Quantcast
Channel: The Ballet Bag » Maria Alexandrova
Viewing all 11 articles
Browse latest View live

Golden Years

0
0

The Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauties have just drawn to a close, giving way to the usual Christmas special of Nutcrackers. Notice anything in common? Both are Petipa ballets, both are amongst the safest for box office purposes, with blockbuster works such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, their lavish costumes, orchestral music and vast ensemble of dancers, always in demand with regulars and first timers alike. Petipa ballets may be overly done, but they remain definitive classics, with great choreography which survived more or less unscathed over the years since their Imperial Ballet days.

In this post we look at Marius Petipa and the scale of his achievements. This Franco-Russian choreographer changed the face of ballet and created masterpieces – the first ballets that come to mind when one thinks classical dance – that continue to inspire generations of dancers, new choreographers and audiences.

Marius Petipa in a Nutshell

Marius Petipa. Photo: Mariinsky Theatre

Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was born on 11 March of 1822 in Marseille son of an actress, Victorine Grasseau, and a ballet dancer (and eventually ballet master) Jean Antoine Petipa . Petipa got drawn into the  ballet world early on, starting to train at age 7 in Brussels where his family had moved to. At the time, Petipa attended the Brussels Conservatory, where he studied music. He went to school at the Grand College.

Initially Petipa danced only to please his father who wanted to see him perform. However, he soon became enchanted with the art form and progressed so fast that he debuted at 9 in his father’s production of Pierre Gardel‘s La Dansomani. With the Belgian revolution forcing the family to move again, Jean Antoine secured a job as ballet master at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. There, Petipa completed his training under the watchful eye of Auguste Vestris. By 1838, he had a job as Premier danseur in Nantes.

The following year Petipa and his father toured the United States performing for audiences who had never seen or known about ballet. While the tour was disastrous it had plenty of historical significance. Performing at the National Theatre in Broadway, Petipa was involved in the first ballet ever staged in New York City. From there Petipa travelled to Paris were he debuted at the Comédie-Française (or Théâtre-Français), partnering Carlotta Grisi and at the Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opéra).

In 1841 he returned to Bordeaux as a Premier danseur with the company, studying under Vestris while debuting in lead roles in Giselle and La Fille Mal Gardée. It was in Bordeaux that he started choreographing full-length productions. In 1843 he moved to the King’s Theatre in Madrid where he learnt about traditional Spanish Dancing which would come in handy for making character dances later on. He was forced to leave Spain after being challenged to a duel by a cuckolded husband, the Marquis de Chateaubriand, an important member of the French Embassy. Back in Paris, he took a position as Premier danseur at the Imperial Theatre of St. Petersburg where he arrived in 1847. His father soon followed, becoming a teacher at the Imperial Ballet School until his death in 1855.

Upon his arrival in St Peterburg, Petipa was recruited to assist in the staging of Joseph Mazilier‘s Paquita (originally staged at the Paris Opéra). Helped by his father, he also staged Mazilier’s Le Diable Amoureux. Both productions were praised and Petipa’s skills brought much needed respite to a company then in crisis.

The Mariinsky Ballet in Petipa's Le Corsaire. Photo: Valentin Baranovsky / Mariinsky Theatre ©

Towards the end of 1850 Jules Perrot arrived as Premier Maître de Ballet (Principal ballet master) for the St. Petersburg Theatres. His main collaborator, composer Cesare Pugni, had also been appointed as Ballet Composer at the Imperial Theatres. Petipa danced the main roles in Perrot’s productions and served as his assistant, staging revivals such as Giselle (1850) and Le Corsaire (1858). In parallel Petipa started to choreograph dances for opera and to revise dances for Perrot’s productions.

Petipa was now choreographing more frequently, making ballets for his ballerina wife Maria Sergeyevna Surovshchikova. A rivalry with Arthur Saint-Léon, the new Principal ballet master after Perrot’s retirement (1860) developed, the two competing for the most successful production. But while Saint-Léon’s The Little Humpbacked Horse was very well received he flopped with Le Poisson Doré (1866) and Le Lys (1869) which led to his contract not being renewed. Not long afterwards Saint-Léon died of a heart attack leaving an opening for Petipa to fill the position of Premier Maître de Ballet (March, 1871).

Before being appointed ballet master Petipa had already:

Photo of a scene from the choreographer Marius Petipa (1818-1910) & the composer Cesare Pugni's (1803-1870) 1862 ballet "The Pharaoh's Daughter". The photo shows the Grand pas des chasseresses from Act I of the ballet on the stage of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Petipa's revival of 1898. In the center can be seen the ballerinas (right) Mathilde Kschessinskaya (1871-1970) in the role of the Princess Aspicia, and (left) Olga Preobrajenskaya (1871-1962) in the role of the slave Ramzé.

1898 photo of Petipa's ballet "The Pharaoh's Daughter", Mathilde Kschessinska as Princess Aspicia and Olga Preobrajenska as Ramzé the slave. Photo: Imperial Mariinsky Theatre.

When Don Quixote was lavishly restaged in St. Petersburg its composer Ludwig Minkus became official Ballet Composer of the Imperial Theatres, leading Petipa and Minkus into a fruitful collaboration, with La Bayadère (1877) becoming one of Petipa’s most celebrated works.

Minkus retired in 1886 and Director Ivan Vsevolozhsky did not seek a replacement official composer, allowing instead for more diversified ballet music. This paved the way for Tchaikovsky to collaborate with Petipa in The Sleeping Beauty (1889) and create one of the most successful classical ballets of all time. At that time Petipa was diagnosed with a skin disease which meant long periods away from work. For The Nutcracker (1892) Tchaikovsky worked with Petipa’s assistant Lev Ivanov who would frequently cover for Petipa together with Enrico Cecchetti.

The Mariinsky Ballet in Petipa's Le Reveil de Flore (The Awakening of Flora). Photo: Natasha Razina / Mariinsky Theatre ©

During his tenure as balletmaster Petipa also:

  • supervised Ivanov and Cecchetti in the staging of Cinderella (1894) with italian virtuosa Pierina Legnani in the title role. Here she first performed the famous 32 fouettés en tournant later consecrated in Swan Lake;
  • choreographed The Awakening of Flora (1894) with music by Riccardo Drigo;
  • revived, together with Lev Ivanov, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (1895). Lev Ivanov worked on the second and fourth acts while Petipa was in charge of the rest. Together they turned this previously unsuccessful ballet into one of the all-time greatest;
  • Continued working (coaching Anna Pavlova in her debut in Giselle) despite the deterioration of his health and persecution from new artistic director Vladimir Telyakovsky following an ill-received adaptation of Snow White (entitled Le Miroir Magique);
  • Created a final ballet, L’Amour de la Rose et le Papillon, which was scrapped before its premiere by Telyakovsky due to the impending war with Japan.

Petipa retired to Gurzuf in southern Russia in 1907 at the suggestion of his doctors. He remained there until his death on July 14, 1910. A diary entry dated 1907 reads: “I can state I created a ballet company of which everyone said: St. Petersburg has the greatest ballet in all Europe.”

His Ballets

Petipa will be forever associated with lavish productions, character and classical dances, big ensemble and dramatic scenes in mime or in pas d’action (mime with dance). His dances combine the technical purity of the French school with the virtuosity of the Italian school. He was very involved in the creation of his ballets, researching subject matter extensively and working close with the composer and designer. He created choreography before going to the studio and teaching it to his dancers. He produced more than 46 original works and revised many more (e.g. Giselle), of which a large share is still being performed today.

The Mariinsky Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty. Photo: Natasha Razina / Mariinsky Theatre ©

Petipa’s ballets have survived more of less intact thanks to the availability of the  Stepanov Method of notation from 1891 onwards. The method combines the encoding of dance movements with musical notes, in two steps: first, the breaking down of a complex movement and second, the translation of the broken down/basic movement into a musical symbol. The project was taken over by Alexander Gorsky and eventually by Nicholas Sergeyev, a former Imperial dancer, who later brought Giselle to the Paris Opéra Ballet and The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppélia and The Nutcracker into The Royal Ballet. These notated versions became the standard choreographic text and have been adopted by nearly every major ballet company in the world.

