Hans Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 We've all seen how atrociously various choreographers, ballet masters, and artistic directors attempt to update the classics by changing the steps, cutting mime, &c. Well, I have a new way of "mixing things up" (think of it as a sort of balletic Rubik's Cube) without altering anything but the libretto. Here's what you do: Take your favorite Act I, from any ballet. Add an Act II (preferably a "ballet blanc") again, from any ballet (including Balanchine!) Finish with a divertissement-filled Act III, and make up a story to connect them. An example: "Giselle, the Little Humpbacked Italian Sylphide" It is James and Effie's wedding day, but James is distracted by a mysterious sylphide that only he can see. As everyone bustles about making preparations, the sylphide steals the wedding ring and James follows her into the dark forest... ...where he is pursued by Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis! The sylphide (whose name, we find out, is Giselle) tries to protect James, but the wilis force him to dance until he is exhausted, and then they throw him into the lake... ...where he meets various fantastic underwater creatures who dance, including a pas de trois between the ocean (don't ask me how they got into the ocean) and two pearls. After rescuing a beautiful maiden from the clutches of a sea monster, they surface just in time for... ...a pas de six and tarantella in Napoli! (See how I brought that back to Bournonville?) Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with! Link to comment
bart Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Hans, is combining different short ballets allowed? I was thinking about an unfairly neglected Balanchine/Robbins collaboration: "The Apollo-Sonnambulating-through-a-Cage Waltzes". (Title sounds better in the original German.) The story may be brief, but the dancing and music sometimes seem endless. I have included 4 photographs from the original NYCB production. 1) Leto gives birth to Apollo, who feels himself being pulled towards becoming a god, but decides that would be a drag : so he runs away. ... 2) ... to a palace on the Riviera, where he meets a beautiful and mysterious sleepwalker who offers to carry him up a magic stairway ... 3) ... which leads to dark, mysterious space dominated by a huge web. A group of insect-like women capture and taunt him. One of them, in a dark helmet-wig, seems anxious either to marry him or ... ... eat him. Nedless to say, Apollo is not pleased by this. He grand-jetes out of there in a hurry, ending up, after adventures alluded to in the program but not seen on stage (this is the NYCB after all, and you can't have TOO much in the way of stories on stage), ... 4) in a vast ballroom, illuminated by star-like chandeliers reflected in vast mirrors. He puts on white gloves (the universal ballet symbol for joining the leisured upper class) and waltzes on ... forever .. or at least for 57 minutes. Giselle does NOT turn up to save him before the end. Link to comment
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