Spring 2015: The Sleeping Beauty

[nanushka]

I agree about the "thrones". They look like random furniture from a burgueoisie household. They don't look to belong to the nobility, and even less to be the royal couple's thrones.

I know nothing about thrones, but would there necessarily be a set of thrones in every large space in the palace? Or would the "main thrones" be moved around to be used in different spaces as needed? In other words, perhaps these weren't even intended to be thrones but rather just nicer chairs for the rules to sit in on this particular occasion.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I know nothing about thrones, but would there necessarily be a set of thrones in every large space in the palace? Or would the "main thrones" be moved around to be used in different spaces as needed? In other words, perhaps these weren't even intended to be thrones but rather just nicer chairs for the rules to sit in on this particular occasion.

Well...this is a fairy tale, and the physical place, unlike the 1921 production, looks very vague and undefined..(it could be a banquet hall, a formal reception room or anything in between). The seats for the royal couple lack grandeur...that's what it is.

Bakst designs for the wedding act.

2015 design.

[nanushka]

I guess I don't see much difference between the 2nd image you posted (which I'm guessing was not realized as a 3-dimensional set -- or am I wrong?) and the painted backdrop in the 3rd image (current production).

[Natalia]

I agree about the "thrones". They look like random furniture from a burgueoisie household. They don't look to belong to the nobility, and even less to be the royal couple's thrones.

The A3 big chairs are up on a dais and look like thrones. The LA-Z-BOYS in the Prologue not so.

[Helene]

The discussion is very interesting, but I do not hear much raving about the dancing itself. More about the sets, costumes and textual comparisons.

This is a discussion board, and people write about what they want to write about aspects of the performance and production. As they should.

[Natalia]

Why are you so obsessed with exact recreations of productions? ...

I guess I'm naive in going to ballet to see actual choreography and not the sets and costumes.

Ivy, as per my review earlier, I love the steps/dancing of this ABT version, with the major exception of Fairy Violente's "glare" and port de bras (deeply bent elbows...swastika style) in the prologue.

[canbelto]

Well, about the dancing: I think Ratmansky's style serves some dancers better than others. For instance, I think Stella Abrera is someone who fit into the productions style and aesthetic beautifully. Just because she naturally dances in a rather modest, understated style. Her low to the ground sissones and lower attitudes didn't seem like affectations -- it's a continuation of how she normally dances. Skylar Brandt is someone I can also see fits very naturally into the production.

Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes less so ... Murphy wears Gaynor Mindens and didn't look comfortable executing the steps in demi-pointe. Gaynor Mindens are really designed for extra support in pointe work. Gomes I think is so used to extravagant, heavy partnering that the ban on overhead lifts and the shorter, pure cavalier role (no real variation until Act Three) made him seem diffident and disengaged.

I think this production actually is the one production where it'd be very hard to fly in guests. Ratmansky demands (and gets) a tremendous amount of rehearsal time for his productions, and I'm not sure I can picture, say, Natalia Osipova performing pirouettes in demi-pointe.

[fondoffouettes]

Well, about the dancing: I think Ratmansky's style serves some dancers better than others. For instance, I think Stella Abrera is someone who fit into the productions style and aesthetic beautifully. Just because she naturally dances in a rather modest, understated style. Her low to the ground sissones and lower attitudes didn't seem like affectations -- it's a continuation of how she normally dances. Skylar Brandt is someone I can also see fits very naturally into the production.

Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes less so ... Murphy wears Gaynor Mindens and didn't look comfortable executing the steps in demi-pointe. Gaynor Mindens are really designed for extra support in pointe work. Gomes I think is so used to extravagant, heavy partnering that the ban on overhead lifts and the shorter, pure cavalier role (no real variation until Act Three) made him seem diffident and disengaged.

I think this production actually is the one production where it'd be very hard to fly in guests. Ratmansky demands (and gets) a tremendous amount of rehearsal time for his productions, and I'm not sure I can picture, say, Natalia Osipova performing pirouettes in demi-pointe.

I agree wholeheartedly regarding Stella. I thought she was LOVELY as Princess Florine and looked super comfortable in the choreography.

Sarah Lane's steps on demi-pointe seemed unobtrusive and as quickly executed as steps on pointe. I didn't find myself thinking that the 19th-century style of dancing looked out of place or distracting.

[DeCoster]

Hmmm, did George Washington wear a red coat? I don't know, but Ratmansky clearly has a fondness for the Ballets Russes. Two other examples of Diaghliev inspired productions are ABT's Firebird and the Golden Cockerel which he did for the Royal Danish Ballet in 2012 and utilized the original Natalia Goncharova designs for Ballets Russes.