A (non-exhaustive) list of his works

Original Works

  • Le Carnaval de Venise (Pugni on a theme by Nicolò Paganini, 1858)
  • The Pharaoh’s Daughter (Pugni, 1861)
  • Don Quixote (Minkus, 1869)
  • Les Aventures de Pélée (Minkus/Delibes, 1876)
  • La Bayadère (Minkus, 1877)
  • Roxana, la beauté de Monténégro (Minkus, 1878)
  • Pygmalion ou La Statue de Chypre (Trubestkoi, 1883)
  • La Fille Mal Gardée (with Lev Ivanov and Virginia Zucchi. Hertel / Hérold / Pugni, 1885)
  • Les Pilules Magiques (Minkus, 1886)
  • Le Talisman (Drigo, 1889)
  • The Sleeping Beauty (Tchaikovsky, 1890)
  • The Nutcracker (with Lev Ivanov – Tchaikovsky, 1892)
  • Cendrillon (Staged by Ivanov and Cecchetti under Petipa’s supervision – Fitinhof-Schell, 1893)
  • Swan Lake (with Lev Ivanov – Tchaikovsky revised by Drigo, 1895)
  • Raymonda (Glazunov, 1898)
  • Las Saisons (Glazunov, 1900)
  • Le Millions d’Arlequin (Drigo, 1900)
  • Le Miroir Magique (Koreschchenko, 1903)
  • La Romance de la Rose et le Papillon (Drigo, never premiered)

Revivals/Restagings

  • Paquita (after J. Mazilier with F. Malevergne – Deldevez / Liadov, 1847)
  • Giselle (after J. Coralli and J. Perrot with Jules Perrot and Jean Petipa – Adam / Pugni, 1850)
  • Le Corsaire (after J. Mazilier with J. Perrot – Adam / Pugni, 1858)
  • Le Papillon (after M. Taglioni – Offenbach / Minkus 1874)
  • Coppélia (after Saint-Léon – Delibes, 1884)
  • La Esmeralda (after J. Perrot – Pugni 1886)
  • La Sylphide (after F. Taglioni – Schnietzhoeffer/Drigo 1892)
  • The Little Humpbacked Horse (after Saint-Léon – Pugni, 1895)

Videos

  • Vikharev Reconstruction of Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty with Yevgenia Obraztsova as Aurora, Anton Korsakov as Prince Désiré and Anastasia Kolegova as The Lilac Fairy [link]
  • Vikharev Reconstruction of Petipa’s La Bayadère with Daria Pavlenko as Nikiya, Igor Kolb as Solor and Elvira Tarasova as Gamzatti [link]
  • Ratmansky and Burlaka‘s restaging of Le Corsaire for The Bolshoi, with Maria Alexandrova as Medora and Nikolai Tsiskaridze as Conrad [link]
  • Dance of the Animated Frescoes from The Little Humpbacked Horse, performed by students of the Vaganova Academy. [link]
  • Vikharev Reconstruction of The Awakening of Flora with Yevgenia Obraztsova as Flora, Xenia Ostreikovskaya as the Aurora, Vladimir Shklyarov as Zephyr, Maxim Chaschegorov as Apollo and Valeria Martynyuk as Cupid.  [link]
  • Pas de deux from Le Talisman by students from the Vaganova Academy [link]
  • Pas de deux from La Fille Mal Gardée by students from the Vaganova Academy [link]
  • Burlaka’s Reconstruction of the Paquita Grand Pas Classique with Svetlana Zakharova and Andrei Uvarov [link]
  • Mikhailovsky Theatre‘s staging of the Grand Pas Classique from La Esmeralda [link]
  • Ulyana Lopatkina as Odile and Danila Korsuntsev as Siegfried in Act III of Mariinsky’s Swan Lake [link]

Sources and Further Information

  1. Biography of Marius Petipa: His Life and Work. ArticleMyriad.com [link]
  2. Ballet Met Notes for Marius Petipa, Choreographer [link]
  3. Wikipedia entry for Marius Petipa [link]
  4. The Diaries of Marius Petipa. Edited and Translated by Lynn Garofola. Studies in Dance History, Society of Dance History Scholars. (1992) ASIN: B0006P1DJ6 [link]
  5. Russian Ballet Master: The Memoirs of Marius Petipa. Edited by Lillian Moore and Translated by Helen Whittaker. Dance Books LTD (2009) ISBN-10: 0903102005 [link]
  6. The Cambridge Companion to Ballet by Marion Kant. Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (2007). ISBN-10: 0521539862 [link]

© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Golden Years appeared first on The Ballet Bag.


Laurencia

0
0

Is this ballet for you?

Go If: You love bold and spicy ballets à la Don Quixote. You’re all for feisty leading ladies and bravura dancing.

Skip If: You can’t stand an endless parade of divertissements and folk dancing. You think serious historical plays should not be turned into light entertainment.

Dream Cast

Laurencia: Natalia Osipova / Maria Alexandrova; Frondoso: Denis Matvienko

Irina Perren as Laurencia and Marat Shemiunov as Frondoso in Mikhailovsky Ballet's Laurencia. Photo: Mikhailovsky Ballet ©

Background

Prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya famously said that the concept of Soviet ballet started with Vakhtang Chabukiani and Laurencia proves her case. It is a typical Soviet-era work, characterised by social themes with dramatic and realistic interpretations and bold dancing. Laurencia is also an historically important ballet that sits somewhere between Petipa’s Imperial heritage – ie. ballets with emphasis on dance – and “choreodrama” – where movement had to be endowed with meaning. This trend would lead to a new generation of choreographers such as Grigorovich, famous for his reworking of Spartacus in the late Sixties.

Chabukiani was a Georgian dancer renowned for his virtuosity. In the Thirties he was one of the Kirov’s starriest dancers and often compared to Nijinsky. He was frequently paired with Natalia Dudinskaya and their partnership is  remembered for its frequent display of fireworks. Chabukiani established a style of dancing that was temperamental and heroic. He had a big role in the historical development of male dancing and was also a gifted choreographer, having developed several ballets for the Kirov. He is famous for rechoreographing many of the daring male variations from the classical repertoire to suit his own abilities, including Solor’s variation in La Bayadère and the slave variation in Le Corsaire.

The Ballet

Laurencia was the second ballet Chabukiani choreographed. He based the libretto on Fuente Ovejuna, a famous play by Spanish writer Lope de Vega. With Russia under the threat of Nazi invasion in 1939, Laurencia’s anti-tyranny theme seemed an appropriate choice, one that was Soviet in feel and in nature with its peasant girl who leads villagers into an uprising. Chabukiani attempted to unite the elements of virtuosic classical dance – think plenty of divertissements – with drama and meaning, thus creating a choreodrama. He was deeply influenced by his Georgian roots, so he brought folklore elements in the form of various character dances.

Laurencia premiered at the Kirov Theatre, 22 March 1939. The lead roles were danced by Natalia Dudinskaya (Laurencia) and by Chabiukani himself (Frondoso). The ballet was a tremendous success and highly praised for its perfect mixture of classical and character dance, its realism and the beauty of sets and costumes.

Laurencia continued to be a great success wherever it was staged:

  • In 1948 the production was acquired by the Tbilisi State Theatre where Vera Tsignadze danced the title role.
  • In 1956 it was staged for the Bolshoi Theatre where Chabukiani partnered legend Maya Plisetskaya. The ballet stayed in the Bolshoi repertoire for a long time, giving their greatest stars opportunities to show themselves off in the leading roles.
  • In the West Laurencia is often associated with Nureyev who staged its pas de six for The Royal Ballet and The Joffrey. The bravura variations for Laurencia and Frondoso are often performed as gala pieces.
  • Recent revivals of the full piece include: for the Tbilisi State Theatre – Chabukiani’s staging in 1979 and Nukri Maghalashvili’s 2005 production and for the Mikhailovsky Ballet – the recent revival by Mikhail Messerer (2010).

Irina Perren as Laurencia. Photo: Mikhailovsky Ballet ©

The Story

Act I

Scene I.

In the Spanish village of Fuenteovejuna residents are celebrating the triumphant return of their Commander. Among the dances and festivities we encounter feisty Laurencia and her sweetheart Frondoso, each of whom dances a challenging variation to introduce themselves to the audience. We immediately see they are popular with the villagers who play and tease them. Mengo, the violinist, appears. Laurencia’s friend, Pascuala, asks him to play and the ensemble of villagers dance.

Dances are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the Commander. The villagers welcome him politely but cautiously while he only has eyes for Laurencia. He orders everyone away so he can be alone with her, though Pascuala refuses.  As Laurencia rejects the Commander’s attentions he orders his soldiers to grab the girls and take them to the castle. Laurencia and Pascuala manage to escape into the woods.

Scene II.

In the woods Frondoso arrives and declares his feelings to Laurencia. As she teases and evades him they are interrupted by the sound of a horn from the Commander’s hunting party. Soon he reappears and tries to kiss Laurencia. Frondoso throws himself at the Commander and frees Laurencia from his grasp. The Commander leaves angrily and vowing to seek revenge.

Soon a group of girls comes to the stream to wash clothes. Mengo joins in and they all dance and make merry. Jacinta, a peasant girl, appears. She is approached by the Commander’s soldiers who chase and flirt with her. Mengo tries to defend Jacinta from them but is knocked down.  Jacinta appeals to the Commander for protection but he just ignores her and hands her to the soldiers who take her away.

Elsewhere in the woods Laurencia, impressed by Frondoso’s bravery before the Commander and now convinced of his love, agrees to marry him.

Act II

Scene I.

The village is busy celebrating the wedding of Laurencia and Frondoso. There are plenty of character dances with Spanish flair, as well as the famous pas de six and challenging variations for Laurencia and Frondoso. The celebrations are interrupted by the Commander who has now arrived to take his revenge. He orders his soldiers to imprison Frondoso and to take Laurencia to his castle. Everyone is shocked and the dancing comes to a halt.

Scene II.

The men of Fuenteovejuna gather in the forest. They want to fight the tyrant but are afraid to take the first step. Laurencia appears, her dress in rags, looking battered but full of inner strength and fury. Using mime she shames the men for their inertia and incites them to react and fight. The village women support Laurencia and it is decided that all villagers will go to the Commander’s castle together.

Scene III.

Equipped with knives, sticks and clubs the villagers arrive at the castle. They set Frondoso free and turn to the Commander who tries to flee but is captured. Desperate, he tries to bribe the villagers with gold but is ultimately killed. The dead tyrant’s helmet is set up on a pole, symbolising the victory of Fuenteovejuna. The ballet ends at the castle with the villagers and leads raising their arms in triumph.

