News roundup

Five pieces of choreography based on bird movements
27 January 2012
David Bintley wins classical choreography award for Cinderella
26 January 2012
The Lowry’s Youth Dance Ambassadors
12 January 2012
Five on-stage horses
02 December 2011
Barry Wordsworth becomes Music Director Laureate
28 November 2011
1991-2011 Nutcracker posters
21 November 2011
Five onstage Movember moments
18 November 2011
True Light, a new work by Alexander Campkin
09 November 2011
Birmingham Royal Ballet's first audio described performance
16 October 2011
Elmhurst Announces Appointment of New Artistic Director
19 September 2011
Royal Ballet Sinfonia collaboration with Birmingham Cathedral
19 September 2011
Five mighty mice
24 August 2011
Five pieces of art inspired by the Company
29 May 2011
An unusual guide to Coppélia
29 May 2011
Cinderella interactive timeline
18 March 2011
Five splashes of sunshine!
03 March 2011
Fancy Feet: five ballets danced in unusual footwear
10 February 2011
The darker side of Marion Tait
03 November 2010
Nao Sakuma interview
12 October 2010
In the Upper Room gallery
12 October 2010
Jenna Roberts
08 September 2010
Pointes of View
02 September 2010
The Low Down on the Upper Room
02 September 2010
Romeo and Juliet gallery
10 August 2010
Concerto from the wings gallery
15 July 2010
Romeo and Juliet model box gallery
18 June 2010
Jamie Bond interview
28 May 2010
New ideas for Cinderella
14 April 2010
20 year celebrations
15 January 2010
2010 SW tour introductory notes
13 January 2010
2010 N/E tour introductory notes
13 January 2010
Carol-Anne Millar
04 December 2009
The Sugar Plum Fairies part two
02 December 2009
The Sugar Plum Fairies part one
27 November 2009
Dual controls
01 October 2009
We can be heroes
11 September 2009
Christopher Rodgers-Wilson
10 September 2009
E=mc² Costume designs
07 September 2009
Robert Parker
04 September 2009
Quantum Leaps introductory notes
06 August 2009
Cyrano Act I set designs and plot preview
30 July 2009
Video: Nutcracker technical preparations
23 July 2009
Two Pigeons behind-the-scenes feature on BBC Radio WM
18 June 2009
The Two Pigeons introductory notes
01 June 2009
Mozartiana introductory notes
01 June 2009
The Dream introductory notes
02 June 2009
Sir Fred and Mr B.
29 May 2009
David Bintley on the 2009-10 season
11 May 2009
Garry Stewart video interview
01 May 2009
Galanteries Introductory notes
30 April 2009
The Dance House introductory notes
03 April 2009
Elite Syncopations: a history
01 April 2009
Cyrano character guides
13 March 2009
Sylvia Pizzicato rehearsal
09 March 2009
The fruits of a friendship
06 March 2009
China 2009 tour blog
19 February 2009
David Bintley's Sylvia diary
17 February 2009
Enigma Variations Troyte rehearsal video
13 February 2009
Gaylene Cummerfield
06 December 2008
David Bintley on 2008's Claras
14 November 2008
Welcome to the jungle
22 October 2008
David Bintley on the story of Sylvia
22 October 2009
David Bintley on his Sylvia reworking
22 October 2008
Robert Parker on Enigma Variations
22 October 2008
Wolfgang Stollwitzer interview
05 October 2008
The Beasts within
04 October 2008
Lei Zhao
06 September 2008
Kristen McGarrity
06 September 2008
Behind the scenes: Department for Learning
18 August 2008
New faces look back
14 July 2008
Birmingham Royal Ballet on Classic FM
08 July 2008
Notes on Petrushka (full version)
04 July 2008
The history of Le Baiser de la fée
04 July 2008
Notes on Card Game
04 July 2008
Jonathan Payn on BBC Radio York, Spring 2008
18 June 2008
Ambra Vallo on Giselle
13 June 2008
Desmond Kelly
06 June 2008
The Fairy's Kiss
13 May 2008
The history of Card Game
10 May 2008
Petrushka
09 May 2008
Stravinsky: the real deal
03 May 2008
Your personal profile
22 April 2008
Behind-the-scenes: wardrobe
02 April 2008
South-West tour notes
20 March 2008
2008-09 season
20 March 2008
North-East tour notes
19 March 2008
Anniek Soobroy
10 March 2008
Céline Gittens
07 March 2008
Colin Towns Mask Orchestra
14 February 2008
The light fantastic
12 February 2008
Dominic Antonucci
11 February 2008
Japan 2008 desktop wallpaper
11 January 2008
Behind the scenes: Diana Childs
07 December 2007
Fantasy and Reality
01 December 2007
An Entertainment of Genius
01 December 2007
Beauty and the Beast
19 November 2007
Stravinsky autumn 2008
19 September 2007
Angela Paul
09 October 2007
All that jazz
08 October 2007
Cardiff2008
05 October 2007
Enjoy Strictly dancing?
03 October 2007
New arrivals 2007
24 September 2007
Tyrone Singleton
21 September 2007
Edward II
10 August 2007
Strictly dancing
10 August 2007
Take Five costume rehearsals
22 June 2007
Mary Goodhew: the making of a dancer
12 June 2007
Michael O'Hare
01 June 2007
200708 Season
28 March 2007
Carl Davis interview
07 February 2007
Pas de deux - Stravinsky and Balanchine
29 January 2007
Ballet Hoo! aftershow interviews
07 October 2006
The Acrobat and the Ringmaster
20 April 2006
Transaction Charges
14 July 2006

