Ballet

Let's take a closer look at the ballet itself. It is traditionally split into a Prologue and 3 Acts. However, some productions may only fewer Acts or incorporate the Prologue into Act I. This is based on the original synopsis for The Sleeping Beauty, but I've included notes on any major deviations from modern productions.

>Prologue

Aurora's christening, a grand and happy affair. Among those invited are 6 fairies, who all decide to gift the baby a positive trait: beauty, courage, sweetness, musical talent, and mischief.* The Lilac Fairy arrives but before she can give Aurora a gift, Carabosse--the only fairy not invited--arrives in a fury. She demands to know why she had not received an invitation and the King and Queen protest that she had been invited--it is revealed that the Master of Ceremonies (Catalabutte in some productions) forgot to send her invitation. Carabosse beats Catalabutte with her stick, then decides to place a curse on Aurora: she will grow up with all these gifts, but she when she turns 16, she will prick her finger on a Spindle and then die. Carabosse ignores everyone's pleas for mercy and leaves. The Lilac Fairy, who has yet to bestow a gift, then steps in and alters the curse to make Aurora sleep for 100 years. Everyone is unsettled, but relieved.

*Some productions change up the gifts and replace them with things such as serenity, intelligence, playfulness, etc. The names of the christening fairies vary from production to production as well.

>Act 1: The Spell

Aurora's 16th birthday. It is a grand affair to which the entire kingdom is invited. Before the party begins, Catalabutte finds several peasant woman with spindles, which were banned in the kingdom. The King sentences them to death, but the Queen convinces him to spare their lives.* After a procession, Princess Aurora makes her debut. She is introduced to her 4 suitors--it is here that the now famous "Rose Adagio" sequence is performed.** Afterward, a stranger gives Aurora a spindle, something she has never seen before. Aurora dances with it as her parents attempt to persaude her to drop it; she pricks her finger and falls asleep. The stranger, as you might guess, reveals herself to be Carabosse and laughs triumphatntly at the seemingly dead princess, then leaves. The Lilac Fairy appears to remind the king and queen that Aurora is merely asleep. She and her attendants then cast a sleeping spell over the entire kingdom.

*This sequence is often cut in modern productions, often for time constraint purposes.

*The "Rose Adagio" is one of the most iconic, difficult and notorious segments in the entire ballet repetoire. In the Rose Adagio, Aurora must go on en pointe with one leg, and hold the other leg extended and back, bent to be parallel to the floor. Each of the 4 suitors takes her hand for a moment, then lets go and she holds her balance on her own.Then the suitors take her hand again back and turn her around, en pointe. It sounds simple but it takes incredible strength and balance to hold this position and is often considered the defining moment for any dancer playing Aurora.

There's a ton of versions to watch online, and everyone will have their own opinions about quality. Personally I enjoy Aurelie Dupont's Rose Adagio. She doesn't showboat, looks at each suitor to greet them (I think too many dancers forget they still have to play a character here) and it doesn't appear too strained: youtu.be/u4aLIeg2Mik?t=402

>Act II: The Vision

100 years later. A prince, Prince Désiré*, is dancing with his lovely but demanding fiance. He is visibly unhappy with her and asks for some time alone**. He heads to the forest, where the Lilac Fairy finds him and shows him a vision of Aurora, who beckons to him. The Lilac Fairy explains the curse and Prince Désiré asks to be taken to the castle. Carabosse appears and tries to stop them, but the Lilac Fairy and the Prince ward her off. The prince kisses Aurora and she awakens, as do the rest of the court. Prince Désiré proposes marriage, and Aurora accepts.

*The Prince is sometimes called Prince Florimund.
**Shortly after the 1890 premiere, this scenario was revised to have Prince Désiré hunting in the forest with his friends and courtiers, who are entertained by some local peasants. Désiré does not have a fiance but is flirted with by various noble women, who do not interest him.

>Act III: The Wedding

The final act is mostly divertisements from the many guests at the wedding, including the Jewel fairies, the Lilac fairy, as well as fairy tale characters* like Puss in Boots an dthe White Cat, Princess Florine and the Bluebird, Cinderella and her prince, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, and so on.** Aurora and Prince Désiré perform a grand pas de deux before the wedding crowd.*** They are married and the Lilac Fairy blesses their marriage.