Marat Shemiunov as Frondoso in Mikhailovsky Ballet's Laurencia. Photo: Mikhailovsky Ballet ©

Videos

  • Vakhtang Chabukiani as Frondoso (from “Masters of the Georgian Ballet”), 1955 [link]
  • Maya Plisetskaya as Laurencia and Vakhtang Chabukiani as Frondoso in the Bolshoi’s 1956 staging [link]
  • Lasha Khozashvili as Frondoso in the State Ballet of Georgia’s production [link]
  • Yuri Soloviev and Kaleria Fedicheva in the pas de six (with Teresheva, Ivanova, Afanasiev and Ivanov), 1964 [Part 1] and [Part 2]
  • Ninel Kurgapkina and Rudolf Nureyev in an extract from the pas de six [link]
  • State Ballet of Georgia’s Lali Kandelaki as Laurencia [link]
  • Maria Alexandrova dances Laurencia’s Variation [link]

Mini-Biography

Music: Alexander Krein
Original Choreography: Vakhtang Chabukiani
Original Designs: Soliko Virsaladze
Original Cast: Natalia Dudinskaya as Laurencia, Vakhtang Chabukiani as Frondoso.
Premiere: 22 March 1939 at the Kirov Theatre, St. Petersburg

Mikhailovsky Ballet Revival

Music: Alexander Krein, edited by Dmitry Zubov
Choreography: Vakhtang Chabukiani, revised by Mikhail Messerer
Designs: Oleg Molchanov (sets), Vyacheslav Okunev (costumes) based on the 1956 designs by Vadim Ryndin
Lighting Designer: Mikhail Mekler
Cast: Irina Perren as Laurencia and Marat Shemiunov as Frondoso
Premiere: 5 June 2010 at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, St. Petersburg

Sources and Further Information

  1. Program Notes for Laurencia – The Mikhailovsky Ballet at the London Coliseum, July 2010.
  2. Wikipedia Entry for Laurencia [link]
  3. Tbilisi State Theatre page for Laurencia [link]
  4. Wikipedia Entry for Vakhtang Chabukiani [link]
  5. Reconstructing Ballet’s Past: Swan Lake, Mikhailovsky Ballet. Interview with Mikhail Messerer by Ismene Brown. The Arts Desk, 14 July 2010.  [link]

© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Laurencia appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Bolshoi in London Roundup

0
0

Following a 3-year gap London ballet audiences finally got the Bolshoi back in town for summer. A long season at Covent Garden meant we had plenty of time to see an enticing mix of well-crafted reconstructions, heritage ballets, contemporary pieces and world class performers. Here we recap on our favorite moments of the tour:

Linda saw:

  • Spartacus (Vasiliev / Kaptsova / Allash)
  • Coppélia (Osipova / Skvortsov)
  • 2x Serenade/Giselle (Osipova / Skvortsov – Nikulina / Volchkov)
  • Petrushka / Russian Seasons / Paquita
  • 2x Le Corsaire (Alexandrova / Tsiskaridze – Osipova / Vasiliev)
  • Don Quixote (Krysanova / Mercuriev)


Ivan Vasiliev as Petroushka & Nina Kaptsova as Ballerina. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

L’s favorite moments:

The very Russian triple bill. Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons was a real modern masterpiece. The colorful restored Benois sets for Petrushka brought back memories of Russian tales heard in my childhood, while the opulent grandeur of Paquita simply made me want to jump with excitement and joy.

Natalia Osipova’s Giselle. Everyone knew she could jump but what amazed us the most was her transformation from a sickly, heartbroken peasant girl to the airiest and most powerful of Wilis.

Masha Alexandrova. In Paquita, she was the diva who brought real ballerina authority to the stage and her Medora was a delight: regal, charming and poised. A true prima.

Maria Alexandrova as Paquita. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

Ivan Vasiliev’s flying Spartacus. Every blockbuster needs a great action hero to lure in the crowds. The only thing missing at this Hollywood-worthy performance? The popcorn.

Ekaterina Krysanova and Andrei Mercuriev’s partnership. While their rapport in Russian Seasons was evident, their Don Q was a lesson in classical purity, outstanding technique and burning chemistry. They were well rewarded  (and seemed genuinely surprised) with a massive sunflower throw.

Reconstructions. The charming Coppélia, the impressive Le Corsaire, the lavish Paquita Grand Pas proved that sometimes it pays to look back at the past.

Emilia saw:

E’s favorite moments:

Every second of Ratmansky’s masterpiece Russian Seasons, even though on second night the first minutes of virtuoso violins were almost ruined by a determined bag-fumbling woman around us. From Mercuriev’s powerful dancing to Krysanova’s fluid line the Bolshoi filled it with Russian soul and made a work originally choreographed on NYCB their own.

Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet in Ratmansky's Russian Seasons. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

The way Natalia Osipova as Giselle took flight: spinning the fastest attitude turns and, seconds later, soaring high with her miraculous jump. The audience’s collective heart must have skipped a beat or two.

Shhh! Silence! The corps de ballet shoes in Serenade… were these the quietest pointe shoes ever or was their sound drowned by the orchestra’s impassioned reading of Tchaikovsky?

The Royal Opera House crowds roaring at Osipova and Vasiliev’s Don Quixote. Most of all I loved Osipova’s relevé passés in superhuman tempo as well as her fouettés which spun faster and steadier than Cobb’s top.

The Vikharev reconstructed Coppélia was a feast for the eyes. It had the best folk dancing one can ever hope to see in a ballet production, the prettiest costumes and – her again – Natalia Osipova as a delicious Swanilda.

Natalia Osipova as Swanilda. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

We also asked our Twitter followers to share their favorite moments with us; they answered:

  • Masha Alexandrova’s Medora
  • Natalia Osipova in everything she did but especially her Giselle
  • Anastasia Stashkevich’s tremendous Swanilda in Coppelia
  • Ekaterina Krysanova & Andrei Mercuriev’s chemistry in Don Q.
  • Ivan Vasiliev & Alexander Volchkov in Spartacus
  • The glorious Russian Seasons & Paquita Grand Pas

Feel free to use the comment form below and let us know your own Bolshoi favorite moments this season.


© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Bolshoi in London Roundup appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

The Bolshoi Ballet

0
0

New chapter in our ongoing series of Ballet History articles, Linda looks at what the Bolshoi is made of:


Bolshoi means big, an adjective that perfectly describes this ballet company. As the recent London season proves, they are bold, stylish and know how to put on a show.  They are also resilient, having lived through revolutions, lack of appropriate investment, defection of dancers to finally meet a blossoming period of renovation. The Bolshoi remains one of the world’s most famous ballet companies – according to the Guardian’s Sanjoy Roy even Lady Gaga is a fan – and their current repertory showcases a mix of heritage works and contemporary pieces by the world’s best choreographers.

The Theatre

At the end of the 18th century there was an increase in theatrical events over Russia which led Prince Peter Urusov, aristocrat, imperial officer and arts patron, to push for the construction of a theatre in Petrovka Street, Moscow to house operas, ballets and plays. For this project he had the support of ex-acrobat and English entrepreneur Michael Maddox.

In 1825 – after a fire tore down its premises – this theatre gave room to the Petrovsky Theatre. Designed by architects Ossip Bovet and Andrei Mikhailov (who also built the nearby Maly Theatre) the new theatre became the exclusive home of opera and ballet, with an in house dance company of around 50 dancers. Opera houses at that time were called “Grand Theatres” or “Bolshoi” (literally “big”) so the Petrovsky Theatre became known as “the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow”.

The theatre’s inaugural performance was the ballet Cendrillon with music by Fernando Sor. At that time most ballet productions were choreographed by locals such as Adam Glushkovsky, yet ballets from the French and Italian masters slowly started to make their way into the repertory. The company grew in size and towards 1840 it had 150 dancers trained in the French style associated with Jules Perrot‘s ballets. The opera company also flourished, staging the first productions of operas by Glinka and Tchaikovsky.

The Bolshoi burned down again in 1853. Theatre fires were very common because of the gas lamps used to light the stage and it took 3 years for the building to resurface with new designs by Alberto Cavos, grandfather of Alexandre Benois.

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Photo: Andrew F. Griffith ©

To preserve its structure, modernise facilities and restore acoustics which had been modified during the Soviet regime, the  Bolshoi Theatre entered a renovation phase in 2004, with government funding. The main stage is currently closed and is expected to reopen October 2013. In the meantime, the Bolshoi performs nearby in a provisional stage referred to as “The New Theatre”.

The Ballet Company

In 1900 Alexander Gorsky, Petipa’s former assistant, was appointed manager and subsequently Premier Ballet master at the Bolshoi Theatre. The company started to develop its identity during this pre-Soviet period; pieces like Don Quixote (1900), Saint-León’s Coppélia (1901), Swan Lake (1901), La Fille Mal Gardée (1903),  Giselle (1911), Le Corsaire (1912) and La Bayadère (1917) were revised and staged. During his tenure Gorsky also brought in such choreographers as Rostislav Zakharov (The Fountain of Bakhchisarai) and Leonid Lavrovsky to assist in creating popular new works.

Maria Alexandrova as Kitri and Yuri Klevtsov as Basilio. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

The Bolshoi Ballet: Evolution

1917 - Moscow becomes the capital of the Soviet Union. Politicians get involved in discussions around ballet repertory, favoring works strongly connected to the people via revolutionary themes and characters (ex: The Red Poppy, 1927).

1924-1937 – Gorsky and his successor Vasily Tikhomirov reorganise and continue to develop the company. The Bolshoi uses its share of public funding to nurture new talent: dancers from within the school and from the Kirov, choreographers (Zakharov, Fyodor Lopukhov, Leonid Lavrovsky) and composers (Shostakovich, Khachaturian).  Heritage pieces like The Bolt (1931), The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (1934) and The Bright Stream (1935) are created.

