Flirty dancing: Stepping out with Casanova

Not that he stopped there. All the evidence suggests he may have contributed to the libretto for Mozart’s Don Giovanni; he became fascinated with the Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism; and having been branded a heretic, he spent half of his life in exile. And oh, he was at one time a priest.

“Yes, it was quite a life,” says Ian Kelly, Casanova’s biographer and creative consultant on Northern Ballet’s new production. “Given that, what the audience will see on stage is a distilled version of his story. It’s about discovering the essence of the man and hopefully telling people something they didn’t know about a figure they think they are familiar with.

“He achieved so much. He travelled widely across Europe when the distance we can now cover in a day took at least a week and everywhere he went he left his mark. I think that’s why it’s so frustrating that his life came to be defined by his sex life.

“Yes, he did sleep with a lot of women, but his relationship with them was more than just physical. He once said that what really fascinated him about women was to work out what made them unhappy and then see if he could solve it. The truth is that while he did his fair share of wooing, it was often the women who seduced – and ultimately left him – first.”

Prone to periods of depression, towards the end of his life Casanova was encouraged to write his memoirs as a way of alleviating his melancholy. He never intended them to be published, but the original manuscript was sold to a publishing house by his relatives and they have since become one of the 18th century’s most iconic works.

“At the time he was writing he felt like the world was going to hell in a handcart and there he was, an old man trying to capture the beauty of life,” adds Kelly. “While the book might not have served him well, his life is the perfect keyhole through which to view the 18th century. It was a brave new world, it was the first sexual revolution, but it was also a world where the new sciences and mathematics were changing people’s thinking. Casanova’s life touched all of that.

“Ballet is the perfect medium to tell his story. He was the son of two dancers and, so the story goes, not only was he born in the theatre, but his mother went straight back on stage afterwards. I specialise in 18th century biography and, while a few of my books have been adapted in the past, I can honestly say it’s been the happiest creative period of my career to date.”

The ballet is the first full-length work by choreographer and former principal dancer at Northern Ballet Kenneth Tindall, who is equally gushing about Kelly as the author is of him.

“As well as being an author, Ian is also an actor, which means he really understands the demands of the stage,” he says. “I spent a week working with him to pin down the story we wanted to tell and he has also spent some time at rehearsals, which has been a huge help to me. It’s been a great collaboration and if I have ever needed to check any facts, Ian has been right there. He’s been the one to say: ‘Well, no, actually that wouldn’t have happened, but you know what, this other character would have been there at that particular point, so you could do this instead.’ Dance can’t tell the minutiae of any story, but what I hope is that we are true to the spirit of Casanova’s life.”

Watching in the wings as the production has taken shape has been Northern Ballet’s artistic director, David Nixon. It was he who nurtured Tindall’s talent as a dancer and first spotted that he might have a career as a choreographer when the legs were no longer willing.

“It’s just lovely to see Kenny take the reins,” he says. “As a dancer he was always wonderful to work with and I first realised what a gifted imagination he had when I was choreographing Sleeping. He was the Red Wizard and he created such a wonderful character that I felt no option but to include him in the third act even though I had no idea quite what to do with him. He is a real talent and the fact he is one of ours makes this a really special production.”

Casanova, Leeds Grand Theatre, to March 18, 0844 848 2700, leedsgrandtheatre; Sheffield Lyceum, March 28 to April 1, 0114 249 6000, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk