Blue Bird idea

[brbropus39]

Has any choreographer ever made a ballet about Blue Bird, a sort of Sleeping Beauty "Spin-off" if that makes sense? I was thinking of making a ballet with that premise, expanding upon the Blue Bird character, and was wondering if anyone thought that was a good or bad idea.

I'm open to any suggestions.

Thanks, W.B.

[dancersteven]

Hmmm, that has promise. . .

I have heard that he back story is something like the princess is trapped in a high tower (very Rapunzel), or maybe a walled garden (very Secret Garden), and she befriends the blue bird, who teaches her to fly away from her captivity. Is that the plot that you had in mind, or does anyone have any different ideas?

I am not sure that this is anything other than what some dancer made up in an effort to make his divertissement make sense, or is there a real fairy tale out there about the bluebird?

There might not be enough here for a full 3 act, but it could certainly make a nice one act. Good luck with this!

S.

[Mel Johnson]

It's not by Perrault, but by one of the French "lady intellectuals" who wrote fairy tales during the Louis XIV period. And yes, the Princess Florine (or Florisse) is imprisoned by her stepfather in a high tower where the only company she has is a bluebird who comes to her window every day. Then, when winter comes, he flies away, and returns the next spring. She complains to him that he can go wherever he likes, but she has to stay in her tower. The Bluebird then says to her, "Because you speak to me and give me respect the way you would a person and not a mere animal, I will teach you how to fly, and you won't have to stay in the tower any longer." That's why, in the Bluebird pas de deux, she always seems to be cocking a hand to her ear; she's listening for the Bluebird to tell her more about how to fly!

That's very abbreviated, but it's the gist of the story.

[brbropus39]

Wow!! I've never heard those versions before; they will be a great help to me, I'm sure. Thank you.

"I am not sure that this is anything other than what some dancer made up in an effort to make his divertissement make sense"

It's interesting that you should say that, Steven, because that is exactly what got me interested in Bluebird in the first place: I read an article in Ballet Review about Yuri Soloviev, whose interpretation of Bluebird was supposedly venerated by a great many audiences. He said, "The Blue Bird is a prince who has turned himself into a bird in order to see the princess, and when he dances with her he is singing to her and she listens to his song."

I'm not sure what style ballet it will be if I pusue it. Right now, I'm trying to be open to whatever ideas come to me. It might become anything from a very Petipaesque (haha. I don't know if there's another word for that) ballet to something more contemporary.

I kindof like the idea that it would be a romantic and poetic scenario/character-study type of ballet (e.g. Le Spectre de la Rose, Le Jeune Homme et la Mort) rather than following the older formula for pas de deux: having them dance together, a male variation, a female variation, and a coda.

Thanks again for your insights.

[esperanto]

I saw a docmentary with Alicia Markova and she said that in the Bluebird p.d.d. the female variation is really a princess looking forward to the Bluebird. She herself isn't a blebird. I had always thought of them as a pair of birds coming to Aurora's wedding.

[ninjarina]

I saw a docmentary with Alicia Markova and she said that in the Bluebird p.d.d. the female variation is really a princess looking forward to the Bluebird. She herself isn't a blebird. I had always thought of them as a pair of birds coming to Aurora's wedding.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

me too.

[Mel Johnson]

Dame Alicia was correct.