The Tennis Champion

[ngitanjali]

Hello!

I did a search on this, but didn't come up with anything that SEEMED to answer my question on this ballet. I saw a clip of it on Classic Arts Showcase, where Clothide Vayer was a tennis player. According to the credits at the end, Jean Cocteau and Chanel were involved and I'm guessing, due to the Cocteau involvement, that it was for the Ballet Russes? Am I right? Completely off the mark?

My overall impression was that it was very interesting, definitely not something I've seen before (I mainly watch the classics). It was very very stylized, and that was intriguing in some parts, but just bizarre in others, somewhat like a caricature of 1920s leisure (I'm assuming this is the 1920s, with the adorable Cloche hats etc...). I"m just overall wanting to know more about the origins about this ballet. I hope I posted in the correct forum, feel free to move it around or delete it if it's in the wrong forum and/or redundant

I hope I'm not bothering you all too much, I'm just soooo eager to learn!!!!

Thanks so much!

ng

[Mme. Hermine]

do you mean 'jeux' (nijinsky) , or maybe 'les biches' (nijinska)?

[leonid17]

Hello!

I did a search on this, but didn't come up with anything that SEEMED to answer my question on this ballet. I saw a clip of it on Classic Arts Showcase, where Clothide Vayer was a tennis player. According to the credits at the end, Jean Cocteau and Chanel were involved and I'm guessing, due to the Cocteau involvement, that it was for the Ballet Russes? Am I right? Completely off the mark?

My overall impression was that it was very interesting, definitely not something I've seen before (I mainly watch the classics). It was very very stylized, and that was intriguing in some parts, but just bizarre in others, somewhat like a caricature of 1920s leisure (I'm assuming this is the 1920s, with the adorable Cloche hats etc...). I"m just overall wanting to know more about the origins about this ballet. I hope I posted in the correct forum, feel free to move it around or delete it if it's in the wrong forum and/or redundant

You are talking about the film Picasso and The Ballet made in 2005 and directed by Yvon Gerault.

Excerpts of ballets danced, were performed by: Kader Belarbi – The Miller from Le Tricorne, Fabrice Bourgeois – The Magistrate Le Tricorne, Nicholas La Riche – The Handsome Youth, Francoise Legree – The Millers Wife, Eric Quillere – A Dandy and his companion Nathalie Rique.

From Le Train Bleu Elizabeth Maurin danced Perlouse and Clothilde Vayer danced The Tennis Champion from Le Train Bleu

Regards

Leonid

EDL: To add a PS

The film is on a Kultur DVD

and for removal of symbols instead of quotation marks

[rg]

as noted the ballet in question is no doubt LE TRAIN BLEU offered on a vid sometimes called PICASSE/DANSE - paired w/ massine's LE TRICORNE. TRAIN B. has choreography by nijinska, music by poulenc.

[ViolinConcerto]

"Le Train Blue" was also notable for its wonderful set designs by Henri Laurens. It was an example of the incredible collaborations that Diaghilev fostered.

The NY Times has an article by Gay Morris on it here.

The article is about a performance by the Oakland (CA) Ballet in 1990, which I was lucky enough to see, out in Stonybrook, LI of all places. The Oakland Ballet, back in the 1990's did quite a bit of Bronislava Nijinska's ballets.

Here's a little quote about the name of the ballet:

''Le Train Bleu'' both celebrates fashion and pokes fun at superficiality. The title refers to the train that took well-heeled Europeans to the Cote d'Azur. As Diaghilev remarked in a witty program note, ''The first point about 'Le Train Bleu' is that there is no blue train in it. This being the age of speed, it already has reached its destination and disembarked its passengers.''

The article is very interesting!! (If you have trouble accessing it, PM me and I'll send it to you.)

[ngitanjali]

Thanks so much for all the information! I really do appreciate all of it

[bart]

[ ... } I saw a clip of it on Classic Arts Showcase

Thanks for the reminder of what a great asset Classical Arts Showcase is. The ballet clips (but also the opera and instrumental clips) play a huge role in connecting people, many of whom live away from live-performance centers, with the classical arts. Me included, at one stage of my life far out in beautiful eastern Long Island.

The 1994 Paris video of Train Bleu is a delight. (Whereas for me, the Three Cornered Hat on the same dvd is tedious.)

The "look" -- hair, costumes, lean mesomorphic bodies, and sharp, clean movement -- is evocative of the Art Deco 20s, and the performances are grand. The way that sexual attraction overcomes even the most dedicated type sportif is just what we think of when we use the word "French". These characters know what romping around a beach in skimpy garments is really for!

The 4 principals -- Elisabeth Maurin as a self-confident swimsuited vamp, Clotilde Vayer as an aggressive tennis player and collector of young men, Laurent Queval as a strange but wonderful golfer, and a very young, very proud-of-his-body, and touchingly innocent Nicholas LeRiche as the "Handsome Youth."

I'm surprised this isn't done more often on mixed bills. I can think of any number of American companies which would (a) do it justice and (b) make their audiences happy by including it in their rep.