Sleeping Princess 1939

[Jane Simpson]

Here's a find: an organisation is putting up on YouTube some very early television snippets - here's the Vic-Wells Sleeping Princess, with June Brae as the Lilac Fairy and Fonteyn as Aurora. No sound, so far as I can tell.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Lovely. Thanks Jane for this gem. Loved Fonteyn.

[Alexandra]

Thank you! I've never seen this, nor seen Fonteyn this young, nor the company this young. When you think that she had never seen the ballet, it's amazing how much she understood about the style (a tribute to the coaching, of course, but also to her openness).

[bart]

Good for the National Media Museum in Bradford. It's amazing how crisp the transmission looks -- much better than American transmissions from 10 years later. Except for the occasional disappearance of dancers' heads at the top of the screen, it's remarkably effective in conveying the feel of the performance.

[Mme. Hermine]

not ballet, but more dancing!

[rg]

marvelous find, Jane.

we are all in your debt.

many, many thanks.

[PeggyR]

Never mind the dancing -- how about those costumes!

Seriously, thank you for that treasure. Too bad there's not more of June Brae.

[Paul Parish]

Thank you for the Argentinita footage -- read about her in Denby, and always wanted to know what she was like. Pity there wasn't more, but what's there shows what a genius she had for phrasing. Actually, rather a lot like the way Fonteyn could phrase a line of bourrees (I'm thinking of Les Sylphides)

In this clip, her clarity is already so remarkable -- look at that line of penchees; very academic step, and NOT easy, not at that speed, for sure, but she gives it such a clear pulse and sweep, the positions are lovely, almost precious, but the energy in them is straightforward and clean, nothing weak about it....

wow.

[Jane Simpson]

Looking at this again, and sparing some attention for the four Princes, I found my eye drawn to the second one from the left, the one with the zigzags on the front of his costume - Frederick Ashton, surely?

Both Carabosse and the King were actors, incidentally - John Greenwood (Carabosse) appeared quite often with the company, I believe.

[Mme. Hermine]

What do you think, any chance it could be Richard Ellis?

[atm711]

I have a cast list of probably the first performance on Feb. 2, 1939 and it lists the four princes as: Harold Turner, Frederick Ashton, William Chappell and Frank Staff. The clip was just a few weeks later in March.

[EricMontreal22]

OK I'm confused. Here's footgae in B&W of the Three Ivans from Aurora's Wedding act--great dancing.

but I always thought this divertissement (added first by Diaghilev for his production) used the Russian Dance music from Nutcracker, but this seems to use Sleeping Beauty's coda for the pas de deux... Which makes me wonder if they had a coda...

[rg]

this black&white clip is, i believe, de Valois's version of the THREE IVANS from the Sadler's Wells SLEEPING BEAUTY.

i don't know that there is any footage, w/ sound, of Nijinska's THREE IVANS from THE SLEEPING PRINCESS.

[EricMontreal22]

Ah ok--and they used different music? Am I wrong in thinking the music in the clip is the Grand Pas de Deux coda? (which makes me wonder if they had a coda for the pas de deux...)

[Mel Johnson]

The Ivans did their thing to the coda from the pas de deux. The pas de deux had no coda in the RB production until the 50s, and sometimes not then. The reason I heard was that the 1921 Diaghilev production hadn't done it because the Auroras and Desirés were all tired out from the souped-up adagio tinkered with by Nijinska.

[EricMontreal22]

Ah a pas de deux without a coda seems to wrong to me ;) So the Three Ivans DIDN'T dance in 1921 to the Russian Dance from Nutcracker?? I always had read they did! I believe Nijinska incorporated another Nutcracker dance too--the Arabian?

[Mel Johnson]

The "Danse Arabe" was incorporated into the last act of the Diaghilev production as "Scheherazade and the Shah", and the Chinese Dance was also included as "The Porcelain Princesses". One of my teachers was Thomas Armour, who studied with Nijinska, and he said that the pas de deux was cut that way by her.

[EricMontreal22]

Thanks so much for the information! I've long been fascinated by the Diaghilev Sleeping Princess, so it's interesting to know. It seems fitting with Diaghilev's constant interest in giving the public "oriental" numbers that he'd incorporate those. Do you know by any chance which pieces he had newly orchestrated by Stravinsky?

[Mel Johnson]

I've only heard the "Bluebird pas de deux" as orchestrated by Stravinsky, as a matter of fact, I danced to it, but I think it was done at a different time from the Diaghilev production. It uses a chamber orchestra, with piano. Even though it preserves all the Tchaikovsky harmonies, notes and rhythms, there are some Stravinskian combinations of instruments which are witty and piquant.