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The Petipa Bicentennial (March 11, 2018)


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24 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

 

Well, there would still be Bournonville. :dry: 

 

The loss of Petipa would be an immense tragedy, but it would not necessarily follow that ballet itself would be destroyed. There have been times when Petipa has fallen out of favor and been performed less frequently, but ballet continued to be created and performed nevertheless.

 

I don't agree that "reconstruction" is a 21st-century idea. Historically the Royal Ballet has taken great pride in being guardian of the Petipa-N. Sergeyev legacy, even if certain Ashtonian interpolations are now considered essential elements of the productions. But I can see how the desire for "reconstructing" ballets has taken a cue from the "period" movement in music and the "original practice" movement in theater, both of which emerged in the latter 20th century but don't have any obvious connection to video for mass consumption. It's a recognition that "text" and performance are different things, and sometimes the latter can stray too far.

 

The major difference still lies in the notation. It's less dangerous to mess around with an opera and a play because the original score or text can always been retrieved. You'll hardly ever see a Shakespeare play performed in its entirety, but no one sweats it, because most of us still have our university copy of a Complete Shakespeare standing on a bookshelf. Any cut material could be re-inserted at any time. Even the Don Carlos conundrum isn't really a conundrum, since none of the music is in danger of being lost. (I say, any of the Italian versions sanctioned by Verdi is kosher.) In ballet the choreography and performance tend to be bound together very tightly, so changes in performance style constitute a very real risk to the existence of the original choreography. It bothers me more than I can say that some stagers of ballets will preserve the libretto, the score and even the original designs, but then alter the choreography as they see fit. Somehow the work of dramatists, composers and visual artists are deemed more worthy of preservation than the work of the original choreographers.

 

And you probably know that the reason some composers wrote out their embellishments was because performers tended to take too many liberties on that front, not because the composers wanted more decoration. Quite the contrary. They were trying to maintain some degree of control over their music. Fortunately, it's the composers' notated versions that have come down to us, not the showboating improvisations. Petipa hasn't always been so lucky.

 

Some of the composers' embellishments were as florid as ones that are not by the composer. And "showboating" (not my word choice) has been proven to enhance the drama of the moment in many instances, although not all. That is because the composers actually expected it. Singers were taught the art of ornamentation. It was not just a diva simply showing off, although, yes, there were cases of that. However, it was a requirement at the time. Of course, embellishing Wagner or Puccini would be considered bad taste, but 18th and 19th century operas are composed in such a way where it is basically necessary. In the mid 20th century many great conductors abhorred the practice even in operas where it was supposed to happen. Muti is one I mentioned who eventually loosened up and allowed some embellishment in bel canto. Now lots of research has proven that many of Mozart's operas are actually enhanced by including ornamentation in the da capo arias instead of treating Mozart like Wagner (only playing and singing the notes on the page).

 

To me the performing arts are not unlike language. Both are alive. We no longer speak Old English because mistakes in the language became the norm over time and slowly various idioms or slang terms crept in changing the language forever. There is always an attempt to have "correct grammar" so that there is a norm and standard we can adhere to for research writing, a common standard, etc. but needless to say the language still changes, because language is a living thing, not a finite thing engraved into stone forever despite grammar books having been published over and over through the years trying to set the language in stone. It doesn't work. Language evolves against our will. I suspect the performing arts are the same way, and that includes ballet, even more so with ballet because not everyone can read the notations. Even symphonies and operas with scores are open to interpretation (conductors argue over speed, tradition, etc), and there are always the more rigid interpreters and the liberal interpreters.

 

I do think reconstructions are a great thing (the reconstructionists are maybe like the Wagners of today wanting to give more respect to the art of ballet), believe it or not. I am not arguing AGAINST reconstructions. I think the research into them is important and staging them so we can compare and contrast is great. I just don't think those who did what they thought best in the times they were in should be condemned as criminals who desecrated Petipa. Ashton probably also did what he did in hopes of helping ballet. We didn't walk in their shoes and live their lives, and unless we can find solid proof (for example, in a personal diary) that these people from various ballet companies set out to harm Petipa intentionally we should just be glad we have their versions and the newfound interest in reconstructions side-by-side.....

