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RUDOLF NUREYEV AND SLEEPING BEAUTY"...
“When I was first learning to dance in Ufa, my ballet master, who had belonged to the Kirov ballet, used to tell me that Sleeping Beauty was the “ballet of ballets”. And I couldn’t wait to try it. It was with the Kirov ballet that I later discovered what a glorious delight it was.
Sleeping beauty by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa, in fact, represents the pinnacle of classical ballet: ballet then proved itself as one of the major arts. This constitutes a historical event: after Sleeping Beauty, ballet could attract the greatest composers who did not hesitate when it came to working with the choreographers.
I think that each dancer should pray every morning to three icons: Tchaikovsky – God the father, Prokoviev – the Son, and Stravinsky – the Holy Spirit.
It is these three musicians who produced the most important and most daring of works in the repertoire of ballet.
Today Sleeping Beauty is still for me the perfect accomplishment of symphonic ballet. The choreographer is required to find harmony with Tchaikovsky’s score. It is not a question of creating an event with no future with Sleeping Beauty, but of producing a lasting show that supports the excellence of a company.” Rudolf Nureyev
NUREYEV CHOREOGRAPHER OF “SLEEPING BEAUTY”: 4 VERSIONS
King Florestan’s kingdom is not a charming fantasy, but a Court with its etiquette, its rituals, where the weight of power can be felt. The delightful fantasy of the fairy story gives way to a realistic tale where opposing forces (Carabosse and the Lilac Fairy) wrangle over the destiny of two young people.
Carabosse herself, appears in the guise of a sophisticated woman (who fires her weapon, the needle fatal for Aurora, from the bun set in her wig), whilst the Lilac Fairy represents the young liberal aristocrats.
This version, danced by Carla Fracci and Nureyev himself, was then restaged for the National Ballet of Canada in 1972 with Véronica Tennant though still with the scenery and costumes of Nicholas Giogiadis. Here, Nureyev gives the Prince a notably more elaborate role but keeps Petipa’s choreography for the variations allotted to the female dancers.
Rudolf Nureyev restaged Sleeping Beauty again for the London Festival Ballet in 1975 with Eva Evdokimova alternating with Patricia Ruanne, for the Vienna Opera Ballet in 1980, and finally, for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1989.
J.L.B.
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National Ballet of Canada - 1972 |