*Some productions elect to eliminate the fairy tale divertissements or limit them to 1-2, usually to cut down on length. Over the years some "new" characters (such as Bluebeard, the Porcelain Princess, Florestan and his sisters) have been added to the wedding roster as well.

**Sometime between 1890 and 1903, Carabosse was added to this final scene. In the earlier productions, Carabosse arrives at the wedding with the Lilac Fairy, and she (Carabosse) acknowledges the king and queen who acknowledge her back, and all is well between them. In later productions, Carabosse (if she appears in the finale at all) is shown being punished in some way--either attacked with the Lilac Fairy's magic or being shown taken away in chains or, sometimes, even killed at the end of Act II. Other times she is simply left out of the scene and not brought up again after Act II.

***The famous, awe-inspiring "fish dives" seen in almost every modern production were not in Petipa's original choreography. They were included in the 1921 Ballets Russes production and were one of the few well-received elements, so much so that they were incorporated into new productions and are now considered a staple in the wedding pas de deux.

Fish dive: youtu.be/zsjk4e2yz2E?t=176

Among the wedding guests, the most notable is the pas de deux (or pas de action, depending on the choreographer) between Princess Florine and the Bluebird. They are based on a now relatively little known fairy tale, but at the time audiences would have recognized it: Florine is a princess who has been locked in a tower by horrible stepmother, who is jealous that a visiting prince became enamored with Florine rather than her own ugly daughter, Truitonne. Truitonne's evil fairy godmother turns the prince into a bluebird when he refuses to marry Truitonne. The blue bird visits Florine every night with gifts and song and tries to teach her to fly.

During the pas de deux, the Bluebird must perform the difficult but always captivating brisé volé, a series of brisé moves (brisé being a quick step where you 'beat' your legs together in the air) which are used primarily for bird or other flying characters. Very difficult to do, especially since it comes right off the pas de deux.

Example: youtube.com/watch?v=zwE3GaMvBB4

Somewhere down the line--it's unclear exactly when--some companies chose to make Princess Florine a blue bird herself, incorporating brisé and other bird-like choreography into the sequence, making it an abstract pas de deux rather than the intended pas de action. Some choreographers, such as Ratmansky, choose to restore Florine to a human in order to stick to the intention of Petipa and the fairy tale.

Here's one of my favorite versions of the full Bluebird/Florine pdd: youtube.com/watch?v=MdXF52RgyYI

Another memorable wedding pair is Puss in Boots and the White Cat.

So, you are probably already familiar with the ballet in some way even if you don't realize it: Disney used huge chunks of the ballet's score for their 1959 animated Sleeping Beauty. This can make watching the ballet for the first time more engaging as you recognize pieces of the music, although it can be unintentionally hilarious when you realize that some of the most memorable parts of the film's score are used in completely different contexts in the ballet.

For instance, the creepy music that plays when Maleficent is summoning Aurora to the fateful spindle? In the ballet, it's used for the pas de deux between Puss in Boots and the White Cat. Aka, two cats prancing around and having a cat dance fight. With American audiences especially, there's almost always a murmur that goes around when this scene starts in the ballet, and I'd bet money that it's to do with people who haven't seen it before recognizing the music.

Watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=omIZgkAPsPU

Let's talk the fairies. More specifically, the christening fairies, who are present at Aurora's christening and present her with gifts. Each fairy gets her own little variation. Over the years, the fairies have been given different names and sometimes gifts, but their charm helps them to remain one of the most popular parts of the ballet.

Candide, also known as the Fairy of Grace or the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain; sometimes known as Purity or Honesty Fairy. Her variation is best known for tons of pointe work.

Mariinsky 1999 variation: youtube.com/watch?v=0nqMqc3T7pI

Miettes-qui-Tombent (Scattered Breadcrumbs); also konwn as the Generority Fairy or the Fairy of the Woodland Glades; sometimes known as Abundance Fairy. Her variation is best known for sweeping port de bras movements and the plucked strings Tchaikovsky used to mimic the spread of breadcrumbs.

Mariinsky 1999 variation: youtube.com/watch?v=bDhr-mbgdRo

Violente, also known as the Fairy of Temperament or the Fairy of the Golden Vine. Her variation is sometimes called the "finger variation" because of the choreography which calls for her to dramatically point her fingers in time with the music. In 1890, this was used to mimic electricity coming from her fingers, a context which is lost today.

