36 replies to this topic

[cubanmiamiboy]

We have the black swan Odile, the white swan Odette, the owl Von Rothbart, the yellow canary fairy of Beauty, the red Fokine's Firebird, the blue companion of Petipa's Florine, the generic one in Bolm's Peter and the Wolf and Ashton's funny chicken.

Are there more birds around that I forgot in this list...?

(Oh, just being silly... )

[Barbara]

Never knew Von Rothbart was an owl! I'll have to check out the ABT swamp creature more carefully for owlish aspects.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Barbara, on 09 April 2012 - 10:00 AM, said:

Never knew Von Rothbart was an owl! I'll have to check out the ABT swamp creature more carefully for owlish aspects.

Oh, ABT's Swamp Thing is certainly far from its original conception, Barbara..!

[Quiggin]

Mark Morris did Sandpiper Ballet in 1999 for SFB and Cunningham did a Beach Birds in 1991, which according to Alaistair M “evoke, a range of birdlife from penguins to gannets,” and many of his ballet have bird-like movements - in their own particular “state of controlled panic." Also Ashton did a version of Two Pigeons.

On predator side of things, Diaghiliev produced a ballet about a cat who has been transformed into a girlfriend for Serge Lifar. She betrays her true self by still wanting to dine on mice.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Quiggin, on 09 April 2012 - 10:11 AM, said:

On predator side of things, Diaghiliev produced a ballet about a cat who has been transformed into a girlfriend for Serge Lifar. She betrays her true self by still wanting to dine on mice.

Barbara...

Benois design.

[Jack Reed]

I think if you go farther, you find more owlish Rothbarts, with frightening large eyes, IIRC.  (How about a photo, Cristian?)

But the original question reminded me of something, so I looked it up:  How many birds were there going to be in The Birds of America, the Kirstein-inspired project that he and Balanchine and many others thought about, on and off, for forty years?  Taper's account names lots of people - Balanchine wanted Tallchief as Pocohontas, naturally enough, at one point, which shows you how long ago the project had begun - but no birds, no numbers.  The title had made me think there'd have been flocks and flocks of them, if it'd ever made it onto the stage.

But cubanmiamiboy has soloists and principals in mind, and all the characters from Kirstein's scenario that Taper names are the featherless kind of biped.

[Mme. Hermine]

Coq d'Or

[lmspear]

"The Nightingale and the Rose" by Wheeldon for NYCB

[Hamorah]

And then there is the delightfully silly Jemima Puddleduck in the Royal Ballet's Tales of Beatrix Potter, also by Ashton, who plays Mrs. Tiggy-winkle the hedgehog in the original film version.

By the way, as far as I remember, the only birds in the Two Pigeons are live ones, who fly round the auditorium and finally settle on the chair in the attic belonging to the lovers.  It's the most beautiful ending to a gorgeous pas de deux............

[cubanmiamiboy]

Mme. Hermine, on 09 April 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

Coq d'Or

Coq d'Or, right..!

[cubanmiamiboy]

lmspear, on 09 April 2012 - 11:55 AM, said:

"The Nightingale and the Rose" by Wheeldon for NYCB

Nice...

http://www.exploreda.../3/316_2250.jpg

[cubanmiamiboy]

Jack Reed, on 09 April 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

I think if you go farther, you find more owlish Rothbarts, with frightening large eyes, IIRC.  (How about a photo, Cristian?)

http://img3.photogra...m/pd2797502.jpg

http://26.media.tumb...dcdizo1_500.jpg

http://cdn.dipity.co...40cc84ff_1M.png

http://www.rohedswan...on_rothbart.jpg

[sandik]

Jack Reed, on 09 April 2012 - 11:05 AM, said:

I think if you go farther, you find more owlish Rothbarts, with frightening large eyes, IIRC.  (How about a photo, Cristian?)

Not to mention the owl on the top of the grandfather clock in Balanchine's Nutcracker.

[Lidewij]

That owl on the clock is also in Vainonen's Nutcracker at the Mariinsky.. Is it a Russian thing?

[Mel Johnson]

It's actually a Hoffman thing.  It's in the original libretto.

And let's not forget the duck in the aforementioned "Peter and the Wolf"!