You’re thinking sordid love affairs and broken hearts, aren’t you? But Casanova’s story is much more exciting than that, as Kenneth Tindall’s incredible ballet proves.
The true story of Casanova is one of the most scandalous and surprising you’ll ever hear. It’s so sensational that you won’t believe it’s real – but it is, and you can see the story play out on stage as Northern Ballet’s critically acclaimed production returns to Leeds Grand Theatre this March. Discover the truth behind the man and the reasons why Casanova is a must-watch…
Casanova is not the man you think he is
Most people know Casanova as a lover, but he was much more than that. He spoke six languages, travelled the world and started the state lottery in France. He was a priest, a mathematician and a musician – he even collaborated on the libretto for Mozart’s Don Giovanni. He was a genius of his time, a renaissance man, a rebel and a savant, but all we remember are his conquests – it’s time to set the record straight.
“He did have the most fabulously adventurous life, and the most incredible energy,” Ian Kelly told us – and he should know. Not only did he write the ballet with choreographer Kenneth Tindall, but he also wrote Casanova’s biography, poring over his memoirs to reveal the truth behind this great man. “The sex, the love affairs, that’s only a very small part really of what he’s writing about. He had immense intellectual energy and curiosity and he met everybody and he went everywhere, so yes, it’s an amazing story.”
They’ve turned 12 epic diaries into just over 2 hours of ballet
Casanova wrote 12 volumes of memoirs, Kelly compacted it down into a 360-page biography and now you can see it played out on stage in just over 2 hours (complete with new sections of music and extended scenes). It is the epitome of action-packed, taking you from sordid romances to a great escape in the blink of an eye. That’s right, Casanova did a jail break!
For nine months, he was locked in the attic-prison of Doge’s Palace. He became one of the disappeared, a prisoner of the Venetian Inquisition – and it was all because of his books. They covered everything from Kabbalah to new sciences, mathematics and alchemy – topics that were considered to be heretical at the time. But they underestimated him, because he climbed out of one window and back into another, walking out of the palace unnoticed. As a result, he was exiled from Venice for most of his adult life.
He didn’t just fall into bed with women, he fell in love with them
Credit: Emma Kauldhar
There’s a reason why Casanova is the world’s most famous lover. After all, this is a man who lost his virginity to two sisters. His memoirs tell of 130 conquests, including nuns, courtesans and married women, so if you want to see Northern Ballet at their most seductive, there’s simply no better production.
But Casanova wasn’t just a womaniser. He fell in love many times, and genuinely cared for the women he bedded. It’s one of the reasons why choreographer Kenneth Tindall wanted to tell his story. “It’s not just about notches on his bedpost,” he explained. “He stayed in touch with most of his lovers long after the affair was finished. In the case of some, he helped elevate them in society, in their careers and even in marriage, which tells you a lot about his frame of mind and the way he felt about women.”
It has all the glamour of the 18th century, stripped back and laid bare
The costumes are one of the highlights of the production. Designed by Christopher Oram, the man behind the Broadway version of Frozen, they’re eye-poppingly good. He deconstructed traditional dresses to create sumptuous corsets that reveal every beautiful movement the dancers make. But that’s just the beginning.
As you follow Casanova from church to masquerade to prison, you’ll be treated to a whirlwind of record-fast costume changes and a veritable catwalk of 18th century fashion, reimagined for the stage. The ballet features 65 powdered wigs and 32 handmade bucket hoops (they’re the frames that sit under skirts and make them stick out), as well as genuine hand-crafted Venetian masks. Throughout the tour, over 400 pairs of pointe shoes will appear on stage, some of which have been hand-dyed by Northern Ballet’s super-talented wardrobe team.
You’ll see Northern Ballet’s female leads in a completely new way
Credit: Emma Kauldhar
Henriette and Bellino, Casanova’s greatest loves, both had to pretend they were men – but for very different reasons. Henriette masquerades as a soldier to escape her abusive husband, while Bellino pretends to be a castrato (yep, that’s a dude who’s had his balls chopped off) in order to sing in the Papal States. This gender fluidity adds a new dimension to the ballet that’s incredible to watch.
It also brings out a side of Casanova that few know about. “Casanova really valued the women around him,” Tindall told us. “Take Bellino, for example. She was masquerading as a castrati singer, she was dressed as a man so she could do the job she wanted, and he supported her, he found a way to lift her up in her career and helped her become a soprano singer.”
It’s the result of a series of unconventional collaborations
Credit: Emma Kauldhar
The team behind Casanova is utterly unique – and not just because they were handpicked for the show. You see, Tindall wanted to do something new and exciting with Casanova so, of his entire creative team, only he had ever worked on a ballet before. Kerry Muzzey is a film composer, while Christopher Oram and Ian Kelly both work in theatre, the former as a set and costume designer, the latter as an actor and writer.
“It was really important to me to work with people who weren’t already involved in the ballet world, because in order to have a fresh perspective, I think you need a new perspective. So instead of having the same people who work in ballet all the time, and have history with it and an experience with it, I actually wanted something completely new,” he explained.
The score is cinematic and it actually sounds like Venice
Tindall couldn’t have chosen a better composer. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Muzzey is obsessed with Venice, it’s his favourite city in all the world, and it’s the inspiration behind the score. So, as the music flows over you, you’ll feel like you’ve been picked up and transplanted into the City of Masks.
In many ways, Muzzey’s score is more like that of a film than a ballet. In places, it’s lush and romantic, but as the mood changes, it pulls in common horror-movie techniques that you wouldn’t usually find in the ballet. “I had a great time writing some of the aggressive and ugly stuff,” he told us. “Orchestral instruments are capable of so many different colours, and you can use them to create ugly things as easily as beautiful things.”
Don’t miss the chance to see this incredible story unfold on stage as Northern Ballet’s Casanova returns to Leeds Grand Theatre on Thursday 10th March 2022 and runs until Saturday 19th March 2022.
