Alexei Ratmansky's Giselle

[FPF]

On 1/29/2020 at 7:14 PM, Drew said:

The Church is in clear view, so I sort of wondered if her grave wasn't simply at the far edge of the Churchyard, but perhaps there is another explanation...

I interpreted it the opposite way--that the church was on the far side of the lake that Hans/Hilarion gets tossed into, emphasizing that Giselle was buried at a distance from it. 

[California]

Ratmansky just posted on  Facebook a link to the last 16-minutes of Act II, including the Fugue:

https://www.facebook.com/irina.potapova.7965/videos/2442091219376527/UzpfSTEzNzc3MjM0Mzg6MTAyMTU3NTYwMzUwMzg2Nzk/

Edited February 4, 2020 by California

[Buddy]

14 hours ago, California said:

Ratmansky just posted on  Facebook a link to the last 16-minutes of Act II, including the Fugue:

https://www.facebook.com/irina.potapova.7965/videos/2442091219376527/UzpfSTEzNzc3MjM0Mzg6MTAyMTU3NTYwMzUwMzg2Nzk/

Thank you very much, California.

Here’s a recent interview with Olga Smirnova in Russian. Starting about midway she discusses this Giselle. (I used a Google translation and it seems pretty good. If you just translate a couple paragraphs at a time, I think that you get a more accurate result. The less you put in at one time, probably the better).

She says a few interesting things about the production. Somewhere, someone asked whether she had much of her own input into her interpretation. Here she states that Alexei Ratmansky was in charge of every detail of the entire production. She says that he first had her do a run-through as she would do it. Then he introduced what he already had in mind and that is how it was done. He told her that he wanted to see how she would do it and then he would better understand how to guide her to his intent. This doesn’t exclude the possibility that if he liked what he saw her do he might use it, but apparently he stuck to his original concepts, for the most part, throughout the entire production. She says that she respects him greatly for his ability to do this.

She does add that in some of the source material the Wilis were actually bacchanal-like. In fact, Giselle was supposed to do a seductive dance to lure Albrecht away from his shelter. The possibility of using this sort of interpretation was abandoned during the course of the rehearsals. Considering that this solo/duet is perhaps the most beautiful part of current productions, this was probably a very good decision.

https://www.lapersonne.com/post/olga-smirnova-bolshoi-theatre/

(Thanks to Ballet Friends forum from Russia)

Edited February 4, 2020 by Buddy
spelling corrections

[maps]

Thank you both for the links.  Have you tried the translator for Microsoft edge?  From the icon in the address bar it's 1 click  and does the entire page.  

I see similarities to Cuba for willis and Myrtha and the concept of the Albrecht diagonal - no entrechats or brises.  

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by maps

[cubanmiamiboy]

18 hours ago, maps said:

I see similarities to Cuba for willis and Myrtha and the concept of the Albrecht diagonal - no entrechats or brises.   

 

Definitely. And remember the Cuban version comes from a very old link to those first Giselles in London in the 1930's.  Dolin himself kept revisiting and retouching the production and personally rehearsing Alonso herself for important performances up to 1980, when Vasiliev went to Havana to dance with her. And Mary Skeaping staged her own version in Havana in the 1950's. Much of her input was erased by Dolin later on, but some stuff stayed. She even staged the Fugue Des Willis back then, but it did not survived after Dolin took over.

There are definitely many aspects I was very familiar with from Alonso/Dolin version.

1- The elbow bending/arm covering of the Willis face while running.

2- Berthe's mime 

3- The fast music ending. When I heard for the first time the for-Pavlova rearranging of the finale with the slow music-( first time I saw Giselle at the MET back in 2001)- I was puzzled.

4- The initial choreo for the "Gallop", in act I. Wrist bending for the girls.

5- The Willis turning their back and rejecting Giselle and Albrecht after Myrtha's branch breaks when she tries to curse them next to the cross.

