Dido and Aeneas - Dancing Times

Dido and Aeneas

Dance is integral to Henry Purcell’s English opera Dido and Aeneas, composed in 1688 and probably performed first at Josias Priest’s girls’ school in London the following year. Until now, however, I have never seen a production that so closely integrates the singers, musicians and dancers as the one unveiled by the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo on March 22. Performed in the Opera House’s second auditorium, Scene 2, director and choreographer, Andreas Heise, brings the entire cast and the costumes orchestra together on stage, all of them intermingling actively and adding considerably to this new interpretation of the story of Dido, the Carthaginian queen abandoned by her lover Aeneas, a Trojan prince. So closely integrated is the cast that at the beginning of the opera I initially mistook Désirée Baraula and Mikkel Skorpen, the singers portraying the Sorceress and Aeneas, to be dancers because they performed a short choreographed duet with such wonderful fluency and confidence. It says much for Heise’s direction that all of the singers in this production held their bodies with poise and elegance, with none of the awkward, embarrassing fumbling that can be seen in other stagings of operas when singers attempt to dance. Most of the dancers here act as an ensemble, but two - Heidi Cecilie Baastad Christensen and Shaakir Muhammad - double up with Astrid Norstad and Skorpen in the central roles of Dido and Aeneas. The dancing pair not only perform together in contemporary- style duets, but interact with the singers throughout, often overlapping their movements and phrases to underline particular dramatic moments. For example, whilst Dido and Aeneas sing of their love seated at the side, his head in her lap, the dancers take centre stage in a sweet pas de deux, where Aeneas turns Dido around and lifts her gently over his shoulders. The dancers are young and seemingly innocent, in contrast to the more worldly and voluptuous singers, but later in the opera, when Aeneas resolves to abandon Dido, his dancing double appears to personify Aeneas’ conscience, chiding the singer for his cruel decision. Heise also demonstrates the disintegration of the love affair through the dancing of the ensemble: in the beginning they appear in faux 18th century-style dances whilst wearing heeled shoes and period costume, only later to abandon this carefree, courtly style with expressionistic movements that suggest sadness and emotional torment. It’s a touching production, sumptuously dressed and simply staged by Bregje van Balen, with just a few props and projections. It is also beautifully sung, most particularly by the female members of the cast. Whilst Heise’s choreography does not match the intensity of Mark Morris in his own enthralling dance production of the opera, I was pleased he kept things simple, and elected not to make a solo dance to Dido’s “Lament”, one of the most moving aria of all opera. Magnificently sung, as it was by Norstad, the aria should be heard without any distraction.

by Jonathan Gray