Goldilocks is arguably one of the most acclaimed creations by unconventional Czech
composer, Vladimír Franz. It is, as indicated by the title, a
ballet fairy-tale with a simple story in which good triumphs over
evil. The hero does not get his reward easily; he must work hard
to achieve it. It is aimed at a very young audience, possibly
children under ten or even younger. To appreciate it one must
watch it through the eyes of a child.
The
production design, the fairy-tale itself, the costumes and
the music are all consciously created with one aim: to attract
children to live theatre by putting together a visually stunning
performance. It has an easy to follow moral plot, underlined
by expressive music. The music has the kind of rhythm that
appeals to a very young audience: marked and graphic, mostly
associated with a certain type of action. In this sense, composer
Franz, director Havelka and choreographer Kodet succeed in
their objectives. If one is to believe what they write in
the booklet or is stated in the label’s website then children
left the theatre, night after night, feeling enchanted, dominated
by a desire to return and see the performance again.
The
plot is a conventional fairy-tale but, in spite of its title
Goldilocks, it has no similarities with the famous
children’s story Goldilocks and the Three Bears or
even with the original, The Story of the Three Bears,
taken from the oral tradition. The latter was first put into
written narrative by English poet and author Robert Southey
(1774-1843), who included the story in a book, which he published
in 1837.
The
Goldilocks of this ballet fairy-tale is not a little girl
but a princess and she does not meet any bears or eat anybody’s
breakfast, except possibly her own! The libretto was put together
by choreographer Kodet and stage director Havelka.
It has all the ingredients that make a good fairy tale: a
villain in the character of the Evil King; the hero, who is
a cook, a simple yet courageous young man and with a noble
soul; seven princesses, one of whom is the heroine Goldilocks;
animals that help the hero and a magical potion, in this case
water that can kill or give life. There is no fairy as such
but there is an old woman, a herbalist, who bestows a wonderful
gift on the Evil King - though why she does it nobody knows:
he will be able to understand animals if he bakes and eats
a snake she has brought him in a basket. He asks the cook
to prepare it but tells him that he must not taste it or he
will be beheaded. The cook tastes it but cannot keep it a
secret and so the Evil King finds out. He decides to give
the cook a second chance instead of having him killed immediately.
The King tells the cook to fetch the beautiful princess Goldilocks
so that he can make her his Queen and so spare his life. This
starts the cook, our hero, on a long journey, accompanied
by his faithful friend, Doggie (obviously a dog) that he can
now understand. The cook, called Jiřik goes through many
adventures and always helps animals on the way, until he can
find the princesses. He falls in love with Goldilocks though
at the time he does not yet know that she is the one. The
Flower King, Goldilocks’ father, obviously does not just hand
over his daughter but tells the cook that he can only take
her to become the wife of his master if he can successfully
perform three tasks. Jiřik agrees and with the support
of the animal friends he helped along the way, he manages
to complete all the actions that the Flower King demanded
of him. He is however dismayed when he realises that the princess,
with whom he fell in love and who loves him in return, is
Goldilocks and that he must take her to the Evil King to become
his wife. This is where the special magical water comes in
and so to the happy ending: the Evil King drinks the water
that kills and so dies, thinking he’s drinking the water that
gives life and rejuvenates. Jiřik marries Goldilocks.
They rule wisely over the Evil King’s country and everyone
lives happily ever after.
The DVD booklet
contains the full fairy-tale in four languages, Czech, English,
German and French, with beautiful coloured photographs from
the ballet production. It can easily be read by children,
as it is written in a simple, direct style and the action
progresses quickly, which makes it also suitable to be read
aloud to children too young to read the story themselves.
The choreography
by Jan Kodet is dramatically expressive, though not very demanding
or original but that is not its aim. There is a successful
attempt to mix classic ballet elements with contemporary dance
steps, which effectively make the work more attractive to
adults. Children will respond well to the movement of the
dancers in general, which is often formed by gestures and
steps that indicate actions rather than emotions. Children
will relate to them because they will feel that they can imitate
the dancers and so put themselves in the story, as if they
were an intrinsic part of it. The music follows the same idea
as the choreography: There are basic themes associated with
characters or certain actions; the rhythm is strong and consistent
with an underlying tempo that conducts the narrative and supports
the progression of the story. I think one might say that the
music is graphic, describing the action, which it effectively
supports on stage, as performed by the dancers. The best passages
reminded me of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring though less
sophisticated, with simpler orchestration; while there were
others where its atonal characteristics were displeasing to
my personal taste. During Jiřik’s journey, there is an
attempt to characterise the Czech forests through sound but
to my mind the composer was not quite successful. Goldilocks
herself appears right from the start and gradually develops
to become bright and glorious in the finale; Franz introduces
interesting harmonies, suitably highlighting that all is well
that ends well. The music can arguably be enjoyed more by
an adult audience once one reads the explanations and comments
by the composer himself. These are included in the booklet,
though I found them a touch pretentious. Children, however,
will be little concerned with these matters and will almost
certainly be absorbed in the action, following the characters’
adventures.
From the perspective
of the dramatic narrative, the tale succeeds because it includes
a narrator, the conjurer. He comments on the action, explains
certain aspects of it and speeds it up. For a young audience,
this is a very effective feature, as it will help them understand
the pure balletic parts with no words. Personally, I found
the narrator irritating. His part is mostly sung rather than
spoken and this is the reason why I did not enjoy it. The
part is very well acted but the singing does not match it;
the voice is monotone and detracts from the ballet itself.
Then there are the subtitles, which are a must if one wants
to understand the conjurer’s words, as the whole text is in
Czech. The subtitles are more disruptive in a ballet than
in a film and I think this could put off young viewers. On
the other hand, they may be less fussy than an adult and just
concentrate on the visuals; in the end, the words are really
not so important.
Where I think
that Goldilocks excels is in the costumes, which undoubtedly
contributed to a great deal of its success. These, designed
by Alexandra Grusková, are truly fabulous and magical. They
are colourful, spectacular and, in the case of the animals,
realistic, which increases the overall sense of wonder that
the piece tries to offer its young audience. A scene in particular
stuck in my mind: the ants looking for and gathering the pearls
of Goldilocks’ necklace to give to Jiřik, which was one
of the tasks her father assigned to him. There is never a
moment when one does not believe that they are real ants,
genuinely trying to pay back Jiřik for his earlier good
deed towards them; and to my mind, this is indeed a “magical”
achievement!
The Berg Orchestra,
led by its founder Peter Vrábel, delivers a good, solid performance
of Franz’s music and effectively participates in the action,
particularly in the beginning: They appear as part of the
conjurer’s magic on stage and only after that do they take
their place, in the orchestra pit, for the performance. Again,
this fact will definitely appeal to a young audience.
The idea to film
Goldilocks came about because of the enormous success
the ballet has enjoyed in Prague, since its creation in 2006,
generally playing to sold-out houses. I am however not convinced
that the DVD can convey the same sense of wonder and enchantment
that one would enjoy by watching the live performance on stage.
The filming is sometimes a bit patchy, appearing in a stop-motion
style, as if the performers were made of plasticine instead
of being real people; however, I could not say if this was
intentional or due to poor quality of the disc itself.
The DVD contains
also some bonus features with biographies and a documentary,
entitled Goldilocks on Tiptoes, which goes behind the
scenes and is interesting. Although, the DVD and its contents
are mainly aimed at children, I think adults will find some
enjoyment as well. It surely is a pleasant piece of entertainment
for the whole family and it might just stimulate both young
and older viewers’ imagination enough to make them go to the
theatre and watch a live ballet performance on stage!
Margarida
Mota-Bull