Scene from Act II of The Bright Stream. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

1941 – During the Nazi invasion the company is evacuated to Kuibyshev by the Volga river. It remains there until 1943.

1942- Leonid Lavrovsky is appointed chief choreographer. He is given the task of modernising the company in the post-war. The ballet Gayane is premiered.

1945- Premiere of Cinderella, a new ballet from Prokofiev, who had been responsible for Romeo and Juliet‘s successful score, choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov.

1946 – Lavrovsky becomes Artist Director.

1953 – The Bolshoi visits the West post Stalin’s death. The international tours are a worldwide success. Ballerinas such as Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya become known by their virtuosity and dramatic intensity during the 1957 and 1958 tours to London and New York.

19641995 Lavrovsky is succeeded by Yuri Grigorovich. His long tenure is associated with grand productions, ie. Spartacus (1967), The Stoneflower (1957) and The Legend of Love (1961). A new generation of starry dancers flourishes, including  Vladimir Vasiliev, Ekaterina Maximova, Natalia Bessmertnova and Maris Liepa.

1995 - 2004 Grigorovitch retires. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union the company faces financial woes and many new Artistic Directors appear in quick succession: Vladimir Vasiliev (1995 – 1998), Alexei Fadeyechev (1998-2000) and Boris Akimov.

The Bolshoi Ballet: Today

During the early nineties the Bolshoi had lost its predominance. The Mariinsky, by comparison, had started to broaden its repertory with a selection of contemporary and neoclassical works. The company would be revived under Alexei Ratmansky. Appointed as AD in 2004, Ratmansky’s achievements include:

  • Reviving Bolshoi cornerstones The Golden Age, Le Corsaire, The Flames of Paris.

  • Re-choreographing lost Shostakovich ballets The Bolt and The Bright Stream.

  • Acquiring contemporary works for the company (Balanchine, Twyla Tharp) and commissioning new ballets from choreographers like Christopher Wheeldon.

  • Fast-tracking young talent (ex: Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev).

In 2008 Ratmansky left to devote himself to choreography although he remains associated with the Bolshoi as a guest choreographer. Current AD  Yuri Burlaka is a former dancer and répétiteur who specialises in old ballet classics. During his tenure he has been involved in reconstructing Le Corsaire together with Ratmansky (2007) and restoring the Paquita Grand Pas (2008) and Esmeralda (2009).

Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda and Denis Medvedev as Pierre Gringoire. Photo: Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theatre ©

The Style

The Bolshoi has an historical rivalry with St. Petersburg heritage ballet company, the Mariinsky. Both have  developed very different performing styles: the Bolshoi has a more colourful and bold approach, whereas the Mariinsky is associated with pure and refined classicism.

The Bolshoi style is also characterised by its power. It combines phenomenal technique and athleticism, expressiveness and dramatic intensity. These attributes go all the way back to Gorsky who considered acting to be as important as  dancing, with Grigorovich’s melodramatic ballets (Spartacus, Ivan The Terrible, The Golden Age) bringing out poise and flamboyance.

Compare and contrast the styles : Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote, which was created for the Bolshoi in 1869, is a company trademark. Compare this clip of the Bolshoi’s approach to the ballet with this one by the Mariinsky.

Ivan Vasiliev as Spartacus. Photo: Yelena Fetisova / Bolshoi Theatre ©

The company has an associated ballet academy (the Moscow Choreographic Institute) whose syllabus has been tailored to fit the Bolshoi style. Students spend 8 years in the academy which feeds directly into the company. Dancers who graduate and join the company are individually coached by retired Bolshoi dancers, ensuring the continuity and strength of the style while remaining adaptable to modern repertory.

Videos

Legends

  • Yekaterina Geltzer and Vasily Tikhomirov in a fragment of “Russia: The Missing Years – History of the Bolshoi”  [link]
  • Galina Ulanova and Mikhail Gabovich dance the bedroom pas de deux from Lavrovsky’s Romeo & Juliet [link]
  • Maya Plisetskaya as Kitri in Don Quixote Act I [link]
  • Marina Semyonova and Yuri Kondratov in Act II Pas de Deux of Swan Lake [link]
  • Vladimir Vasiliev, Ekaterina Maximova (Phrygia) and Māris Liepa (Crassus) in Grigorovich’s Spartacus [link]
  • Natalia Bessmertnova dances Giselle‘s Act I variation [link]
  • Ludmila Semenyaka and Irek Mukhamedov (Jean de Brienne) in Raymonda [link]

Natalia Osipova and Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet in Giselle. Photograph by Elliott Franks ©

The Current Generation

Natalia Osipova as La Sylphide. Photo: Yelena Fetisova / Bolshoi Theatre ©

Sources and Further Information

  1. Bolshoi History by Clement Crisp. Bolshoi Programme Notes, July 2010
  2. Wikipedia Entry for The Bolshoi Theatre [link]
  3. Answers.com entry for The Bolshoi Ballet [link]
  4. Bolshoi Ballet: Power and Poise, Judith Mackrell. The Guardian, July 2010 [link]
  5. The Bolshoi Ballet: A Step-by-step Guide to Dance, Sanjoy Roy. The Guardian, July 2010. [link]
  6. Alexei Ratmansky Q&A, Graham Watts. London Dance, July 2007. [link]
  7. Interview with Natalia Osipova, Ian Palmer. Ballet.co Magazine, June 2007 [link]
  8. The Bolshoi in Paris: An Interview with Alexei Ratmansky, Patricia Boccadoro. CultureKiosque, February 2004 [link]
  9. Interview with Maria Alexandrova, Marc Haegeman. Dance International Summer 2003. For Ballet Lovers Only [link]

© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post The Bolshoi Ballet appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Giselle

0
0

Is this ballet for you?

Go if: Balanchine said it best “Like Hamlet, Giselle is a classic: it is not only important historically, it also happens to be good (…) People go to see Giselle and to see ballerinas dance it for the same reason we got to see new interpretations of Hamlet: the work is such a good one that we always discover something in it we hadn’t seen before…”

Skip if: You’re thinking Giselle is more FAIL than FAB

Alina Cojocaru as Giselle. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©

Dream cast

Giselle: Alina Cojocaru. We also love Natalia Osipova and Svetlana Lunkina at the Bolshoi, the Mariinsky’s Olesya Novikova and San Francisco Ballet’s Lorena Feijóo.

Albrecht: The Royal Ballet’s Johan Kobborg; ABT’s David Hallberg, Mariinsky’s Igor Kolb and Denis Matvienko, POB’s Mathieu Ganio and Stuttgart Ballet’s Friedemann Vogel. For a completely different take on Albrecht try Royal Ballet’s Edward Watson.

Myrtha: Maria Alexandrova, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Gillian Murphy and Marianela Nuñez all make for very wicked Myrthas.

Background

Giselle is one of the most important and popular ballets in history. It appeared when French ballet had just undergone a revolution with Marie Taglioni‘s appearance as a ghostly Mother Superior in the “Ballet of the Nuns” (from Act III of Meyerbeer’s 1831 opera Robert le Diable) where nuns in white tutus came to life in a 16th century moonlit cloister. Taglioni’s fluid and effortless dancing gave the illusion of weightlessness and caused a great sensation, paving the ground for the  great “white ballets” from classical dance’s Romantic period. Giselle and La Sylphide (also led by Marie Taglioni) inspired ballets like La Fille du Danube, L’Ombre, La Gitana and La Péri, stories that depicted the impossible love between mortals and elusive fantastic creatures set in earthly backdrops of alpine villages, Scottish highlands and Spanish riverbanks and that borrowed heavily from Romantic poetry and painting.

Natalia Osipova and Ruslan Skvortsov with Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet in Grigorovich's Giselle. Photograph by Elliot Franks ©

Poets and novelists at the time were obsessed with the supernatural. One of them, Heinrich Heine, wrote about Wilis, young brides who had died before their wedding. They would rise from their graves in the evening and dance alone in the moonlight wearing their wedding dresses. With their beauty they would attract young men and seek revenge, making them dance until they died. Having read Heine’s story Théophile Gautier, poet, novelist and critic, imagined it as a ballet scenario. For the heroine he thought of rising ballerina (and his object of affection) Carlotta Grisi.

Gautier worked together with librettist Vernoy de Saint-Georges to flesh out the heroine’s character, addressing plot aspects linked to her death and transformation. When the concept was presented to the Paris Opera, composer Adolphe Adam and maître de ballet  Jean Coralli were drafted to work on score and choreography. Though he wasn’t credited in the original program it is known that Jules Perrot (Grisi’s teacher and lover) also contributed to the production, especially with elements dealing with the main character.

Artists of The Royal Ballet as Wilis in Sir Peter Wright's Giselle. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©

Giselle ou Les Wilis premiered at the Paris Opera on 28 June, 1841 with Carlotta Grisi as Giselle, Lucien Petipa (brother of Marius) as Albrecht and Adèle Dumilâtre as Myrtha. The ballet was immediately declared not only a worthy successor to La Sylphide but also “the greatest ballet of its time”, a triumphant reception. Giselle remained in the Paris Opera repertoire until 1849. When it became outmoded the ballet was completely dropped (after 1868); it would only be seen again in Paris decades later as part of the Ballets Russes’ second Paris season, with Karsavina and Nijinsky in the lead roles.