 

Let's take the Beverly Sills recording of Giulio Cesare. It is so dated and all wrong after all the research into period instruments and performing editions of Handel. But I doubt any opera lover doesn't find some amazing things in that recording and wouldn't be without it. In some ways it is a more exciting recording of Handel's opera than another period correct recording that I have which makes me fall asleep (so who is championing Handel better?)......Cecilia Bartoli claims Giuditta Pasta was really a mezzo (and there is SOME good arguments for that viewpoint), and her recording of Norma is supposedly closer to what we might have heard in the 19th century. However, no respectable opera lover would throw away their Maria Callas recordings of Norma who continues to be the touchstone that we judge all Normas by many years after her death. Her influence over the role is so great that La Scala doesn't stage it. It took years for them to finally stage La Traviata (another famous Callas role). Every opera lover I know would rather throw the Cecilia Bartoli Norma in the trash and take the Maria Callas recordings (both bootleg and studio recordings) to a desert island. Her Norma is probably all wrong by 19th century standards. Maybe Bellini wouldn't like it. Maybe he would. No way to know. But every opera lover ADORES Callas in the role and wishes he could hear a Norma of that stature in his lifetime. But, no, more "correct" sopranos sing it and put us to sleep and make us find less to love in Bellini.

 

So my point is......there are no absolutes.......the Royal Ballet with Ashton pieces, the Kirov Sergeyev versions, the many others.......they all can be loved and enjoyed along with the reconstructions. Nobody reading BA today experienced pure Petipa in the 19th century. We all learned his artistry in "changed" versions. Reconstructions are actually pretty new. I find it strange that some people act like they have been raised on pure Petipa from the 19th century and are shocked and disgusted by the very versions that probably introduced them to this beautiful art.

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I don't think the discussion here is around performance style per se, although I brought it up in the context of researching the past, and certainly not about interpretation. When Ratmansky aims to reconstruct Petipa from Stepanov notation, I suspect it isn't so much because of objections to six-o'clock extensions (though I, for one, find them abhorrent in 19th-century ballet, and always have), as to restore the choreography. The argument here isn't so much with Zakharova (or Bartoli or Callas), as with stagers who apparently thought they knew better than Petipa. There's no evidence to suggest that Grigorovich was "forced" to ditch the usual Odile variation and replace it with entirely different choreography and music, because a "traditional" version was used in most Soviet productions. That was Grigorovich's (arrogant) choice. There is no evidence that K. Sergeyev's vision scene adagio was considered sacrosanct in the USSR, because Grigorovich was free to reject it. K. Sergeyev (arrogantly) thought he could improve upon Petipa. Now it's entirely possible that most companies couldn't reconstruct some choreography as originally conceived by Petipa, simply for lack of bodies, but I do wish they would try harder. I can't look upon these way-after-Petipa productions as some sort of valiant effort to preserve his work for future generations. They seem predicated on the assumption that we just wouldn't find the originals interesting and driven by choreographers' determination to impose themselves on someone else's work. Would you really want high Cs interpolated all over the place in Mozart? Do you enjoy hearing him set to a disco beat? The fact that these productions may have been our introduction to some of these ballets is irrelevant. As a kid I occasionally ate fast-food "pies," but today I find them disgusting, though I didn't reject all pastry by any means. I just limit myself to the good stuff now. Is that really so strange?

 

It's interesting that you should bring up the example of language, because researchers into the "original pronunciation" of early modern English can demonstrate very specifically how changes in pronunciation have led to many of Shakespeare's puns being lost. I'm very grateful when OP and historical practice illuminate and restore them to audiences, and this has nothing to do with purism. It's about finally getting the joke.

Edited by volcanohunter
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When K. Sergeyev staged Swan Lake in the early 50s, he preserved Vaganova's recent - now iconic - portions of the first lakeside scene, such as the double-row of swans for Odette's entrance at the end of the swans' entree. So we can thank him for the existence of some glorious passages by a number of post-Petipa choreographers.

 

But the closest SWAN LAKE to Petipa/Ivanov in existence - the one that I'd use to honor Petipa on his 200th b'day -  is unquestionably the Zurich Ballet's 2016 recon by Ratmansky. The real deal.  (The Royal Ballet had the closest to it, thanks to Wylie's research for the 1980s Dowell staging, but that one is sadly being put to rest. I wonder if Liam Scarlett will keep the Wylie portions? Or will it turn out to be the ANTI-Petipa, anti-birthday non-tribute to Petipa?)

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I actually know Amy and like her very much, but my only problem is someone saying that people abused and desecrated (she probably didn't use that word)  without having spoken to those very people and knowing what was going through their minds. I don't like someone saying Grigorovich was arrogant in his choices. Maybe he was. You could be 100% correct, but it is an opinion. Without knowing WHY he substituted a new variation for Odile, I am not totally sure someone can be condemned. Maybe you know why. Maybe it is documented. I haven't read about his Swan Lake (just seen it and don't like it as much as others). However, I did not live in Soviet Russia and did not have Soviet censors or politicos breathing down my neck. How do we know what it was like and whether choices had to be made? Maybe when his version of Swan Lake debuted the ballerina dancing Odile hated the Odile variation and had enough power to demand a change. Maybe it was purely Griogorovich's arrogance, as you say, but I do believe "changing things up" in ballet was normal until recent times. With hindsight it is easy to declare these people as horrible people, but hindsight is 20/20. We did not experience the Zeitgeist of that period. Why do these people have to be condemned? We just need to know that there are notations and research and reconstructions that may shed new light into Petipa and be happy with that. We can enjoy reconstructions and what went on before. No one needs to be condemned or negated.

 

Also, another point is that a choreographer wants to create something "new".......that is why they do completely new ballets.....the hope their artistry adds to the canon. They don't want to take dictation. They want to create new art. Then, when they become famous they are offered money to re-create Swan Lake, for example. A ballet company says, "Let's see what you can do with Swan Lake!" In their minds, there is no point unless they create a new Swan Lake. I am sure many of these choices are not necessarily "valiant," but money motivated, and money puts food on the table. I think many Ballet Alert members forget that ballet is also a business. Dancers need to eat. Choreographers need to eat. Ballet companies need to survive financially. So the ballet needs to be a success. If the sign of the times want higher extensions and grander grand jetes and more gymnastics and that helps put bottoms into seats, ballet companies are going to do it. The fact that Nutcracker has become a Christmas tradition in America demonstrates how money factors into ballet company decisions. Wonder if any American company would jettison their Christmas Nutcracker and produce a modern dance night instead. Doubt it.

 

I will continue to be interested in seeing reconstructions when I can in order to understand Petipa better, but I will also continue to go see the Mariinsky's Swan Lake which has a special poetic mood to it in the lakeside scenes that no other version has, in my opinion. I love that reconstructions are being done, but I will cry rivers when and if the Sergeyev Swan Lake is put to rest forever.

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4 hours ago, Amy said:

In my opinion, those Vaganova passages are getting as tacky as ever....

.....

And apparently, Igor Zelensky was instrumental in removing the Paquita reconstruction from the Munich repertoire.

 

Thanks for this, Amy. "Tacky" is the word for the designs of the Munich PAQUITA (day-glo gypsy dresses! Jumbo columns in the ballroom! White polyester/shiny sateen tutus!). I can't blame Zelensky for retiring the production but he should consider reinstating it with better designs, maybe renting the POB sets & costumes for a season? Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

 

i would also love to see Ratmansky's SLEEPING BEAUTY performed in the Mariinsky's 1999 reconstruction designs, if only just once in my life. The perfect staging in the perfect designs...sigh.

