Insect ballets -- which are the best?

[bart]

I just happened upon the Enchanted Dragonfly Ballet section of Michael Powell's 1951 film of Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann. Norma [N.B. I mean "Moira." Thanks, GWTW, for correcting me in Post #4] Shearer is Stella, now a ballerina rather than a singer. The choreography -- by Frederick Ashton, I assume -- is rather simple, but Shearer gives an eery and unforgettable performance. Despite the over-the-top decor, it's really quite chilling. It's NOT your typical sentimentalized butterfly ballet, where they put attach wings to a pretty girl and let her skip around.

What a dancer Shearer was. What a beautiful body she had. Has anyone else ever danced this role?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnHKm9fn2yo

This got me thinking about other insect ballets. Robbins The Cage is, I suppose, the most famous. The Robbins work premiered in 1951, which is also the date the Hoffmann film was released. Any connection? Or was there just something in the air?

What other insect roles have there been, both serious and fluffy? Who are the best interpreters of these roles?

[sandik]

Well, the children's chorus in Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream are called the bugs. Not sure if that counts.

Ashton is indeed credited with the choreography on imdb.com. And Hein Heckroth, who worked on The Red Shoes, and designed the Kurt Jooss ballet The Green Table, designed here as well.

[Helene]

Jerome Robbins' "The Cage".

Definitely not fluffy.

[Petra]

bart, I'm sure you meant Moira Shearer and not Norma Shearer.

Balanchine's Midsummer Night Dream has a solo Butterfly, as well as the children's corps of bugs. I love the choreography for the Butterfly as well as the children - the end is pure stage magic.

[Mel Johnson]

Balanchine also had "Metamorphosis", to Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber". It was set on Tanny, and did not last long in rep after she became paralyzed. Old heads at NYCB showed me parts of it, and it must have been a rather interesting and exciting composition.

[Mme. Hermine]

Eliot Feld did a ballet called Papillon that had all manner of insects.

[bart]

bart, I'm sure you meant Moira Shearer and not Norma Shearer.

Aaargh! Thanks GWTW. Boy, that's a mental slip that ages me!.

I've "edited" it, with a grateful reference to you.

[bart]

There's the performance-within-a-performance in Robbins' The Concert, played for fun. They're quite agitated and far from the fairy-tale conventialities about the species.

Didn't Doris Humphrey do something about insects? (I only recall a reference, not the actual details.)

[rg]

it's true that the children's roles for the retinue of Oberon, King of the Fairies, in Balanchine's MIDUSMMER NIGHT'S DREAM have been known around NYCB as 'bugs,' however, in the program credits for Oberon's kingdom describes it as being made up of Butterflies (as noted above) and Fairies. (not insects/bugs.).

PAPILLON ballets have a long line in ballet history since at least the 19th c., including Marie Taglioni's only ballet for her protegee Emma Livry. [see below]

few have lasted into our century. a number of remakes etc. of the Butterfly theme were on the boards through the end of the 19th c. in imperial Russia.

the Humphrey work suggested above is likely the following, also rarely given nowadays:

Life of the bee: Chor: Doris Humphrey; mus: droning chorus by Pauline Lawrence. First perf: New York, Guild Theatre, Mar 31, 1929, Humphrey-Weidman Group.//Revival: New York, Juilliard Concert Hall, Apr 19, 1955. Juilliard Dance Theatre; mus: Paul Hindemith (Kammermusik no 1).

here are a few credits for some of the PAPILLON work:

Nymphe et le papillon : Original title: Die Nymphe und der Schmetterling. Chor: Jules Perrot & P. Campilli (?). First perf: Austria: Vienna, Kärntnerthortheater, Sept 29, 1836.

Papillon : Chor: Marie Taglioni; mus: Jacques Offenbach; lib: Marie Taglioni & Jules Saint-Georges; scen: Cambon, Thierry, Desplechin, Nolau, Rubé & Martin. First perf: Paris, Opéra, Nov 26, 1860.

Papillon : Chor: Anna Pavlova; mus: Riccardo Drigo (but might possibly have been Minkus or Asaf'yev); cos: Léon Bakst. First perf: ca. 1913; solo danced by Anna Pavlova.

Papillon : Original title: Babochka. Chor: Marius Petipa; mus: Ludwig Minkus; lib: Théophile Gautier, Jules Saint-Georges and Marius Petipa; scen: Mikhail Bocharov, Heinrich Wagner, Matvei Shishkov and Lagorio. First perf: St. Petersburg, Bolshoi Theater, Jan 6, 1874 (O. S.)

Caprices du papillon : Original title: Kaprizy babochki. Chor: Marius Petipa; mus: Nikolai Krotkov; lib: Petipa after a poem by IA. P. Polonskii; scen: Vasilii Perminov. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Oct 25, 1889 (O.S.).