Following its success in Paris Giselle toured around Europe, traveling as far as the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. This particular 1842 production was staged by Titus, a ballet master who recreated the ballet from memory. But in 1848, with Jules Perrot coming into the Imperial Theatres as ballet master, a new Russian version of Giselle was staged with Marius Petipa as Albrecht. This Giselle stayed in repertory until 1859 when Perrot returned to Paris. Next came Marius Petipa’s 1862 version, with several alterations to cater for the Italian virtuoso ballerinas of the time, most notably, the insertion of the Act I Giselle variation as we know it.

Tamara Rojo and Rupert Pennefather in Sir Peter Wright's Giselle. Photo: Johan Persson / ROH ©


Subsequent stagings of the ballet are linked by some degrees of separation to the St. Petersburg production:

  • Nicholas Sergeyev fled Russia with the Stepanov notations and first staged Giselle for the Paris Opera in 1924 as a vehicle for Olga Spessivtseva.
  • The first British production (for the Carmago Society, 1932) also came from Sergeyev’s notations and had Spessivtseva as Giselle and Anton Dolin as Albrecht.
  • Sergeyev revised his staging for the Vic-Wells company (later the Royal Ballet) in 1934. Alicia Markova was Giselle and Anton Dolin was Albrecht. From then onwards, the ballet remained in repertoire in Britain.

Natalia Osipova as Giselle. Photograph by Elliot Franks ©

  • Giselle was first shown in North America by Augusta Maywood in a 1847 performance at the Park Theatre, NY. Both ballet and performer were met with an enthusiastic response.
  • In 1910 it was revived at the Metropolitan Opera House by Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Mordkin in a version that featured interludes from Glazunov’s Raymonda. Giselle wouldn’t be performed again in the United States until 1937, when Mordkin staged it for his own company (with Lucia Chase as Giselle).
  • The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo also brought their own version to the Met in 1938. The production had Alicia Markova as Giselle, Serge Lifar as Albrecht and Alexandra Danilova as Myrtha and it served as a base for Anton Dolin to follow it with a 1840 production for Ballet Theatre (now ABT).

Synopsis

Act I

A Rhineland village.

Hilarion, a gamekeeper, enters. He is in love with Giselle, a beautiful peasant girl who lives with her mother Berthe. As he is about to knock on their door he hears someone approach. He hides behind Giselle’s cottage as Albrecht, the Duke of Silesia, and his squire Wilfred arrive. Wilfred is begging his master to return with him, but Albrecht walks towards Giselle’s home. With the intention of wooing her he has been passing himself as Loys, a villager. Albrecht hands his cape and sword to Wilfred who hides them inside the opposite cottage and leaves. Albrecht – who now looks like a peasant – knocks on Giselle’s door and teasingly hides.

Giselle comes out dancing joyfully. She realises no one is there but Albrecht continues to tease, blowing her kisses. He finally comes out of hiding and Giselle pretends she is not happy to see him. She tries to leave but Albrecht declares his love and promises to be faithful. In order to test him Giselle plays “he loves me, he loves me not”. She realises with sadness that her last daisy petal indicates Albrecht doesn’t love her. Albrecht patches up the daisy and Giselle is consoled. As they dance, Hilarion arrives and tries to separate them; he is scolded by Giselle.

Lauren Cuthbertson as Giselle and Artists of The Royal Ballet in Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle. Photo: Johan Persson / ROH ©

Villagers arrive to celebrate. As they dance Giselle is crowned Queen of the Vintage. Berthe arrives and fusses over Giselle. Through ballet mime she tells her daughter and the villagers the legend of the Wilis which sets the tone for two different versions:

  • Giselle suffers from a weak heart. Berthe worries about the dancing and reminds her that her heart could fail. To impress her daughter she explains that if she dies she will become a Wili, a creature that is doomed to dance forever.
  • Berthe does not approve of Giselle’s interest in Loys. She reminds her daughter that the Wilis are ghosts of jilted brides and that to avenge themselves they condemn to death any man who crosses their path.

While Giselle finally agrees to go inside and rest, Hilarion returns. He hides in Albrecht’s cottage as he hears horns announcing a hunting party in the distance. Wilfred arrives escorting The Prince of Courland and his daughter Bathilde.  Berthe offers them hospitality and as Giselle serves wine she kneels at Bathilde’s feet, admiring her dress. Bathilde is taken with Giselle who now dances her famous variation (in some versions, this is danced after the nobles leave for the hunt). Bathilde offers a necklace to Giselle and enters to rest in the cottage while the men depart to hunt.

Natalia Osipova and Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet in Grigorovich’s Giselle. Photograph by Elliot Franks ©

Hilarion has discovered a royal sword in Albrecht’s cottage. Giselle and Albrecht have reappeared to dance with the villagers and are about to embrace when Hilarion separates them with the weapon. Hilarion unmasks Albrecht but Giselle does not believe him. As Hilarion blows the hunting horn the prince and his daughter reappear and greet Albrecht. He kisses Bathilde’s hand and Giselle realises the extent of his deceit. Her heart is broken; she goes mad and lost in reverie she re-enacts earlier moments with Loys. She takes Albrecht’s sword and drags it around the stage. Finally:

  • she runs towards Berthe and falls to the ground lifeless. Her heart has failed. Albrecht runs towards Giselle asking for forgiveness.

or;

  • she seizes the sword and stabs herself. She runs to Berthe and to Albrecht, dying in his hands. Albrecht retrieves the sword and runs towards Hilarion, threatening him. Albrecht is forced to leave while Berthe and Hilarion mourn over Giselle’s lifeless body.

Irina Perren as Giselle. Photo: Mikhailovsky Theatre ©

Act II

Giselle’s grave in the forest

It is close to midnight, the time when the Wilis appear. Hilarion has been keeping vigil on Giselle’s grave. He now starts to see apparitions and leaves frightened.

Myrtha the Queen of the Wilis appears, looking like a bride in a long white dress and veil. She crosses the stage, vanishing and reappearing. She dances and with her wand (Myrtle branches) she summons her Wilis. They appear from both sides of the stage, hands crossed over, heads covered with white veils. They do as Myrtha instructs, dancing and finally stopping at the grave. Myrtha commands Giselle to rise and to take flight as a new Wili. The Wilis leave and we see a remorseful Albrecht approach. As he lays flowers (lilies) on Giselle’s grave her ghost appears and they begin to dance together. She soon flees, with Albrecht in pursuit.

Tamara Rojo as Giselle, Carlos Acosta as Albrecht and Zenaida Yanowsky as Myrtha in Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle. Photo: Bill Cooper / ROH ©

Hilarion has been captured by the Wilis and is forced by Myrtha into an endless dance. He is about to collapse when the Wilis seize him and throw him on a lake where he drowns. They have now found Albrecht but when Myrtha commands him to dance Giselle leads him to the cross from her grave where Myrtha is powerless. She stands before him in defiance of the Wilis.

Myrtha tells Giselle to dance. She obeys and Albrecht, now tempted, leaves his spot by the cross trying to reach for Giselle. He dances with her a Pas de Deux. Exhausted he pleads forgiveness. To no avail, he must dance till he dies. Giselle does her best to sustain him and Albrecht is at the point of collapse when dawn finally breaks. The Wilis are now powerless. Giselle embraces Albrecht and bids him farewell. Her spirit is now free from the Wilis as her love has transcended death. She disappears; Albrecht is left alone.

Elena Glurdjidze and Arionel Vargas in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle. Photo: ENB ©

Other Notable Versions

Mats Ek’s for The Cullberg Ballet (1982). In Ek’s version, the second act is set in an asylum, the Wilis are mental patients and Myrtha is their nurse. Giselle is a “village idiot” and Albrecht goes mad as well. Expect the usual Ek theatrics in this most unromantic conception of the ballet.

Mary Skeaping’s for The Royal Swedish Ballet (1953). Skeaping had learnt the ballet while dancing with Anna Pavlova’s company . She researched and restored much of the ballet and retrieved its original score from the  Paris Opera archives. Skeaping also staged this version of Giselle for the English National Ballet (reviewed here).

    Elena Glurdjidze and Artists of English National Ballet in Mary Skeaping's Giselle. Photo: ENB ©


Arthur Mitchell’s Creole Giselle for Dance Theatre of Harlem (1984). This production is set in the Louisiana Bayou around 1840 when “social status among free blacks was measured by how far removed one’s family was from slavery”.

David Dawson’s for the Dresden Semperoper Ballett (2008). This is a contemporary reworking of the classical libretto exploring the themes of betrayal in Act I and justice/mercy in Act II. The production, with designs by Arne Walther and costumes by Principal dancer Yumiko Takeshima, has a minimalist flavour.

Videos

Legends

  • Gelsey Kirkland – Act I variation [link]
  • Olga Spessivtseva in her signature Act I variation (diagonal of turns – instead of a manège – see also Rojo and Bouder videos below) [link]
  • Alicia Alonso & Azari Plisetsky – Act II Pas de Deux [link]
  • Alicia Markova & Anton Dolin, a short clip with testimonials and performance footage [link]
  • Carla Fracci and Vladimir Vasiliev – Act II Pas de Deux [link]
  • Natalia Makarova – Mad Scene with Mikhail Baryshnikov (Albrecht) and Frank Smith (Hilarion) in David Blair’s  production [link]
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov – Albrecht’s Act II variation (diagonals of brisés instead of entrechats) [link]

Today

Music

Adolphe Adam was born in Paris in 1803. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1821 to study organ and harmonium. He soon started to show his talent for composing and by 1830 he had done 28 scores for the theatre, including Danilowa, his first full work, an opera presented at the Opéra Comique. According to Adam’s memoirs, the full score for Giselle was completed in just three weeks. He recalls “I composed the music in high spirits. I was in a hurry and that always fires my imagination. I was very friendly with Perrot and Carlotta, and the piece evolved, as it were, in my drawing-room.”

