Royal Winnipeg Ballet – Jorden Morris' Moulin Rouge – The Ballet

reviewed by Paula Citron
__________________________

Moulin Rouge – The Ballet
Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Centennial Concert Hall
In Winnipeg
__________________________

Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director André Lewis was looking for an evening of entertainment when he commissioned “Moulin Rouge – The Ballet”, and that is what choreographer Jorden Morris has delivered.

If one accepts the ballet at its most superficial level, then refined dancers performing a sweet story about star-crossed lovers requires no further discernment. Unfortunately, the heady intoxication of Belle Époque Montmartre is nowhere to be found.

“Moulin Rouge – The Ballet” is one of missed opportunities. Morris and dramaturge Rick Skene forgot that the cabaret is synonymous with naughty, and this interpretation is certainly not going to bring in the morals police (which happened frequently in Paris). The second act is impacted by mime sequences rather than dance. The Green Fairies that one sees when drunk on absinthe are just too benign. Even Morris’ tango seems tame

This production will probably please most of the people most of the time, but Morris has been laid low by a bland storyline.