Last Updated on June 14, 2026
Vivaldi’s Masterpiece Re-imagined in Dance
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
A Life in Four Seasons is an exuberant riff on the phases of our lives, danced by a company that encompasses a range of ages and training, and all the better for that. Presented in the feel-good, sylvan setting of the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre on a mercifully dry and warmish spell of London weather, it makes for a colourful, uplifting evening.
Inspired by Vilvaldi’s most popular work, the quartet of violin concerti that makes up The Four Seasons, the piece, directed by Tinuke Craig and choreographed by the American Alexzandra Sarmiento, follows three characters from the joyful carelessness of youth – Spring – through to the slower, more meditative mood of old age in Winter.
The characters are the same throughout: Heart, Head and Gut, and although the printed programme describes them as three distinct characters, who meet as teenagers and whom the piece follows through the various phases of their lives, they could just as well be different aspects of the same person: sentimental, cerebral, instinctive. It doesn’t matter: it works either way, or rather, it works even better if both possibilities are present in how you look at the performance.
A simple set of blocks, that could represent buildings (set and costumes by Ryan Dawson Laight), denotes an urban setting.
Urban commercial with a touch of hip hop is the predominant accent of the choreography, which is never less than exuberant and very vital. Each of the three main characters is colour-coded throughout – pink for Heart, sky blue for Head and burnt orange for Gut – though the fashion of the costumes changes subtly from section to section.
So, Spring burst onto the stage, in knee-length shorts and blocky Doc Martens, first two smiley, fresh-faced young women, bursting with life and promise, and then Gut, an impish, impulsive young man.
Their steps closely follow the rhythm of the music; they are soon joined by the remaining members of the 16-strong cast for a vibrant ensemble number.
The same process applies to the following three sections. Summer, now costumed in long trousers and chunky trainers, has perhaps the most intense feel to the movement, particularly in a solo for Head, which denotes the apogee of the life cycle. This section, leading to the interval, ends with a clubby feel, as the ensemble dances to a prolonged burst of techno beat.
Which leads us neatly to the use of the music. The score is a take on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, but not necessarily as you know and love it. Having undergone the ministrations of composer DJ Walde, Vivaldi’s score is often conveyed through an electronic recording, chopped and changed and occasionally giving way to DJ Walde’s techno input.
The piece actually starts with a burst of heavily distorted Vivaldi, which set my teeth on edge, and I have to say, I wasn’t particularly keen on what, to my mind, amounted to the savaging of the original score. It seemed unnecessary, given that Vivaldi himself has infused his concerti with all the feelings and moods and even beats you need to portray the cycle of life from youth to old age, from Spring to Winter.
Winter, in terms of movement, the most individual of all seasons, brought engaging performances by older dancers, and the tone of their movement was slower, more meditative, yet capable still of great, yet more wistful, joy.
All through A Life in Four Seasons, the protagonists of each section reappear in subsequent seasons, providing continuity and fleshing out the idea that whatever your age, however you evolve, the essence of the individual is always present.
I found A Life in Four Seasons entertaining enough, though I felt that there wasn’t sufficient variety in the movement between seasons. But to the last person, the dancers offered exceptionally committed and proficient performances, a pleasure to watch.
A Life in Four Seasons is at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre 11 to 14 June at 7.45 pm. Sat & Sun matinee at 12.30 pm. Sun at 5.00 pm
Dur.: 75 minutes inc one interval. Tickets £15 to £51
Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
The Regent’s Park
Inner Circle
London NW1 4NU
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