At that time it was usual for ballets to use a pastiche of pre-existing melodies in lieu of a commissioned score, so Adam’s Giselle stood out for its high quality and as one of the first ballets to use character leitmotifs. These can be recognised from the start: Albrecht’s and Giselle’s themes mesh into a love theme as Giselle plucks the daisy in Act I. Hilarion also has his own short leitmotif and the Wilis’s theme, although more prominent in Act II, can be heard as early as Act I when Berthe tells their legend.

Christina Michanek and Ulrik Birkkjær in The Royal Danish Ballet’s Giselle. Photo: David Amzallag / RDB ©

The ballet also includes several dance sections: quadrilles, waltzes, nocturnes, tarantellas. Gautier’s libretto originally called for different Wilis from around the world: a Hungarian, a gypsy and even a bayadère, so Adam composed music for each dancer in their own “national style”.  The libretto was revised and altered, though some of these passages were kept (eg. those for Wili Moyna, an odalisque who dances an oriental variation, Wili Zulma, a bayadère; French Wilis who dance a minuet and German Wilis, a waltz).

When the ballet was taken to Russia, several interpolations and variations by other composers were added. For example, the music for the peasant Pas de Deux was composed by Frédéric Burgmüller. It is also thought that Minkus composed additional music for the 1884 revival, including some of Giselle’s Act II variation and probably Giselle’s Act I variation.

Daniil Simkin in Act I of ABT’s Giselle. Photo: Rosalie O’Connor / ABT ©

An essential iPod / Spotify list for Giselle would include the following tracks:

1. Introduction
3. Entrée d’Albrecht
4. Entrée de Giselle
7. Retour de la vendange
8. Valse
17. Entrée et danse de Myrthe
18. Entrée des Wilis
25. Grand Pas d’action: Grand adage / Variation de Giselle  /  Variation d’Albert  / Coda
26. Scène finale

For the full listing of dances and scenes, see Wikipedia

Mini Biography

Choreography: Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot (Revised version by Marius Petipa)
Libretto: Vernoy de Saint-Georges, Théophile Gautier and Jean Coralli
Music: Adolphe Adam
Original Designs: Pierre Ciceri
Original Costumes: Paul Lorimer
Original Cast: Carlotta Grisi as Giselle, Lucien Petipa as Albrecht, Adèle Dumilâtre as Myrtha.
Premiere: 28 June 1841, Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique, Paris


Artists of the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Nikita Dolgushin’s Giselle. Photo: Mikhailovsky Theatre ©

Sources and Further Information

  1. A Quintessential Romantic Ballet by Marian Smith. Royal Ballet’s Giselle Programme Notes 2009.
  2. Adam and his score by Joseph Horovitz. Royal Ballet’s Programme Notes 2009.
  3. Performance History by Clement Crisp. Royal Ballet’s Programme Notes 2009.
  4. Ballet Met’s Notes by Gerard Charles. February 2001 [link]
  5. Wikipedia entry for Giselle [link]
  6. Wikipedia entry for Adolphe Adam [link]
  7. The Borzoi Book of Ballets by Grace Robert. Alfred Knopf Publishers, New York 1946. ISBN-10: 1419122010 ISBN-13: 978-1419122019
  8. Balanchine Festival of Ballets by George Balanchine and Francis Mason. W. H. Allen & Co Ltd, London 1978. ISBN-10: 0491020376 ISBN-13: 978-0491020374
  9. The Musical World of Giselle by Richard Jones. Ballet.co Magazine, March 2005 [link]
  10. Mary Skeaping’s Giselle by Jane Pritchard. Ballet.co Magazine, March 2005 [link]
  11. Dresden Semperoper Ballett’s Giselle. Review by by Carolina de Pedro Pascual. Ballet.co Magazine, December 2010 [link]
  12. Giselle, choreography by Mats Ek. Paris Opera Ballet Review by Patricia Boccadoro. Culturekiosque, July 2004 [link]
  13. Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle by Marian Smith. Princeton Studies in Opera, Princeton University Press. ISBN-10: 0691146497 ISBN-13: 978-0691146492
  14. The Ballet called Giselle by Cyril W. Beaumont.  Dance Books, New edition edition, 2008. ISBN-10: 1852730048 ISBN-13: 978-1852730048
  15. Works & Progress at the Guggenheim presents “Giselle revisited”. Preview of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s new production of Giselle, with Peter Boal and Doug Fullington [link]

© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Giselle appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Bag of Steps: Connections

0
0

It has been over a year since we last added to our Bag of Steps library and we recently discovered – via survey feedback – that some readers missed this series. We now return with a post dedicated to “connecting steps”. These are employed by a dancer much in the same way as we would use prepositions to link nouns and pronouns when we form phrases. So this edition might be more useful as aide-mémoire for the obsessive ballet-goer who would like to pinpoint exactly when a glissade is followed by a pas de bourrée.

Dancers may use connecting steps to propel a jump, to switch positions and to start a new choreographic phrase. The better the dancer, the less apparent how these morph into other steps:

Plié

Bent or bending. Almost every ballet step starts and ends with a plié; bending of the knees with the feet planted on the ground.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhIR0FQQlR0

At the 0:29 mark Leonid Sarafanov shows how a good plié (from fourth position) gives him enough impulse for five pirouettes.

Tombé

Fallen. With the working leg raised in the air the dancer falls backwards, forwards or sideways into a fondu on the working leg.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HlUPVTT9jA

From 1:16 to 1:23, the dancers do four tombés followed by pas de bourrées.

Chassé

A travelling step where one foot “chases” the other. In performance the dancer lightly jumps in fifth position andlands sliding the foot to an open position (second or fourth) in the direction where he/she is travelling.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TJ9W3Sfgk

In this video from Les Patineurs the chassé is used to suggest ice skating.

Passé

A transitional step where the dancer draws one leg up to the point where the toes touch the back of the standing knee. When held as a pose the passé is referred to as retiré.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8BOQiQ-pE

At the 1:20 mark, Natalia Osipova (as Kitri) does a series of passés

Pas de Bourrée

A series of quick steps en pointe or demi-pointe. Starting in fifth with the right foot to front. The dancer stretches the left leg and crosses behind the right leg, taking a tiny step with the right and bringing the left leg to front.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwtkQjWWnss

At 1:17, Maria Alexandrova (as Myrtha) does pas de bourrées on pointe

To recap on the above watch, for example, Swan Lake‘s four little swans:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu_VQg5nOPM

At 0:10 reaching the side of the stage, the swans do a small jeté followed by pas de bourrée (0:11) and retiré (0:12). This is repeated four times, but in the last sequence (where they reach stage left) the retiré comes down to fifth (0:27) to prepare for an entrechat (0:28) followed by a passé(0:29). At 0:48 the swans do one of a series of chassés to arabesque.After the last arabesque (0:58) they all tombé onto the right leg.

Glissade (terre à terre)

A gliding preparatory step which is done terre à terre (ie. to the ground) linking into other steps. The dancer slides gently from fifth into any open position (second or fourth).

See also: Glissade in the context of a small jump.

Failli

A transitional step, sliding through first position into an open position (usually fourth). The dancer starts in fifth and jumps vertically, changing the direction of the body and landing with the front foot on plié, back leg stretched. See the actual failli in step 4 below:

Failli. From Basic Principles of Classical Ballet by Agrippina Vaganova ©.

As step 4 shows, after changing the body’s direction, the stretched leg slides through first position towards the front

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qvkBAI65ps

Starting from 3:42 and again at 3:56 Laura Morera does three glissades, a pas de bourrée (4:00) and a series of passés (4:22). At the start of their variation (5:08) Kenta Kura and Bennet Gartside then do a failli-assemblé combination, repeating it at 5.16.

Balancé

Rocking step where the dancer alternates balance, shifting the weight from one foot to the other.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tucdt5Y5xW0

At around 3:05, Laura Morera (as Rose Fairy) does a balancé.

Sources and Further Information:

Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet by Gail Grant. BN Publishing. ISBN 1607960311.

Note: Whilst we have used widely known names for these steps, note that terminology might vary slightly from school to school.


New to Bag of Steps? Catch up with earlier editions:


© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Bag of Steps: Connections appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Go For Fouetté Gold

0
0

The London 2012 Olympics are in full-throttle and we’re currently glued to the TV watching athletes going faster, higher and stronger. Even though in gymnastics – an event so closely associated with performance and artistic values – we now see a noticeable decline in dance and performance quality, incredible feats still make us think of ballet, where technical fireworks like the infamous series of 32 fouetté turns provide thrilling moments on stage.

Pierina Legnani – renowned for her formidable technique – was the first ballerina to ever perform a sequence of 32 fouettés en tournant. The ballet was Petipa’s Cinderella, but when she eventually incorporated this “trick” into Petipa’s Swan Lake, the step became something else: a stroke of genius. Many in the audience were carried away by the thrill in Legnani’s execution and marvelled at the contrast of Odile’s flamboyant manners with Odette’s graceful restraint.

The famous Russian ballet historian and critic Vera Krasovskaya wrote:

Petipa brilliantly set off Ivanov’s Odette, with her elegiac arabesques, against Odile, the bird of prey, with her resilient and commanding attitudes. His skill triumphed in the fouetté – a sequence of thirty two of those highly virtuosic turns – which was no longer a technical stunt but the culmination in the depiction of cunning temptation: the swift repetition of the dancer’s spins put the finishing touches to Odile’s character.

