Dancing the ‘Dream’

Liam Scarlett's A Midsummer Night's Dream has become a jewel of the RNZB's repertoire.

Created for the Royal New Zealand Ballet in co-production with Queensland Ballet, Liam Scarlett’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream had its world premiere in Wellington on the 20th of August, 2015. The talent of several individuals was brought to the fore, through the ballet’s whimsical choreography by Liam Scarlett, and the innovative set and costume design by Tracy Grant Lord. Felix Mendelssohn’s original incidental music was skillfully arranged and expanded by Nigel Gaynor, to create a full-length two-act ballet. The two original casts of the ballet included many former stars of the RNZB, including Tonia Looker, Kohei Iwamoto, Lucy Green, Abigail Boyle, Joseph Skelton, and Paul Mathews. A number of current RNZB dancers were also among the original cast, including Shaun James Kelly, Mayu Tanigaito, Katherine Minor, Kirby Selchow, and former RNZB dancer and current Rehearsal Director Clytie Campbell.

» It is serendipity in a production when all the elements come together in one harmonious and glorious whole, but it cannot always be guaranteed no matter the individual talents of those involved. With the RNZB’s sparkling new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream the company has hit the jackpot. «

Jan Bolwell, DANZ

Clytie Campbell

I was excited when Liam cast me as Hermia for the original production in 2015, as I often danced strong or evil roles like the stepsisters in Cinderella or Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty. The role of Hermia is beautiful and elegant, and it was special to know that Liam was able to see that side of me. When the ballet came back in 2016, it was my last performance as a professional dancer before I retired to become rehearsal director with the company – I was really happy to end my career with such a beautiful role and ballet.

Liam was very efficient at coming up with choreography quickly, but he also took a lot of inspiration from what the dancers would do in the studio, and their natural reactions: he cast the ballet largely based on who he felt would take on a particular role well, and then built upon their instincts and the ways the dancers would react to each other during particular scenes. He would often jump in and demonstrate sections for each character, and he was such a talented actor that you would truly believe in that moment that he was Lysander, or Oberon, or one of the fairies.

The creation period was one of the most positive and inspiring processes I’ve been a part of in my career. The atmosphere in the studio was so happy, and that was a result of Liam’s energy and his approach to the work – his energy was infectious.

I would describe Liam’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as ‘intuitively musical’ and full of ‘genuine characterisation’. I think the strong characterisation makes this ballet such a joy to work on and to also revisit – you’re not only working on the technical execution of steps, but on developing these whimsical and larger than life characters. This is the type of ballet that audiences are happy to watch over and over again, as you might notice something new that you hadn’t spotted previously.

It felt like a big responsibility when I was asked to stage the ballet on the company in 2021, but it was easy once I started because I had such vivid memories of Liam in the studio demonstrating the characterisation and the musicality of the work. It was also helpful to have some dancers from the original cast still in the company at the time, who were very generous in sharing their knowledge, helping with specific details or sharing insights as to choreographic execution or characterisation that they remember Liam sharing. Everyone really cares about this show so much, and are passionate about keeping the production alive and true to Liam’s vision. Audiences will love this ballet as it is a great story, a fun and silly story even, with stunning costumes and sets.

This show is for all ages, and it’s great to hear the children in the audience laughing, whilst the adults enjoy the other layers of subtle comedy that go over the children’s heads. You can tell that the dancers love this ballet, and it’s always enjoyable to see people loving what they are doing onstage.

Shaun James Kelly

I was a Rustic and second-cast Puck in the 2015 production. When Liam was creating the ballet, he created it equally on both casts, which is rare now – normally a choreographer creates a ballet on one cast. Since then I have danced the same roles each time the ballet has come back, and will be Puck and a Rustic this time around too.

