9 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

Don't we always love the over dramatic fainting Queen Mothers, grieving Berthes or the overprotecting Widow Simone ..?
Anyway...this is only a "balletic justification" so I can wish to each and every single WOMAN of this board a beautiful, fulfilling HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!

        

Sleeping Beauty
http://www.classactt...-Beauty1-MV.jpg

Swan Lake
http://www.ballet.co...bow_026_500.jpg

Giselle
http://www.balletmin..._death_5_3h.jpg

La Fille Mal Gardee
http://upload.wikime...Colas_-1899.jpg

[papeetepatrick]

Thank you for specifying, Cristian, I wondered what the Google Diddle thing was for today (they're getting better with those.)  Made me think instantly of that Queen in the Royal Ballet Sleeping Beauty video we both liked--Elisabeth McGorian, who doesn't come across so much as fainting or grieving as ambitious, remember the one?  She's gorgeous and looks like a socialite kind of Queen Mother.  I'm not sure that was the thing I ought to think about on Mother's Day...

[cubanmiamiboy]

papeetepatrick, on May 9 2010, 11:08 AM, said:

Thank you for specifying, Cristian, I wondered what the Google Diddle thing was for today (they're getting better with those.)  Made me think instantly of that Queen in the Royal Ballet Sleeping Beauty video we both liked--Elisabeth McGorian, who doesn't come across so much as fainting or grieving as ambitious, remember the one?  She's gorgeous and looks like a socialite kind of Queen Mother.  I'm not sure that was the thing I ought to think about on Mother's Day...

Oh, sure, Patrick!...one of my favorites ballet Queen Moms..!  

[bart]

You are right, Patrick.  This Queen is a real 1950s-early 60s cafe society lady -- the kind who was dressed by Mainbocher or Charles James and photographed by Richard Avedon.  

In the Royal's production the mother's height has the interesting effect of making Aurora appear childlike and vulnerable when the 2 of them are embracing.  After Aurora collapses, the mother stands still, raises an elegant, be-gloved arm, and runs briefly in the opposite direction before moving towards her daughter.  Very unlike Berthe.  It's Aurora's father who tries to help his daughter, however ineffectually.

Most of the Queens and Queen Mothers in ballet seem a little too distracted to be truly caring parents.  Is Berthe unique among ballet mothers in being so involved in her child's welfare, so anxious to protect her, so loving, so ... "motherly"?

[papeetepatrick]

bart, on May 9 2010, 08:59 PM, said:

After Aurora collapses, the mother stands still, raises an elegant, be-gloved arm, and runs briefly in the opposite direction before moving towards her daughter.  Very unlike Berthe.  It's Aurora's father who tries to help his daughter, however ineffectually.

'Elegant be-gloved', oh yes, that's what this one's all about   I love it. And you know I had to write a couple of BT SB specialists about a year ago on the subject of 'strange lack of Queen's grief after Aurora's collapse', and I had totally forgotten that for 'composure in the face of grief', none could compare with Ms. McGorian.

Happy Mother's Day, all!

Edited to add:  Thanks for clip, Cristian.  When she does come to Aurora, she does show a great deal of facial 'grief-strickenness', as opposed to some I think I was inquiring about, who just more or less drop the young body and have this pragmatic 'well, I have to get on with life' attitude.  Otoh, she does make a point of being even more photogenic than she already was!

[Marga]

papeetepatrick, on May 9 2010, 02:08 PM, said:

Thank you for specifying, Cristian, I wondered what the Google Diddle thing was for today (they're getting better with those.)

The Google diddle on Friday, in honor of Tchaikovsky, featured San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Tiit Helimets. (I'm sorry I don't know who his partner was). The letters spelling Google in that one were subtly indicated by the movements of the corps de ballet behind the lead couple. Really neat.

[Juliet]

Elizabeth McGorian remains my gold-standard (Mother does not equal Frump)....but let's not forget the marvellously, deliciously evil Fiona Chadwick in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake........

[Mme. Hermine]

My Favorite Queen Mom  

[Mashinka]

What about Juliet's mother?  Though she gets a bit more distraught over losing her nephew than her daughter.

[richard53dog]

Mashinka, on May 10 2010, 04:29 PM, said:

What about Juliet's mother?  Though she gets a bit more distraught over losing her nephew than her daughter.

That's true, isn't it? At least in some versions of the ballet. One of the reasons I like Cranko's R&J is that the characterizations are more detailed and more complex.

Cranko's Lady C clearly loves her daughter, it's evident in their first scene together but you also see a bit of a conflict. LAdy Capulet is also aware of the "rules" of their society and balances this with her feelings for Juliet. You see a bit of this conflict in that first scene.

Tybalt's death is still a very high drama event, as in other versions. But her grief at Juliet's supposed death always seems more subtle but deeper
than the Macmillan and Lavrovsky versions, to take the versions that I'm somewhat familiar with.