Murder of yet another classic

[Pamela Moberg]

Bad news indeed.

There was recently a ballet program on Swedish Television (oh yes, there have been the grand total of TWO ballet programs lately), but alas, I could have done very well without either of them.

Well, this one was about the ex Royal Danish Ballet soloist Alexander Kölpin. He has left the RDB in order to free lance and now the guy must have taken leave of his senses as well.

He has modernized "La Sylphide" and set it in a contemporary setting. Some excerpts from the rehearsal were shown and I did not like at all what I saw.

Now I ask you, was that necessary? IMO, La Sylphide belongs to the treasure trove of classical ballet and should be left in its original state.

Kölpin has now joined the ranks of Ek and others who have butchered Giselle, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. You BalletAlerters know my feelings about Ek and his work.

It is indeed pathetic when people cannot recognise a work of art and leave it alone.

[atm711]

A few years ago Ek's 'Giselle' was on TV and I taped it. At first, I was just as shocked at what he did with it, but I was totally gripped by the performance of the dancer in the title role---I can only recall her first name---Ana .......she was so touching and sad, and the mental ward was the only place for her.

Lately, cable TV has been flooded with another Bourne ballet---called "Car Man"---it uses Bizet's score and is set in a garage. Has it made the rounds in Europe yet? There is lots of sex, violence and blood.

[Estelle]

atm, the main dancer in that video is Ana Laguna, a Spanish dancer who is Mats Ek's wife, and has premiered many of his ballets. I saw her on stage once, a few years ago in Lyon, guesting with the Ballet de Lyon in Ek's "Carmen", and while I was not fully convinced by that work, I really found her wonderful, in her very special style. Also, what did you think of Yvan Auzely (who danced Hilarion in the video)? I saw him once in Lyon in that role (with the Cullberg Ballet), and he had so much stage presence he eclipsed Albrecht and almost Giselle too!

I respectfully disagree with Pamela about Ek's works (I like some of them, and especially his "Giselle"), but agree that there should be no confusion between real ballet and modern versions, and that it's a pity that some part of the audience might think they're shown real ballet while it's not...

[atm711]

Thanks, Estelle. I shall view my tape of the ballet again this weekend and concentrate on Auzely.

[Doris R]

Years ago my daughter had a magazine that referred to a ballet I have yet to get out of my head! I don't know who did it, or where, but the name of it was "Giselle's Revenge", I've often wondered what it was like, and a part of me takes real pleasure in the concept. (I'm sure it was a parody!)

[KayDenmark]

I've seen the Kølpin Sylphide in its entirety, and it is excellent.

The Royal Danish Ballet still offers plenty of performances of the standard version, for people who want it that way.

[Mme. Hermine]

Myra Kinch?

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, "Giselle's Revenge" was indeed a Myra Kinch creation, and it was hysterically funny, as it was supposed to be!

[piccolo]

I work in the opera world and there has always been serious disagreements as to whether or not operas should be updated. The era, costumes, country and setting all change and only the music remains. Some people want the opera to be done just as it had been originally. Others like seeing an older opera in a new light with a new twist. In America, it seems that "updating" an opera attracts newer, younger audiences.

I don't mind updates in opera as long as the concept is thought through carefully by the director.

I haven't really thought about this matter much as it relates to ballet. I've been curious to see Sylvie Guillem's update of Giselle but who knows if I'll like it or not. I'm certainly not opposed to the process. How many different versions of Swan Lake are there? Which one is the "traditional" one? Are minor changes in choreography allowed? It's kind of a sticky issue.

[Manhattnik]

Well, I two questions here.

Are the new changes an improvement?

Are the changes a commentary on the classic, or meant to replace the "traditional" version?

Taking Swan Lake as an example, I rather enjoyed Bourne's funky Swan Lake with the all-male swans (the feather-pants were a little much, though). It was clever commentary and rethinking of Swan Lake. However, if I thought for a moment that Bourne's work might ever replace the Petipa/Ivanov version, I'd have to do something violent to somebody.

In other words, if a company called Adventures in Motion Pictures wants to do a bizarre Swan Lake, more power to them. If a company called The Royal Ballet or American Ballet Theatre decides to do the same, well, it could only be done (as we've seen) at the cost of eliminating the Petipa/Ivanov. And, frankly, I have NEVER seen an "updated" version of Swan Lake which improves on that. I look at videos of Makarova/Nagy in ABT's old, dusty David Blair staging and sigh. Look, there's a real Fourth Act. It was even nice to see that the Kirov's wacky Fourth Act (if Siegfried could beat up Von Rothbart, why couldn't he just do it in the Second act and spare us at least one act of the Jester?) had a lot of the old Fourth Act in it.

Because once a ballet is gone, it's gone, companies need to be very aware of the heritage of which their the stewards. Screw around too much with these ballets, and they're forever skewed.

[Alexandra]

Piccolo, this has been one of our favorite topics. You might be interested in reading these threads:

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/sh...=&threadid=2824

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/sh...=&threadid=2836

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/sh...=&threadid=2866

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/sh...=&threadid=2791

If you have comments, don't be shy about making them! No thread is dead.

[piccolo]

Alexandra,

I clinked on your links but it takes me to the Ballet Alert home page. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

[Alexandra]

You didn't do anything wrong, piccolo -- I don't know what it is.

I just found one of those threads manually (in the Aesthetic Issues forum, in Subtexts and Contexts), copied the thread -- it displays the url exactly as on the other forum, and when I clicked it in preview mode, it took me there.

Try this one

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/showthrea...=&threadid=2791

[Alexandra]

For reasons that are inscrutable to me, the one in the post above worked when I clicked it. I'll try posting them again -- and try them first

a note to everyone -- there are a lot of posts in the forums that may not be immediately visible. They're hidden. You can select how many weeks, months worth of posts to view with the little slide down menu. Try it!

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/showthrea...=&threadid=2907

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/showthrea...=&threadid=2866

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/showthrea...=&threadid=2836

http://www.balletalert.com/forum/showthrea...=&threadid=2824

[rkoretzky]

I admit to a fascination with reworking themes.

For example, I love Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story, King Lear and A Thousand Acres, The Comedy of Errors and The Boys from Syracuse, La Boehme and Rent, Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon, etc. I like the concept of a universal theme that transcends historical periods, and I like to try to figure out the parallels.

I have seen a recent production of The Abduction from the Seraglio in Edwardian dress that was thoroughly enjoyable.

But for me, the best example of this playing with time is Dance Theatre of Harlem's Creole Giselle, which I have only seen on video, but I think is masterful. So, IMHO, it can work to take a piece out of its time and place.

[Alexandra]

You may change your mind when they start rethinking Concerto Barocco. Or how about Agon, in court garb, with ancient instruments?

[rkoretzky]

You know just what to say! Of course Concerto Barocco and Agon are sacred. LOL.

I'll have to think about this some more and get back to you. I am on my way out--to SPAC--to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in an all Tchaikovsky program. It is so wonderful to be getting back into the mainstream of life!!!!

[piccolo]

Ahh. The links finally worked. Now I'll take my time reading them and get back to you.

Thanks, Alexandra.