Rustics was one of the last things Liam created, and he asked us ‘What do you want to do?’ and I said ‘Let’s do this’. We built on musical phrases that he created and then added fun stuff in between, like the sliding steps and funny lifts. Liam had already created all of the fairy choreography and was very clear on what he wanted for that, but Rustics was a bit more free and collaborative. I would describe Liam’s Midsummers as musical, whimsical, and very ‘kiwiana’.

He made the ballet specifically for the RNZB, which is why it works so well here with a smaller group of dancers, each dancer having a moment to shine and tell the story. Liam was very meticulous, he came in with the notated score and knew exactly where each part was in the music – he created the ballet in just four weeks. The role of Puck really solidified me as a soloist dancer within the company. It’s something I’ll remember forever, working with Liam.

Midsummer feels like a ‘jewel’ of the RNZB’s repertoire. It’s such a great audience piece, it has a bit of comedy, it’s very classical, but it’s also ‘new-age’ ballet. It’s really like you’re in a fairyland in New Zealand somewhere. Mendelssohn’s music is so beautiful, Liam and Nigel Gaynor worked closely to rearrange the score for this specific production to ensure it had the right ebbs and flows to tell the story across a two-act ballet.

Kirby Selchow

For the original production in 2015, I was one of the six blue fairies. When we got onstage for the tech rehearsals in Wellington, Liam pulled me aside and said he had seen a different side of me on the stage that he hadn’t seen in the studio, and added a little featured moment for me in the blue fairies dance in the second act. Then when the ballet came back in 2016 and we toured to Hong Kong, the dancer who was first-cast Hermia in the original production had left the company. Liam chose me to go into her spot to dance Hermia.

You create these relationships with choreographers when they come to work with the company, and Liam was definitely one of those people I created a connection with. It was special having someone from the outside come in and see a different side of you that normally people perhaps may not recognise. I’ll be dancing Hermia again this time, but I’ll also be Helena in a different cast – getting to dance new roles keeps the ballet fresh and exciting.

I feel like that was the first time someone didn’t typecast me in something, and it was my first big role in the company. It gave me a lot of confidence, and even today I go back to that moment where Liam saw something in me and had faith in me. It’s a really special ballet, and it’s quite emotional to go back and revisit it each time we do it. Liam was a joy to work with, he was full of life and really wore his heart on his sleeve. He was very empathetic and had a great love for the art form but also for each individual, he knew everyone and made that effort to get to know each dancer. He wanted everyone to have the chance to be individual within the choreography, especially for the fairies. He was a ray of sunshine really, so joyous.

I would describe Liam’s work as ‘timeless’. Liam was able to create this fantasy world, and with Tracy’s designs, together they created this magical place where you could step into it and forget about reality for a second. Especially when you’re dancing, you feel totally immersed in a space and time where you’re ‘living the dream’ or living in a fairytale.

Katherine Minor

I danced the role of Peaseblossom, the purple fairy, in the original 2015 production. I’ve danced this role each time the production has come back since then, and will be dancing both Peaseblossom and Titania in this year’s staging of the ballet. Liam came into the studio knowing what he wanted, I felt like the creation process moved very quickly. He could read music and knew the music so well, that it was almost natural in the way he could embody the music through the steps he was creating.

He was also a very talented actor, so he could basically be any character in the room. Just by watching him, he gave off this energy that we as dancers could connect to, and then through that understand what he wanted us to do for each of our characters. I would describe Liam’s choreography as delightful.

Prior to the creation process in 2015, I had done two other versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so I was already familiar with the score and just loved the music. I knew of Liam Scarlett, so I was really excited to see what he would do and create to that score.

Being chosen to dance as Peaseblossom felt like a huge opportunity to work with Liam. I remember watching him create the Titania and Oberon pas de deux at that time, and that became my first true dream role, to dance Titania. This production tells the story so well, and I feel like because of the combination of the sets, the choreography, the costumes, the music and the full commitment to each of the characters, it really creates a world onstage. Rather than projecting out towards the audience, this production draws the audience in, inviting them to be part of the magical world we get to experience and create.

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