Sarasota Ballet performs world premiere of Sir David Bintley's 'Comedy of Errors'

It was back in early February of 2020 that British choreographer Sir David Bintley came to Sarasota to visit his old friend, Iain Webb, director of the Sarasota Ballet, and take a look at the dancers that would be performing his playful short work “The Spider’s Feast,” as part of a triple bill.

Bintley had recently been knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his “services to dance” after stepping down after 24 years as director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) to freelance as a choreographer with companies around the world. He’d just begun to envision a full-length ballet – a modern-day comedy based on either Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” or “Comedy of Errors,” he hadn’t decided which yet – and had engaged his frequent collaborator, Australian composer Matthew Hindson, to write an original score with a popular music foundation.

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He’d also begun to consider which of the companies he’d worked with might be the best suited for the new work, which would require dancers who could bring characters to life with a deft comedic touch. The dancers in Japan, he thought, had a sense of humor “but they hide it.” The dancers in Finland also had good humor, he noted, but only “once they’ve drunk a lot.” That night, as he watched the Sarasota Ballet dancers embody the demonstrative Italians in choreographer Dominic Walsh’s “I Napoletani,” he thought he’d finally found the right home for his ballet-to-be.

As Bintley and Webb, both former dancers with the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet (SWRB), chatted during an intermission about the staging of “Spider,” Bintley mentioned that he also had “an idea for a ballet that I think would be perfect here.” Within 90 seconds, Webb was sold.

“When you’re going to commission something, what’s missing these days is a choreographer who can do a full-length ballet and who can create a story ballet and David is the master of both of those,” says Webb. “So when he says he wants to do something, I’m going to try however I can to make it happen. It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever taken on, but I trust David 100 percent. He’s a master.”

Years in the making

More than two years later, the elaborate costumes and sets from “Spider,” which had already been shipped from England, are still sitting, unused, in the Sarasota Ballet’s storage warehouse. And Bintley’s “Comedy of Errors” will have its world premiere Friday night at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, perfectly timed to bring some lightness and laughter to dancers and audiences emerging from the frustrations, restrictions and somberness of a global pandemic.

“This is very special,” Webb says, “and the whole community should be proud that during this time we can come out and do something on this scale. We desperately needed something for me and everyone to look forward to. And we all need an evening of this kind of entertainment.”

The initial pandemic shut-down, shortly after Bintley’s February 2020 visit, forced the ballet to cancel the remainder of its 2019-2020 season and to replace the following season with recorded digital performances only. Bintley went back to London and went to work on “Comedy,” resetting the story in the ‘70s and on Spain’s Costa del Sur, a favorite destination for Brits on holiday. In a highly detailed “minutage,” the choreographer mapped out the story of two sets of male twins, separated at birth, who are reunited on the party island of Ibiza, which has a boisterous dance scene. As the twins encounter their estranged parents, identity crises and marital discord lead to confusion, chaos and ultimately a happy ending.

Over the course of the next year and a half, Bintley carried on a near-daily email volley with Hindson, tweaking the composer’s “perfect” music to fit his comedic vision like a glove. He began with a flute concerto Hindson had already written, as well as a salsa piano solo he chose for the pas de deux. The rest of the composer’s orchestral compositions, which draw from popular music like disco, metal and techno, flavor each section of the ballet and help carry the narrative. That those segments include a rave, a “beach-ercize” class, a flamenco and – in a nod to Sarasota -- a flamingo, gives some idea of the breadth of Bintley’s comedic arc.

“It took us ages, because I just kept sending bits back,” he says. “As much as it was perfect – the humor and the lightness of touch – there were times I literally said, ‘I need this note to be longer' because I knew what the joke would be and what was necessary for the comedic timing. Everything has to be perfectly synchronized. It was great to have the time to do that.”

Meanwhile, designer Dick Bird worked just as assiduously on the sets and costumes for the 10 main characters and dozens of corps dancers. From flowered Hawaiian shirts to mini-skirts, Miami Vice pastel blazers to bathing suits, they capture the time, the place and the climate (both weather and otherwise).

A master of comedy

Bintley’s dancing career with the SWRB (which later became the BRB) was distinguished for his character work, particularly in comical roles like the Ugly Sister in Frederick Ashton’s “Cinderella” and both the hapless Alain and the Widow Simone in Ashton’s “La fille mal gardée.” That background shaped many of the works he created as SWRB’s resident choreographer and later, in the same post for The Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. This new ballet is no exception, drawing from his intimate understanding of humor and humanity.

“That’s what’s great about the Shakespeare comedies, is they are also profoundly moving and they apply to us, even though none of us are princes of Denmark. In those comedies, they’re almost always ordinary people with their foibles and there is usually sadness and reconciliation. I like that mixing of comedy and pathos.”

Bintley returned to Sarasota last September to set the ballet on the company’s dancers, all of whom will perform in at least one of two casts for this weekend’s three performances. Principal dancer Ricardo Graziano, who will dance the role of Tony (his twin brother, Anthony, will be danced by Ivan Spitale) says the process has been enjoyable and unifying for the dancers after the drought of last year.

“To have this huge creation made on us is very exciting,” Graziano says. “This whole thing brings the company together, we’re all working, we’re all creating right there in the moment. And the subplots are genius and so funny. I catch myself laughing in the studio all the time and then I have to remind myself, ‘Be quiet! You’re being unprofessional! People are rehearsing!’”

Being coached by Bintley on the subtle nuances of delivery and gesture that make the comedy come alive has been a special treat, Graziano says.

“Comedy is very challenging, the timing is so important. If you try too hard, it’s not really funny. It has to be natural, just right, and very subtle. But we have a master in front of us. And if you really pay attention to David and his body language and facial expression…I just try to grab it all to put into my character. Sometimes it’s just an eyebrow that goes up and, all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Ohhh! Now I get it!’”

The final touches

Bintley says he can’t imagine putting on one of his story ballets without having had time to fine tune the nuances himself. While he admires the late, great George Balanchine’s abstract “black and white” ballets – danced in no-color practice wear -- that simply isn’t his style.

“I wish I could do something in t-shirt and tights with no scenery, but that’s not me. It’s all in the detail, the flavor, that idea, that image,” he says. “I’m the antithesis of Mr. B. My work will die with me.”

Two weeks out from opening night, the choreographer had completed all but the logistics of a few scenes that required props he was still waiting on from London. Those props included “some chairs you can dance on, a giant cake and a porta-potty,” which foreshadows what is in store for this weekend’s audiences.

“I use comedy in everything I do, even if it’s a tragic thing,” Bintley says. “I spent my life as a character dancing making people laugh” – he pauses to chuckle self-deprecatingly – “or not.”

“I’ll do anything for a laugh. Apart from the final applause, the only thing you get as a dancer is laughter. And I rather like the sound of it.”

Contact Carrie Seidman at carrie.seidman@gmail.com or 505-238-0392.

Sarasota Ballet

World premiere of Sir David Bintley’s “Comedy of Errors.” Original score by Matthew Hindson, sets and costumes by Dick Bird, lighting by Aaron Muhl. 7:30 pm. March 25; 2 and 7:30 p.m. March 26. Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail. Tickets at 941-359-0099 or sarasotaballet.org.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Ballet performs world premiere of Bintley's 'Comedy of Errors'