 

One more wish: to see Ekaterinburg's FILLE MAL GARDEE recon by Vikharev in Tsarist-era designs, rather than the "Van Gogh" sets/costumes.

 

 

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As posted in our ABT forum, ABT will be presenting a full-evening staging (by Ratmansky) of Petipa's HARLEQUINADE in June 2018, during the company's Met season. 

So we will see two (2) stagings of Petipa's HARLEQUINADE during the 2017/18 season, as we already know about Yuri Burlaka's upcoming staging in Ekaterinburg, Russia (March 15, 2018). See post #13 of this thread.

 

ABT news:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-plans-a-new-old-harlequinade-for-ballet-theater.html?smid=fb-share&referer=

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As reported on the Bolshoi forum, the 2017/2018 season was just announced. It will include an evening devoted to Petipa, with three reconstructed one-act ballets, one each by Burlaka, Ratmansky & Vikharev (summer 2018).  How amazing to see this "collaboration" by three of the very greatest Petipa "reconstructionists" ever! (Russian-lang. media provides exact dates of this "Grand Petipa" 3ple bill: July 6, 7 & 8, 2018.)

 

Note, thanks to Vaganova Today blog:

 

http://www.vaganovatoday.com/bolshoi-announces-2017-2018

 

Link to Bolshoi's site:

http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/about/press/articles/confirence/plans-242-season/

 

There'll also be gala concerts @ the Bolshoi in honor of Petipa's birthday. Details to come. (Russian media adds: May 31-June 1, 2018)

 

It's going to be hard choose where to go, LOL!  Any "Petipa Tours" being organized, featuring Russia?

 

 

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On 5/2/2017 at 3:31 PM, volcanohunter said:

There's good reason to think that K. Sergeyev could have staged Petipa's ballets with far greater accuracy if he had wanted to do it, but unfortunately, the Soviets played fast and loose with the choreographic text.

 

 

 

They sure did. For me the most horrid example of such is the complete dismantle of Petipa's Nutcracker. I have always been a vocal defender of this ballet, and two of the most ludicrous versions I have seen are the Bolshoi-(Grigorovich/candelabra)- and Kirov-(Vainonen/Sugar Plum pseudo Rose Adagio). Petipa's version was totally discarded, and with it what I consider to be the most beautiful adagio in a pdd...the Fee Dragee/Prince Coqueluche. As others have noted...thank God for the White Russians who kept this pas alive in the West-(N. Sergueev for the Vic Wells, and later Karsavina's help for Sir Peter Wright's and A. Fedorova for the BRd MC/BT). Just as with the recent scenary alterations of MCB's "Midsummer", I am always puzzled by the constant PERSONAL need/ego feeder to keep "re inventing" things that DO NOT need to be reinvented...namely Balanchine or Petipa.

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3 hours ago, Natalia said:

I agree, Cubanmiamiboy. Oh, those Grigorovich candelabri! :lol:

 

The orig NUT was by Ivanov, not Petipa...but I know that YOU know that. It's a common mistake/typo.

 

Yes. I have followed all the information about it...Petipa being sick by the time it was produced and such...although I have also read that it was just the Snow Scene what Ivanov created. If anything...it is true that Ivanov is too commonly erased from public prasing-(also with his SL white acts). But...the point here is the post Romanov repeated trying outs at changing glorious Tsarist era choreography that didn't need to be changed. (Even Vaganova tried...to the extent of suppressing the original overture of SL and placing that of The Voyevoda instead!!?). When you see the RB Nutcracker Grand Pas...and then compare it with the darned candelabri Bolshoi thing you go like..."What the hell..?!"

