The Fiddle and the Drum: the return of Joni Mitchell in this “portrait ballet” will bring joy to Mitchell fans.
The Fiddle and the Drum, the title of an anti-war poem written by Canadian singer Joni Mitchell in 1969 is also the title given to this remount of the first of Alberta ballet’s “Portrait Ballets” created by choreographer Jean Grand-Maître in 2007. The poem, composed the same year as Woodstock, that ‘ Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” that had international consequences on the neo-romantic anti-war movement of that time and Mitchell was rooted deeply with that period. There is no doubt that this production will fill Joni Mitchell fans with great joy and much nostalgia hearing her voice and her music, all heightened by the excellent dancers, the anti-war themes , the universal messages of saving the planet and visual dream-like additions to the staging. …