Moulin Rouge shows Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s versatility

Photo courtesy of Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

In many respects, Moulin Rouge, the ballet, makes perfect sense. Ballet, of course, is a French creation, and the Moulin Rouge is the most famous cabaret where the cancan dance originated.

But making a new story ballet that conjures the festive and artsy turn of the 20^th century Paris without kitsch, and basing part the story on actual historical figures, can be tricky.

Jorden Morris’s Moulin Rouge, created for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, stays true to its theme and is choreographed, beautifully at parts, to a compilation score by composers such as Shostakovich, Debussy, Ravel, and Offenbach, his familiar Can-Can. The evening-length show, which premiered in 2009, was commissioned by the company’s artistic director André Lewis in his continuing quest to modernize the repertoire. The company is touring it across North America and recently played at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, Texas.

Morris weaves together two fictional stories, an ill-fated love triangle, and the tutelage between the French painter Toulouse-Lautrec (based on the real Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.) and a young artist. Period costumes by Anne Armit and Shannon Lovelace and elaborate sets including the dance hall’s trademark giant red windmill by Andrew Beck give the right feel.

Nathalie, a dancer auditioning at the Moulin Rouge, meets Matthew, a painter, and falls in love. Zidler, the Moulin Rouge owner (based on the real Charles Zidler, Moulin Rouge’s formidable manager) also is smitten with Nathalie and hires her.

Jealousy ensues when Nathalie meets the other cabaret dancers and La Goulue, performed by the accomplished Joanne Sundermeier, challenges her to a cancan competition in which a victorious Nathalie gets the coveted tower dressing room.

Matthew, played by Dmitri Dovgoselets, befriends Toulouse-Lautrec, performed by Nurzhan Kulybaev, who offered a flattering portrayal of the stocky and unattractive painter. After a somewhat silly paint-off scene between the two, they go to the Moulin Rouge where Matthew and Nathalie reconnect. The couple’s lovely moonlight pas de deux on a bridge with the Eiffel Tower in the background showed the evening best dancing. Amanda Green, as Nathalie, brought warmth and a sweet sincerity to the role, while Dovgoselets’ quiet expressiveness anchored the story.

Photo courtesy of Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

Amar Dhaliwal thunderously plays Zidler, something of a dark, gun-totting Herr Drosselmeyer character, cape and all. Zidler is ruthless and over-bearing with Nathalie, who longs to be with Matthew. Dhaliwal has plenty of flair but some deeper character definition could have helped his role.

In the second and final act, a dancing green fairy appears, a bizarre choice, to inspire a drunk Toulouse-Lautrec to finish his painting. Tango dancing at the cabaret is interrupted when the love triangle heats up as Zidler pulls a gun on Matthew. Nathalie reluctantly agrees to stay with Zidler in a memorable dance scene where Green shows more of her dramatic range. Brokenhearted, Matthew drinks with his mentor and sees the green fairies. A plot to sneak Matthew into the cabaret while the can-can dancers are robustly dancing works. Things escalate when Zidler sees Matthew and Nathalie and shoots his gun, missing Matthew but striking her. Wounded (with fake blood smeared on her chest), Nathalie dances her final steps and drops to the floor, as her lover falls over her body.

Overall, clean dancing and adept storytelling bring this Moulin Rouge back to life.