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Ratmansky's Paquita


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I thought that in the first two acts Lacotte's staging made no pretense of being anything other than "hommage/pastiche more-or-less in the style of..." but anyway modernized in the manner of his other stagings (eg ordinary folks on pointe in La Sylphide). I'm not suggesting he wasn't taking what he judged was a serious approach towards bringing the spirit of the nineteenth-century ballet to life, but I read several reviews/articles that indicated "Lacotte's choreography" for those acts. Not just staging.

I know sometimes "choreography" is used loosely when really what is meant is closer to stagings that involve some leeway, but in this case I understood it to mean...well....choreography. Have I (and/or the articles I read) got that wrong?

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I thought that in the first two acts Lacotte's staging made no pretense of being anything other than "hommage/pastiche more-or-less in the style of..." but anyway modernized in the manner of his other stagings (eg ordinary folks on pointe in La Sylphide). I'm not suggesting he wasn't taking what he judged was a serious approach towards bringing the spirit of the nineteenth-century ballet to life, but I read several reviews/articles that indicated "Lacotte's choreography" for those acts. Not just staging.

I know sometimes "choreography" is used loosely when really what is meant is closer to stagings that involve some leeway, but in this case I understood it to mean...well....choreography. Have I (and/or the articles I read) got that wrong?

I think you are exactly right, Drew.

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No fouettes in the Paquita notation. The only ballet in which they are notated is Swan Lake.

We interpolated the Delibes variation for Lucien for three reasons: 1-no variation is notated for Lucien and no music is included in the sources for his variation. 2-the choreography for the variation is well-notated and was intended for the Delibes music. 3-the variation is exactly the kind of male choreography that would have been danced circa 1904, when most of the Paquita choreography was notated.

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From what I have seen of Lacotte's " reconstructions" he invariably gives the public what they expect to see rather than what they would have seen and so are best taken with several cartloads of salt. They may be fun to watch occasionally but they can't be taken seriously as attempts to stage nineteenth century works. The pointe work in the first act of La Sylphide tells us everything we needs to know about his approach to restaging. I seem to recall at the time that his La Sylphide was first performed that he was asked why he had put the female corps on point in act one and admitted that there was no historic basis for his decision and that he had only done it because that is what the audience expected. He did not seem too concerned that this negated trying to recreate something of the impact that Taglioni's pointe work had had on La Sylphide's early audiences.

I found this Pacquita fascinating and would love to see similar work undertaken on Swan Lake. I seem to recall that someone found a record of the last revival of Giselle at the Paris Opera dating from the 1860's which was said to contain notation it would be interesting to see what that looked like and then of course there are those reconstructions of bits of La Vivandiere which surfaced round about the same time and bore little or no likeness to each other. I do not expect a DVD of this reconstruction but it would be nice.

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From what I have seen of Lacotte's " reconstructions" he invariably gives the public what they expect to see rather than what they would have seen and so are best taken with several cartloads of salt. They may be fun to watch occasionally but they can't be taken seriously as attempts to stage nineteenth century works. The pointe work in the first act of La Sylphide tells us everything we needs to know about his approach to restaging. I seem to recall at the time that his La Sylphide was first performed that he was asked why he had put the female corps on point in act one and admitted that there was no historic basis for his decision and that he had only done it because that is what the audience expected. He did not seem too concerned that this negated trying to recreate something of the impact that Taglioni's pointe work had had on La Sylphide's early audiences.

Lacotte has to grapple with some of the same elements that the Russian restaging of Sleeping Beauty did a few years ago -- audiences were curious about the renewed historical detail, but didn't recognize the work as the SB they knew. I prefer the more accurate reconstructions, like this Paquita, but they are a difficult proposition for some parts of the audience.

