The performance was preceded by a welcome from the Danish ambassador and an address by Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Ben Ngubane.
The gist of Ngubane’s speech was to pledge his department’s support for the SABT which, he implied, had taken on the role of representing South African ballet to the world. The evening ended with the announcement of the company’s planned move, as of March 2004, to the Civic Theatre.
Fashion and politics aside, the focus of the event was the ballet and, with apologies to Shakespeare, ‘the production’s the thing in which to catch the attention of the audience”.
Greve’s dance lineage is impressive and held much promise for his creative output. He apparently grew up in sight of the castle in Elsinor, made famous by Hamlet’s tragedy, and consequently had ample opportunity to absorb the ambience of the setting.
The music is an amalgam of compositions by Danish composer Poul Ruders and Frederick Handel. These historic and modern voices combine to make a suitably atmospheric score that contains both electronic and baroque strains, and that moves between edgy moodiness and melodic lyricism. Vanessa Nicolau’s set is minimalist.
The stage is dominated by three large screens on which Susanne Holbaek’s brilliant photographs of exteriors and interiors of the castle are back-projected. The work opens in stark simplicity, with the castle’s facade backing a playful and well-composed duet for Hamlet and Ophelia, danced by Kimbrian Bergh and Angela Malan at the opening.
Narrative dance is not an easy undertaking and Greve’s production is ambitious. Despite the difficulties, however, choreographers such as England’s Kenneth MacMillan set new standards for the use of classical ballet as a narrative tool, while Sweden’s Matts Ek demonstrated similar eloquence in contemporary dance. It is inevitable that subsequent attempts at narration in dance will be measured against these precedents.
On this scale Greve’s Hamlet is found wanting. Once the promising opening moments have faded, the work takes on an episodic quality without the cohesive dynamic that characterises the play. While we have the outline of the story, the inner turmoil of the hapless prince and Ophelia are inadequately articulated.
The physically expressive potential of the dancers is not extensively explored, old-fashioned classical mime is relied on to drive much of the action, and step combinations do not stray far from the conventional. Nothing about the choreography speaks of a work created for the 21st century.
Some curious dramatic choices have been made. Two scenes are simply excuses to dance, rather than being intrinsic to the story. The first involves the male corps de ballet lead in the opening by a suitably athletic Andries Weideman as Horatio. The scene is characterised by much wielding of swords and axes, with some bravura dancing for Hamlet’s confidant.
The second precedes Ophelia’s death and features a tightly neo-classical female corps in black leotards. Given that, up until then, the role of the women had not differed from a generic group of ‘courtiers” or ‘friends” in any number of classical ballets, the sudden change in costume and movement is artistically jarring, and it is unclear what purpose the interlude serves.
Other moments will probably cause Hamletophiles some disquiet. Polonius’s death places the old man in full view of his murderer, rather than behind an arras — the play’s device that allows Hamlet to stab blindly, thinking he is striking at Claudius.
Gertrude dies after drinking from the cup she suspects to be poisoned, rather than in toast to her son who has scored a ‘very palpable hit” in his duel with Laertes. These details are important because the fascination of Hamlet lies in the complex web of inevitability, woven around the main characters, by the evolving nuances of their circumstances.
The dancers displayed fine performances. Karen Beukes was a convincing Gertrude while Christian Tatchev acquitted himself well as Laertes. Chidozie Nzerem was exuberant as the lead gravedigger in a scene that best reflects the mood of the play.
However, Bergh’s interpretation did not seem to get beneath Hamlet’s skin and Malan’s technically-assured Ophelia could also have sought out more of her character.
Cast changes throughout the season will provide interesting insights into the dramatic abilities of the company.
Hamlet runs at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre until September 21 .