As explained in the program, the costumes designed by Richard Hudson were directly inspired by Leon Bakst’s very famous designs for the Diaghilev's 1921 production of The Sleeping Princess. Sure, we can reject this artistic decision, but I think we need to understand the costumes within this context. The colors are bold (Hudson even lowered the tones a few shades, I read somewhere) and there are a lot of patterns in the textiles (something typical of Ballet Russes costumes, from what I’ve seen. Check out Bakst’s designs for Scheherazade for instance). I really don’t think Bakst cared about historical accuracy in designing costumes for a Ballets Russes production of a fairy tale. He cared, no doubt, about beauty, drama, and fabulousness.

Why does the Prince wear a red coat and a darker wig during the hunt scene? Because that’s how Bakst designed it: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/135263/1/Costume-Design-For-Prince-Charming-Hunting,-From-Sleeping-Beauty,-1921.jpg

The French may have worn this or that during the Baroque period; however, Hudson adhered to Bakst’s vision, not a historical one.

Personally, I found it pretty glorious to see these designs come to life, and, as many have said, they are a massive improvement over the costumes in the previous ABT production. The wonderful, whimsical details are too numerous to mention, but I especially loved the fairy costumes in the first act and their matching cavaliers' costumes. I understand that some aren’t fond of the wigs or the lavishness of the design, but if they cherry-picked a few elements of the Bakst look and toned it down even more, people would be complaining about that too.

Aurora has two act III wedding dresses. The first one is a longer wedding gown, with a cape and dropped sleeves and a massive feather headdress, as shown here on Gillian Murphy: https://instagram.com/p/3T966VnVS6/?taken-by=gillianemurphy

Then when she returns to stage for the pas de deux she is in the pared down tutu and no plumes, as she appears photographed in most reviews. (This was also true to Bakst’s design: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/4b/a9/6d/4ba96d1d99da8c9ba32519e677121e2c.jpg)
This kind of reminded me of today’s trend in wedding excess, where a bride has a wedding gown and a usually more revealing “reception dress” she wears after the ceremony.

Now to the dancing . . .

I thought Sarah Lane’s debut was admirable and in moments remarkable. She is a small dancer who dances big, with beautiful expansive port-de-bras and perfectly relaxed shoulders. Her feet, although lacking the tremendous arches that attract attention, are so incredibly articulate, they seem to hum all the way to the dress circle as she executes the small beats and ronde-de-jams required in this understated choreography. I think this role and production suit her well.

She did struggle at a few points in the Rose Adagio and seemed nervous and perhaps over-excited (although isn’t this just how you’d be at your sweet 16?) Yes, the suitors dwarfed her. She’s a small dancer, like Kotchekova. If you don’t like petite ballerinas, I would avoid any ballet cast with Herman Cornejo. But then you would miss perhaps the most technical male dancer at ABT. His footwork is the finest, to my eye at least. A charming prince, indeed.

The demi-pointe chaine turns have a different whipping quality altogether. I thought Sarah did them well. Interestingly I think some contemporary choreographers, including Ratmansky himself and Twyla Tharp, occasionally have dancers come off pointe, to complete chaine turns but maintaining the plie the whole time, for a different, low-down effect. (In this case their knees are pretty straight, they just aren’t on pointe.)

Another use of demi-pointe that struck me was how the back foot was held when the dancers stood still with their leg bent behind them (typical pose for which I lack the ballet terminology). Here is Paulina Waski, as sapphire fairy, illustrating what I mean: https://instagram.com/p/3UQa6sSJaI/?taken-by=abtofficial

This was completely consistent throughout the performance. I never once saw a dancer turn his or her toes under (now the standard pose) until the curtain calls.

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed with the corps in different moments on Saturday. I hope Ratmansky whips them into shape before next weeks performances. The Lilac Fairy attendants, in Act 1 were distressingly sloppy, so much so that before I lifted my binoculars I thought they might be older JKO students. Their formations were crooked, and their heads were often angled in different directions, some facing forward some diagonally. Courtney Lavine stumbled badly and was also noticeably late completing a phrase. Perhaps the tempo challenged some dancers. It looks like they need rehearsal.

The rats were great. Who/ what were Carabosse’s two creepy little minions? They didn’t seem to be credited in the program.

Generally I’m not to big of a fan of children in or at the ballet, but I must say the kids in the audience behaved very nicely on Saturday (at least around where I sat), and I must give a shout-out to those violin pages (really little girls playing little boys). They executed some really difficult footwork, including that little pas-de-chat with the ronde-de-jam at the end (no idea what that is called), while pretending to strum miniature violins the whole time. I was honestly impressed.