Papillon : Chor: Eliot Feld; mus: Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Sol Berkowitz; scen & cos: Willa Kim. First perf: Lewiston, N.Y., Artpark, Aug 9, 1979; Feld Ballet

Papillon : Chor: Pierre Lacotte after Marie Taglioni; mus: Jacques Offenbach. First perf: Paris, Opéra, Dec 23, 1976, Pierre Lacotte and Dominique Khalfouni.

Papillon : Chor: Ronald Hynd; mus: Jacques Offenbach; lib: Vernoy de St. Georges; scen & cos: Peter Docherty. First Perf: Houston, Jones Hall, Feb. 8, 1979; Houston Ballet.

Papillons : Chor: Mikhail Fokin; mus: Robert Schumann arr. by N. Tcherepnine; scen: Mstislav Dobuzhinskii; cos: Léon Bakst. First perf: St. Petersburg, Maryinsky Theater, Mar 10, 1912, benefit performance.//First perf by Les Ballets Russes de Dyagilev: Monte Carlo, Apr 16, 1914.

Papillons : Chor: Peter Martins; mus: Robert Schumann (Papillons, Op. 2); lighting: Mark Stanley. First perf: New York, New York State Theater, February 27, 1994; New York City Ballet.

in the 1935 Warner Brothers Hollywood film of MIDSUMMER with choreography by Nijinska and Nini Theilade (and in which NT appears as a fantastical, cellophane bright Fairy), which i haven't seen recently, there are a various fantastical forest creatures, but i can't recall any in the form of insects and certainly none in the film's dances.

[leonid17]

The Whims of the Butterfly(Les Caprice du Papillon) ballet in one act based on a poem by Yakov Polonsky called The Grasshopper Musician. Choreography Marius Petipa, music Nikolai Krotkov. First performed at a private performance June 5 1889 first public performance at Maryinsky 25 October 1889. I have a Legat caricature of Cecchetti in a Green costume with a violin in the role of the Grasshopper Musician which he danced in a revival of the ballet in 1895. This ballet was always performed with a starry cast. The Sergeyev Collection at the Harvard Museum possesses a Stepanov notation of this ballet.

Fokine created the ballet Les Papillons for in 1912 at the Maryinsky with Mathilde Kschessinskaya in the leading role. Fokine used Schumann music with sets by Doubuzhinsky and costumes by Bakst. This production was revived by the Diaghilev Ballet Russe in 1914 with Karsavina.

Were either of these productions the best?

[Amy Reusch]

There are some wonderful Life Magazine photos of leClercq in Metamorphosis

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?img...sa%3DG%26um%3D1

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?q=m...4ad5973b12a0dd0

[bart]

Those photographs are wonderful, Amy. I've never seen them before. They're in a league with the famous photo of LeClerq in the floppy hat (antennae sticking out) in Robbins, The Concert. Todd Bolender is in it too. (Reynolds, Rep in Review, p. 173) It is my all-time favorite comic image from ballet.

rg, I was struck by the following, about the Humphrey piece:

Life of the bee: Chor: Doris Humphrey; mus: droning chorus by Pauline Lawrence.

I'd love to see it, and especially with the original score.

The number of Papillon ballets is impressive. This morning I saw, in the sunlight, two butterflies -- quite agitated -- circling and recircling each other as they careened through the air, totally immersed in each other and oblivious to everything else except the sun. Rather passionate, in a way, and a joy to watch. I am no naturalist, so it is quite possible that they were actually moths, which lacks the romance but still has the beauty. I was grateful that the Divine Choreographer had not created a role for a hungry bird -- for the time being, at least.

The Whims of the Butterfly(Les Caprice du Papillon) ballet in one act based on a poem by Yakov Polonsky called The Grasshopper Musician. Choreography Marius Petipa, music Nikolai Krotkov. First performed at a private performance June 5 1889 first public performance at Maryinsky 25 October 1889. I have a Legat caricature of Cecchetti in a Green costume with a violin in the role of the Grasshopper Musician which he danced in a revival of the ballet in 1895. This ballet was always performed with a starry cast. The Sergeyev Collection at the Harvard Museum possesses a Stepanov notation of this ballet.

Has this been performed within living memory, I wonder? If illustrations exist to give us a sense of how it looked -- and if the step notations are on file -- why not?

[rg]

hear! hear! to the wonders of the Mili photos of METAMORPHOSIS - i think one can identify (w/o having ever seen the ballet) that the depicted insect/partner with the skull cap is Bolender and the one w/ the pointed color is Magallanes, tho' those more familiar with the ballet and these dancers at this time might say otherwise.

Re: previous BT mention(s) of ballet insectiana include the two threads below, one includes the Legats’ ‘view’ of Cecchetti as a grasshopper (or might this be a cricket?); the other, a post-imperial ballet prod. of CAPRICES DU PAPILLON

Doug would likely know the details, but being included in the Sergeyev/Harvard archives doesn’t mean the ballet is fully documented there. Some of the folders, I gather, include only sketchy notations, PAPILLONS just might be one of these.

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...c=21348&hl=

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...mp;#entry218770

[Joseph]

Isn't Massent's ballet "Cigale" about a grasshopper or something like that?

[leonid17]

Isn't Massent's ballet "Cigale" about a grasshopper or something like that?

Cigale with music by Jules Massenet is a two act ballet based on a fable attributed to Aesop “The Grasshopper and the Ant.” In the ballet version the grasshopper is changed to a cicada and the ant is known as the “La Pauvrette”. It was a divertissement for 5 characters and first performed at the Opera Comique in 1904.

I believe it has been staged a number of times and highly prolific Thierry Malandain Choreographed a version in 2005.

I have never found any information that insect influenced costumes were used in any production though the original production sounds like it might have had such costumes.

Richard Bonynge recorded this work some time ago.

[Farrell Fan]

There was a ballet by John Taras, Piege de Lumiere, which was performed regularly in the early years of the NYCB residency at the New York State Theater. It was set in a forest in which a band of convicts builds a big bonfire that lures scores of butterflies to their extinction. Before it entered the NYCB rep, it was performed in Paris, by the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. The original cast was headed by Maria Tallchief and Arthur Mitchell. Those roles were subsequently taken by Patricia MacBride and Paul Mejia.

[carbro]

it's true that the children's roles for the retinue of Oberon, King of the Fairies, in Balanchine's MIDUSMMER NIGHT'S DREAM have been known around NYCB as 'bugs,' however, in the program credit's Oberon's kingdom is described as being made up of Butterflies (as noted above) and Fairies. (not insects/bugs.).

Why would the insects be among Oberon's subjects? Aren't they part of the same world as the Lovers and Rustics? Don't you hear (-->here) the bzzzz-bzzzzz-bzzzz of insects?

[Mashinka]

There was a ballet by John Taras, Piege de Lumiere, which was performed regularly in the early years of the NYCB residency at the New York State Theater. It was set in a forest in which a band of convicts builds a big bonfire that lures scores of butterflies to their extinction.

I remember it well, it used to be danced by Festival Ballet (now ENB) too. It is getting a revival by Paris Opera Ballet at the end of the year.

[Mel Johnson]

Why would the insects be among Oberon's subjects? Aren't they part of the same world as the Lovers and Rustics? Don't you hear (-->here) the bzzzz-bzzzzz-bzzzz of insects?

They're nature. The Lovers and the Rustics are human. And Shakespeare indirectly declares nature figures in the "faerie" realm by naming three of them Cobweb, Mustardseed and Moth.

[bart]

There was a ballet by John Taras, Piege de Lumiere, which was performed regularly in the early years of the NYCB residency at the New York State Theater. It was set in a forest in which a band of convicts builds a big bonfire that lures scores of butterflies to their extinction.

I remember it well, it used to be danced by Festival Ballet (now ENB) too. It is getting a revival by Paris Opera Ballet at the end of the year.

I didn't remember this ... until I turned to Repertory in Review and saw the photo. I can now recall the entrance, with the "Queen of the Morphides," long cape flowing behind her, borne in on the shoulders of her subject insects. I must have seen McBridge.

According to R in R;

Piege was performed for several seasons. Possibly it was dropped because it jarred with the rest of the reperetory.

My memory is that it certainly seemed odd and melodramatic to me, at the time. Mashinka, it's wonderful that Paris will be reviving it. I wonder if this is part of a general Taras reevaluation. He was a talented choreographer who had the disadvantage of being, for many of us young people at the time, "NOT Balanchine" and "NOT Robbins" -- in other words, somehow old fashioned. (I note the ballet was originally created for the Marques de Cuevas Ballet in 1952.

Taras deserves a second -- and fairer -- look.

[leonid17]

Taras deserves a second -- and fairer -- look.

I second that.

In London, when older balletomanes I know get together the one ballet they all say they want to see revived is Piege de Lumiere. As Mashinka recalls the Festival Ballet ballet staged this ballet and Galina Samsova and Andre Prokovsky were extraordinary in their performances.

Another Taras ballet I have always wanted to see was his Designs with Strings with music by Tchaikovsky, and design by George Krista. Premiered 6 Feb. 1948 by the Metropolitan Ballet in Edinburgh with Beriosova, Arova, Franca, Delysia Blake, Bruhn, and David Adams. It was set to thee second movement of the composer's. Ballet Theatre staged it in 1950, the Royal Danes in 1952, Berlin Opera Ballet in 1964. It has been revived for several companies including Ballet Theatre (1950), Royal Danish Ballet (1952), Berlin Opera Ballet (1964), and Dance Theatre of Harlem (1974).