Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet

Agony & Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet was a three-part series broadcast on BBC4, which had behind-the-scenes access to three productions performed by ENB; Swan Lake at the Albert Hall, a touring production of Romeo & Juliet and The Nutcracker at the London Colesium. It was also one of the most interesting pieces of television that I've seen in a while. I know very little about ballet; I've seen productions of The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, always though it looked beautiful and wished I could dance like the women (and men) involved...but little more. This documentary really opened my eyes into the real behind-the-scenes ballet world. Fresh after Black Swan, which many dancers criticised as showing ballet in a negative light, I was interested as to how the documentary-makers would do this; would they try and make it all look elegant or search for dark back stories? In the end, it was something along the middle.

The first episode dealt with Derek Deane's production of Swan Lake, which required a massive corps de ballet (around 60 chorus dancers) to create the effect of all the swans. It would star 20-year-old Russian dancer Vadim Muntagirov and Russian ballerina Polina Semionova. However, Semionova has Visa problems getting out of Germany, and so Muntagirov rehearses with English National Ballet principal Daria Klimenotva who, at 38, says she is not enamoured with the idea of having to having Odile/Odette again. Deane lacks any kind of understanding when it comes to dealing with Klimentova, spending much of the rehearsal time telling her that she's a bit too old/weak/not interesting enough, whilst lavishing praise of Muntagirov. To Klimenotva's credit, she doesn't let Deane's harshness get her down, saying she is just more determined to do well. Meanwhile, the corps face gruelling rehearsals; hard on everyone especially the young additions who are fresh out of Ballet School. One company member even dances despite the fact she has recently recovered from a knee operation and *shock horror* wears kneepads in rehearsal. In the end, the visa drama ends with Klimentova performing the central role on opening night...and Deane remains nonplussed by her performance. However, here and Muntagirov are apparently compared to Fonetyn and Nurayev...so she gets the last laugh. Deane was probably my least favourite choreographer of the three parts-he seems unnecessarily cruel and, having had a bit of a google, his production wasn't raved about either.

Part Two dealt with the revival of Nurayev's production of Romeo & Juliet. The main problem this time round was the lack of men in the company to perform the very physical roles-which involve dancing and stage fighting. For instance, Max Westwell (who is lovely) performs not just Romeo, but also Benvolio and many other male roles. The rehearsal period is strained by numerous injuries and frayed tempers, from both creatives and cast members and the observation of the 'heart attack' pas de deux between Romeo (Westwell) and Juliet (Sarah McIllory) really showed the sweat and tears that go into the creation of a ballet. This episode also clearly shows the disputes between the dancers and the company, as they try and secure higher wages, but have no knowledge of the company's somewhat uncertain financial future as no one really shows them it.

The final installment was a brand new Nutcracker, directed by Wayne Eagling. Whilst Eagling was by no means a Deane; he wasn't cruel, he was a little lacking in understanding. Choreography kept changing and changing, to the point that by about the day before the performance there was still six minutes of the ballet that hadn't be choreographed. This, in addition to the heavy snowfall, meant that there was hardly any chance for all the casts to rehearse with all the sets and costumes, which are complex and Eagling keeps insisting on last-minute changes. There is additional pressure due to the fact that Nutcracker is the companies biggest 'cash-cow', it means a huge amount to the company that the production is successful. Again, Klimentova plays Clara in adverse circumstances, she performs in front of an invited audience the night before the show opens when the choreography hasn't fully been tightened and company member Ksenia Ovsyanick performs a soloist role that is highly troubled due to Eagling's continual changing of the choreography; the dancers all rise above the drama. Eagling, on the other hand, is just disappointed that one of his complex ariel works doesn't work properly.

Agony & Ecstasy was a really good, interesting documentary that is really worth catching on iPlayer if you're interested in any kind of performing arts, for a chance to see what really goes on in the wings.