In Act III, Sarah executed the unsupported backbend perfectly. Her balance was finally on. Wow! The alternate choreography for the fish dives was interesting. It starts with an inside pirouette (from attitude?) and ends with her sort of collapsing sideways, her torso almost perpendicular to the floor, arms in fifth, leg a la seconde. As she “dives” and Herman catches her, his head turns away from her, to the side.

The third act fairies were delightful in their unison. They were a petite squad, perhaps to mirror Lane and Cornejo, including Nicole Graniero, Luciano Paris, and Gemma Bond. They all danced well, but Skylar Brandt, as several of you observed, was captivating as the Diamond fairy. The tempo was so fast. This may seem dumb, but somehow they seemed more like fairies to me than in other productions, and I think the speed had something to do with it.

It was great to see Stella back on stage after missing her as Myrta last week. She was a perfect Princess Florine. Blaine Hoven was a mixed bag: his tours not the best but his brises were lovely.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a ballet with so much pantomime. I think this will challenge 21st century American audiences much more than the costumes, demi-pointe, or lack of bravura dancing. I was impressed with Devon Teuscher’s comfort and maturity executing the pantomime as Lilac Fairy, but I’ll admit I did sometimes long to see her dance more.

Did anyone else perceive a coldness between Herman and Sarah during the curtain calls? Perhaps my barometer is off after several very emotional Giselles (not just the retirements but Stella and Diana’s as well), but I just don’t detect much affection or comradery between them at all.

[DeCoster]

I think this production actually is the one production where it'd be very hard to fly in guests. Ratmansky demands (and gets) a tremendous amount of rehearsal time for his productions, and I'm not sure I can picture, say, Natalia Osipova performing pirouettes in demi-pointe.

I don't think any pirouettes were performed in demi-pointe, just chaine turns. The pirouettes have a lower passe position, however.

Perhaps I'm weird, but I would love to see Osipova perform the restrained choreography of Ratmansky's Beauty. She has very strong footwork and wears very soft shoes (so much so, that it appears as if she is standing on the strength of her toes a la Pavlova). And others have commented that her time at the Royal Ballet has strengthened her classical technique.

Seminova doesn't seem right, but perhaps this will be an opportunity for some up-and-comers like Christine Shevchenko or Skylar Brandt. Aurora is a youngster after all.

[Natalia]

Cassandra Trenary - ultra-vivacious Florine on opening night - also has the potential to be a wonderful Aurora in this production, IMO.

My only "obsession" is to see the Mariinsky's 1890 sets/costumes once again. My new Secret Fantasy Wish is to see ABT's dancers performing Ratmansky's interpretation of the 1890 steps WITHIN the Mariinsky-1890 sets & costumes...an all-1890 show! Ah, no harm in dreaming.

My second fantasy is to see some company perform an approximation of SB's steps and sequence of dances (including Three Ivans and other Nijinska emendations) as per 1921-Diaghilev...to see the 1921 version danced with ABT's lovely 1921-inspired costumes.

[doug]

For Natalia from Marius Petipa and the Legat brothers

[balabanov11]

I saw Saturday night from an excellent seat in the balcony, and I can attest to what another poster mentioned - the washed out look of many of the tutus and costumes, as well as the empty, bare look of the stage. From a straight on orchestra view, closer up, it may make a better impression in terms of color amd opulence. With no real view of the backdrops, the production relies on the costumes, which I would assume are inpressive up close, but look either overdone (court) or bland (pale tutus). I loathed the Rose Adag tutu and headgear - it makes Aurora look heavy-laden and quite old.

While I enjoyed seeing this restoration for intellectual and historical purposes, I would not go back. The rejection of modern technique really hamstrings the dancers, and gives the entire ballet, with exceptions (trenary/diamond, copeland/florine, boylston's space covering jetes) a feeling of "isn't that quiet and lovely, but nothing exciting ever happens". It's makes for a very long evening of bland and pretty.

[DeCoster]

My second fantasy is to see some company perform an approximation of SB's steps and sequence of dances (including Three Ivans and other Nijinska emendations) as per 1921-Diaghilev...to see the 1921 version danced with ABT's lovely 1921-inspired costumes.

Natalia, this is an intriguing fantasy. I'm curious if Ratmanksy considered it. Do you know if any notation from the Diaghilev production even exists? Ironically, I read online that Diaghilev employed Nicholas Sergeyev (who saved the original Petipa notations, eventually used by Ratmansky) to help stage Sleeping Princess but Sergeyev left because Diaghilev insisted on so many changes to the Petipa choreography. It appears there are "choreographic notes" by Nijinska at the Library of Congress (one page), but this doesn't seem like actual notation of steps.

