Alexei Ratmansky's reconstruction of Marius Petipa's Swan Lake was rapturously received by almost all the critics when it premiered in Zurich in February. Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times said, “This Swan Lake has become the one by which we should judge all others.”
This touchstone production, then, is about to open in Milan, though a little different to the one in Zurich. Ratmansky says,
The stage in Zurich is quite small, but now, here at La Scala, we can present the original number of dancers, especially for the Act I Polonaise and for the corps de ballet of swans.
La Scala have managed to get Russian conductor Michail Jurowski to lead the orchestra. He isn't a ‘ballet conductor' as such, but has a special love of Tchaikovsky, and so this will be the fifth Swan Lake he has conducted during his long career; the first was the Burmeister's version at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow, 40 years ago. The two Russians have found a great deal of common ground as both want to see the music played as Tchaikovsky intended, so there will be faster tempos than we are used to, cuts will be omitted,
And the ballet will finish ‘piano' not ‘forte',
Jurowski says.
As in Ratmansky's The Sleeping Beauty, the cou-de-pied will be lower, chaînés on half-pointe and other modifications of modern practice which allow for more rapid steps which, of course, enables dancers to keep up with the orchestra. I can hear now audience members complaining during the interval about the lack of expansive lines but wow, what dramatic excitement that speed provides. The brilliance of the steps is closer to the British versions than those of other, even the Russian, companies, as Sergeyev – clutching his priceless collection of documents containing Vladimir Stepanov's notation of the Petipa ballets – established this style at the request of Ninette de Valois in England between the wars.
There is no dancing Rothbart, no jester (he was a later addition in some versions) but the Prince's friend Benno is onstage here and both he and Siegfried are given a variation by Ratmansky that they didn't have in Petipa and Ivanov's original 1895 production.
I felt it unfair to the dancers and the audience not to let them dance.
In the original production, Benno didn't dance in the pas de trois, but a nameless cavalier. Likewise, the original Prince didn't dance the solo in the pas de deux at the ball; it was danced by Gorsky who was not representing a named character. So the nameless characters are gone from our production and the solos have been given to the Prince and Benno.
Ratmansky lists some of the differences between this version and some of the ones we are used to.
We have hunters in the first white act with the Prince and his friends. The scene becomes very crowded! I find this quite important dramatically because it makes the moment when he breaks his vow of love with Odette during the ball scene all the more powerful.
There are no swan arms, as introduced by Vaganova and others.
They are women not swans. Of course, the hunters point their crossbows at them as though they are still swans, but sometimes in a romantic ballet we shouldn't ask too many questions,
he says with a wry smile.
There are eight baby swans played by young students from the excellent Ballet School, here at La Scala. We also have a small group of ‘black' swans in the last act, as in the Mariinsky version, which makes dramatic sense as they symbolise Odette's tragic fate.
However, he is proudest of restoring Petipa's choreography for the waltz… a waltz of giant proportions.
There are twenty couples: sixteen from the corps and four soloist couples. It has been like restoring a lost jewel.
Although there are some changes in technique which, judging by The Sleeping Beauty, most of the company were able to handle fairly easily, there is one aspect that Ratmansky is not fully satisfied with; not at La Scala nor at ABT nor in other choreographies with other companies: character dancing.
This is a disappearing art as modern choreographers don't use these styles in their works. The character dancing – Spanish, Neapolitan, etc – is still a work in progress, though even the Russian companies are losing this tradition… but we're trying hard!
His other concern is audience's expectations. Everyone is accustomed to over-the-head lifts, splits and a generally flashy and acrobatic technique. Little of that here.
It is a detailed dialogue between the Prince and Odette… more small-scale but more theatrical.
Ratmansky has collaborated again with Jerome Kaplan on sets and costumes. The design choices are curious. While certain costumes, the swan tutus, for example, are copied from the 1895 production, reaching down to the knee others, like that of Odile, are invented. Similarly, with the sets. Ratmansky explains,
Kaplan's designs don't reproduce the originals, but respect them. The shape of the 1895 tutus are copied exactly, they are very feminine, with little feather caps set on looser hair with mini pony-tails. It makes them women, not swans, and you won't see this in any other productions of Swan Lake.
Odile doesn't have a black tutu, she's a real person. Kaplan was inspired by Pre-Raphaelite styles. Her costume is dark, but not black, and with no feathers whatsoever.
So why, one thinks, if it is a recreation, ignore certain things and take notice of others? Copy some costumes but not all? Recreate the waltz and then introduce new solos for Siegfried and Benno?
