Reija Wäre sets the tone for her ballet about Édith Piaf from the outset. A tiny dark figure climbs onto the stage. She opens her heart in passionate gestures, while in shadow play behind her, images of two more Piafs appear and you realise you are in for a thrilling evening of dance theatre. Wäre has extensive credits in dance, opera, film and television and her talent for telling a story in dance is blazingly evident. She developed the concept with Melissa A. Thompson and uses the dance style to suit the emotion. The older Piaf, a breathtaking performance from Tiina Myllymäki, uses predominantly her hands and body to bring to life Piaf’s indomitable spirit. Her younger versions are on pointe, using contemporary and ballet vocabulary.
Composer, Jukka Nykänen, also with a wealth of experience, delivers a score quality tailored to offer teasers of the memorable melodies while supporting the ballet with danceable music, conducted with passion by Aliisa Neige Barrière. Set and lighting by Jani Uljas and Joonas Tikkanen build the atmosphere in the fast-paced drama, most effectively in the factory scene, a moving tableau of bored workers, in ill-lit gloom.
Erika Turunen’s costumes introduce glamour in contrast to Piaf’s simple black dress. The Mademoiselles in gorgeous lingerie and gowns grace the brothel and their polite, well-dressed clients keep the environment almost wholesome, though we do get interesting gymnastics from the ladies. Later scenes in clubs and high society are equally extravagantly dressed while street scenes set a more sombre tone.
Piaf was a star graduate from the school of hard knocks. Blind and destitute in her childhood but with the priceless gift of opening her heart in song, she became the iconic French chanteuse. The ballet is devised from Piaf’s memories, so a gloss on details of sordid reality could be forgiven in favour of select moments.
Her teenage years with friend, Momone, a lively supportive performance from Yuka Masumoto, are played out in well-acted, well-danced street scenes. Her talents are noticed by Louis Leplée who engages her at his nightclub. Fame follows and she moves up the ladder to entertain international audiences.
“Love is a battlefield”, said Édith Piaf. Her first love is Louis, an adoring Atte Kilpinen, in a duet of utter bliss translated into dance language of joy and discovery. Hye Ji Kang, as the teenage Piaf, gives a sterling performance, full of life and hope while delivering the innovative choreography fearlessly. Piaf’s love affairs excited the press of the day, and Wäre choreographs her brief sexual encounters as unrestrained passion, draped on the grand piano and swinging from the lights.
The adult Piaf, Linda Haakana, gets some of the best dance sequences. Her drunken solo, not played for laughs, is ugly and painful to watch but her duet with Marcel, Johan Pakkanen, who brings her stability and true love, is profound and moving. His death in a plane crash is marked by images of falling doves as Pakkanen descends into the stage trap and Myllymäki takes over the role, heartrending in her despair. Myllymäki is the lynchpin of the ballet, seldom offstage and never less than fully in character. It’s an exceptional role delivered straight from the heart, unflinching in its reality. Destroyed by addiction she makes a final triumphant rendition of La vie en rose, the only time we hear the voice of Piaf herself and it works.
This could have been a deeper, darker tale, there is certainly scope for it in Piaf’s life, but director, Javier Torres has a large company to engage and an opera house to fill. Giving the work a slight commercial gloss has not detracted from the powerful central roles and ensured box office success. Torres, deservedly, now continues as Artistic Director until 2029.
Maggie's trip was funded by Finnish National Ballet
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