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On May 25, 2017 at 0:22 PM, Natalia said:

As reported on the Bolshoi forum, the 2017/2018 season was just announced. It will include an evening devoted to Petipa, with three reconstructed one-act ballets, one each by Burlaka, Ratmansky & Vikharev (summer 2018).  How amazing to see this "collaboration" by three of the very greatest Petipa "reconstructionists" ever! (Russian-lang. media provides exact dates of this "Grand Petipa" 3ple bill: July 6, 7 & 8, 2018.)

 

Note, thanks to Vaganova Today blog:

 

http://www.vaganovatoday.com/bolshoi-announces-2017-2018

 

Link to Bolshoi's site:

http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/about/press/articles/confirence/plans-242-season/

 

There'll also be gala concerts @ the Bolshoi in honor of Petipa's birthday. Details to come. (Russian media adds: May 31-June 1, 2018)

 

It's going to be hard choose where to go, LOL!  Any "Petipa Tours" being organized, featuring Russia?

 

 

 

Sadly, as reported in the Obituaries subforum, Sergei Vikharev passed away today. May he rest in peace. Not sure how this will impact the various planned Petipa tributes in Moscow & Ekaterinburg with which he was associated.

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Definitely go see them if you have the funds!  There is no way to know if they will be performed in 20 years. 

 

Classical music sounded different on early instruments, and there are symphonies devoted to authentic reconstructions.  But if you grew up on Glenn Gould's recordings of Bach, it would still be a shock to hear the music as originally played. 

 

I would love to see a choreographer's festival performed as the Olympics are presented: 16 days in a different city with multiple theatres.  With lecture-demonstrations, etc.  What a tourist attraction that would be!  

 

2018: Moscow

2019: Paris

2020: New York

2021: Buenos Aires

2022: London

 

Really, you could do the same with Ashton and Balanchine works.  

 

 

Edited by Jayne
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1 hour ago, Jayne said:

......

I would love to see a choreographer's festival performed as the Olympics are presented: 16 days in a different city with multiple theatres.  With lecture-demonstrations, etc.  What a tourist attraction that would be!  

...

 

 

 

Sign me up, Jayne! Assume that funding will somehow come.  :)  

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On 4/30/2017 at 11:56 AM, Birdsall said:

 Without all of the artists keeping some Petipa ballets in the active repertoire (even if changes were made) there would not be interest in reconstructions, because his works would have been totally forgotten without all the people in between. In my opinion, people and companies made decisions to keep the public happy and to keep their government happy.

 

Re: Seegueev/Dudinskaya's reign.(and Grigorovich...and Vainonen)

I don't really think they did more goodness than not by trying hard at changing Petipa's originals in order to establish their own choreographic legacy. If anything...I feel that the core of the ballet warhorses was better kept in the west, via N.Seegueev and many of his fellow exiled dancers. The Vic Wells was truly the niche in which they were better cherished and passed on, not the Mariinsky..nor the Bolshoi. There is a lot to learn about this in all of Markova's books, as she was the one ballerina lucky enough to embody N. Seegueev revivals. Giselle...Swan Lake...Nutcracker...Sleeping Beauty. Coppelia...La Fille Mal Gardee. They all survived in better shape than in Russia. It was quite a shame that Balanchine's Raymonda didn't live too long, for which I am sure that it had probably many touches he kept from memory as he  had probably seen the Mariinsky production. (If one sees his Pas de dix clapping variation, considering that he had not seen the ballet in almost four decades, it is obvious that he had quite a powerful memory). And...that is without even getting into everything that dissapeared out of lack of enough care and respect for Petipa and his legacy. The Soviets embarked in their showy dramballets, and no...they are really not big enough...beautiful enough to try to substitute Petipa's grandeur. That's why I give Makarova's attempt at giving back Bayadere its original logical closure a big round of applause. And still...after Makarova...after Vikharev's try out at restoring such for his home company, we are still presented the Soviet truncated version, next in DC. Right now there is NO reason whatsoever for which new generations of ballet goers are being shown this ballet sans its final act.

