities in the course of July. Everything came together confidently and persuasively, with Vesa Tonova's Giselle such an unworldly, bright young girl in life, and, despite her lover's perfidy, his guardian-wraith in death, when vengeful female Wilis are out to destroy him on her account. Tonova's technical brilliance is never gratuitously showy: instead, she uses it to flesh out Giselle's character, hinting at the sensitivity that makes her vulnerable (to the point of suicidal breakdown) but which – as a spirit, risen from the grave – colours her defence of false Albrecht (nobly danced by Emil Yordanov) with a romantic fervour.
The live orchestra responded to Adam's score with a lovely attention to detail, the costuming was stylish and the corps de ballet, with Katerina Petrova as their implacable Queen, delivered the ensemble patternings of the Wilis with pleasing precision. That crispness of formation, unison of body line and shared musicality made the swans – and indeed those easy-to-spoof cygnets – a tremendous asset to a Swan Lake (✶ ✶ ✶), which sometimes showed the strain of the company's full-on touring schedule. The whole production looked squashed up and cramped on stage, especially when the prince's hopeful brides and their entourages arrived at court. The Prince (Nikola Hadjitanev) has, of course, already chosen his partner – the enchanted Odette, whose fate is helpfully explained in the overture/prologue. There's a lot to applaud in this production, but the orchestra struggled to meet the rich demands of Tchaikovsky's score and not all the soloists were as secure as Georgi Asparuhov's nimble Jester or Doychin Dochev's sinister Rothbart.
As in Don Quixote (✶ ✶), Hadjitanev was paired on stage with Marta Petkova. Her Odile – like her Kitri in Don Q – has firecracker pzazz, but her Odette, for all the eye contact and even kisses that pass between her and the Prince, didn't have the nuanced emotions to match her technique. Hadjitanev simply shone in both ballets. His assured athleticism looks effortless, he plays both the conflicted Prince and swaggering, flirty Basil (in Don Q) without heavy-footed over-acting, and he partners his ballerina with supportive consideration. This calibre of dancing makes a ramshackle piece like Don Quixote worth watching. Don't expect Cervantes, or indeed much of a plot. But the energy of the set pieces is hugely attractive.
The company is at Edinburgh's Playhouse with the same three-ballet programme from tonight until July 17.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article