`Arthur': Bintley Finishes Dark Rendering of Camelot

Beginning of article

`ARTHUR': BINTLEY FINISHES DARK RENDERING OF CAMELOT

BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE LONDON, ENGLAND, U.K. MAY 8, 2001

Remember how hard it was to go back into the water after seeing Jaws? Well, after the vivid scenes of rape, torture, grueling childbirth, and grotesque progeny in the ballet Arthur, Part I (see Reviews, Dance Magazine, April 2000, page 79), it was challenging to return to the second (and thankfully last) part of this story of Camelot (a very far cry from that of the saccharine-sweet Hollywood musical). Within moments of curtain-up on Arthur, Part II, there were chilling scenes of child slaughter and a rape--all historically accurate, but a bitter pill to swallow all the same. This ballet/play (very Shakespearean in its anarchy, …