Vienna Opera Tickets

One can picture immediately a tale about fairies meddling in the affairs of humans being perfect for ballet. Shakespeare’s flight of fantasy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has provided the inspiration for many choreographers, amongst them, Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine and Heinz Spörli. Then, in 2010, Jorma Elo created his own A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Vienna State Opera Ballet, an interpretation that saw him win the prestigious Prix Benois de la Danse the following year.

Set primarily to Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music for the Bard’s play, Ein Sommernachtstraum, of 1842, supplemented by other works by the composer, Elo’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a ballet that tells a story. The Athenian court is preparing a wedding feast for Theseus and Hippolyta. A second couple, Hermia and Lysander, are in love with each other. But Demetrius has eyes for Hermia too; her father is also determined to see Demetrius and Hermia married. Meanwhile, Demetrius has his own admirer, Helena.

Their problems are mirrored in the fairy world. Their king and queen, Oberon and Titania, are fighting over a changeling that Titania has taken for a servant. Oberon enlists the help of Puck, another fairy, to concoct a potion that will make Titania forget about the changeling and bring Demetrius and Helena together.

Puck’s skill as a herbalist is not matched by his ability to work out who’s who. He confuses Demetrius with Lysander. Oberon then tries to correct Puck’s error, which ends up with both men running after Helena. Meanwhile, Puck has transformed Bottom, a craftsman, into a donkey. Titania is smitten and lies down to sleep with the enchanted animal. With Demetrius and Lysander’s fight over Helena threatening to end in tragic circumstances , it is up to Puck to put things right.

Jorma Elo has devised ballets for many of the world’s major companies: the American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Netherlands Dance Theatre, to name just three. In 2005 he was appointed resident choreographer of Boston Ballet. His works include Le sacré du printemps, Brake the Eyes and Sharper Side of Dark.

How should one sum up Elo’s approach to ballet? Praising a choreographer for the physicality of his ideas may seem perverse when talking about dance. But everything in Elo’s work starts with the core, not the arms and legs. The result is movement that is organic rather than stylised. Now destined for the Volksoper Wien, Elo’s concept is the ideal foundation for A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s ethereal domain.