I found this Pacquita fascinating and would love to see similar work undertaken on Swan Lake. I seem to recall that someone found a record of the last revival of Giselle at the Paris Opera dating from the 1860's which was said to contain notation it would be interesting to see what that looked like and then of course there are those reconstructions of bits of La Vivandiere which surfaced round about the same time and bore little or no likeness to each other. I do not expect a DVD of this reconstruction but it would be nice.

Come to Seattle the next time PNB dances their production -- between Doug Fullington and Marian Smith, they included as much of the available notated materials as they could. I'm sure I'm biased for my hometown company, but I think it's an excellent production -- dramatically compelling, stylistically intact and kinetically engaging. I think you would recognize it as Giselle, but also admire its period integrity.

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No fouettes in the Paquita notation. The only ballet in which they are notated is Swan Lake.

We interpolated the Delibes variation for Lucien for three reasons: 1-no variation is notated for Lucien and no music is included in the sources for his variation. 2-the choreography for the variation is well-notated and was intended for the Delibes music. 3-the variation is exactly the kind of male choreography that would have been danced circa 1904, when most of the Paquita choreography was notated.

Reconstruction is an exercise in these kind of compromises -- I think you made an excellent decision here, especially considering Petipa's own flexibility when it came to switching around composers and whole dance elements between different works.

Doug -- is there an easily accessed index to the Stepanov archives? Some list where the general audience can learn more about what is available to scholars and reconstructors for projects like this Paquita?

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I seem to recall at the time that his La Sylphide was first performed that he was asked why he had put the female corps on point in act one and admitted that there was no historic basis for his decision and that he had only done it because that is what the audience expected. He did not seem too concerned that this negated trying to recreate something of the impact that Taglioni's pointe work had had on La Sylphide's early audiences.

off%20topic.gif Yes, it was a nonsensical decision for precisely the reasons you mentioned, and anyone familiar with Bournonville's ballet would certainly not have expected to see the mortal women on pointe.

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I was teaching dance history several years ago when the only version of La S I had available on videotape was Lacotte's -- I showed it to my students, but we had several discussions about why people "mess with the real stuff" (quote from student, not from me)

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As far as Lacotte's reconstruction of La Sylphide is concerned there was not a much loved version whose validity the reconstruction would be seen as challenging which is why, for me, his decisions to put the female corps on pointe to meet the audience's expectations makes no sense. If you set about reconstructing a work that has not been seen for over a hundred years there is no need to stuff it full of anachronisms to make it palatable for a modern audience. I appreciate that the position will be different in the case of a ballet with an apparent continuous performance history particularly when that is combined with a self proclaimed reputation of perfect custodianship which has been fostered over the years.

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I envy you the chance to see this production live -- it was very impressive in that live feed last winter and i can only imagine that (as the musician's union bumper stickers said) "live music is best."

I've put a lot of thought into our evolving concept of virtuosity, and was interested in your comments on turning/jumping. As we see more reconstructions, I think we'll find even more examples of this distinction.

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I agree that Paquita is not the best story. I love the famous excerpts but the whole ballet (I saw this Munich version online and I have also seen the Paris Opera Ballet version by Lacotte on dvd) doesn't seem all that engaging as you say. I know you will shake your head (and others will too), but I actually do not like very much mime. I think it is interesting to see how the mime was, and it does tell the story or parts of it, but once you've seen the mime once and you've seen a ballet over and over the mime gets in the way, in my opinion. It is a case of, "Okay, I know this already....let's get over this and get to the dancing!" LOL I think this is why mime has declined. To some of us who are mainly interested in the dancing and the acting embedded in the dancing steps, we sort of get bored by the mime b/c we've seen it and know the story already. With that said it is not black and white. Even in opera you have recitative versus arias/duets, etc. And often the recitative is beautiful and you miss it if they cut parts of it out (although this is happening less nowadays). So there are instances when I think mime is necessary and other times when I feel it goes on too long. I am probably in the minority on this topic. For example, as someone who has seen Swan Lake many times and knows the story well, I don't really care if Odette mimes about tears creating the lake. It makes no difference to me if a production includes that or not. I think, in contrast, it is sometimes nice to see Giselle's mother explain the Willis like in the Royal Ballet production. However, even that I am not upset if it is left out. I guess to each his own.

