Wow, that was spectacular. Spectacle is a rather over-used word, unless of course you are an optician, but Scapino Ballet’s Oscar really is a spectacle – half dance, half circus and half rock concert, it overwhelms the senses and takes the breath away.
This is a reprise of the show first staged in 2022 at Theater Carré in Amsterdam. The choice of venue was significant because the Oscar in question is not Wilde, nor a Hollywood award but Oscar Carré the horse-training impresario who built the theatre in 1887 as a home base for his celebrated circus. Scapino’s Oscar is a hommage, a tribute to the great man. But also, sadly, it marks the end of an era with the retirement of another great man, Scapino’s long term artistic director Ed Wubbe. The company’s two principal dancers, Mischa van Leeuven and Bonnie Doets, both of whom so dominated the original production of Oscar, have also hung up their tights and pointe shoes.
Out of the three elements of the show it is hard to say which dominates. Each was equally strong and each alone would have been enough to carry the evening. But the foundation, the rock on which the show is built is undoubtedly the music performed live on stage by Dutch singer-songwriter Blaudzun.
The Netherlands would no doubt forgive me for saying it does not constitute a significant player in the milieu of rock and roll but this was the first time I have seen or heard Blaudzun, nom de plume of Johannes Sigmond, and he struck me as a world-class act. As Ed Wubbe said, “My dream to create a concert, dance and circus performance as an ode to Oscar Carré became reality. Blaudzun’s music was very inspiring and has become an inseparable part of the performance.”
The songs, backed by keyboards, guitar, bass and drums with Mr Sigmond on vocals and acoustic guitar, ranged from hard rock to romantic. All the tracks were pre-existing and included the instrumental Palomino, very pertinent for Oscar in which horses feature so significantly. There are several amazing sequences in which saddled, though headless and tailless, horses on wheels spin around the stage.
The show started with a miniature striped circus tent centre stage from which the dancers slowly emerged. Oscar himself is represented as a long-black-coated, top-hatted figure who strides the stage, punctuating the stream of shortish dance sequences and numerous circus acts. Faultlessly performed by students or graduates from Codarts, Rotterdam’s renowned performing arts university, the acts included juggling, trapeze, corde lisse, aerial straps and rolling globe (look ‘em up). The corde lisse (acrobatics performed high above the stage on a hanging rope) was perhaps the most spectacular as it involved the dancers below manipulating a huge circular red and white cloth (similar to the flag of Japan) like an animated colourful safety net.
There was also a lot balancing and standing on shoulders performed by the ensemble. In fact, most of the dance sequences were performed by the large ensemble, always in black, often sequined and initially with horses’ tails attached to their rears.
As I have said before on these pages, what I like about Scapino is the dramatic content of their pieces, the linear story lines and the theatrical effects. And although Oscar is not pure dance it must rank very highly in their list of best productions. Long may the success continue under the new regime. Michael Hasted at Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam, 1st September 2024
Scapino’s Oscar continues in Rotterdam and then returns to Theater Carré in Amsterdam until 29th September.
Read Bringing Oscar to Life – A dancer’s perspective by Scapino dancer Ashton Benn here