Edited February 5, 2020 by cubanmiamiboy

[Ashton Fan]

 I am not sure that I gained a lot from seeing Bathilde and the Duke of Courland arrive on horse however authentic that may be theatrically and socially. It was interesting to encounter a sympathetic Bathilde rather than the cold and aloof creature one is used to seeing in Bow Street. I know that this is an attempt to capture something of the flavour of the ballet as a nineteenth century creation and it is almost certainly authentic but I am not sure that Hans/ Hilarion's characterisation as a peasant clod adds much to the mixture. However I suppose that if Bathilde is to be played more naturally and sympathetically rather than as an unfeeling aristocrat then someone else has to be presented as an unsympathetic character. It was a pleasant change to see the peasant pas de deux danced as just that rather than being hacked about to provide opportunities for more than two dancers. The thing that struck me most about the first act was that the mime sequence used in the reconstruction is shorter and simpler than the version which the Royal Ballet has been performing since the 1960's. According to the company's performance records  its current version was introduced in the production which Ashton and Karsavina staged in 1960. This mime sequence which the company has retained in subsequent productions is the version which Karsavina said was performed during her time with the Mariinsky. In it Berthe not only has the opportunity to warn Giselle of the threat which her love of dance poses for her but to provide the assembled peasants with a full account of the way in which the Wilis force unwary men to dance themselves to death. In the mime sequence Berthe demonstrates the confrontation between an unwary traveller and a Wili playing both characters. I can't help wondering when Ratmansky's version of the mime sequence became the norm ?

I found the second act extraordinarily effective and was more than happy to see the loss of the pressage lift which is little more than a twentieth century technical trick which adds nothing to the ballet aesthetically or dramatically.  The lift which replaced it is far more attractive and aesthetically in keeping with the rest of the choreography. I felt that when I saw Ball perform it when he took over as Albrecht mid performance at Covent Garden not so long ago. I didn't feel then that I had been cheated by not seeing what has become the Giselle cliche lift  or in this streamed performance. Its replacement looks far more stylistically appropriate in a ballet in which those performing the choreography should be more concerned with the creation of atmosphere and mood than having opportunities for technical display. I have to say that I was pleased to see a production which fell back on the use of nineteenth century stage technology with Giselle showering Albrecht with flowers from a tree rather than all but handing them to him. While there were elements which did not entirely convince me such as the cross formation of the Wilis which, as I understand it, has its source in Justament's notebooks I should love to have the opportunity to see the production live. I hope that it is one of the productions which the Bolshoi bring with them next time the company visits Covent Garden. It was good to have the opportunity to see a Romantic ballet text treated with respect and to have the opportunity to go on Ratmansky's artistic voyage of exploration.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Ashton Fan

[cubanmiamiboy]

I've watched this many times during this hideous lockdown, and I agree with all previous assessments. This staging is a total winner. A cornerstone in this ballet's history. As many have observed, the most radical aspect of it , dramatically, is for the audience to be presented with this totally different design of Bathilde, who morphs from the well known high nosed, cold princess to a concerned and warm noble woman who doesn't show any sign of being too affected by his fiance's bachelor stunt with a sickly, fragile peasant girl. When both Giselle and her are pointing at their fingers, indicating that they are both linked to the same man, she doesn't look as if she feels threatened by her nemesis whatsoever.  Bathilde discovers the affair, and still she knows that this girl is no competition for her. Even further...she shows pity for her...she feels sorry for her. That and the fact that she, along the whole court, stays during the entire mad and death scene, is quite a statement.  Many modern productions have her and the court abandon the scene in its beginning, leaving only the peasants onstage.  Very interesting.

The final scene of Act II is quite the main dish among the recreated additions.  I have read accounts of the original libretto stating that Bathilde witnesses the whole exchange and farewell in between Albrecht and Giselle.  I even recall that they describe her kneeling and trembling while watching.  Ratmansky doesn't really places her during the exchange, but rather have her come into the stage right after Giselle has been swallowed by the earth, but he clearly follows the original idea of Giselle reminding Albrecht that he has a moral duty to marry Bathilde, to whom he should go. By having Albrecht reach the hand of Bathilde at the end, Ratmansky totally breaks the sacrosanct XX century image of a lonely and sorrowful Albrecht closing the ballet. Brilliant.

