As the last of Vivaldi’s descending runs in L’inverno (“Winter”) hurtles towards a ritardando at cliff’s edge, bringing the show to a close, every single person in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is on their feet. The 16-dancer ensemble stands arms-linked and beaming and even the birds chirp their appreciation. It is the most inevitable of standing ovations for a triumphant showcase of dance, music, and theatre.
A Life in Four Seasons, set to the eponymous work by Antonio Vivaldi, is a production in four segments, with each part representing a season in one’s life and the forces which determine their course. Spring marks the beginning and introduces us to the Heart, the Head, and the Gut at the point of self-discovery. They move with the awkwardness and buoyancy of youth, all-smiles and mischief, played to perfection by Tanesha Aba, who plays the Heart. Next comes the Summer of prime adulthood, marked with greater complexity, purpose and precision. The uptick in intensity is coupled with growing restlessness and isolated movements as the three forces each strive for perfection, pushing themselves to the limit. This leads to the first half’s climax, a nightclub segment which expertly blends the classical score with the dark pulse of electronic dance music, as the forces try desperately to extend their lease on Summer.
In the second half, Autumn arrives with abandon. The forces are slower in their movements but surer in their step, offering respite from the Summer’s heat. They linger on the precipice of maturity, oscillating between the strong, jubilant expressions of experience and the loss of control and memory that comes with it. Nadia Sohawon (the Gut) is a particular standout in this segment for the way she contrasts her physicality, staggering but strong, with the tenderness of her expressions.
Winter marks the culmination of several journeys and each of the three leads in this segment—Mark Smith (the Heart), Susan Kempster (the Head) and Mami Tomotani (the Gut) — deserve special mention for their skill and grace. The dancers, some of whom have not been on stage for 30 years, move with nothing to prove and anchor the finale with their gravitas. They dance with their younger versions, tangled with each other, in perfect synchronisation and by themselves. At all times they seem to dance as one, and this is reflected in the music, which arrives at a true blend of modern electronic sound and Vivaldi’s composition. The segment features some of the most beautiful choreography of the show and leaves the audience raw with catharsis.
A Life in Four Seasons is only the second dance-centred production at the Open Air Theatre, which makes the scale of its ambition all the more impressive. Composer DJ Walde’s risk-taking score handles Vivaldi’s masterpiece with familiarity and playfulness, successfully bringing it into contemporary conversation while maintaining its essential quality. The narrative is thematically consistent and reinforced through strong set and costume design without overpowering the score and choreography. Where tanztheater (dance theatre) and classical music can sometimes risk alienating a particular audience, A Life in Four Seasons draws you in regardless of age and context, befitting the spirit of theatre performed in the park.
Pina Bausch, the pioneer of the tanztheater, said that dance is something other than technique, it is movement born from contemporary life. A Life in Four Seasons exemplifies this sentiment and is well worth a watch.
Reviewer: Saloni Sanwalka
Reviewed: 12th June 2026
North West End UK Rating: