POB's "La Sylphide" question

[Solor]

Ive got a few questions about the POB's "La Sylphide" starring Aurelie Dupont and Mathieu Ganio - is this performance a reconstruction of the original by Taglioni? Is it set to the original music of Schnietzhoeffer?

[Dale]

We had an old thread on this DVD. Maybe the answer is in there:

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=19879

[rg]

if the following wasn't said previously, lacotte noted at a press conf. for PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER that his work on LA SYLPHIDE included finding some records and/or notations from the original era, as well as some of taglioni's own exercise notebooks. i don't know that he ever spelled out the portion(s) of the final result that came from his notation research and what from his 'instincts' and/or 'educated guesses.'

i assume the schneitzhoeffer score, used for this staging, was housed in the opera's own libraries.

in brief overview, my sense of the end result is that lacotte's work is more admirable and 'acceptable' regarding the dancing of the sylph than that for james, and effie, who dances on pointe.

the mime is less than convincing, especially in the role of the sorceress.

of the two commercial films of this prod. i find the earlier one, released on kultur video but not alas on dvd, w/ thesmar, more remarkable.

[chrisk217]

About Lacotte's process of re-creation:

In the small documentary that comes with the dvd, Lacotte says that while writing a book he found some Taglioni documents from a remote descendant of hers (I can't remember exactly whom) and from there he followed the trail to other individuals who had related documents and to the Louvre.

He also says that Johansson who was Lyubov Egorova's teacher and Taglioni's last partner showed Egorova some steps which she passed to Lacotte. But he does not specify what exactly comes from Egorova.

of the two commercial films of this prod. i find the earlier one, released on kultur video but not alas on dvd, w/ thesmar, more remarkable.

a short review/comparison of the two videos:

I love Thesmar and I have been fascinated for a long time by her performance. There are many things to admire: the footwork, the ballon, the use of the head, the supremely fluffy tutu that aids the illusion of lightness. But most exciting of all, for me at least, is the way she leans her torso forward and curves the shoulders. And not only because it looks like the images of Taglioni and other romantic dancers, although the evocation of ballet history is part of it.

The romantic style leaning makes most steps more interesting to behold from all angles - a simple pose done in an upright position might look bland; when done at an angle to the vertical axis, it fills the space. The poses suggest a multitude of moods (inclination, longing, elusiveness, sorrow) that I don't find in the most recent video, where Dupont is decidedly upright for all the first and most of the second act. In the doc, she mentions that it took time to get used to leaning and that Lacotte urged her to feel what would be the limitations of the original costume's corset (and lean with a rigid torso).

Virtually all the recent dvd has a slower tempo. This is very appropriate for the second act, it makes the music sound like better music than it really is and it enhances the atmosphere. It also gives Dupont the opportunity to use her very soft arms and the effects created are exquisite. The lifts are all airy and weightless whereas in the older recording the strain was very apparent.

There are 20 extra minutes of dancing in the DVD. It is filmed beautifully and intelligently, with only the absolute minimum of close-ups.

the mime is less than convincing, especially in the role of the sorceress.

Less than convincing is also the ridiculous Dance of the witches. I wonder how they keep the audience from rolling on the floor laughing when they do that squirel thing...