I am glad you got to see that Paquita. I do agree that it is fascinating to see the way dancers danced back in the day. Not 100% sure I want all ballets returned to that type of dancing, but I do like that it is being investigated and put on stage for people to learn and enjoy.

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I feel like there is a lot of acting integrated into movement at the Mariinsky. It is a different style, but each ballerina acts Odette and has emotions. I have watched so many Mariinsky performances on video and in person and there is tons of opportunities for acting, but it is integrated into the dancing a lot more than Petipa's time. Each ballerina does it slightly differently. I guess the Soviets wanted Dramballet and there are pros and cons to that, but I love it....the acting is often totally integrated into the movements of the dancers. Even in opera I much prefer how the 19th century began to have recitative sung with the orchestra so they blended with the arias much better than when they used a harpsichord to accompany recitatives (probably 18th century and earlier). Same with Broadway musicals. I like when they are through composed and they do not stop and speak and then start to sing. I like everything to flow and not have a stop and start quality when it comes to art. This is also the root of why I prefer the Mariinsky and Vaganova graduates. They have a flow to their movements unlike any other company, in my personal opinion. I want flow, flow, flow. If there is stopping and starting it breaks the magic spell for me. So for me personally mime actually breaks the spell and makes me realize I am not in this magical world. But like I said this is not black and white. There are some mime sequences I like. I just don't want it to go on and on. It makes me feel like they are trying to talk to dummies who aren't "getting" it when we got it long ago.

I have read that the Soviet authorities did not like mime because it was a coded language that the aristocrats knew (from going to the ballet for so long) and they wanted ballet to appeal to the masses. I think there are pros and cons to this. It changed ballet (and you think for the worse), but I actually think it makes the story flow and creates more poetry to the acting and dancing (because it is blended together).

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I often wonder though if we would react the same to performers of yesteryear the way audiences did back then. I have often thought I would love a time machine to go back and see Giuditta Pasta as Norma in 1831. But since Maria Callas is so famous in the role (with many recordings and even very brief film clips) and practically changed how we think of the role.....I wonder if I would be satisfied with Pasta's Norma. I am much more likely to enjoy Callas in the role in the 1950s much more. The problem is that we can not go back in time and actually see with our own eyes how these people sang or danced (the people before recordings that is), and often in my lifetime I have disagreed with critics, so I am not sure reviews from the past are always accurate. We have to simply assume the eyewitness accounts are accurate from the past. We are trusting without seeing for ourselves. We can read that Zucchi was expressive but until we get into a time machine and actually see for ourselves we can't really be sure. The performing arts have changed so much. I often wonder if the theatres were darker b/c they were lit by candlelight so people may have been watching people in dancing with less stage light. No idea. So what they were seeing might have looked better in the dark! LOL

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Thank you for the report, Amy. Like sandik, I loved the production when I saw the stream, so I envy you being able to see it live. And I agree with you about the joys of really beautiful, expressive and musical mime, especially since 19th-century ballet scores include so much music designed specifically for it. Superimposing something else onto that music never looks right to me.

Sadly, today there seem to be far more dancers adept at performing fouettés than mime. It's a pity that elements like mime (and épaulement and batterie...) have been neglected by recent generations, but I hope productions such as this one will help to re-insert them into the ballet dancer's arsenal to counteract what has become a somewhat monochromatic dancing style. I've had enough of the hard sell.

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Is there a good guide somewhere to some of the less frequently performed mime? Less frequently in the last 50 years that is. Everything I have found online shows the basics from any standard Swan Lake/ Giselle ca 1970 -- I don't need to learn the gesture for let's dance or I am royalty -- but when I see things like this video I realize there are a number of gestures I where I am forced back on guesswork.

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