What are the most "creepy" ballets,

[bart]

Lightbulbs went off :blush: when I read this comment in a post -- on the NYCB scheduling thread -- by E. Johnson:

And I second the fear that this will result in the loss of odder/less popular ballets. Or perhaps we could propose a "Creepy" theme evening: door and sigh, ivesiana, la sonambula? With a revival of seven deadly sins?

E. Johnson mentioned Ivesiana and Sonnambula -- and ... "Door and Sigh", something I'm not familiar with. The Cage and a few others came immediately to mind. What are your favorite "creepy" ballets? They don't have to be in the NYCB rep, of course.

And -- are we in agreement NOT to include any of the Draculas floating around? Or ... maybe not .

[Ray]

I remember a ballet years ago choreographed by Val Caniparoli (sp?) for Pittsburgh Ballet that ended when the male lead strangled the ballerina! I can't remember the title, but perhaps that's for the best...

[Helene]

Le Jeune Homme et La Mort

The Green Table

La Valse

Fall River Legend

I've never seen Miss Julie. Would that qualify?

[Hans]

"The Lesson"

[Mme. Hermine]

Eaters of Darkness!

[E Johnson]

Definitely LaValse, and maybe Shambards?

[papeetepatrick]

I guess I have to put 'La Valse' since others have put it as a 'creepy ballet' and also because it's one of my all-time favourite ballets. I can't really say I find it creepy at all myself, though.

I tend to think of 'creepy ballets' as ballets that are not favourites, like MacMillan's 'Mayerling,' which is 'creepy' for me, including how boring it is.

Also find 'Glass Pieces' creepy, but I also dislike it.

'Friandises' is creepy in a contemporary sterilized way.

[Mel Johnson]

"Opus 34", also Gerald Arpino's "The Clowns".

[Helene]

"The Lesson"

That's the one I was thinking of, not Miss Julie.

[richard53dog]

How about Mayerling?

Richard

[canbelto]

I agree with Mayerling, La Valse, and The Lesson as creepy ballets. I'd also like to offer Clavigo as pretty creepy.

[bart]

So, what makes something "creepy"?

The word itself suggests something that is eerie, disturbing, macabre, menacing, maybe even revolting.

There are, however, ballets which have stories with creepy element, but where the tone, execution or message are decidedly NOT creepy.

The Nijinsky and Wainrot Rites of Spring (human sacrifice), the van Dantzig Monument for a Dead Boy (child abuse, rape, suicide), the Lacotte (after Petipa) Pharoah's Daughter (mummies come to life and man falls in love with one !!!), even Act II of Giselle have decidedly unsettling, macabre plot elements. But no one would call them "creepy," I think.

Mayerling, for me, is more aesthetically distasteful -- and annoying for it's broad misuse of historical material -- than anything else. I'll admit, however, that Rudolf WAS a very odd young man, and there were lots of strange psychosexual things going on in his relationship with his mother and others.

[papeetepatrick]

There are, however, ballets which have stories with creepy element, but where the tone, execution or message are decidedly NOT creepy.

I just watched gorgeous Margot Fonteyn the other night as 'Ondine,' Ashton's wild thing. I thoroughly loved it, and also it was my first time to see her when that young. She was just sensational, and maybe there were some creepy elements, I'm not sure. She used that beautiful smile to wonderfully extreme effect throughout, but it was Berta's early costume--like Julie Andrews or something--that was really creepy.

[Farrell Fan]

I really liked E. Johnson's program of "creepy" ballets which inspired this thread and wouldn't hesitate to attend whatever title the marketing department dreamed up for it. The works demonstrate various aspects of creepiness. "La Sonnambula is a work which should be a fixture in the repertory. Yet its hints of necrophilia definitely make it creepy. "Door and a Sigh" takes Balanchine's "musicality" to the maddening extreme of musique concrete, and the unsettling sight of a Balanchine ballerina swallowing the hapless male sigh in her voluminous garment. And the "In the night" section of "Ivesiana," is literally creepy-crawly, as the entire cast crawls on its knees in the dark -- one of the most disturbing Balanchine images. As for "Seven Deadly Sins," I've never seen it, but I'd certainly love to.