Mariinsky 1999 variation: youtube.com/watch?v=eKekrKJwBSA

[Ratmansky's Violente had these little antennas which bounced perfectly during her energetic variation. Ratmansky, no pun intended, really restored her "spark" with his choreography. Shame it's not on Youtube.]

Bump. And thanks for the extensive lesson.

Coulante-fleur-de-farine, also known as the Wheat Flower Fairy, Carefree Fairy, or the Fairy of the Enchanted Garden. Her variation is konwn for its upbeat, joyful, and rather fast tempo.

Mariinsky 1999 variation: youtube.com/watch?v=086IoitoUwU

thanks for the bump! I've got a lot more rambling to do so hopefully I won't need one for a while.

Canari-qui-Chante, also known as the Canary Fairy, Playful Fairy or the Fairy of the Song Birds. Her variation is best konwn for its fluttering, trilling music and corresponding choreography which is sweet and fun, making 'Canary' one of the most popular of the christening fairies.

Mariinsky 1999 variation: youtube.com/watch?v=8vCgcXRfk7U

[She's a cute, a cute!!]

Lilac Fairy. Rarely, if ever, given a different name. She is the leader of the fairy realm and the most powerful fairy next to Carabosse. Although she is not Aurora's fairy godmother, in many ways she behaves like one: not only does she use all her power to alter Carabosse's curse, she actively works towards finding a suitable prince to break the spell for Aurora. Her variation is--well, it's the Lilac Fairy's variation.

Mariinsky 1999 variation, based on the Petipa choreography: youtube.com/watch?v=dSnsfJBLJFk

A modern variation: youtube.com/watch?v=DOrO9YIubts

Notably, the 1921 Ballets Russes version had her dancing to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. To that I say... bwuh?

Carabosse. The Evil Fairy. The role was written to be played by a man playing a woman, and was traditionally designed to be an ugly witch style character; however, some companies go the opposite route, having her portrayed as a beautiful but wicked woman instead. She is a character/pantomime role and thus does not have a variation in traditional productions.

The Curse, female performer (Dame Monica Mason, the best female Carabosse recorded IMO); youtube.com/watch?v=B4jtLP0OYb8

The Curse, male performer: youtube.com/watch?v=i2_vuYIPQHQ

In some versions, she is accidentally left off the guest list by Catalabutte. In others, he deliberately doesn't invite her because she's evil. Either way, she's pissed.

Oh, I meant to include this in the production history bit.

Here is one of Marius Petipa's notes to Tchaikovsky for his compositions, specifically regarding the scene where Aurora pricks her finger and falls asleep:

>Suddenly Aurora sees an old woman who plays with her knitting needles, in 2/4 time. Gradually this turns into a highly tuneful waltz in 3/4 time. A pause. She says nothing. Then pain. Cries. Blood flows (eight strong beats in 4/4 time). She dances giddily. Dismay. It is no longer a dance, but a frenzy, madness. She turns as if she had been bitten by a tarantula and collapses. At the end I would like a tremolo (a few beats) like cries of pain. ‘Father... .Mother....

I wish more of Petipa's notes were publicly available. I don't know how much of them survived. But it's interesting to see how a collaboration worked between ballet master and composer, anyhow.

I debated singling it out but in 2015 the Australian Ballet debuted a new production spearheaded by David McAllister. It is more or less the standard Petipa inspired production with a few omissions (he does away with Violente's points, the fiend!) but with an incredibly lavish, rococo-inspired design that is jaw droppingly beautiful. The costumes are whimsical pastels. Aurora's bed is a giant decorated egg. There is a giant chandelier which rains gold glitter in the wedding scene. Some critics called it an exercise in visual delight, others called it Candylandesque gaudiness.

I have the DVD of this version and while the storytelling is not anything daring, the visuals alone make it a delightful watch.

>24 posts
>2 posters.

Oh!! How could I forget about the 1994 Royal Ballet production by Anthony Dowell, with designs by Maria Björnson. Björnson was the designer for Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," and she brought such a great sense of theatricality to this production. Actual sets and not just backdrops, theatrical effects like rattling banquet tables as a precursor to Carabosse's arrival, visions of thunder storms and growing vines over the sleeping castle, sparkling spider webs in Aurora's room after 100 years of slumber... just a beautiful, gorgeous production.

Also, sadly, a controversial one. The dancers complained because it wasn't a flat stage so they had to accommodate their dancing.

It is available on DVD. The video quality isn't the best but, it was filmed in 1993...

