With an appropriately gothic start, the Halloween performance of Peter Pan was light hearted, with touches of poignancy are sprinkled throughout the production. The performance gave me a renewed appreciation for the dancers’ physical control, suspending reality for the audience with hints of magic.

Camilo Ramos’s Peter is the unsanitized, naughty original, annoying Wendy and the darling children, but offering an escape from their monochromatic world. Lisa Edwards and Victor Estévez‘s Darlings were melancholic and unearthly and, for me, some of the best sequences. With exaggerated masks they seemed unknowable; a caricatured version of adults from the perspective of the children. The quiet synchronicity of the two dances elevated the scenes and made them stand out in the bubbling production.

The raucous scenes of the lost boys and pirates surrounding the duel of Hook and Peter are a highlight. It is down to the skill of the dancers and choreographer Trey McIntyre that in the audience is able to forget what an undertaking it is to coordinate so many moving parts. Principle dancer Yanela Piñera suggested this was one of the challenges; each night the scenes were unpredictable and requires the dancer to stay her on her toes, so to speak.

Piñera’s and Ramos’s flying no doubt let to some of the most breathtaking scenes, and was a firm favourite of the dancers according to their discussion afterwards. The technical aspects are pretty fascinating and clearly delighted the artists.

It’s a difficult production to bring together aesthetically – props required are large and the use of shadow screens speaks to the original tale. The look of the production creates links with the original storybook, extending beyond the stage in a moment of fantasy. The costumes were a mix of styles, with the Darlings, Wendy and Hook all working particularly well with the dancer-created characters. Hook in particular was at his campy, fabulous best, being a standout with Liam Geck’s ability to express character and work well with a playfully exaggerated costume.

This ballet has a long tradition, and it is evident in some of the retro touches. The production does however update the story by leaving out some of the more problematic aspects of the story (the competition of Wendy, Tinkerbell and Tigerlilly for Peter’s affection) and the depiction of wild Native American Indians (although replaced by ‘red skins’, as red body-stockinged dandies). It is at least good to see engagement with these issues.

In the end, the story of a boy who never wants to grow up is timeless and yet particularly timely in the current pop-culture climate. As a rare visitor to the ballet, this production was accessible and entertaining and delighted the young audience members.

 

 

Peter Pan

Queensland Ballet in association with PowerArts

25 October - 5 November