"The Lake of my mother's tears"

[Paul Parish]

By the time they were videotaping Swan lake, the lakeside mime scene, where Odette introduces herself to the prince, had gone out of fashion; Makarova wouldn't do it in the RB version with Dowell, though it was traditional in the Royal Ballet's production. There's a wonderful youtube clip of Sibley and Dowell teaching the mime scene -- and I remember Sibley DOING the mime scene so it was one of the most memorable things in the whole evening.

Myself, I think the mime scene is beautiful, and perfectly intelligible, and more moving than the lifts that have been put in its place.

In any case, to show the ballet to students, it's hard to find a version with the mime scene in place.

Does anyone know of a version? And if there's more than one, which do you prefer, and why?

[rg]

i haven't double-checked but i believe the scene is delivered in its entirety all in the peter wright version for the royal swedish ballet; also, i was surprised to find it, if mem., serves done fully, in what i consider an otherwise undistinguished (to put it politely) 'original' staging of the ballet by patrice bart for berlin(?).

there is also a royal ballet master class prog. recently shown on the bbc during its tchaikovsky celebrations, w/ sibley and dowell coaching pennefeather and ? (nunez, is it?) in a studio setting. (this last has not been released commercially, you'll not be surprised to hear - unless i'm missing something.

(of the two on commercial video i'd say you're better off, more or less, w/ the wright than w/ the bart staging.)

[Helene]

From the booklet that came with the new Lopatkina/Korsuntsev/Mariinsky Ballet Swan Lake, the notes by Giannandrea Poesio state:

Another long-established alteration visible in the Mariinsky Theatre staging is the removal of the mime passage in which Odette tells Siegfried her story immediately afer her first entrance on stage: the music originally conceived for the mime recitative is used instead, most effectively, for an intense choreographic moment.

In Barbara Newman's Striking a Balance, Antoinette Sibley said about the Royal Ballet version,

Why shouldn't we know why she's a swan? It's lovely that she tells the story, and it can be so beautifully done. I don't think yet another pas de deux is valid there. In a little while, we're going to have one of the most beautiful pas de deux ever created. Why spoil it with one where you're flapping around the stage trying to escape for so long? You've already tried to escape in the beginning, before the mime

And Donald MacLeary said,

We did the ballet for a while without the mime and then it came back in, thank God. I think Fred [Ashton] preferrred it. In a way, it's not as satisfying without it. I love the simplicity of the mime, and it's a very good opportunity, again, to tell the audience what's really happening. If you feel uncomfortable with it, you're not doing it right. You have to believe in the character. Whatever you do on the stage, whatever ballet, if you don't believe in the character, the people in the theatre aren't going to believe you. So whether you think the mime's all codswallop or not, you have to take hold of it to make it work, and do it with sincerity, real belief. If you go around thinking, 'What a load of crap it is,' it'll look like a load of crap.

[Azulynn]

The mime scene is also included in the POB version of Swan Lake, and it can be seen on the DVD featuring Agnès Letestu and José Martinez.

[rg]

ah, yes, and to think alexandra made of point of making this observation about POB to me in conversation and i forgot it earlier today; this would seem to be the winner as best possible alternative for a teaching example.

[bart]

The mime scene is also included in the POB version of Swan Lake, and it can be seen on the DVD featuring Agnès Letestu and José Martinez.

I'm a bit confused. POB dances the Nureyev version, but I thought his tendency was to reduce the role of traditional mime in the classics. Solway says, of Nureyev's first Swan Lake (with Sonia Arova in 1962), that he told his partner: "If you do mime, I will walk offstage."

Kavanagh writes of the first Fonteyn-Nureyev Swan Lake (1963):

May Clarke's review described the "cold wave of disapproval" felt in sections of the house when Odette danced her introductory passage with Siegfried instead of miming it.

I agree with Paul that this mime passage is moving. But, speaking as a nonexpert, and trying to imagine what this would look like to a newcomer to the ballet, the details don't seem to be "perfectly intelligible."

As Odette responds to Siegfried's "what's up with this swan stuff?" question, the elements of the story seem to be pretty clear: something sad has happened, the lake is involved, she is fated to shed tears, she's fearful of, but also angry at, someone or something strong/powerful (muscle-flexing gesture with both arms). The gesture of pointing to the ring finger becomes intelligible to the outsider only when Siegfried goes like this: and points to his own ring finger in an identical movment. There's not really a lot of time for Odette to react to this before Rothbart rushes in.

Is this mime really intended to tell a coherent story to the uninitiated? Part of what makes it effective, it seems to me, is precisely that it is so mysterious. It seems to be giving us a series of impressions about Odette's sad condition, implying that dark and powerful forces are at work, and encouraging our -- and Siegfried's -- emotional commitment to her.

[4mrdncr]

For what it's worth, there is also a mime scene in McKenzie's version for ABT, broadcast & released on dvd by PBS. The basic points are there, and Siegfried's reactions to them makes it more intelligible--eg. O points to crown, S kneels (ie. she's royal too), and I do like the moment when S looks (doubtly? seeking reassurance?) at O, just before pledging his love; a very human reaction. I don't think this is the complete version, so maybe not suitable for teaching purposes, but it is understandable.

[Mel Johnson]

And here, safe from the ancient mines of Ballet Alert:

http://www.balletalert.com/ballets/Petipa/...e/storytell.htm

[Helene]

But, speaking as a nonexpert, and trying to imagine what this would look like to a newcomer to the ballet, the details don't seem to be "perfectly intelligible."

