rejuvenating i.b.m.
I Biarritzeko balleta The Miarritze Ballet Company wish to pay homage to the Russian Ballet troupe this year. They have dusted off the pieces by Stravinsky, Debussy, Von Wever and Ravel that Serge Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet brought to the boards at the beginning of the last century, and they have prepared a contemporary version for us. Thierry Malandain looks after the choreography. Each piece is based on the original but by no means are they mere copies. The themes are approached from a modern viewpoint. Malandain himself has said that he is a rejuvenator, not an innovator. He has come up with a special mixture of classical and contemporary ballet which focuses on the characteristics of the dancers and the music. He shies away from the image of stripped-down dances on a dark stage.
The Miarritze Ballet Company dancers have been trained classically , and this enables them to freely play with, and express sentiment upon the stage. We won’t be seeing any tutues or point shoes. All of the dancers wear the finest of modern costumes; Fauno himself appears in shorts with a big silk veil to cover nakedness and we meet an amusing woman wearing a Chanel – high heels and the lot. And in the middle of it all, the white modern minimalist stage-setting pays host to twelve dancers surrounded by a set up of eyes on panels as they search for liberty.
All of the above really reduces the distance between the audience and the performers. They do it in such an attractive way that the audience feel the same emotions they do. They feel the happiness, sadness and sensuality the dancers fell.
The latest production by the Miarritze Ballet is made up of four different pieces. You have a comedy that has all the makings of a “Comedia dell´Arte”, even though the characters are more stylised. Then there’s another piece that demonstrates the will and sensuality to love fauno. It was a hammering force at the beginning of the last century and it’s no different now. There’s no sign of Ancient Greece or nymphomaniacs anywhere; a single dancer embodies all the pleasure that is the essence of the play.
We are transported to a dream world by wonderfully symbolic stage decoration; a rose, a single thorn, a window, a young girl and the love she feels. Nothing has been salvaged from the original save the music and what Malandain gets from that music. If you consider the fact that Diaghilev worked with the likes of Miro, Matisse and Picasso when he originally staged the ballet, the Miarritze Ballet Company have undoubtedly taken a very audacious and brave step in rescuing it from the past. Their audacity and bravery is only matched by their talent.
The Miarritze Ballet Company dancers have been trained classically , and this enables them to freely play with, and express sentiment upon the stage. We won’t be seeing any tutues or point shoes. All of the dancers wear the finest of modern costumes; Fauno himself appears in shorts with a big silk veil to cover nakedness and we meet an amusing woman wearing a Chanel – high heels and the lot. And in the middle of it all, the white modern minimalist stage-setting pays host to twelve dancers surrounded by a set up of eyes on panels as they search for liberty.
All of the above really reduces the distance between the audience and the performers. They do it in such an attractive way that the audience feel the same emotions they do. They feel the happiness, sadness and sensuality the dancers fell.
The latest production by the Miarritze Ballet is made up of four different pieces. You have a comedy that has all the makings of a “Comedia dell´Arte”, even though the characters are more stylised. Then there’s another piece that demonstrates the will and sensuality to love fauno. It was a hammering force at the beginning of the last century and it’s no different now. There’s no sign of Ancient Greece or nymphomaniacs anywhere; a single dancer embodies all the pleasure that is the essence of the play.
We are transported to a dream world by wonderfully symbolic stage decoration; a rose, a single thorn, a window, a young girl and the love she feels. Nothing has been salvaged from the original save the music and what Malandain gets from that music. If you consider the fact that Diaghilev worked with the likes of Miro, Matisse and Picasso when he originally staged the ballet, the Miarritze Ballet Company have undoubtedly taken a very audacious and brave step in rescuing it from the past. Their audacity and bravery is only matched by their talent.