OP, I've never seen a ballet in my life but it's a joy to hear someone talk about something they're knowing and passionate
Thumbs up and have a bump

I think that's all I had for my pre-made ramblings, since I'm still working on DVD recommendations.

Have you ever seen a production of The Sleeping Beauty live? Or on dvd/pre-recorded? Is there anything you wish an artistic director would do with The Sleeping Beauty that hasn't been done before? Pet peeves for this ballet? Favorite moments?

Thanks OP!

thank you!

no problem!

Some videos offering insight into the ballet and its roles.

The Challenges of Technically Demanding Roles in The Sleeping Beauty: youtube.com/watch?v=T4Q3OLE491U [Current and former dancers discuss the technical difficulty of Aurora & Prince Florimund]

The Sleeping Beauty: Re-Awakening A Classical Ballet: youtube.com/watch?v=Cp5bbgI6Hsw [Discussing the restaging of the 1946 Royal Ballet production, includes some great insight & photos to the 1946 production which was considered a significant moment in London's postwar healing.]

Darcey Bussell on the Lilac fairy: youtube.com/watch?v=9-XAAx-dLuk [Discussion of The Lilac Fairy, including 2 former Lilac Fairies giving advice and insight to a current Lilac Fairy]

Rehearsing Carabosse: youtube.com/watch?v=Q74fEYxMsuk [Monica Mason, one of the best Carabosse actresses, works with a dancer who is new to the role.]

"Becoming Aurora" with Sasha De Sola: youtube.com/watch?v=jN3Q4B6Z0Yo [Sasha De Sola talks about her upcoming Aurora debut at the San Francisco Ballet]

Act 1 Variation & Coda commentary: youtube.com/watch?v=779nZdybDxM [Former New York City Ballet soloist gives live commentary on one of her performances]

Rose Adagio with Ballet commentary: youtube.com/watch?v=BIxS_SOCMI0 [Kathryn Morgan gives live commentary on one of her performances]

Vision variation with commentary: youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0kr5F-GAw [Kathryn Morgan gives live commentary on one of her performances]

Vision pas de deux with commentary: youtube.com/watch?v=xsWoPNMOq9A [Kathryn Morgan gives live commentary on one of her performances]

Wedding pas de deux with commentary: youtube.com/watch?v=OhF9JV7OON4 [Kathryn Morgan gives live commentary on one of her performances

when did people stop with the beautiful costumes in these pics and start with the shortass tutus of today?

Think of being so fucking bored that you want to watch people athletically dance around while they're acting.

Oddly enough, the classical tutus in the 1890 photo were actually considered the "shortass tutus" of their day, since romantic tutus which reached the knees or lower dominated most of the 19th century.

About the 1920s is when you started seeing thinner classical tutus (fewer layers, less poof), and towards the end of the 1940s really thin and short tutus, including pancake tutus, started appearing. Pic related.

Tutus got shorter as ballet evolved to introduce more advanced techniques and become more athletic overall. And as choreographers began to start emphasizing the importance of a dancer's entire body line being part of the performance. Dancers started doing sky-high leg extensions, flying leaps, and so on, which required less hefty costumes to perform and for audiences, to see properly. In 1890, ballet work was still mostly focused on footwork, lower legs and port de bras (how you move and pose your arms) and so there was no need for dancers to wear costumes that allowed for maximum movement or to show off most of your leg line.

The very short American tutus specifically came about because of George Balanchine's costume team, who developed them as a solution to Balanchine's complaints about the corps de ballet's costumes knocking into each other, and costumes bouncing around too much even after the dancers were posing, which he found aesthetically displeasing; the shorter tutu also allowed for cleaner extensions without fabric draping down over their legs.

>it's a balletanon thread
Nice. Do you like figure skating, user? What do you think about using modern, voiced songs in figure skating.

>Do you like figure skating, user?

I do!

I prefer songs without lyrics, at least in professional programs. What about you?

Thought so. IMO there is a potential with lyrics regarding rhythm and coreography which is kind of lacking is most figure skaters from what I saw in Pyeongchang. The amount of Hallelujah, Moulin Rouge and Despacito being played was kind of offputting, even more so than Carmen and Swan Lake. Anyway I didn't mean to derail your thread. I rather enjoy reading about the history of ballet, especially someone who is both knowledgeable and passionate about it. Shame no ballet companies come to this part of the Americas.