There seem to be many different characters in the 1921 staging, including the Mountain Ash Fairy and the Carnation Fairy: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/135282/1/Costume-Design-For-The-Fairy-Carnation,-From-Sleeping-Beauty,-1921.jpg

[cubanmiamiboy]

For Natalia from Marius Petipa and the Legat brothers

She looks like Vaganova..:-)

[canbelto]

Well as it happens I was looking up videos of the Vikharev reconstruction and am trying to digest that this was the first cast:

[cubanmiamiboy]

Ha...I wonder if she was ever to dance the ABT version with its low arabesques, what would be the result, as the hyper extended mechanism seems to be in her blood.

[Buddy]

Bakst designs for the wedding act.

2015 design.

Back to the sets for a moment.

Cristian, for what it's worth, the 2015 Act III wedding background is a fairly successful effort to merge the background and the foreground spaces that are going in different directions perfectly at the middle ground. It's a pretty good trick if you can do it.

Added: The Bakst designs only partially attempt this.

Added added: The 2015 set does make this easier than the Bakst set by covering up the top of the columns with the golden tassels in front. Also with a more careful second viewing the Bakst set does make a fairly good effort and besides that, he was there first.

[Ilya]

I might be wrong but I believe that Vishneva and Fadeyev danced the world premiere on April 30, 1999. The cast also included Veronica Part as the Lilac Fairy. Zakharova did dance the NYC premiere during the subsequent tour.

They both did 180-degree extensions in those performances (which frankly did not look stylistically nearly as coherent as Ratmansky’s current production); however, Vishneva also danced the world premiere of Ratmansky’s version in California, and judging from the reviews, was able to adopt to this style very well. In general, she and other leading ABT dancers are top professionals who are excellent in choreography as varied as Balanchine, Robbins, Fokine, K. Sergeyev, Bournonville, Tudor, and Ashton. They are clearly capable of excelling in Petipa as well!

I’m sure the same goes for Zakharova who will dance in Ratmansky’s production when it runs at La Scala next Fall: http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/opera-ballet/2014-2015/sleeping-beauty.html

So far, Gillian Murphy is the only ballerina that I’ve seen in both the old ABT production and the new one. To me she looked more natural and comfortable in the new production—she was positively radiant.

[Ilya]

For Natalia from Marius Petipa and the Legat brothers

The cartoon is awesome

Is it known which ballerina this is?

[Natalia]

For Natalia from Marius Petipa and the Legat brothers

Thanks, Doug! Ilya, this is Agrippina Vaganova in one of the underwater scenes in a Petipa edition of a ballet...LHH or DOCH FARAONA? Wasn't there a River Yangtze (or Huangpo?) variation in the latter? Definitely Vaganova in some underwater Chinoiserie. Corals in the hair and goldfish on the skirt is not Fairy Violente of SB. Exotic Chinoiserie and not the court of King Florestan the 14th.

Edited to add: as per Krasovskaya's bio of Vaganova, the variation of the River Huangpo in DOCH FARAONA was indeed an early jewel in this Queen of Variations' rep. Hopefully Ratmansky wasn't shown this print and told that it was Fairy Violente! Oopsie daisy!

[terrynyc]

I didn't intend a criticism of the discussion. Just an observation that so far the emphasis seemed to be much more on the production than the dancing and interpretation. Perhaps that is natural with an important new production. I look forward to seeing it myself to see if that is the reason, or if the dancers are not really well served by the concept

[Ilya]

Ilya, this is Agrippina Vaganova in one of the underwater scenes in a Petipa edition of a ballet...LHH or DOCH FARAONA? Wasn't there a River Yangtze (or Huangpo?) variation in the latter? Definitely Vaganova in some underwater Chinoiserie. Corals in the hair and goldfish on the skirt is not Fairy Violente of SB. Exotic Chinoiserie and not the court of King Florestan the 14th.

Edited to add: as per Krasovskaya's bio of Vaganova, the variation of the River Huangpo in DOCH FARAONA was indeed an early jewel in this Queen of Variations' rep. Hopefully Ratmansky wasn't shown this print and told that it was Fairy Violente! Oopsie daisy!

Thank you Natalia. I’m afraid I’ve never come across underwater creatures from Huangpu River or fairies from King Florestan’s court in real life so it’s difficult for me to judge the authenticity or historical accuracy of deeply bent elbows in either case. I will take your word for it that the former tend to bend their elbows more than the latter.

[doug]

Natalia, my point in posting the Legat sketch is to show the bent elbows in response to your assertion that bent elbows would not appear in Petipa's choreography. We should not assume something was not done simply because we have not seen it in modern times. Much about the dancing in Imperial times surprises us today and our knowledge is limited. Also, to suggest Ratmansky is a careless researcher is unfounded.

[canbelto]

I'm astounded in the 21st century of the use of the world "Chinoiserie."