Screening La Sylphide

Not to be confused with the previous one Les Sylphides.

This is one of the oldest romantic ballets still in use today.  There were two versions only 1 survived to this day.

Originally by Filippo Taglioni in 1832 starring his daughter Maria Taglioni was then revived in 1836 by Danish balletmaster August Bournonville (1805 - 1879) this version is the one usually used today by the Danish Royal Ballet.

Discussions:
Very beautifully costumes creating a really romantic feel, i think the colour palette was well thought out nothing stood out at all.  The sylph like mythological creatures were well represented through that even though majority in white the decorations and the delicate sleeves were stunning.

Screening Les Sylphides

The first ballet of its time to have no plot or narrative.

Ballet Blanc meaning they are all dressed in white romantic tutus.

Written as an orchestrated piece by Chopin in 1892 originally called itself Chopiniana after the composer changed its name in Paris to Les Sylphides after audience saw a version of La Sylphide.

Along similar lines to La Sylphide with sylph like creatures in it but with no narrative.

It is a 'Romantic Reverie'  set in a atmospheric lake with a series of suites of dances.

Ballet Russes Premiered it and it has been developed over time.

The one we watched at the screening is by The American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1984

My thoughts:

Costumes: Slightly busty for the women could have had a higher neckline on some of the costumes.  I think the skirts were beautiful and moved well with the dancers.

Male costumes was rather feminine but being in black and white made him stand out from the women.

The role of the male dancer in this reflected the time the piece was made as he didn't do a lot.  His role seemed to be admire the women dancers and life and hold when needed.  It seemed as though he didn't need to be there if they didn't need lifting.

The steps of the ballet were slightly repetitive and the non plot made it hard to get my full attention and unfortunately i did get rather bored.

This did help to show the different styles of ballet and i think its important to be able to start criticising whats good and bad about productions as you can take the critical into your work.

Screening: Matthew Bournes Swan Lake

Finally got round to watch it again as i couldn't take it in the first time.

First performed at Sadlers Wells London in 1995 it was given mixed reviews from audiences some deeming it the gay swan lake.   The reason being is that all the swans are male not female like tradition.
Our tutor  told us all to keep this in mind throughout it and whether or not we feel that it is going in that directing.

Discussion:

• Relationship between swans symbolic not romantic.  The prince wants freedom from his repressive lifestyle and the swan represents that.
• Black swan: this part slightly annoyed me, some people didn't agree but i thought that there was a slight gay reference that was put in that didn't go with the rest of the story and i feel that Matthew Bourne ( even though said he didn't in a previous documentary) put that in to maybe create controversy around the piece gaining well publicised attention.  I did not have an issue with it however if he were going to put in a romantic connection between them he should have carried it through the whole ballet.
• Is it ballet or not: As Matthew bourne has suggested they just dance which is the only explanation that can be given.  They didn't have ballet shoes on, and the costumes weren't tutus but there was still a feel of ballet within it wit the addition of contemporary.  It worked well as a piece of dance and the storyline though could be up to the audience interpretation was easy to understand.
• Theatrical
• Costumes were brilliant the male swans costume moved well with the dancers and created a very masculine feel to the swans, quite a contrast to the female swans who are very pretty dainty creatures.  These ones are dangerous.





• Womens roles were not nice,  cold hearted mother and a cheap,lower class, footballers wife style character for a girlfriend.  Complete opposite of the norm in ballet where the women play syilphs and princesses and have the men lift them.  The men are the main part in this ballet. 

 This performance really opened my eyes up to interpret  and that ballet isn't just about women in tutus on pointe.  It isn't always going to be the tradition which is good as i feel its keeps the story's and piece alive.

Swan Lake Moscow Ballet - La Classique

This really should have been one of the first things onto my blog as it was the first performance that we say live.  We will be comparing this in our essay with two other versions of Swan Lake.  It was due to time that i never got round to writing it up and got caught up in the excitement of the construction process.

Director: Elik Melikov
Choreography: Marius Petipa (1818 - 1910) and Lev Ivanov (1834 - 1901)
Music: Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)

This was a rather disappointing performance, only seeing pieces of Swan Lake previously to compare it.  I still though felt a be underwhelmed by it all.  The first disappointment was the music as it was a recording, this meant that the ballet dancer had to keep up with the music without having the backup of a maestro to slow or speed up the music with the dancer.  This showed and some parts were out of time with the music or rushed to keep up. 

Secondly as we discussed after, Odette and the Prince Seigfried had no chemistry on stage, it was unbelievable that they were in love, this was rather disappointing as some of the most romantic scenes tended to fall flat.