 

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6 hours ago, Natalia said:

My sentiments are totally with yours, Cubanmiamiboy. Alas, I can think of one reason why today's audiences will likely not see BAYADERE's 4th act: union overtime-payment rules. :cool:

 

Would that be an issue in Russia...?

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On July 4, 2017 at 8:29 AM, Joseph said:

Any word on the conference? 

 

The Vaganova Academy will host a three-day Petipa Bicentennial Conference ("Homage to Petipa - Petipa Bridge") on March 10-12, 2018. The dates include Petipa's actual birthdate, March 11! They're inviting researchers/ scholars to submit papers for presentation by Sept. 15, 2017. Details in this FB notice, which contains a link to further details on  the event (translation available):

 

https://m.facebook.com/academyvaganova/photos/a.699768383455783.1073741827.699758070123481/1313885005377448/?type=3&source=48

 

The additional info, within the notice, including main topics of the "Petipa Bridge":

 

http://vaganovaacademy.ru/index.php?id=1288

 

Nikolai Tsiskaridze heads the impressive conference committee. Elizabeth Souritz also involved. No word yet on any performances at the Mariinsky or other ballet theaters across the city...or if any of the planned shows may be reconstructions...a very controversial topic among coaches who grew up in the Soviet era..but not necessarily Tsiskaridze.

 

p.s. The long document confirms that this is the follow-on to the October 2015 conference in Bordeaux. The same university that co-sponsored the 2015 edition is co-sponsoring this one.

 

Edited by Natalia
Added "p.s." About link with Bordeaux 2015 event
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35 minutes ago, Natalia said:

 

The Vaganova Academy will host a three-day Petipa Bicentennial Conference ("Homage to Petipa - Petipa Bridge") on March 10-12, 2018. The dates include Petipa's actual birthdate, March 11! They're inviting researchers/ scholars to submit papers for presentation by Sept. 15, 2017. Details in this FB notice, which contains a link to further details on  the event (translation available):

 

https://m.facebook.com/academyvaganova/photos/a.699768383455783.1073741827.699758070123481/1313885005377448/?type=3&source=48

 

The additional info, within the notice, including main topics of the "Petipa Bridge":

 

http://vaganovaacademy.ru/index.php?id=1288

 

Nikolai Tsiskaridze heads the impressive conference committee. Elizabeth Souritz also involved. No word yet on any performances at the Mariinsky or other ballet theaters across the city...or if any of the planned shows may be reconstructions...a very controversial topic among coaches who grew up in the Soviet era..but not necessarily Tsiskaridze.

 

Thanks Natalia! I translated it and it looks like some will be in English. Do you know if there is a fee to participate? 

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1 hour ago, Joseph said:

Thanks Natalia! I translated it and it looks like some will be in English. Do you know if there is a fee to participate? 

 

Not yet. I've asked about that and about possible plans for associated performances. Ideally, I'd love to see a week of international companies in StP, presenting their recons one after another (ABT Beauty, La Scala with Raymonda, Zurich with Swan Lake, Bolshoi w/ Coppelia, Esmeralda, and Corsaire, Mariinsky's Giselle (or PNB?), Munich Paquita, Ekaterinburg w/ Fille Mal Gardee)...and all will be commercially recorded! There's no cost in dreaming, is there?

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2 hours ago, Natalia said:

 

Not yet. I've asked about that and about possible plans for associated performances. Ideally, I'd love to see a week of international companies in StP, presenting their recons one after another (ABT Beauty, La Scala with Raymonda, Zurich with Swan Lake, Bolshoi w/ Coppelia, Esmeralda, and Corsaire, Mariinsky's Giselle (or PNB?), Munich Paquita, Ekaterinburg w/ Fille Mal Gardee)...and all will be commercially recorded! There's no cost in dreaming, is there?

Exactly! Ok - I'll stay abreast on this!! Thank you so much for passing the information over! 

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