The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets had never before been performed by the La Scala ballet until last night. The La Scala première marks the most faithful version of Raymonda yet to the original, which met with triumphant success in St Petersburg in 1898.
In Sergei Vikharev's newly reconstructed version, Mariinsky ballerina Olesya Novikova performed Raymonda's Act II variation with an extraordinary series of thirty entrechat-quatre en pointe!
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
I was a bit harsh. It’s not true that I can’t bear to watch Sergeyev’s production – I will always want to see the Mariinsky dance Sleeping Beauty. But yes, overall I much prefer Petipa’s choreography for the Pas de Six and the Grand Pas from Act II, and also the mime scenes. I wouldn’t have minded so much if they had left Marie Petipa’s variation out, though.
Wowwww her entrechats on pointe are so spectacular! The seven people who dislike this video are jealous. 😛
“So you consider Sergeyev’s modifications necessary?” Oh yes, indeed. “I can’t bear to watch Sergeyev’s mess anymore.” That is your prerogative.
Now we are talking about completely different things. You think that Sleeping Beauty is a “symphonic score that Petipa could not match choreographically”, so you consider Sergeyev’s modifications necessary. I feel exactly the oposite. In fact, after watching Petipa’s reconstructed prologue and Act II Pas d’action I can’t bear to watch Sergeyev’s mess anymore.
I should point out, if only forr other readers, Konstantin Sergeyev, was the Soviet dancer and choreographer who restaged, and remounted The Sleeping Beauty during Soviet times at the former Kirov [Mariinski]. Nicholas Sergeyev was a per-revolutionary dancer who abstracted the notations of Vladimir Stepanov [1966 to 1896] from the files of the theatre when he fled to the West in the early 1920s. Ballet’s Elgin Marbles?
Likewise, Cecilia Bartoli’s recording of Bellini’s La Sonnambula. It’s ‘authentic’ to the period of it’s creation, and it’s interesting. Nothing more. What is Vikharev’s provenance for his ‘authenticity’ and where does it come from come from? I’m curious to know. Has he found Gorsky’s original Stepanov notations of these ballets, and been able to decipher them? Apparently they were far more accurate than Nicholas Sergeyev’s Stepanov notes which he brought to the West with him.
continued, any latter-day re-construction of the original, because these later Petipa ballets are balletic “Gesamtkunstwerk.” Sleeping Beauty is a symphonic score that Petipa could not originally match choreographically at the time, but Sergeyev, while keeping true to the spirit of the piece, restaged it for the dancers in front of him. These ‘re-constructions’ are the balletic equivalent to Bayreuth re-staging their original stage production of The Ring. And about as valid. Continued…..
As many Americans say, I hear what you are saying. But ,haven’t you actually answered your own argument? Dancers have evolved as have their techniques. So what is a “reconstruction”? Re-building the original sets? That is fascinating from an historical point of view, though ballet is not a museum. I’d go so far as to say that the Sleeping Beauty, as seen on the 1982/83 video with Kolpakova is closer to the actual spirit of the conception of the piece than…. continued…
You are kidding, right? This ballet premiered more than 100 years ago, and since then ballet has evolved (for better or for worse) and technique has improved. You can’t ask a dancer to ignore years of training and do things “like they were done before”. The fact that technique is better now doesn’t make this reconstruction less authentic…
Oh come on, who is Vikharev kidding here? If you are going to do “authentic reproductions” then the dancers have to put on more weight and stop shoving their legs into positions that Legnani would have thought irredeemably vulgar. Stage lighting was so different in those days too.
moreover (I guess) the early ballerinas had no proper insoles and boxes on their pointe shoes.. they had to have mangled feet.Novikova is terrific here.. =)
The fact that this variation hasn’t changed much in over 100 years, as well as the featre of the entrechat-quatre en pointe, are a testament to the extraordinary abilities of the great Pierina Legnani. It is wonderful to see Novikova wearing all of Legnani’s original 1898 costumes.
Wow, so the original variation had entrechats? And now this step is always danced as a changement en pointe or sometimes pas de cheval. I can wait to see this reconstruction on TV next week! Novikova is amazing here.
Unbelievable – the entrechat-quatres look totally easy and effortless!!! Thank you.
Novikova is so strong performer and has such a good smile.
Wow, I could tell that her feet were killing her after that section.
Olesia Novikova, always a delight to watch!
that is just insane! I love this ballerina!