BALLET HEADLINERS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR'S BEST
Bordeaux Opera Ballet
The fabulous talents gathered by
Diaghilev at the Ballets Russes celebrated in a mouthwatering programme of
Massine, Balanchine and Lifar ballets, all with stunning Picasso designs.
Playhouse.
George Balanchine was invited to come to the
United States by Lincoln Kirstein. He arrived in October, 1933. Almost his
first act was to found the School of American Ballet, which opened on
January 1, 1934, with a class of 25. Over the years Balanchine and Kirstein
repeatedly tried to start a company, but the school has endured to this day.
The school was responsible for the first ballet Balanchine made in America;
he choreographed SEREN for his students. Balanchine was to abandon many
ballets over the ensuing years, but he never let Serenade
drop. If you know that it was written for students to perform, you can see
signs of this in the ballet: the steps for the corps are generally simple,
and much of the choreography relies on the use of the arms. He had few male
dancers, and the ballet is cast mostly for women; the male parts in the
ballet are not very demanding. The work is a remarkable _tour de force_,
showing how much can be done with such limited means. The ballet was first
performed in March, 1935, and the company danced under the name of the
American Ballet. In 1935, it appeared that Balanchine might form an
advantageous alliance with the Metropolitan Opera. For various reasons, this
did not work out, and 1938 the alliance broke up. In 1941, he choreographed
Balustrade, to Stravinsky's violin concerto, for the Original Ballet Russe.
He continued to work with the Original Ballet Russe until 1946. In 1941 also
a revived American Ballet, under the name of Ballet Caravan, made a
good-will tour of South America for the U. S. State Department. In the
1930s and early 1940s, Balanchine made a name for himself choreographing for
musical comedies. He was always a swift and imperturbable worker, and this
made him especially valuable on Broadway. He revolutionized musical-comedy
dancing, particularly by making the action of the dance carry the plot
forward. (It is worth noting that Noverre, in 1761, urged choreographers for
opera to do this.) The New York City Ballet started out as Ballet Society,
the last (and finally successful) effort by Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein
to found an American company. Ballet Society gave subscription-only
performances in 1947 and 1948. In 1948, they were persuaded to give a few
performances that would be open to the public. These performances were given
at the New York City Center. One evening during the season, Morton Baum, who
was chairman of the City Center's finance committee, dropped by to see what
was going on. That evening's performance included Orpheus. Baum came out
afterward, asked just what Ballet Society was, and said, "I have been in the
presence of genius." Baum persuaded the management of the City Center to
offer Balanchine's company a permanent home. The company would be named the
New York City Ballet, to match the New York City Opera, who already used the
Center's facilities. This was the beginning of the New York City Ballet. The
City Center is a shallow auditorium, and very intimate for those of the
audience who sit in the first balcony, but for the performers it is cramped
and generally uncomfortable. In the early 1960s, it was proposed to include
a theater for the New York City companies in the new complex then being
built at Lincoln Center. Philip Johnson, the architect, designed the theater
with the New York City Ballet in mind, and they were the company who opened
the Theater in 1964. They have been the resident company ever since. Text
from Tom Parsons.
Cullberg
Ballet: Sweden's influential contemporary company, formerly run by
talented Mats Ek, shows two by Ek and his successor Johan Inger, whose
style is a cross between Ek and Jirí Kylián. Playhouse.
Compagnie François Verret: The unknown element in the dance programme is this French company, whose Chantier-Musil is a multiple-media creation inspired by Robert Musil's novel, The Man Without Qualities. Playhouse
Kirov Ballet Nutcracker:
No holiday season is complete without
Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Kirov Ballet brings Mikhail
Chemiakin’s production of the classic fairy tale to the Kennedy Center for
the first ballet engagement in the newly renovated Opera House. Premiered
at the Kirov’s 2001 Mariinsky Festival, Chemiakin’s Nutcracker is
highlighted with spectacular set and costume designs inspired by the
darker side of the story by E.T.A. Hoffman, which represents a departure
from the traditional children’s version. The company’s dancing is “superb”
(Clement Crisp, Financial Times) and Kirill Simonov’s choreography
is based on the original libretto by Marius Petipa.
The Scottish Ballet
at The Festival
Theatre, Edinburgh.
When Ashley Page agreed
to take on the ailing Scottish Ballet, he insisted that he wouldn't be
running just another minor ballet troupe. Certainly, Edinburgh's first
glimpse of its revamped national company showed it had changed out of
recognition. Page's determination to present world-class choreography
means that he has drawn his repertory equally from ballet and modern
vision .
