leopatra’s sensational rise to power, her scandalous romances with the most powerful men in history and her ultimate downfall take centre stage in Northern Ballet’s sumptuous new production.
David Nixon has long been fascinated by this enduring icon, and Claude-Michel Schönberg spent nearly two years on this current score before finally persuading Nixon to choreograph it.
The end result is one of the most vivid and dramatic ballets I have come across by the Northern Ballet Company over the last ten years. On the opening night the audience were spellbound by the level of dance, Schönberg’s music, sometimes gladiatorial, sometimes hauntingly romantic, and the fantastic set designs. Nixon’s choreography is outstanding and the principal dancers were absolutely superb. The biggest plaudit must go to Martha Leebolt, in the title role. Californian-born Martha has been with Northern Ballet for ten years and in 2010 won the National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance.
She was extremely well supported by her fellow principals; Kenneth Tindall as Wadjet (God and Protector of the Pharaohs), Javier Torres as Julius Caesar, Tobias Batley as Mark Anthony and Pippa Moore and Antoinette Brooks-Daw as Cleopatra’s two handmaidens. The orchestrations by John Longstaff are superb and the orchestra under the baton of John Pryce-Jones was outstanding. I was also highly impressed with the sets designed by Christopher Giles and particularly the Projection Design by Nina Dunn.
The show runs in Leeds until Saturday before going on tour. It is at Hull’s New Theatre from March 16 to 19 and Sheffield Lyceum from March 22 to 26. It is a production not to be missed.
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