I'm still very confused about Giselle being taken to the grass instead of going back to her grave. What is this...? Does she cease to be a Willi..? Is that a hint that she becomes corporeal...? Wat's your take on this...?

Also...does anybody knows at what point in history did the idea of having Bathilde in the final scene disappeared ? Did it even make it to Petipa's re staging...? In any of the books of Markova-(quite the earliest direct link to the original Imperial version)- she mentions anything about it.

 

Edited October 30, 2020 by cubanmiamiboy

[Buddy]

Because of Olga Smirnova’s recent and very fine performance of Giselle at the Mariinsky I’ve become interested in and have watched all of Act II of Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘historic reconstruction’ of Giselle for the Bolshoi. I haven’t been able to find Act I on the internet. If Act I is in any way the equal of Act II, I have to say that I do find this work extremely charming, especially as performed by these outstanding Bolshoi artists, and do think that it’s  well worth preserving at the Bolshoi.

 

 

[California]

26 minutes ago, Buddy said:

 I haven’t been able to find Act I on the internet. If Act I is in any way the equal of Act II, I have to say that I do find this work extremely charming, especially as performed by these outstanding Bolshoi artists, and do think that it’s  well worth preserving at the Bolshoi.

Excerpts from Act I and II on YouTube.

I saw it in a theater in January 2020 right before the COVID shut-downs. I wish Ratmansky were more generous in releasing his reconstructions on DVDs or Medici or paid downloads. I'd buy this one, as well as his Swan Lake, which I've seen in the theater. I am very curious about his Bayadere reconstruction for Berlin. It seems he has the same attitude as Robbins: he wants people to come to the theater. I wish we could!!

 

[Buddy]

Thank you, California.

The Act II that I watched features Olga Smirnova and Artemy Belyakov with Angelina Vlashinets as Myrtha. 

I would like to say that after my initial Act II viewing I consider their performances, along with those of the remaining cast, to be perhaps the most finely and poetically charming in nuance that I’ve seen presented by the Bolshoi.

Added:

I’ve watched the excerpts posted here by California and am very touched. For Ekaterina Krysanova, this is the lighter than air performing at which she  excels.

Alexei Ratmansky and these remarkable casts of Bolshoi artists take what could simply be theatrical melodrama and turn it into heart-touching theatrical magic.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Buddy

[volcanohunter]

41 minutes ago, California said:

I wish Ratmansky were more generous in releasing his reconstructions on DVDs or Medici or paid downloads.

Ultimately this decision isn't entirely Ratmansky's to make. The recordings belong to BelAir Media, which chooses not to release most Bolshoi cinemacasts on DVD. (When the Bolshoi streamed a few performances early in the pandemic, it needed permission from BelAir to do it.) Ratmansky, you may recall, once posted a bootleg recording of his Paquita, which had been livestreamed by one administration of the Bavarian State Ballet, and then physically destroyed by the next.

[California]

1 minute ago, volcanohunter said:

Ultimately this decision isn't entirely Ratmansky's to make. The recordings belong to BelAir Media, which chooses not to release most Bolshoi cinemacasts on DVD. (When the Bolshoi streamed a few performances early in the pandemic, it needed permission from BelAir to do it.) Ratmansky, you may recall, once posted a bootleg recording of his Paquita, which had been livestreamed by one administration of the Bavarian State Ballet, and then physically destroyed by the next.

So unfortunate. I would have thought (hoped?) that Ratmansky would have a major role in this decision, given his stature. Bolshoi and Mariinsky have released a huge number of DVDs (as have Royal Ballet and many European companies). But not these!

