by Lidia Paulinska | Feb 5, 2017
Fathom events, January – The world-famous Bolshoi Ballet presented the equally noteworthy Sleeping Beauty ballet to cinema audiences around the world for a one-day-only viewing on Sunday, 22 January 2017. Originally choreographed by the inimitable French Ballet Master Marius Petipa in 1890. Petipa (1818-1910) is recognized as the most influential choreographer in ballet history. This current Bolshoi offering is based on the 2011 version by Yuri Grigorovich.
The dancers, of course, were exquisite. Yulia Stepanova played the Lilac Fairy with a gentle authority. Semyon Chudin danced Prince Désiré with impeccable classical lines but seemed to lack the requisite emotional depth necessary to the role. Olga Smirnova danced the role of Princess Aurora. The technical aspect of her performance was flawless, being both elegant and precise, as one would expect. Like Semyon Chudin, however, Ms Smirnova seemed to lack a deep connection to the role which prevented her from effectively communicating its nuanced emotions beyond the footlights.
The Bolshoi’s soloists and the corps de ballet danced with their trademark enthusiasm and precision. Especially charming were the eight little “evergreen trees,” amusingly portrayed by students from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.
Maestro Pavel Clinichev conducted and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s wonderful score with great sensitivity and grandeur.
The Bolshoi Ballet is always a delight, and in spite of several challenges, this production was no exception.
by Lidia Paulinska | Apr 24, 2016
April, Fathom events – Arthur C. Clark, the renowned English physicist and science fiction novelist, once wrote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Profiles of the Future, 1961), and this prescient observation is nowhere more apparent than today, 55 years later, with the phenomenal bursting forth of the Digital Age that has swept the globe over the past couple of decades and has impacted almost every aspect of our daily existence. Within this relatively brief period of time, digital technology has profoundly and irreversibly changed our lives … forever! We only have to ask ourselves, has our day-to-day routine been altered significantly by our smart phones, the internet, GPS, Hi-Definition TV & cinema , the inevitability of self-driving cars, or any of the other thousands of data tech innovations that pervade the very essence of our culture? I suspect most of us would unhesitatingly respond with a resounding “Yes, absolutely! “
You may justifiably ask, “What does all this have to do with Don Quixote?”, the venerable Russian ballet which was first performed in 1869 by the Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow? Well, the current production of the enduring “Don”, viewed live for one night only on April 10, 2016, has been seen by thousands of people in hundreds of theatres throughout the world on giant Hi Definition digital cinema screens (Pathe´ shot for the big screen with 5.1 sound and 10 HD cameras creating up-close and vivid pictures 3-times the definition of 1080p TV!) and is essentially based (with considerable variation) on the same work choreographed 147 years ago in Moscow by the great Marius Petipa (1818-1910).*
What does the Data Revolution have to do with a 147 year old Russian ballet? That question was answered for me the evening of April 10th in my local movie theatre.
Pass the popcorn!
Thanks to transformational digital technology which has forever changed our lives with smart phones, the internet, emails, Facebook, etc., more people viewed the Bolshoi’s Don Quixote the one evening of April 10th than had ever seen it in the past 147 years of it’s existence! And if that’s not revolutionary, I don’t know what is! In 1776 when the Bolshoi was founded, for example, it could take six weeks to send a letter by square rigger across the Atlantic from London to New York. Now we communicate with people on the other side of the planet or even circling the earth in space stations in milliseconds, one thousandth of a second, which is almost “indistinguishable from magic.”
Today’s Don Quixote by the Bolshoi resembles Cervantes’ novel in name only, with the character of the Don only occasionally making rather awkward non-dancing appearances on stage, with the “heavy lifting” of the evening left almost exclusively to the very able chorus which is indicative of Alexander Gorsky’s** reworking of the Petipa original. Both Petipa and Gorsky continue to be credited with the choreography in the program notes, and Leon Minkus’ original score continues to thrill, but the ballet has once again been “updated” to suite the changing expectations and tastes of a modern audience by Alexei Fadeyechev, (Bolshoi artistic director,1998 – 2000), yet still retains all the grandeur, perfection of style and precision execution the Bolshoi has been known for in its celebrated 240 year history.
In 1917, Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the famed Ballets Russes, who transformed the world of ballet, ushering it into the modern age, issued a challenge to Jean Cocteau who had asked him what were his ideas regarding a ballet they were producing. Diaghilev famously replied, Etonne-moi!! … “Astonish me!!” and the result was the immortal Parade, produced by impresario Diaghilev, designed by Pablo Picasso, composed by Erik Satie, and set to a story by Cocteau.