I'm hoping by the next Olympics skaters will have grown more accustomed to using lyrics to enhance their routines. Right now it seems like skaters are still hesitant.

Is it just me or does Swan Lake not lend itself very well to figure skating? Maybe Tchaikovsky doesn't mesh well with ice performances to me. One of my favorite Olympics performs used Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, though: youtube.com/watch?v=N4Wqpc4xL5Q

And no worries! Figure skating and ballet are sort of cousins, really. Whereabouts are you?

nice thread. its nice to see something of value on this board once and a while. Thanks for a share user.

absolutely beautiful

It's not that it's bad for performances, but it is trite at this point. There are other ballets to use. Like the one you posted, for one. Amazing routine, the Russians as always proving they are simply on another level in dance. And yet even Zagitova did Swan Lake for her short program (granted it was Don Quixote on free) which got her first place. I am in South America and it seems like ballet and figure skating are cousins I'll get to see in a tv. Oh well. At least it's a guaranteed top tier view. :^)

I did ballet for about 11 years before I went to college, and something I've always wondered about is how classical technique developed. Of course there are the nuances between Cecchetti, RAD, Vaganova, etc which can mostly be traced back to key choreographers/organizations, but what I'm talking about is the fundamental basis for technique such as turnout, pointed feet, arm positioning, general posture, and the vast dictionary of terms for ballet movements and positions. Spending so many years trying to create such specific movement, you have to question why those movements came to be how they are and why they exist over different movements. I have a loose theory that the most attractive movements to the human eye won out a sort of natural selection by means of popularity until they were all compiled into a standardized set of rules. Meanwhile the movements that were healthiest for the human body were preferred over injury inducing movements (because proper technique just so happens to be so closely tied to preventing injuries). But then that also begs the question as to why these movements are aesthetically pleasing in the first place, but that's a whole new question into human psychology. OP seems very knowledgeable about ballet history so any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Germany really stood out this year too. I can't get enough of the gold medal pairs routine: youtube.com/watch?v=oT6SnklMkVU

>I am in South America and it seems like ballet and figure skating are cousins I'll get to see in a tv. Oh well. At least it's a guaranteed top tier view.

I'm sorry, that's such a shame that there aren't companies nearby to see live. I don't live in an area with its own professional company but they usually visit once a year. Thank goodness for a plethora of DVDs and other recorded performances! Do you have any favorites?

thank you for the compliment! and no problem

I thought you meant Carabosse before I realized I posted the variations there.

Someone with more knowledge feel free to swoop in but I'll do my best!

>what I'm talking about is the fundamental basis for technique such as turnout, pointed feet, arm positioning, general posture, and the vast dictionary of terms for ballet movements and positions.

So, the fundamentals you mentioned can pretty much all be traced back to the development of French ballet during the 17th-early 18th century, during the life and reign of Louis XIV. Before this era, ballet existed as part of court entertainments, but without the fundamentals you mentioned.

It was during the Louis XIV era that dance evolved from an accompaniment court entertainment into an art form in its own right. Why? Because of Louis XIV himself, who was not only as passionate dancer (he debuted his dancing at 15 with a series of 40 or so mini ballets in a court entertainment that stretched for almost 12 hours) but someone who used dance as a tool to secure his political and symbolic status, ward off rebelling nobles, and puff up the reputation of France as the cultural center of the universe.

As part of his campaign to keep courtiers occupied, he began to require that they perform in intricate court dances, which required hours of training to meet the high standards Louis XIV enacted. He also worked with his ballet masters to develop new court ballets, which held more narrative structure and used more techniques (including early forms of pirouettes and balancing) than previous types of court ballets which we would probably see as fancy walking today.

1/2

Gay as fuck. No wonder why this generation has been sissified and pussified because of this effeminate crap. It's morally reprehensible it's degeneracy boys should not be playing with dolls and dancing. dancing is for girls and sissies. Political correctness runamuk.

Great thread
thank you

2/3
As dance became more complex, Louis XIV issued a proclamation desiring a way to effectively notate dance steps. In a way, it was Louis XIV's desire for the codification and notation of ballet which led to the creation of fundamentals. Because you can't really map out the steps for the dance the king expects you to learn unless you have something to base it on. This is where Pierre Beauchamp, Louis XIV's personal dance master, stepped in: he is credited by his contemporaries with officially codifying the 5 positions of the feet through which all ballet moves, which remain technically the same [though 17th century turnout was not as wide] today as they were in the 17th century. Beauchamp was also credited with developing models for arm positions, but 17th century arm positions did not carry over into modern ballet, and were not as heavily codified as the feet positions in any case.