Costumes were mixed.  I really liked the signet costumes the tutus were slightly bigger than they should have been as they are measured against the dancer.  ( one dancer was smaller so hers swamped her slightly)  Because of this the costumes bounced around when dancing, i really liked this as they helped get across the character well of little swans.  The rest of the costumes were pretty but they didn't go, they didn't seem to have a consistent colour palette. 

Overall it was a good production but i was expecting to be blown away and having see now a few more i have seen how it is meant to be done.

Matthew Bournes Early Adventures

Many of us doing the Ballet project spotted that at the lighthouse theatre in Poole Matthew Bournes Early Adventures was going to show on the 15th May and most went.  I was a celebratory piece with performances from 3 of his earliest works.

Spitfire; An Advertisment Divertissement

• Matthew Bournes first hit in 1988
• Masculine portrayal.
• Male underwear models.

This was an entertaining piece using dance to portray advertising poses.  It was success at the time and 24 years later it still is.

The Infernal Gallop: A French Dance With English Subtitles.

• 1989
• set in 1930s and 40s in France.
• Tried to portray France in that time.
• Gay scenes showed the repression of the time, in present day its not a shock to see it but I'd imagine in the late 80s it may have caused some issues

Town and Country: Lie Back and Think of England.

• Very comedic performance.
• Explored characters and identities from iconic eras.
• Used scenes from Brief Encounter.
• 1992
• Used music not from ballet or operas.
• Iconic Music.
• Repression.  Two men wanting to be together but not being able to.

This was by far my favourite piece of the night, it really showed the diversity of dance well in representing animals, moods and had a brilliant scene choreographered around a bath which unique and funny.

After discussing these performances with our tutor he suggested that we need to do background research into the characters of the Ballet and why they are how they are.  The two repressed gentlemen to us seemed romantic and sweet that they wanted to be together and in our generation we don't see it as two men and doesn't faze us.  However when the play was set it would have been seen as wrong hence why is shouldn't be seen as a romantic scene but a sad scene with two people who can't be together.  We need to also look at the time that it was released as i said earlier this was in the late 80s where people weren't as open with same sex relationships.  Where as a man and a man dancing together isn't an issue now it would have been picked up on at the time and I'd imagine some people were very critical of what Matthew Bourne did.

This is why i find Matthew Bourne's work so good as he doesn't worry about pushing boundaries.  He never oversteps the mark and he said himself right before hes does something stops it.

It was a very good night to go as Matthew Bourne himself was there for a question and answer at the end which was very informative.  It was nice to listen to his views and why he has done certain things.  What goes through his head when he makes these things.  What i took from this was from one of his questions, he is not creating ballet but creating dance.  I completely agree with him and i feel that it why i prefer some of his work as it has a story that is easy to follow, its theatrical and like with streetcar you forget there are no words.

Street Car Named Desire Ballet

I happened to see in the paper that at Sadlers Wells there was going to be a performance of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by the Scottish Ballet.  Having previously studied the Play by Tennessee Williams' for a design project during my first year at uni i was curious to see how it could be translated into a ballet or dance piece.  Mainly due to the dark content of it as it is not the happiest of plays with scenes of domestic violence, abuse and rape. 

Directed by Nancy Meckler
Choreographer: Annabelle Lapez Ochoa
Music: Peter Salem

As i said previously i was curious to see how it would fit into a Ballet.  The director of the play had previously directed the theatre show so it was good to watch something that was familiar to the directer in a non dance  way.  She said in the programme that her challenge was to create a 'wordy' play in to a wordless ballet through movements.

I really enjoyed the ballet, everything about it was brilliant.  The staging, very simple, but reflects New Orleans well.  The costumes were beautiful,  Blanche at the beginning appears in a stunning white dress, that move beautifully with the dancer.  It had a very full skirt, similar to the romantic tutu but to look 1950s.  This worked so well.  From the programme the designer Niki Turner said she worked with the cutters and makers to adapt the patterns to fit the dancers and create more room for movement.  This is something we are learning through adapting a basic sleeve block into a ballet sleeve.  I think it is nice to see modern day or 50s style dress on men and women but adapted for the dance style.

The dance was brilliant too, a mixture of jazz, ballroom, contemporary and ballet all mixed into one created such an dynamic piece.  The music was original and was again mixture of Jazz and 50s style singing.  This worked so well with the dance and the play which is set in New Orleans French Quarter, Jazz area.

