Pineapple Poll at the Peacock
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Peacock Theatre is hidden away in the basement of an office block on Kingsway,
London - conveniently for me, just two minutes from the BBC at Bush House. It
was originally the Royalty Theatre and Cinema, and the block itself is built on
the site of the old Stoll Theatre.It was the venue yesterday evening for a single performance by 'Images of Dance' - a tour mounted by the London Studio Centre for its ballet students who have just completed their training, so that they can get a chance to perform in public, and be seen by possible future employers. The performance was professionally mounted, though of course with recorded music. After two short items, the main programme consisted of Othello, choreographed by Peter Durrell, and John Cranko's engaging ballet Pineapple Poll. Othello, set to the first movement of Liszt's Faust Symphony, reduces the cast to the five main characters - Othello (Jamie Carter), Desdemona (Janainina Castelli), Iago (Miguel Piper), Cassio (Edward Anderson) and Emilia (Iselin Bowen): the choreography effectively explores the emotional interplay between the characters, and the cast danced with a surprising maturity. Pineapple Poll is set to music by Sullivan, arranged by Charles Mackerras, and was first performed in 1951. It's always been a favourite of mine, though I haven't seen it performed for 35 years. The story of Poll, who falls for a Navy captain (as do all her friends) and who disguises herself as a sailor to go on board his ship, is wittily told in Cranko's lively choreography, and the young cast performed it with tremendous flair. Poll was danced by Yo Kawamura, the Captain by Jamie Carter, Jasper (the potboy and Poll's true love) by Michell Alysson and Blanche (the captain's fiancée) by Samantha Camejo: the comic part of Blanche's mother was danced by Iselin Bowen. All hugely enjoyable: these are the ballet stars of the future. You read it here first. LInk: Images of Dance Download a Google Earth placemark for the Peacock Theatre Posted: Mon - July 10, 2006 at 09:00 AM by Roger Wilmut |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Mar 11, 2016 05:00 PM |
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