The feet positions that Beauchamp developed were designed to allow dancers to always be in a position where they were always ready to move into the next dance step, while also maintaining an eased and relaxed appearance in order to reflect the importance of appearing graceful at all times in court and life. Turnout, for example, was originally designed as a way for someone to stand in a graceful way--it wasn't a 180 degree turnout then.

Pierre Rameau published several works which laid out explicitly the different fundamentals and techniques for ballet, including (pic related) the positions of the feet, port de bras, along with how and when to do early forms of pirouettes, balances, etc; along with definitions for many different ballet terms that both masters and dancers needed to know. These carried over as ballet developed in the 18th, 19th, 20th and now 21st century.

3/3

tl;dr version:

The fundamental basis for ballet techniques are almost all traced back to Louis XIV and his development of ballet at the French court during his reign. His personal use of ballet as a tool to control nobility by further extending the rigid etiquette of Versailles resulted in the development of specific, notated fundamentals which could be taught to students, ballet dancers, and courtiers alike. These fundamentals were designed to keep the dancers looking graceful, elegant and fluid, which was a reflection of the etiquette expected by courtiers living at Versailles. These fundamentals expanded to French dance academies and formed the basis of French ballet which spread throughout Europe and became standard.

And I guess I should say, this doesn't apply to fundamentals that were not developed until later, such as going en pointe.

thanks!

Senpai, what are you doing a /pol/ and /rdt/ shitposting board? This thread is too good for this wretched place.

I love the creepy little Aurora puppet so much.

youtube.com/watch?v=hZ1YIl0AX9c

one thread at a time!

good thread user

Bump

Thanks so much, I always knew there was some kind of a solid history behind it tracing back to France but I didn't exactly know what. The evolution of that fancy court dance into the athletic extremes of today is really interesting.

I remember watching this at the Lincoln Center a few years ago. I understood what they were going for, but I couldn't decide on whether or not I liked it. Nothing really blew me away like a performance from a company of that caliber should, it felt as though the choreographer sacrificed impressiveness for the sake of emulating an aesthetic. Also demi pointe soutenu's on pointe should be banned.

I agree that it was very subdued, especially compared to modern performances. But I think that's what I liked about it. It felt more layered than any production I've watched before. And it made me feel new appreciation for certain elements, especially arabesque penché. I loved how how they were used as an "ooo, ahhh" moment in the same way we might use something far more striking like fouettes today.

Ratmansky is a bold choreographer, I'll give him that. He does what he wants even when audiences might not be receptive or might flat out hate it, like his Romeo and Juliet which he brought to Bolshoi. Although at least Bolshoi dancers are more open to trying something new than Mariinsky dancers.

Margot Fonteyn's Rose Adagio: youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9wotb7pyM

No problem!

You might also be interested in this video which shows some of the Baroque-era ballet techniques, including the smaller turnout and the Louis XIV era arm positions: youtube.com/watch?v=auDNcfK0Wcs

For anyone near a theater that does Fathom Events, the Bolshoi Ballet's "Flames of Paris," a ballet set in the French Revolution, is playing this Sunday

Degas was a pedo

Speaking of Bourne, did anyone catch his Cinderella either on the BBC or live? They're restreaming it in cinemas soon but I hope we get a DVD.

youtube.com/watch?v=3IUvJ-jkrBY

It's Cinderella reimagined in WWII London. It's my favorite of Bourne's works right now, mainly because I'm shocked he pulled it off without making it hokey or ridiculous. It also has a bittersweet ending which is appropriate.

Nah.

J.M Barrie on the other hand...

going to post a few of the Bakst costumes

This is a costume for one of the suitors for Aurora.

Guests at the wedding. Given that the gown was labeled as "Marzuka Girl," I'm guessing they were meant to be Polish. The director for The Sleeping Princess had a host of foreign guests at the wedding in addition to the court and fairy tales.

Costume for a duchess in the hunting party.

The Porcelain Princesses, guests at the wedding

Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

And an inspiration comparison between the 1921 Bakst designs and the designs created for the 2015 Ratmansky construction, for Aurora's Rose Adagio dress.

And another, more direct, inspiration, for Violente. You can see how the designer altered the style to be more flattering for modern dancers and more appealing to modern eyes while still retaining the overall look of the costume.

