Russian Legend - The Firebird and the NSO

When I heard that last night's performance was going to be a puppet show, I literally thought there were going to be a bunch of people running around the stage with sock puppets. Luckily, it was a bit more complicated than that. The National Symphony Orchestra accompanied a truly unique performance of the Firebird ballet by Stravinsky. But instead of just having a dancers, the performance was done by the Handspring Puppet Company. This South African company is one of the most famous in the world and their work has included the critically acclaimed play, War Horse. Firebird itself is a ballet written by Stravinsky in 1910 that tells a story of Prince Ivan who spares the Firebird from death and with the help of the magical creature, defeats the magician Koschei and frees all the creatures under his spell. The Firebird itself is based on an old Slavic legend of a bird that can be both a blessing and a curse to its owner.

Although the plot was pretty hard to follow throughout the show, it was a very good performance and the puppets were truly amazing! When I say puppets, think of huge models of dragons and birds that have to be manned by several people. The puppeteers themselves are also incredible dancers and the whole performance flowed really well. They did a great combination of choreography combining the subtly of their dance moves with the fanfare of these large puppets and props they were flying across the stage. And this was only the 2nd part of the show. The first part was the NSO itself playing a number of relaxing pieces including selections from Prokofiev and Ravel. But they were not the main part of this show, and the puppets really made this a great performance. I didn't come in expecting much but was really blown away by the artistry! There were a fair amount of people on the lawn but it was a very easy show and despite being blazing hot, the show was an easy one to work.

The best part of the show for me was the climax when the magnificent firebird itself emerged  in its full form on the stage. It took up the whole front of the stage and must have been manned by half a dozen people. I was able to look at it up close and it was so awesome! No wonder these guys won a Tony award in 2011!

As always, looking forward to more shows in the future!

DC

The Firebird