Video galleries

Video: Hobson's Choice trailer
31 January 2012
Video: Hobson's Choice excerpt
31 January 2012
Video: The Two Pigeons rehearsal
23 January 2012
Video: Beauty and the Beast, Act I pas de deux
01 January 2012
Video: Three Sugar Plum Fairies
20 November 2011
Video: Clara and the Nutcracker Prince in rehearsal
21 November 2011
Video: The Nutcracker trailer
21 November 2011
Video: Five favourites from 2010-11
03 August 2011
Video: Five 2011-12 Birmingham season previews
03 August 2011
Video: The costumes of Coppélia
13 May 2011
Video: Peter Wright's productions of the classics
17 March 2011
Video: Allegri diversi rehearsal
29 October 2010
Video: Romeo and Juliet studio rehearsals
25 June 2010
Video: Theme and Variations studio rehearsals
18 June 2010
Video: Romeo and Juliet studio rehearsals
16 June 2010
Video: Swan Lake studio rehearsals #2
06 May 2010
Video: Brouillards studio rehearsals
01 May 2010
Video: Swan Lake studio rehearsals
28 April 2010
Video: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue studio rehearsals
17 March 2010
Video: Sleeping Beauty rehearsals
17 March 2010
Video: Bluebird studio rehearsals
12 February 2010
Video: Early Aladdin studio rehearsals
04 February 2010
Video: The Nutcracker Act I, studio rehearsal
06 November 2009
Video: Cyrano studio rehearsals
29 October 2009
Video: David Bintley's E=mc² diary
20 August 2009
Video: Carl Davis on the score for Cyrano
06 August 2009
Video: The Nutcracker, studio rehearsals, 2008
29 July 2009
Video: The Nutcracker, technical preparations
23 July 2009
Video: David Bintley and Robert Parker on Cyrano's nose
19 June 2009
Video: Dame Antoinette Sibley and Sir Anthony Dowell taking rehearsals
08 June 2009
Video: The Two Pigeons rehearsal
03 June 2009
Kangaroo Rat rehearsal video
24 February 2009
Chi Cao video interview part two
13 February 2009
Chi Cao video interview
27 January 2009

More online

22 October 2008

The restrained stereotypical Britishness of Frederick Ashton's Enigma Varations seems a far cry from the wild, expressive performances for which Robert Parker is best known. A Principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet, his name is more likely to conjure up images of the indomitable young god Apollo in Balanchine's classic ballet, the anguished Hamlet in The Shakespeare Suite, or the powerful and temperamental lead in Beauty and the Beast.