>Louis XIV

there was this really cool scene in the tv series Versailles, I can't recall if it was season 1 or season 2, where they show Louis XIV creating the 5 positions while he was mad and paranoid from a fever. Inaccurate but neat.

is Russian ballet actually the best? Or why do people think that in the first place?

Everyone has they're own opinion (of which I'd be interested to hear), but personally Russian style is my favorite. To me it's just the pinnacle of classical ballet. As a male dancer, the tempo of Russian ballet tends to be slower than American, giving you time to put all your power into your movements which is highly satisfying. Arms are used really well to compliment the momentum of your jumps. With other styles (RAD, Balanchine...) I feel confined like I'm dancing in a box. Russian dancing for guys also has the perfect combination of technique and tricks (with a style that lets tricks somehow still look classical).

I think it's really up to personal taste. Personally, I enjoy Russian ballet the best for non-narrative ballets. I can't stand the Russian versions where they've removed most of the mime, rendering some of the stories nearly incoherent or at best, without nuance. Although I am referring to the standard Soviet productions. I thought Ratmansky's recent Romeo & Juliet at the Bolshoi was fantastic. Russians also focus a lot on port de bras along with foot movements (especially when compared to say, French ballet) and the biggest companies are usually hardcore about perfecting your technique; so you're looking for very smooth, elegant ballet dancing combined with some impressive (if, IMO, sometimes coldly precise) technique, then Bolshoi and Mariinsky a great bet.

As for why Russian ballet is synonymous with amazing, it's mostly thanks to the Soviet Union's popularization of Russian ballet in the 1940s-1960s, a political maneuver designed to bolster the Soviet Union's reputation and legitimacy in the West. They started sending their top dancers and productions to London and the United States, and these performances were given massive hype and then stellar reviews--it's the best ballet in the world, stupendous, astounding, you simply must see these Russians dance! And in many cases, the dancers simply were that great. Especially the male dancers, who were performing feats and techniques that American men were not incorporating on a wide scale until decades later. Rudolf Nureyev, who defected, was a significant factor in the improvement of men's ballet outside of Russia.

So... what? Were people just bored as shit, or were they all in on the "joke" like wrestling? I get concert, opera, and theater, but embellished dance for the sake of dance? Ehh...

I'm not sure what you mean "embellished dance for the sake of dance." Ballet developed out of opera and theatrical court performance. It's a theatrical expression in the same way that opera is a theatrical expression.

Guess you got me there on the theatrics of opera. I was going to make a point of projection and vocal range, but they also embellish more than that which blurs the lines between telling a story, showing vocal artistry, and projecting to an audience. Guess I just don't see the merit when compared to feats of acrobatics or storytelling like what I want to be referred to when referencing theatre.

To each his own, but to me music is something ethereal, storytelling leads to a reflection of both society and self, and showmanship is entertainment for entertainment's sake. I just don't see where I could appreciate a middle-ground between the latter two, athletic as it may be.

shut UP nerds, ballet is for sissies, give me your lunch money

Hello balletanon, I am user who was asking you about tragic genre in ballet in your last thread.

You like figure skating? So do I. I suppose there is something similar to these two art forms. Like in ballet, Russians to me seem best in figure skating as well. Americans simply lack artistic aspect and seem to be focused only on sport aspect of figure skating.

If you do not mind me asking, from which country are you?

>You like figure skating
Not balletanon, but after watching the Olympics I immediately put two-and-two together when watching some freestyle figure skating and thought of these threads. I will say that there does seem to be less focus on gracefulness in figure skating and it's probably understandable. The rotations especially are much (I think?) much faster and the strain shows on the skater's face. Ballet dancers seem much more disciplined in this respect.

I don't know much about ballet as an uncultured swine, but I really enjoy reading these threads.

Bumping in hope OP answers.

Hi again! I'm from the US.

I think American skating was more artistic in the 90s than it is today. Although a few of the Americans this year seem to be bringing back the emotional/dance side of figure skating, at least.

Oh no. I stumbled on a (paid, of course) streaming site that has a bunch of ballet, mostly modern but a few classics, and I saw an image from a rather strange take on the Cinderella ballet. It's set in a doll house, complete with doll dancers who are wearing doll masks.

Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=B3-RMnx_xpE

Kudos for being brave enough to do something that innovative but I can't help but get flashbacks to the Strangers and that one episode of Tales from the Crypt with the costume party.