These days, with the evolution of technique and personal abilities in certain roles, the most gifted dancers tend to add an extra dimension to their turns, with multiple pirouettes and or port de bras detailing. Often these extras are at the expense of a perfectly executed series of fouettés. But in a ballet like Swan Lake – where Odile is supposed to be confident and triumphant – just how important are 32 flawless turns?

The Argument for Substitution

In her autobiography, Maya Plisteskaya confesses she had always had trouble with fouettés, so as Odile she opted for a different step (typically a manège of piqué turns and châinés) that was dramatically consistent. Her execution was so fast and exciting that there were very few complaints, as she managed to deliver the same afterglow that fouettés give to the coda:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtjVdDH0oYQ

Likewise, in her debut as Odette/Odile, NYCB’s Sara Mearns (renowned for her artistry and now one of NYCB’s best interpreters of the role) went for 12 fouettés combined with a mànege of piqué turns. In an interview given to Gia Kourlas at the time, she explains this choice:

Your leg, by that time, is dead. When we were in the dress rehearsal, I didn’t really fin­ish the fou­ettés; I just kind of walked around and Mer­rill [Ashley] and Sean Lavery said, “You have to have a plan.” So I did a ver­sion of what I wanted to do: fou­ettés into piqué turns without even pos­ing to go into them, and I was fine with it.

Another case for substitution was made by the superb technician Nadia Nerina. She once had her Odile execute 32 entrechat-six to get back at Nureyev, who had overshadowed Nerina in a previous performance of Giselle. Even though this wasn’t a case of a “Plan B” substitution, it goes to show different technical tricks can be equally effective.

Keep on Turning

One could also argue that Odile’s 32 fouettés are a requirement of the role (they illustrate her excesses and wicked ways and serve as a climax to the Black Act), that the step is like a difficult note in an opera aria. Only “practice makes perfect’ and there are many dance fans and critics who would rather watch “solid singles” than “messy multiples”. A few examples:

ABT’s Gillian Murphy in the coda of the Black Swan Pas de Deux Murphy is the “Queen of Quads” and of the changing port de bras.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOdE0P7K0HM

Viengsay Valdés as Odile

There are so many clips of Valdés getting away with amazing tricks (see this clip of Cinderella), but this one just shows her amazing control.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=csFqrkx9FF4

State Ballet of Georgia’s Lali Kandelaki in Don Quixote

Kandelaki barely travels. She also introduces pirouettes à la seconde and changes spots in the second part.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixYASDVi8c

Tamara Rojo on fire as Kitri

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNIaNaqG6Rs

Another Kitri: Russian fouettés might not be the prettiest, but look at how fast Natalia Osipova can turn!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxf7qemjYs

Plus five more:

In your opinion, which dancer(s) should take Fouetté Gold? Cast your vote in the comment section or tweet us @theballetbag.

Sources and Further Information

  1. Russian Ballet in the age of Petipa by Lynn Garafola. The Cambridge Companion to Ballet, Edited by Marion Kant. Cambridge University Press; 1st Edition, 2007. ISBN-10: 0521539862.
  2. The Borzoi Book of Ballets by Grace Roberts. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN-10: 1162767057.
  3. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans. Granta Books, 2011. ISBN-10: 1847082564
  4. The Life of Ballets of Lev Ivanov (in English) by Roland John Wiley. New York City. Oxford University Press (1997).
  5. A Swan is born by Gia Kourlas. Interview with Sara Mearns, TONY, February 2006.
  6. Nadia Nerina Obituary at The Telegraph. October, 2008.

© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post Go For Fouetté Gold appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

A Summer of Dance to Remember

0
0

Warm summer evenings are starting to come to an end in London (if only we could have temperatures in the twenties all year round…). As we prepare to welcome the autumn dance season, we have a quick look back at what we enjoyed here at The Ballet Bag over the past couple of months:

1. A Tale of Two Cities

ABT gave us some superb performances of The Sleeping Beauty at Opera Bastille last week, while the Bolshoi Ballet took residency at the Royal Opera House for three weeks in July/August, with a stream of blockbusters and the UK premiere of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew. Before their arrival, we had also dropped by Paris to catch up with NYCB in a gorgeous programme that included three European premieres: Wheeldon’s fun Estancia, Ratmansky’s chic Pictures at an Exhibition and Justin Peck’s cool Everywhere We Go. Between London and Paris, we were fully sorted for our summer dance!

Artists of New York City Ballet in  Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

Artists of New York City Ballet in Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Photo: © Paul Kolnik / NYCB

2. Most show-stopping premiere: The Bolshoi’s Taming of the Shrew

Aside from 10 Things I Hate About You, Shakespeare’s Shrew has never had a more entertaining vehicle than Maillot’s 2014 creation for the Bolshoi Ballet. Two short but sweet acts that fit the company like a glove, roles that are intrinsically linked to their creators, chic designs, plenty of Shostakovich, and all-around Bolshoiness, the ballet is a hoot. Plus, this was a work in which to admire the artistry of Katya Krysanova, incidentally the only principal performing in all productions during the London tour (if her Katharina was feisty, her Jeanne was exhilarating, her Medora beguiling), this was her time to shine.

Ekaterina Krysanova as Katharina and Vladislav Lantratov as Petruchio

Ekaterina Krysanova as Katharina and Vladislav Lantratov as Petruchio. Photo: © Alice Pennefather

3. Royal Couples at the Bolshoi

Nobody does “Don Q” like the Bolshoi and, in this new revision of Alexei Fadeyechev’s production, we got improved pace, stunning designs/costumes and bravura displays that didn’t overshadow the narrative backbone. Add to all this the sizzling chemistry of IRL duo Maria Alexandrova and Vladislav Lantratov and it’s as good as it gets. In Swan Lake, however, it was all about Olga Smirnova & Semyon Chudin. Whereas she is currently an authority when it comes to Odette (her long limbs, lyrical arms and serene gaze are the embodiment of the ballerina ideal), he is the perfect cavalier, matching her in temperament, proportions and musicality (no wonder they were also paired in Taming of the Shrew).

Olga Smirnova as Bianca and Semyon Chudin as Hortensio

Olga Smirnova as Bianca and Semyon Chudin as Hortensio. Photo: © Alice Pennefather

4. Stars in the Making

It baffles us how the Mariinsky keeps letting its star ballerinas defect to Moscow. The latest one making this jump is Yulia Stepanova, educated in the purest tradition of St. Petersburg’s grand ballerinas, she is a swan queen to watch and the newest principal at the Bolshoi. Anna Tikhomirova is another artist who has grown immensely since the company’s previous London tour. To our disappointment, she wasn’t given the role of Kitri, but that didn’t stop her from literally “shutting it down” in every single role she got her hands on. Spanish Bride? Check. Mercedes? Check. Gulnare, Check. Sultry Housekeeper in Maillot’s Shrew? Nailed it. Meanwhile in Paris, it was the turn of Cassie Trenary (Aurora/Florine), Devon Teuscher (Lilac Fairy) and Skylar Brandt (Florine) to dazzle us as ballerinas-in-the-making.

Anna Tikhomirova as the Housekeeper

Anna Tikhomirova as the Housekeeper. Photo: © Alice Pennefather

5. American Companies in Peak Form

What do you do when you’re walking down the streets of Paris and you bump into the great man himself (true story)? Well you thank him for all the #Ratmanskyness of course! His revisionist take on The Sleeping Beauty is a treasure and the casts we saw (Murphy/Stearns/Abrera for L. and Boylston/Gorak/Part for E.) seemed fully committed to a production that must rank as the biggest stylistic challenge in ABT’s repertory. Speaking of style, how green with envy are we that Parisians got 3x Justin Pecks this season, while Londoners got none? It hardly seems fair that the choreographer credited with making ballet trendy again should be such a rare sight over this dance capital.

Cassandra Trenary and Artists of American Ballet Theatre in The Sleeping Beauty

Cassandra Trenary and Artists of American Ballet Theatre in The Sleeping Beauty. Photo: © John Grigaitis


© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post A Summer of Dance to Remember appeared first on The Ballet Bag.


For Your Consideration: Ballet Bracket Round 2

0
0

After a painstaking vote counting, taking into account your comments in our original post, plus votes on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (thank you all for participating!), we’re back with our Ballet Bracket and it’s time for Round 2!

First, some notes on the results so far:

1) Tamara love: Rojo got LOTS of votes, and not just as Odette but also “off bracket” as Odile!

2) Sophie’s choice: many people suggested the Bolshoi’s Masha Alexandrova should have moved brackets to Kitri. She had more votes there than Kitri runner up Viktoria Tereshkina. On that note, we realise the competition in this particular bracket was super tough and ended up being referred to by many voters as “Sophie’s choice”.

3) How could we forget? In the Aurora bracket, there was a mention for Olesya Novikova, who is indeed a lovely Aurora.

4) Legends: even though we asked readers to vote on dancers they find particularly compelling in 2017, some retired ballerinas got namechecked: Gelsey Kirkland, Aurélie Dupont and Sylvie Guillem amongst them.

march_madness_round_2

How to play Round 2:

  1. In each bracket – Aurora, Kitri, Odette, Odile – you will find two finalist ballerinas (click on image above to zoom in)
  2. Which one is your favorite from each of these four sections? Let us know in the comments below, or via any of our social media channels.
  3. Do share this post with your friends, ask them to vote too.
  4. The Auroras, Kitris, Odettes and Odiles with the most votes get through to the finals.

