Pop Culture Story Ballets

[Hans]

This was sparked by the Houston Ballet thread, on which Alexandra (sorry, don't mean to heap all the "blame" on you!) suggested the idea of story ballets aimed at the MTV/video game generation.

I've come up with "The Legend of Zelda" (a video game) in ballet form, which actually could be interesting.

It doesn't have to be based on a video game, but what are some ideas for pop culture story ballets?

Perhaps a ballet version of The Simpsons or Friends :green:

[Old Fashioned]

Eek.

Let's see...perhaps a Tomb Raider ballet? If anyone has seen the first movie, Angelina Jolie was supposedly doing "bungee ballet."

[Hans]

Perfect, Old Fashioned!

I can't wait to see what people come up with .

If it's hard to express "mother-in-law" in classical mime, I wonder how one would show the plot of, say, "Sex and the City." :shrug:

[Mel Johnson]

I wonder what choreographers would make out of anime/manga? Inuyasha would be tough enough with its time-travel and long, long, backstory, but something like Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X would take a reincarnation of Tudor to draw characterization out of all that fighting, except for the Galahad-like purity of the title character's nature.

[perky]

How about The Matrix as a ballet? Whoa!

[Alexandra]

There is a ballet in Singapore based on a popular comic book (action figure heroine) that I put up some links to a few weeks ago.

[Tancos]

I'd like to see a ballet based on Neil Gaiman's work. For instance, the short story "Chivalry," in which the aging Mrs. Whitaker finds the Holy Grail in an second-hand shop under a threadbare fur coat, might be fun. Coraline could be the basis of a good Halloween ballet.

[glebb]

Imagine what it would be like for a choreographer to have the buget of one days filming on a movie such as MATRIX with which to make a full length ballet.

[kfw]

Has the time come for Reality TV ballets? Everyone takes a solo and then votes someone else off the stage.

[Hans]

Or Temptation Island as a ballet:

Can Aurora and Désiré's perfect relationship survive the wiles of the heartbroken Bathilde???

Actually, I think I just described Swan Lake.

Uh-oh, new ad campaign for ballet companies!!!!

"Swan Lake, the Original 'Temptation Island'" :green:

[grace]

oh kfw, that's so funny!

i suppose i should be embarrassed to admit that i don't understand any of the story references, above.

[Mme. Hermine]

i think that logically you give little buttons to every member of the audience and let them vote people off the stage, n'est-ce pas? :green:

[grace]

excellent, Mme. Hermine!

[Old Fashioned]

Or, the ballets are televised and callers call in to vote. It's become "Ballet Idol"! Wonder who the judges would be... :rolleyes:

[dirac]

perky, the original Matrix is already a ballet.

I like kfw's idea, but it lacks the necessary backbiting and scheming -- a (not the) Richard Hatch in a leotard, for example -- that makes the voting idea work. What we need is backstage action -- dropping ground glass into toe shoes, ruthless upstaging, maybe have the ballet master macking on a contestant or two, I'm sure everyone can come up with something, and we'll have "Survivor: the Ballet."

[perky]

Yes Dirac, the Matrix does already seem like a ballet, however in MY version of it, instead of Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishbourne, and CarrieAnne Moss, as the leads I would cast Albert Evans as Morpheus, Wendy Whelen (in a short black wig) as Trinity, and Angel Corrella as Neo.

[Hans]

Ballet Idol . I think the judges should be Suki Schorer, Anastasia Volokova, and Sylvie Guillem.

One of the local radio stations had a "Classical Idol" contest, which was lots of fun (well, it was for me ).

Think if there was a Ballet Idol people would flock to it and hold signs saying "Crazy for Cornejo" or "Wailin' for Whelan?"

[Hans]

Come to think of it, Ballet Idol could be a lot of fun . It could be held at the Met or State Theater and broadcast on PBS. It could have a different theme each week, just like the real one: Petipa, Balanchine, Bournonville, &c., and each contestant would have to dance a variation. Scores on technique, costume, line, &c. Beverly Sills as Ryan Seacrest. It's perfect! It's kind of like the Prix de Lausanne, but with more hype and audience participation

[Mel Johnson]

Or we could go to a little pop retro and do "The Rocky Horror Ballet Show". :speechless:

Of course the theater could get a little messed up, OK, a LOT messed up, but it might be fun.

The casting I'll leave to you. I don't want even to THINK about it!

[Hans]

Maxim Belotserkovsky as Rocky. Nilas Martins as Brad. Any suggestions for the other parts?

[perky]

Mark Morris as Frank-n-Furter

[Hans]

Perfect !

Now we just need people for Janet, Columbia (is that her name?) and those freaky siblings

[dirac]

Yes, it's Columbia (the Nell Campbell role). You might also be thinking of Magenta, which would have been perfect for the young Heather Watts.

[Mel Johnson]

When I first saw the movie, I had to look three times (considering the state I was in ) to make sure that Magenta wasn't Rebecca Wright!