Robert Parker on Enigma Variations

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