[carbro]

Creepy? As in "creepy-crawly"? That would be The Cage!

You could argue Act I of Giselle as creepy, since Albrecht's behavior is that of a creep.

Martins' "Guide to Strange Places" is creepy, indeed, when Darci's partner uses her costume to strangle her.

P. Taylor's modern dance work, Big Bertha, with its incest theme, is creepy. His surrealistic Images is creepy, too (baskets covering the heads of the Edwardian-costumed women).

[sparklesocks]

Ha ha! I saw RWB Dracula a few years ago. I went to it thinking it would be creepy, but it just seemed corny - so I was quite disappointed. The gargoyle's looked ridiculous with their bot-bellied costumes (I know that's what gargoyle's are actually like, but come on!) The be-heading scene was corny beyond belief. Ah well. Plus, the evening I saw it there was no orchestra, which really stunk. I now know to check into that detail before buying tickets to RWB when they are on tour.

[vagansmom]

I find the corps dancing in Act II of Giselle to be creepy. Every single time I see them, my spine tingles up and down when the corps of Wilis are dancing. The lighting, the white faces, the dead expressions on their faces, and the music all combine to make me feel unsettled. Interestingly, it's only the corps dancing in that act that gives me that feeling. I don't react the same way to the individual dancing.

But first on my list, of course, is The Cage.

[tra-ta]

Bart,

What a fantastic topic!

I count the days for the Summer to be over. Automn is my favorite and Halloween is one of the reasons.

I will try to find the mentioned ballets through netflix and get in the mood for Halloween. There is no better holyday then the holyday-of-prepairing-for-a-holyday! Let me know if doesn't make sence and I'll explain. It has a point I promiss.

[Drew]

I have dim memories of Balanchine's Gaspard de la Nuit (for the Ravel festival) as a ballet that would qualify as "creepy"--it had a sort of gothic theatrical quality and I vaguely recall images of hanging...I'm hoping others remember the ballet better than I do.

[fandango]

Ronald Petit's L'Arlesienne, if it qualifies as a ballet rather than a modern dance, was pretty creepy.

[canbelto]

I find Petrushka creepy.

[zerbinetta]

Petit's Coppelia is pretty creepy with the good Doctor C strapping the mannekina to his feet & waltzing with her.

Norman Walker's Lazarus was possibly the creepiest ballet ever. Ook!

Feld's Under the Pavement.

A ballet called Genesis, done by National Ballet of Cuba at the Met many years ago. Prominently featured an amoeba molting. Shudder.

I guess Miss Julie is creepy but great creepy. Would love to see ABT do it with Murphy & Cornejo.

[bart]

I have dim memories of Balanchine's Gaspard de la Nuit (for the Ravel festival) as a ballet that would qualify as "creepy"--it had a sort of gothic theatrical quality and I vaguely recall images of hanging.

Oddly, I do remember the hanging, but more as in one of those circus acts with people hanging the rope and moving as in one of those circus acts. I remember lots of death symbolism, murk and shadows, slightly s & m costuming, and a very confused and negative audience response of the "Is this Balanchine !!!" kind.

This was NOT the Ravel of Mother Goose. Or of Pavane for a Dead Princess -- which, when you think of it, is a rather creepy concept, though lovely music. I know Joos did a ballet to that long ago. Any others? And are they "creepy"?

[rg]

regarding feld's pavement - the Ives-accompanied work is entitled OVER THE PAVEMENT - even tho' the dark tone might more suggest something under the surface.

[Dale]

Peter Martins' Tanzspiel was pretty creepy. Kyra Nichols was killed in a ballet many considered was inspired by the "preppie murder case."