'This is a lot more poker-faced,' admits Robert of Enigma Variations, 'which I imagine is a reflection of the British 'stiff-upper lip' mentality towards the end of the Victorian era – you didn't show your emotions, it was all held back and swallowed.'

The ballet illustrates composer Edward Elgar's work of the same title, originally based upon the diverse personalities of his closest friends. As each musical variation characterises a different individual, so the dancers portray them on the stage.

'There's a lot of interaction between Elgar and his wife, and his closest friend Jaeger,' says Robert. 'But even then it's very still. They are not obvious gestures or mime, but all very calm movements: a hand on the shoulder, or a particular look of pensiveness, or concern, or tenderness.

'The rest of the roles are more like snapshots of the characters, they don't really progress a story-line as such,' he explains. Since these figures were almost definitely never actually all together in one place at any one time, Robert sees them 'more like flashbacks of individual people at various points in the main characters' lives.'

The piece was one that Robert discovered through Birmingham Royal Ballet. 'Before I danced it I'd only ever seen this Company do it,' he remembers, 'back before I joined, in 1993 or something.

'I was never really aware of it before then though, because for a kid, I think it's possibly too subtle. While with maturity you can see the emotion that runs through it, as a young lad you want to see the pirouettes, the jumps, the double-tours, and Enigma's much more subtle than that. Apart from the solo for Troyte of course – it's pretty exciting and full of jumps and a lot of fun once you get your legs around it!'

The liveliness of Variation VII, based upon Elgar's friend Troyte Griffith, should not be seen as an indication that its subject was by any means less intelligent or more inconsequential than his contemporaries. An architect who read Greats at Oxford, he was also a gifted watercolourist. His portrayal in the ballet is also one of the most physically demanding roles, including some of the most energetic choreography.

'It was created on Anthony Dowell who was a left-turner,' explains Robert, 'so all us "righties" have more of a struggle to get our feet around the steps! Keeping that stiff upper lip is also hard to do because you want to gasp for breath, especially towards the end anyway! You're just breathing sharply through your nose and trying not to crack an expression, that's the hardest thing about that role. And if the conductor wants to get out promptly you can really be in trouble!'

The roles of the conductor and the musicians are never simply supplementary to what is going on on the stage, but in this ballet in particular the score is a massive factor in the emotional impact of the ballet.

'It helps that it's the music that's really conveying the emotion in the piece,' Robert reveals. 'The way that the choreography is set to the music brings across the emotion and the story of the piece without it having to be too obvious.

'It's like that moment in Romeo and Juliet, in Juliet's bedroom just before she takes the potion, where she sits down on the bed and just stares forward at the audience in complete stillness. Prokofiev meanwhile is going absolutely ape with the music, and that's what's conveying the emotion and you know what's going on in her head.

'Music is the strongest device you've got for conveying raw emotion, and I think that's very apparent in Enigma. So if you overacted it as a dancer, it would distract from the overall emotion and you'd lose a lot of the impact. I'm sure that's the hardest thing for the other characters – maintaining that element of poise and stillness and inward thinking.'

While Birmingham Royal Ballet's dancers are all highly skilled performers in their own right, can the physical maturity and dignity of the characters in Enigma Variations be effectively portrayed by a younger Company member?

'It depends on the individuals,' says Robert. 'Certain roles do require a physically older-looking person just for it to be a bit more believable. But then, you see 16-year olds with full beards and I still barely need to shave! It's more how you are as an artist and how you can carry it off.

'A character like Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty is normally played by a more mature woman, and in some cases, a man, but that doesn't mean that if a young person does it it's not going to bring something fresh to the role. Look at [Birmingham Royal Ballet Artist] Sonia Aguilar doing Grandmère in The Nutcracker – she's fantastic. There's no set formula, it's just whatever works. If you've got someone who's got the gravitas and the weight and the artistic maturity to carry off a role then great, because that's all it boils down to, the individual performance is all that matters.'

ENDS

Stories like this