[volcanohunter]

By my count, BelAir has released 21% of its Bolshoi cinemacasts since 2010. The Royal Ballet's average is a lot higher. Stature is one thing, but ABT's experience suggests that Ratmansky doesn't necessarily sell, and that may be true on DVD also.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

4 hours ago, Buddy said:

Because of Olga Smirnova’s recent and very fine performance of Giselle at the Mariinsky I’ve become interested in and have watched all of Act II of Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘historic reconstruction’ of Giselle for the Bolshoi. I haven’t been able to find Act I on the internet.

Is this what you're looking for?

Here's Act 2:

 

[Buddy]

26 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Is this what you're looking for?

 

 

This is exactly what I'm looking for, Kathleen. Thank you.

[California]

3 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

By my count, BelAir has released 21% of its Bolshoi cinemacasts since 2010. The Royal Ballet's average is a lot higher. Stature is one thing, but ABT's experience suggests that Ratmansky doesn't necessarily sell, and that may be true on DVD also.

I understand that La Scala is returning to its more "traditional" Swan Lake after a few seasons performing the Ratmansky reconstruction. Still, isn't there a market for paid downloads for some of these things, without the physical medium of DVDs? Such historic importance with all of them.

[Helene]

Especially since La Scala is already on the RAI streaming platform, on which many of their opera offerings were available for free in the early pandemic days.  So is Bayreuth, and you'd think they could make incremental income out of these streams without having to create physical media, warehouse and distribute it, fulfill it, etc.

[volcanohunter]

Both the Royal Opera House and the Paris Opera now offer paid streams. If the model proves to be successful, perhaps La Scala will follow, although there may be pushback to asking viewers to pay to watch productions filmed on the taxpayer's dime.

As far as I know, neither the Ratmansky Sleeping Beauty nor his Swan Lake were filmed during their runs at La Scala. Even before Manuel Legris assumed directorship of the company, the Ratmansky productions were dropped and the Nureyev versions were returned. (In the case of Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty this was even justified, since it premiered at La Scala and constitutes an important part of the company's history. That revival was filmed, televised and released on DVD.) Now that Legris is director, the Nureyev productions are firmly entrenched. Last month even Makarova's Bayadère was replaced with Nureyev's version.

Edited January 4, 2022 by volcanohunter

[Buddy]

Purists be ware.  😊

Inspired by what I consider to be the absolutely charming elements of this production, I’m in the process of creating my own reimagined version of Giselle.

The ‘mad scene’ becomes the scene where she falls madly in love….

You take it from there.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

1 hour ago, Buddy said:

The ‘mad scene’ becomes the scene where she falls madly in love….

Oh, I think I'll go down a different path. The "mad scene" is where she gets good and mad. She's got better things to do with her life than be the next dead girl a thoughtless nobleman begs forgiveness from in the last act. 

[ABT Fan]

1 hour ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Oh, I think I'll go down a different path. The "mad scene" is where she gets good and mad. She's got better things to do with her life than be the next dead girl a thoughtless nobleman begs forgiveness from in the last act. 

😂🤣😂🤣

[Buddy]

5 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Oh, I think I'll go down a different path. 

I do agree with you that these women deserve much better.

Mine is more in keeping with the children’s version that I’m working on — “Gigelle (Giggle) and The Sillys”

Alexei Ratmansky (and George Balanchine) can be delightfully light-hearted. I can live with that.

 

“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby”

 

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Buddy

[Drew]

6 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Oh, I think I'll go down a different path. The "mad scene" is where she gets good and mad. She's got better things to do with her life than be the next dead girl a thoughtless nobleman begs forgiveness from in the last act. 

I remember when I began taking Mr. Drew to the ballet. After a couple of years, he had seen Giselle and Swan Lake (repeatedly even) and we were gearing up for his first Bayadere.  I started to give him a little synopsis and as I got to the part of the story where the nobleman betrays the woman he had sworn to love, Mr. Drew said to me something along the lines of "oh that's what happens in all of them..." 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Drew