Considering the findings of my workshops, rehearsal sessions and performance, I have a greater understanding of the aspirations and challenges that Bintley faced in the creation of Humboldt’s Hog-nosed Skunk Flea dance. If Bintley’s ambition had ever been to represent Morris dance authentically, he would have had to adjust the dance considerably in order to fit the theatrical context rather than the informal outdoor environment for which it is generally intended. Having
examined a number of Bintley’s works and taking account of his training at the Royal Ballet School, I propose that he wanted to reflect English ballet tradition by offering a flavour of Morris dance rather than recreate a traditional Morris display, which he has achieved by translating his experiences of traditional and theatricalised Morris dance. Moreover, after my own experiments, as detailed in this chapter, I can appreciate the extent to which Bintley had to adjust the directions and placement of the Morris dance figures in order to accommodate the fixed position of the audience. He mentioned, in fact, that he has a tendency to work out folk dance inspired formations or floor patterns in advance
(interview 2004a) when working in the folk idiom.
Differences in size of the performance spaces are also an issue. Dancing
outdoors, the Morris team often remains in the longways set and does not travel a great deal outside these boundaries. The audience surround them, thus they do not have a great deal of space at their disposal. Bintley on the other hand had to fill the large stage of the Royal Opera House, and therefore had to stretch the traditional figures to keep the space alive for the audience. Consequently, there had to be some adjustment to Morris dance travelling steps such as the single and double steps and the caper in order for them to translate to a large performance space.
As already noted the audience is normally extremely close to Morris
performances and viewers can see the detail in the hand movements and figures.
In order to reach audiences viewing from a distance, Bintley exaggerates
movements. For instance, with the galley, his dancers use a strong turned out leg alignment on the supporting and working leg which sharpens the movement but also makes it look artificial. Instead of performing small circles with the working foot, the dancers kick the leg high to the side. The visual dynamics of the action is theatrically effective in a way that the more intricate movements involved in a traditional galley are not. Smaller and more detailed gestures tend to be lost when viewed on the grand stage. This exaggeration also applies to arm movements and arm lines. For instance, rather than just circling the hands from the wrist (see p.140), Bintley’s dancers execute an embellished version of this gesture. The dancers’ forearms bend outwards from the elbow on a horizontal plane and they circle the whole of the lower arm in a clockwise direction. This movement again
is not as subtle as the traditional circle or twist, but Bintley’s adaptation provides greater clarity for the movement as performed on a large stage.
Bintley is also working within the framework of the English ballet tradition, thus Humboldt’s Hog-nosed Skunk Flea dance has to embody the qualities of this tradition, which over and above the Morris style require high levels of
expressivity, dramatic characterisation and musicality. Bintley’s characterisation of the flea and the Morris dancers is finely drawn and calls for his dancers’
acting abilities in order to convey the humour of the situation. As suggested on page 167, Cotswold Morris dancers introduce comedy into their performance via the Morris dance fool. I have already noted that Bintley follows this tradition by characterising the flea as the Morris dance fool. In the theatrical context, this humour takes on an almost pantomimic effect. There are similarities here with the art of clowning whereby the characters must create a strong identity or personality on stage. Bintley’s dancers have exaggerated the comedy to ensure that the humour can translate to the audience no matter where they are sitting in the auditorium.
Working within the genre of ballet demands a specific range of aesthetics in terms of both style and technique. The female ballet dancer attempts to defy gravity and as discussed on page 36, the maintenance of a high centre of gravity allows her to appear weightless and at times entirely air-borne. The feet are pointed, and increased flexibility around the hip joints allows the leg to turn out and give a greater range of motion. This is a complete contrast to the male Morris dancers’ emphasis of weight produced through a much lower centre of gravity.
Female ballet dancers generally are slender with light frames and they have trained to execute finely-honed footwork. Male Morris dancers flex their feet and accentuate the groundedness of their movements. The authentic style does not lend itself readily to being ‘balleticised’ and as I have demonstrated earlier, the Morris steps, figures and motifs are difficult to translate to a theatrical context.
For example, in Bintley’s variation on a hey, to accommodate the fixed position of the audience, the dancers begin from one straight line rather than in a
longways set. In the line formation no dancer is obscured. Similarly when performing a figure similar to the threading the needle, Bintley seizes the opportunity to transform the complex figure into a moment of comedy. As the flea leads the dancers underneath a single arm arch, he makes a visual joke through the way that the dancers’ limbs almost inextricably become entangled.
Bintley’s knowledge and experience of traditional and theatricalised folk dance allowed him to produce a work that takes the form and translates it into a
language that can be interpreted within a theatrical setting. Such a task requires a great storyteller to be able to narrate or use this particular language on stage. As discussed in chapter two, Bintley, is a powerful narrator and as a legatee and pupil of the De Valois/Ashton/Macmillan tradition, he has been exposed to and has embraced the choreographic traits inherent within an English ballet style, perfecting the art of choreographing not just a dance, but a piece of theatre. The ability to be able to create a piece of pure theatrical dance that can fuse a
consideration of the theatrical context with an understanding of a folk dance form is not prevalent in choreography today.
Bintley is a master of translating English folk-inspired dance to the theatrical stage. As noted, it is a craft that requires an artistic sympathy and respect for the folk dance form and a familiarity and understanding of the foundations and motifs of the tradition as well as the choreographic sensibility or nuance to be able to take two contrasting styles and reconcile them without destroying their creative or fundamental nature and the ability to stage this in a way that is entertaining, dramatic and meaningful to an audience in a theatrical framework.
Such a craft has contributed to Bintley’s iconic status as an ‘English’
choreographer, but it is also a complex skill that is difficult to pass on to other choreographers. As a consequence, it may well be a skill which is in danger of disappearing if younger choreographers do not continue to bridge the gap between folk and theatrical dance. From interviews carried out with Bintley, it would seem that he is not altogether aware of his accomplishments in this field.
What is certain is that he has special skills which might usefully be passed on to new generations of classical ballet choreographers. This way, awareness could be raised in the professional world of dance of the complexities and rewards of working with folk dance forms which will inspire other British artists to experiment with old and new traditions.
Having established the level of skill involved in translating English folk-inspired dance to the theatrical stage, chapter five examines the results of a training workshop conducted with some of the dancers involved in the performance of Still Life at the Folk Café and the Ravensbourne Morris Men.
Fig 8. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Note: Still Life at the Folk Café (2006). Screenshot taken from DVD
Fig 9. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Fig 10. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Note: Still Life at the Folk Café (2006). Screenshot taken from DVD
Fig 11. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Fig 12. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Note: Still Life at the Folk Café (2006). Screenshot taken from DVD Fig 13. A scene from Still Life at the Folk Café
Note: Still Life at the Folk Café (2006). Screenshot taken from DVD
Chapter five
Training workshop with the Ravensbourne Morris Men
Having tested traditional Morris dance as theatre in Still Life at the Folk Café, the thesis goes on to explain how the dancers who took part in the production and its process responded when taught by the Morris men. The following chapter discusses the findings, results and observations from a workshop conducted in September 2006 with the Ravensbourne Morris dance team and some of the trained dancers.