I should probably take the plunge and watch it just to see, maybe it's not as creepy as a full ballet rather than stills.

I guess I don't get what you don't get? Ballet is storytelling through dance and pantomime. Opera is storytelling through singing.Theater is storytelling through spoken word.

with some more questions

1. What's a good ballet to see if you never saw one live before?

2. Do you have to know what all the moves are to like it?

3. Is it hard to follow since they don't talk?

I'll try to tackle some answers!

>1. What's a good ballet to see if you never saw one live before?

I think for most people, a story/narrative ballet is a good first choice. I honestly suggest just finding one with a story that appeals to you. Do you like Shakespeare? Romeo and Juliet is a great choice. Do you enjoy fairy tales? Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Depending on where you live, you might find companies producing ballets based on history (Anastasia, Marie Antoinette, Henry VIII, etc) or other media, like books (Pride and Prejudice) or even movies (Edaward Scissorhands).

>2. Do you have to know what all the moves are to like it?

Not at all. If you know the different techniques you will be able to critique it better but it's not at all necessary for enjoyment.

>3. Is it hard to follow since they don't talk?

This can depend on the company and choreography they're using. Almost every company will provide you with a showbill that has a synopsis in it--read that synopsis. If possible, research the story or even the specific production beforehand so that you won't be scrambling to read the synopsis in the middle of the ballet to figure something out. The "classic" narrative ballets are pretty easy to follow as long as you know the basics of the story.

I would recommend brushing up on basic ballet mime as well. You can definitely follow a narrative ballet without it, but I think it really enhances the experience when you can understand the gestures better. For example you can in a video posted elsewhere in the thread about dancing the Lilac Fairy, where the Lilac Fairy is miming about her love for the baby, and confusion at Carabosse wanting to kill it. Without knowing the mime gestures, you might miss that particular expression.

Here's a good video by the Royal Ballet showing what you miss from the mime, assuming the company uses it: youtube.com/watch?v=2UtQAoLVu2A

Let's share some ballet trivia and tidbits. Know of any? share!

Here's one: On the left is a young Marie Antoinette, performing in a ballet organized for the marriage of one of her brothers.

A rather morbid tidbit.

An untold number of ballerinas died during the 19th century because of the invention of the gas lamp, which was used to light the stage in theaters in lieu of traditional candles. The material which made up a traditional dancer's costume was extremely flammable and it was very easy for dancers to catch fire.

In one American incident, 9 ballerinas--4 of which were sisters--burned to death after one of the dancer's gowns brushed up against a gas tube. Her sisters rushed to her aid but caught fire themselves, and the resulting theater fire killed 4 other women who were backstage.

Clara Webster, who in her day was considered one of the few great English ballerinas, went up in flames after her dress brushed up against a gas lamp. The fire buckets kept near the stage in case of fire were empty, and none of the other dancers on stage dared go near her. Finally a stage hand literally threw himself onto Clara and beat out the flames. She died soon after from her injuries.

1/2

2/2

The deaths subsided slightly when someone developed a flame retardant chemical which could reduce flammability when the costumes were soaked in them; a process was required by law in some countries (such as France after 1859). But some dancers refused to do so because it completely ruined the costumes--changing the color, making them dingy looking, and also making them sticky and stiff. While it may seem vain, the reason for their refusal was considered career oriented: no one wanted to be reviewed by a critic who noted that their skirt looked like it'd been covered in dirt or stuck straight out in a ridiculous fashion.

Bad reviews could destroy a ballerina's career, which is why one dancer (Emma Livry) insisted that she would wear the flame-proofed costumes--but only after first performances, which is when the critics and social elite attended. "I insist," she wrote, "on dancing at all first performances of the ballet in my ordinary ballet skirt."

Two years later, Livry was performing in the opening night of Le Papillion, a ballet about a captured princess who is turned into a butterfly and who ultimately has her wings burned off after she flies into a torch. At one point during the ballet, her skirts came too close to a gas lamp and she went up in flames. A fireman and fellow dancer managed to put out the flames but by then it was too late to avoid major injury. 40% of her body had been burned and her corset had melted onto her ribs. She died of sepsis few months into her recovery.

Livry's death, at least, spurred Europe into action. Flame-retardant gauze was developed and theaters were required to hang wet blankets in the wings in addition to the usual water buckets, a major improvement over the chemical baths which dancers were worried about using.

Clara Webster