It has been said that our digital world can only become more incredible over time, joining art and technology, in ways now unimaginable. “Magic?” Perhaps … “Astonishing?” Unquestionably!
Etonne-moi!!
* Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote was subsequently modified over the years by rival Bolshoi choreographer Alexander Gorsky who completely transformed the ballet in 1900, creating a version radically different from Petipa’s original which infuriated him, and Gorsky’s version continues to be a permanent part of the Bolshoi repertoire to this day. Petipa, who was born in Marseilles, France, is universally considered to be the single most influential ballet master and choreographer in ballet history.
** Alexander Gorsky (1871-1924) was a renowned Russian choreographer and a contemporary of Petipas’, both serving at the same time at the Bolshoi. However it was never an easy relationship. A quick check with Wikipedia reveals, “The largest change that Gorsky made to Petipa’s (Don Quixote) choreography was the action of the corps de ballet. Instead of being a moving background as the corps often was, they became an important part of the drama.” (Wikipedia … 2016 Apr 8, 02:33 UTC….)
Rather than being nothing more than a moving part of the scenery, with Gorsky’s restaging, they bustle around the stage, “…breaking the symmetry and lines typical of Patina.” Gorsky added an element of playful lightheartedness to the new-found dynamism and significance of the chorus, characteristic the Bolshoi’s productions of “the Don” to this day. Alexander Gorsky is known today for his restating of Petipa’s ballets which include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and of course, Don Quixote.
by Lidia Paulinska and Hugh McMahon
by Lidia Paulinska | Jan 31, 2016
January, Fathom Events – On January 24th, 2016, Fathom events presented the Bolshoi Ballet’s breathtaking, non-stop production of The Taming of the Shrew based on Shakespeare’s comedy, broadcast from Moscow to big screen cinemas throughout the United States.
The Bard’s tale deals with the beautiful Bianca who is much sought after by Lucento and many other suitors competing for her hand in marriage. However, she must wait until her older sister, the irascible and shrewish Kathrina is married first. Petrucio then comes on the scene, attracted by the reward offered by Katherina’s father to any man willing to marry his impossible daughter. Katherina, brilliantly interpreted by Ekaterina Krysanova, is eventually “tamed” by the determined Petrucio, masterfully performed by Vladislav Lantratov, who has taken up the challenge, thus winning the reward money and a new bride which in turn frees Bianca to marry a patient and grateful Luciento.
Choreographed by Frenchman Jean-Christophe Maillot especially for the celebrated and iconic Russian company, Maillot’s choreography is fast-paced yet subtle, simple yet filled with excitement and surprises, a smooth-flowing, circus-like style he characterizes as neither pure classical nor contemporary but uniquely “immediate” and existing in the moment.
The occasional frenetic movements of the dancers contrasted with moments of graceful, lyrical expression which might suddenly explode into breakneck athletic dancing bordering on the acrobatic, creates an excitement which is perfectly ignited by the powerfully poly-stylistic music of Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, which not only serves to propel Kate’s frenzied, “shrewish” antics but also provides a driving force … a continuity and cohesiveness to the production.
Maillot’s Taming is imaginatively “book-ended” by the opening and closing scenes, the former functioning as a foreshadowing of the conflicts to come and the latter a peaceful expression of resolution and loving accord.
Before the curtain even opens to Act One, there enters a beautiful woman onto the stage in the role of a so-called “Housekeeper,” setting the “shrewish” tone of the act which is to follow by her overly-purposeful, condescending attitude. Dressed all in black and high-heels, she critically surveys the audience and the orchestra who are preparing to tune up. She then sits on the floor and slowly begins to remove her high-heels, methodically replacing them with pink ballet slippers, then slowly rising to once again peruse an intrigued audience, she begins to exit, suddenly pulling open the curtain to reveal a stark white stage with dancers poised to action! We are thus prepared to expect the unexpected.
By contrast, the final scene, again all in white, but this time conveying a tone of peace and tranquil camaraderie. Bianca now is married to Lucento and Kate to Petrucio and the entire cast delicately mime drinking tea, pinkies appropriately raised, to the tune of “Tea For Two”* from the 1925 Broadway musical No, No, Nanette, an absolutely perfect coda to an absolutely wonderful production. As with all of Shakespeare’s comedies, so to with the Bolshoi’s magic interpretation, love conquers all.
* N.B.: In 1927 Shostakovich wrote a new arrangement for “Tea For Two” after winning 100 rubles in a vodka-inspired bet he couldn’t re-orchestrate the song from memory in under one hour. He did it in 45 minutes! Bravo Maestro and bravo Bolshoi!
by Lidia Paulinska and Hugh McMahon
