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Ballet de Bordeaux, Taylor-Balanchine-Limon, Oct 27th


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Some belated comments about two not-so-recent performances of the Ballet de Bordeaux...

On Oct 27th, I attended two performances (matinee and evening) by the Ballet de Bordeaux, in Bordeaux. It was in a theater which should be interesting for any balletomane: the Grand Theatre de Bordeaux, where Dauberval's "La Fille Mal Gardée" was premiered in July 1789. It has been through some changes in the last two centuries, but about ten years ago it was renovated, bringing back its original colors (blue, white and gold) and is a lovely small theater with good sight lines.

The program, called "Soirée Américaine" (American evening), included four works: "Aureole" and "The rite of Spring" by Paul Taylor, "The Moor's Pavane" by Jose Limon, and "The Four Temperaments" by George Balanchine. Only one real ballet work among four, but all the pieces were interesting. The Ballet de Bordeaux, which has about 35 dancers, is one of the very few French ballet companies which still have a real ballet repertory; it has been through quite a lot of problems in the 1990s (and especially the death of its former director Paolo Bortoluzzi), but since September 1996 its director is the former POB principal Charles Jude, who has a keen interest in the classical repertory.

Paul Taylor is less famous in France than in the US, and I was glad to have an opportunity to see again "Aureole" (I had seen it only once, by his company in Lyon) and to discover his "Rite of Spring". Both works were very interesting, but during "Aureole" I was wondering how "light" and "balletic" it was supposed to look like (I don't remember precisely the performances by Taylor's company...)

(to be continued)

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Thank you for this, Estelle! Not exactly a classical program, though an interesting one!

Flindt got Aureole for the Danes, too -- because there is something light about it, and though it's not balletic, it's steppy. I haven't liked the ballet companies I've seen do "Aureole" because they seem to break it down into solo, pas de deux, pas de trois, etc. while with the Taylor company, it all flows.

But I would have liked to see this program! Thank you very much for posting about it.

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