As Odette responds to Siegfried's "what's up with this swan stuff?" question, the elements of the story seem to be pretty clear: something sad has happened, the lake is involved, she is fated to shed tears, she's fearful of, but also angry at, someone or something strong/powerful (muscle-flexing gesture with both arms). The gesture of pointing to the ring finger becomes intelligible to the outsider only when Siegfried goes like this: and points to his own ring finger in an identical movment. There's not really a lot of time for Odette to react to this before Rothbart rushes in.

When the Queen is about to arrive, Wolfgang (Karl Paquette) goes over to Siegfried and makes the gesture for "Queen." Then Siegfried gets ready for his mother's entrance, and the Queen enters, which prepares us for the mime in which Odette says that she's the Queen of the Swans. Swan may be a bit much for him to grasp immediately, but Queen he understands. "You're the Queen?" and he bows.

She gestures to "from way out there," the part of the stage from which von Rothbart has made his entrance, a big angry, powerful thing/person has turned me into a swan.

I don't think anyone goes to Kabuki for the first time and expects to understand everything that goes on, even if s/he rents the headsets with simultaneous translation. Classical ballet has theatrical conventions of its own that one learns over time. This entire mime scene takes no more than 15 seconds of the entire act.

Five Swan Lakes I own, and only Paris Opera Ballet, whatever Nureyev's threat, has the mime. No mime in Ananiashvili/Fedeyetchev, the abridged Plisetskaya/Fadeyechev, Fonteyn/Nureyev (Vienna State Opera Ballet), or Lopatkina/Korsuntsev.

Oddly, the latter, the new Mariinsky, doesn't even have the mime in the first act where the Queen tells Siegfried he must marry. The cuts are so bad that I watched it several times to be sure the camera didn't miss it. The first time she brings it up is right before the Princesses are about to dance in the Black Swan act, and boy, is he unhappy. I feel sorry for the last Princess -- after he passes the first five with the bouquet, she must think "I'm his choice!" and then he goes right past her.

[cubanmiamiboy]

someone or something strong/powerful (muscle-flexing gesture with both arms).

... i jut can't stand the two fistings up gesture...Can something be done about it...?

[aurora]

someone or something strong/powerful (muscle-flexing gesture with both arms).

... i jut can't stand the two fistings up gesture...Can something be done about it...?

I don't think so at this point in time...it is pretty standard by this point.

In relation to a different mime sequence in SL--

In ABT's current version (don't kill me! It is what I see most often!), in the truncated final act, Odette mimes "death" over and over again....

Is this a MacKenzie interpolation? Or is this somewhat standard?

I'm also guessing at least 3/4s of the audience have no idea what the gesture means... I do think knowing it adds somewhat to the poignancy of the scene.

[carbro]

I feel sorry for the last Princess -- after he passes the first five with the bouquet, she must think "I'm his choice!" and then he goes right past her.

Wouldn't you, just once, like to see one of those princesses heave a great sigh of relief?

[canbelto]

Kavanagh writes of the first Fonteyn-Nureyev Swan Lake (1963): May Clarke's review described the "cold wave of disapproval" felt in sections of the house when Odette danced her introductory passage with Siegfried instead of miming it.

Yes but he changed his mind, which the Kavanagh book doesn't mention (but the Daneman bio of Fonteyn does).

[rg]

there is a very nicely produced video concentrating on the 'language' and traditions to mime in british ballet: MIME MATTERS, with demonstrations and discussion of the individual gestures.

here's the dvd version i found from searching google for: 'mime matters' video.

i have a copy of this program on videocassette but see it's now a dvd, listed as follows, from the royal academy of dance, which produced the 87 min. vid. in 2002 under the direction of ross macgibbon - the introduction is by antoinette sibley, who also participates as one of the demonstrators.

here's the site i found by way of a google search.

http://www.radenterprises.co.uk

and here how the item is listed:

Mime Matters DVD (330MMDVD)

£12.76

Featuring excerpts from the great classics and a demonstration of the complete vocabulary of classical ballet mime gestures with artists including Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell, Alina Cojocaru.

PAL (UK Format)

the cassette wrapper states the following: "Featuring excerpts from the classics and a complete vocabulary of classical ballet mime gestures demonstrated by some of the greatest exponents of the form, this video is an invaluable resource for students and teachers alike."

(19 different individuals, mostly dancers are listed.)

[bart]

And here, safe from the ancient mines of Ballet Alert:

http://www.balletalert.com/ballets/Petipa/...e/storytell.htm

Thanks, Mel. This is a great primer which will be very helpful for those of us a little bit (or a lot) hazy about how mime actually works.

[cubanmiamiboy]

i jut can't stand the two fistings up gesture...Can something be done about it...?

I don't think so at this point in time.

Amen Aurora.

[rg]

to best of my recollection, the 'death' mime in the current ABT/mckenzie production's last scene was there in david blair's 1967 staging, a staging mckenzie likely knew. certainly the 'leap to the death' now so prominent in ABT's production was similarly there in the blair version.

[volcanohunter]

Although it's a revisionist production, John Neumeier's Illusions like Swan Lake uses an "older" and arguably more authentic text of Act 2, reconstructed by Alexandra Danilova, complete with huntsmen flanking the swans, a White Swan pas de trois and Odette's mime. The DVD wasn't released on the North American market, but it's a region-free disc, though you need a PAL-compatible monitor to watch it.