The Ballet even though very dark did this so well in movements that the shock was there but it wasn't ucomfortable like it could have been in the play.

I really liked this new type of ballet that is emerging not just with the Scottish Ballet but with Matthew Bournes pieces as well.  They really tell a story and have a theatrical piece that you forget there is no dialogue.

screening: La Fille Mal Gardee'

La Fille Mal Gardee' - The way wood Daughter.

• Comic Ballet
• Inspired by the painting in 1782 by Pierre-Antonie Baudouins.
• Music adapted from 45 french airs by unknown artist.
• Original Producer: Jean Dauberval.
• First performed in Bardeoux in 1789. 
• Very important in the Ballet repitour but has undergone changes over time.
• Title
• Score
• Different Choreography.
• Presented 1 of 2 ways.
• 1903 Revival; Alexander Gorsky:
• music by peter Ludwig Hertal.
• This one drew onto previous performances with Petipa and Ivanov.

• 1960: Royal Ballet Stages by Sir Fredrick Ashton.
• Music Adapted by John Lanchbery from 1829 Ferdinand Herold score.

http://www.theballetbag.com/2010/03/09/la-fille-mal-gardee/

This is one of the earliest recorded ballet,  it involves regional dances as choreographer went right back to the origins of the ballet. : ie Clog Dance.



i thoroughly enjoyed this ballet, i feel that it had all the right elements.  It had a lot going on throughout it s it was hard to get bored which i find can often happen with some ballets as the steps become repetitive. with this they all seem new and the dancers danced with great chemistry between them and enthusiasm.  the costumes were different.  they had the traditional Romantic Tutu in different colours an the make dancers wore boots and looked far more manly in there costumes than in usual Ballet.  what i really liked about the Ballet was that the male dancer had a role to play instead of the usual lifting and supporting.  He had his own solos and did far more movement when dancing in a pair.  the mime was over the top but it fitted the ballet so well and i absolutely loved the chickens at the beginning.  i feel that this has been the best ballet i have seen so far as it has so much personality.

Screening: Les Ballets Trockadero

Trockadero: Swan Lake

• All Male Drag Ballet company.
• Company co-founded by Peter Anastos, Anthony Bassae and Natch Taylor in 1974 in New York.
• Debuted in 14th Street, (off, off Broadway)
• After much success, the Ballet toured and in 2008 appear on the Royal Variety Show in UK.
• Dancer portray both male and female roles in a parody of ballet.
• Has a  humorous take on Ballet.
• men wearing tutus ad on pointe.
• Is the opposite of en Travesti which happen to male dancer throughout the later 19th Century early 20th.

Swan Lake Act 2

• 'Music by: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Staged by: Truitti Gasparinetti after Ivanov
  Choreography after: LevIvanovich Ivanov
  Costumes by: Mike Gonzales
  Lighting by: Kip MarshDecor by: Clio Young'

Observations:

• Prince: dancer is short, comedic effect the swans are taller.
• Makes the male role dancers look androgynous: ken doll.  With the costumes and height, they look very feminine.
• Swan
• Plate tutu smaller/narrower; makes the dancer look more elongated.  Very comical.
• Lots more layers of ruffles and frills over the crotch area: disguise!
• Performance
• Rein acting how the swan acts with gesturing and hand movements,  Very effective as its taking the Ballet mime to a new level. More literal.
• Ballet core have a personality, each have their own whereas in classical ballet they don't.

i really liked this performance of Swan Lake,  i feel that they did it so well.  It looks and feels to start with like the Company are taking the mickey out of Ballet but when you look past this you realise that they are doing exactly the same dance steps as classical ballerina.  They push boundaries with it but never overstep the mark, everything they do is harmless and respectful of what they ballerina does. The Signets technically doing every step right just with comic effect.  i was very impressed.

Examples of decoration

For our decoration workshop our tutor bought in some of his own creations alone with another students one.  It was really helpful to see the finished product and the decoration on the costume.  How they are symmetrical which is important in  Ballet costumes.  You can really see the detail put into it and they time it takes.  It also helped me to open my eyes when it comes to buying decorations and beads, even if i don't like the look of the beads i.e. the fake pearls, next to other sequins and plastic beads and glass beads they go really well.  I think that is something i need to take on board not just for this project but for others as well and in the future, as not only will it create more scope for creating decoration, it makes it lighter and cheaper to do.

Here are a few images of the examples given by our Tutor



This one used cord to create patterns and a small motif.




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This is an up close picture of the detail put into it. This has the fake pearls on it but you won't notice as it all blends well to look really beautiful.

Starting Out