We will keep updating this post as we progress to the next round.


© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post For Your Consideration: Ballet Bracket Round 2 appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

For Your Consideration: Ballet Bracket Final Round

0
0

We have just finished counting the votes to our Ballet Bracket Round 2, including those on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and we’re ready for the epic battle in the final round, phew!

Before we proceed, some notes on the previous round:

1) ENB love: both Tamara Rojo and Alina Cojocaru are in the finals, how cool is that?

2) Brexit vote: the Odette race was super tight, with Rojo leading by one vote, gulp!

3) Kitri Landslide: remember how tough the Kitri bracket was in Round 1? Well in this round, Osipova smashed the category, although Masha Alexandrova continued to get nominations too. Next time Masha will compete in the Kitri bracket, we promise.

 

march_madness_round3

How to play:

  1. Tamara Rojo as Odette or Natalia Osipova as Kitri? Alina Cojocaru as Aurora or Gillian Murphy as Odile? Which two ballerinas are your favorites from each of the four finalists? OR if you love them all equally and you’re faced with an impossible choice, which roles do you prefer? Let us know in the comments below, or via any of our social media channels.
  2. Do share this post with your friends, ask them to vote too.
  3. Thank you all for participating, and feel free to leave us suggestions for our next bracket!

 

UPDATE – May 2017

We FINALLY have the results of our March Madness Ballet Bracket, but you guys might have already guessed based on the votes below and on Instagram. Thanks to all who participated, sending suggestions of future brackets and voting for your faves. The winners of the bracket are:

Natalia Osipova and Alina Cojocaru. Which means that Kitri and Aurora have trumped Odette and Odile this time around, olé!


© The Ballet Bag, 2014.

The post For Your Consideration: Ballet Bracket Final Round appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Talking about ENB’s The Sleeping Beauty

0
0

Having just returned from a quick trip to Los Angeles to catch ABT in our last ballet of summer season – a very enjoyable matinee performance of La Bayadère led by Devon Teuscher (a gorgeous Nikiya), Christine Shevchenko (a perfect Gamzatti) and Joo Won Ahn (a solid Solor) – we look back at another favorite of the season, ENB’s The Sleeping Beauty, which we had caught at the London Coliseum back in June and which led to the following chat during a long drive to Richmond:

Alina Cojocaru and Artists of English National Ballet in Kenneth MacMillan's Sleeping Beauty.

Alina Cojocaru and Artists of English National Ballet in Kenneth MacMillan’s Sleeping Beauty. Photo: © Laurent Liotardo

Linda - We are on our way to the Royal Ballet School Summer Fair in Richmond and, as we have a long drive ahead of us, we’re talking about the ballet The Sleeping Beauty, as we have just seen it in English National Ballet’s production, the Kenneth MacMillan one, a.k.a. best tutus in the whole world.

Emilia - You had told me about MacMillan’s production (which was originally choreographed for ABT oddly enough), but I had never seen it staged, even though we have both seen a large share of Sleeping Beauties in the past.

L - Off the top of your head, can you remember how many productions have you have seen, E.?

E – Other than the Royal Ballet’s, I have seen ABT’s most recent one at its New York premiere and during the company’s tour to Paris, the Mariinsky’s, the Bolshoi’s which is one of my favourites (so opulent!), and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s which has quite a beautiful awakening pas de deux.

L – Let me remember which ones I have seen. In addition to the ones you have mentioned, I saw the new production for the Ballet Nacional del Sodre (Uruguay’s National Ballet) a couple of months back (it had some crazy costumes!). I have also seen some recorded productions such as Dutch National Ballet’s (which is the same as BRB’s I believe), Paris Opera Ballet’s and Teatro alla Scala’s. The recording of Dutch National Ballet’s production features Sofiane Sylve being amazing, but I have to say, the Ratmansky production for ABT is very special and so is the Vikharev reconstruction for the Mariinsky, which I’ve only seen on video…

E - Indeed, we need to make that distinction with the Mariinsky, because they have two productions: like you, I’ve only seen the Vikharev reconstruction on video and the one the company usually tours is a tired production by Konstantin Sergeyev, very reminiscent of the Soviet era.

L – …those wigs, let’s not talk about the wigs!

Rina Kanehara and Daniel McCormick as Princess Florine and the Bluebird

Rina Kanehara and Daniel McCormick as Princess Florine and the Bluebird. Photo: © Laurent Liotardo

E – but going back to the MacMillan one, I am really very impressed. It is absolutely beautiful. The costumes and sets are elegant, the colour palettes are so stunning….

L – I guess The Sleeping Beauty can often resort to a twee, “Disneyfied” look (sorry ABT, but your previous 2007 production…no, just no!). Aurora’s birthday costume can be soooo pink! And yes, Georgiadis gave Aurora a pink tutu in this one, but it is subdued and classy.

E – The shades complement those from the fairy’s tutus. If I have one thing to criticise in this production, however, it is the Garland dance, and I wonder if it was because of where we were sitting. I wonder if this is something you need to see from above to appreciate patterns, because to me it didn’t feel like there was much of a pattern or structure.

L – Yeah, I don’t remember very well the details of when I saw it for the first time in Japan, with the Noriko Kobayashi Ballet. This time around, I saw it twice with ENB: the second time I took a ballet newbie friend and when the dancers were doing turns with the garlands, she commented that it looked rather awkward, which suggests to me that there might be a mismatch between the choreography and the portion of the stage that is available to the dancers. Given MacMillan originally staged it in the US, I need to research this (Future Linda: the production premiered at Auditorium Theater, Chicago), because if it was made for a bigger stage, I would understand there would be more space to do those turns with the garlands.

E – So it’s possible that dancers might have been constrained here. Talking about ABT’s productions: one thing that I thought was absolutely delightful in the new Ratmansky production, was that in the end Carabosse is forgiven and joins the celebrations and in the final tableau, you have Aurora and Prince Désiré blessed by not only the Lilac Fairy, but by Carabosse as well, and that is so cool. But in most productions, you don’t get that, although here I liked how Carabosse looks like the Virgin Queen (i.e. Elizabeth I) and loved the way James Streeter characterised her.

L – Yes, I did think there was something softer about his performance of Carabosse. It didn’t strike me as sheer evil, but there was some humanity underneath the “Elizabethan cartoon” façade.

James Streeter as Carabosse and English National Ballet artists in MacMillan's Sleeping Beauty.

James Streeter as Carabosse and English National Ballet artists in MacMillan’s Sleeping Beauty. Photo: © Laurent Liotardo

E – That is why I was almost surprised that “she” didn’t patch things up with the royals!

L – In the second show I attended (with the Alexandrova cast), Stina Quagebeur was also a stunning Carabosse, but in a very different way. More like the traditional picture of Carabosse I have in my head (like Maleficent, from Disney’s classic animation). And I truly appreciate that you can get two different types of portrayals for the same character because it allows you to contrast and appreciate the different shades dancers can bring to a role.

E – It takes a great company to stage this ballet convincingly and ENB’s level of dancing was amazing. Shiori Kase did such a fantastic job in that thankless solo of the Lilac Fairy. And you can’t get more perfect leads in this ballet than Joseph Caley and Alina Cojocaru. They were beautifully paired and Alina was on top form. I don’t even remember when I had seen her last in The Sleeping Beauty (probably alongside Johan Kobborg in the Royal Ballet’s production), but she always makes this role special – it brought me such nostalgia!

L – Maybe it was back in 2009, so almost ten years ago? She is still the most perfect Aurora in my book, because she is one of the few dancers who can take you from the naive 16-year old in the first act, to the radiant woman in the last act. And I particularly appreciate the details such as in the Rose Adagio, where she always acknowledges the suitors in unique ways, and her parents, in a very conversational kind of way. This is something I don’t see in most Auroras. I know they are probably trying to get through all the balances which are crazy difficult. So those characterisation touches are very special.

Alina Cojocaru as Princess Aurora in MacMillan's Sleeping Beauty

Alina Cojocaru as Princess Aurora in MacMillan’s Sleeping Beauty. Photo: © Laurent Liotardo

E – Who was the Lilac Fairy in the second performance that you saw?

L – Alison McWhinney, which we got as one of the fairies on opening night.. She was lovely, very different to Shiori, but a dancer that I like to see with ENB and I’m glad that she is getting this role, because I think it suits her temperament.

E – One dancer that really stood out for me, both as a fairy and as Princess Florine was Rina Kanehara. So stylish…

L – … Gorgeous, so musical. I should mention, that in the second show with Maria Alexandrova who was guesting, Aaron Robison, who was cast as Prince Désiré, suffered an injury and Joseph Caley had to come and literally save the day. I was a bit apprehensive because of the slight height mismatch, but I have to admit that Joe was an absolute hero. He nailed it and I was so impressed. True professionalism when you see a dancer come through last minute with minimal rehearsal time and fully commit.

E – One thing we should mention: we spotted Chase Johnsey in the third act, making ballet history as you probably know from the recent New York Times article. It was a delight to see him on stage with English National Ballet. Anything else we should say?

L – If you were to go and see one Sleeping Beauty here in the UK. I would definitely recommend this one. Not to say that the BRB or RB versions are not beautiful, because they are also stunning but ENB’s MacMillan production is very special and evocative.

The post Talking about ENB’s The Sleeping Beauty appeared first on The Ballet Bag.

Viewing all 11 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images