Today I was in London to see La Corsaire performed by English National Ballet at the Coliseum.
La Corsaire is a ballet in 3 acts based on a poem by Lord Byron. The music is by a hodge podge of composers including Adolphe Adam and Leo Delibes. The staging is by Anne-Marie Holmes after Marius Pepita and Konstantin Sergeyev and the libretto by Jules-Henri de Saint-Georges and Joseph Mazillier in a version by Anne-Marie Holmes.
Firstly the staging was superb, very dramatic and visually appealing as were the costumes. This added to the drama of the piece.
To me the first act was the weakest of the three, the music was ok but nothing amazing. The dancing was very athletic and well performed but I found it a little samey. Good but nothing special.
Act two really perked up. The pirates hideout was superbly dramatic and the music and dance more varied and the plot/dance had more relevance to each other. The big cheer of the night went to Yonah Acosta as Ali, it was incredibly acrobatic but for me the highlight was the duet between Zdenek Konvalina(Conrad) and Fernanda Olivera (Medora) and a very impressive lift.
Act three sees Conrad & Medora and Ali & Gulnare (Shriori Kase - very good) escape from the Pasha (Michael Coleman - nice comic turn) only for their ship to get caught in a storm - very well staged.
If the music was not of the highest order the dance and staging was. La Corsaire is a a highly entertaining production and is recommended by me...
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