This is complex… As a choreographer, I can say that I would hate for my own ballets to be changed. We respect Fokine's choreography yet he was just a generation later, starting work when Petipa was still creating his last ballets. To change Balanchine would be a crime. But not with Petipa. With Petipa we can do whatever we want to make it ‘better'. I suppose I'm trying to bring it back.
I'm certainly not saying that we should only perform reconstructions and the work I have done is obviously subjective. All I can say is that I study all the documentation as much as I can and try to get under Petipa's skin. As a choreographer myself I say, would he approve?
He is a period choreographer, like Bournonville, and he should be respected as such.
Marius Petipa was born on 11 March 1818, so in two years' time there will be cause for celebration. And Ratmansky?
I will be reconstructing another Petipa ballet in New York.
The title?
Right now, it's a secret!
Swan Lake runs from 30 June to 15 July at Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Principal casting Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko; Vittoria Valerio
and Claudio Coviello; Martina Arduino and Nicola Del Freo.
Details and booking information on La Scala's website.
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.
❤️❤️❤️
If you care for ballet, go see it!
I hope they film it! I’d love to see this version of Swan Lake
I hope that this time Ratmansky won’t diminish the technique level that the dancers have, like he did in Sleeping Beauty. This approach only makes the dancers look amateur very often during the whole ballet.
To try to keep tradition and to want to give purity of style to a choreography doesn’t mean that you throw away the terrific technical level that dancers nowadays have reached and which has contributed so much to the enjoyment of ballet.
Ballet is an art form that has slowly but decidedly developed towards a wonderful outcome.
I know we will find great story telling in this ballet. Beauty and truth always win. Thank you Alexei for your painstaking work and giving dancers the opportunity to be versatile technicians as well as poignant artists! Spasiba!!!
So happy to see Nicoletta Manni getting a lot of attention. I have loved following her career.
Ratmansky is doing a great job in making Ballet what really is a combination of codified classical steps with character dances and drama. We are tired of acrobatic movements which do not communicate any emotions. Ballet is an art form! I love his new way of combining theatrical aspects, scenography, costumes, choreography…
I am surprised by the reaction of one comment here as suggesting possible diminished technique in these reconstructions. In Mr. Ratmansky ‘s Sleeping Beauty. I am certain Mr. Gomes at ABT would tell us that his act III variation is more difficult than that which became common practice. In general, I have seen over the years that changes are made precisely because dancers are unable to cope with original versions. Besides, these are reconstructions which have great value in providing historical context. Much of the pertinent detail that has been lost, is marvellous to employ again. Technique won’t be diminished with such a richness being brought to the fore. If dancers are truly good, they can do these as well as incorporate the extended lines and slower tempi in ballets where they belong.
I agree entirely with Ms Harvey. That variation is extraordinarily difficult and the thing that seems to ‘trip’ modern dancers up is the speed. Look at those fantastic videos of the young Fonteyn spinning like a top and finishing in a cambré reached so quickly and she’s almost bent in two… wow, that’s exciting. Picasso’s blue period was a choice, because he had other colours in his palette if he’d wanted them; Schoenberg didn’t write atonal music because he couldn’t harmonise like Mozart, it was a choice; dancers too, should have every technical possibility open to them to make their performances rich in nuance and contrast. Super-extensions and so on can be wonderful additions to the dancer’s palette, to be used judicially at the right moment, but let’s not sacrifice the beauty that Ratmansky is reminding us that exists, just because the dancers don’t have a choice.
Having had the opportunity to see live performances of Ratmansky’s reconstructions of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty and a streamed performance of his Paquita for Munich all I can say is that the idea that these reconstructions, danced in period appropriate style, with low extensions, somehow undermine the “technical advances” of the last thirty or forty years or so is manifestly wrong. What they do is give audiences an opportunity to see these ballets in a form which the choreographer might recognize as his work and to experience something approaching his musicality and the effect is breathtaking.
A Swan Lake in which there are no Swan imitations; in which Odette and the corps de ballet are clearly dancing in the same ballet in the initial lakeside scene and the pas d’action in act 3 is just that is to be welcomed. In this production the dancing of the Prince and Odile in Act 3 does not degenerate into a blatant dance competition but is part of the narrative.This restores the structure of the act and the ballet as a whole and removes the distortions of the new improved versions which we have become used to seeing. The reconstruction is a far more subtle and layered theatrical experience than we generally see in standard “after Petipa” productions in which both Petipa’s and Ivanov’s choreography are improved upon and the music is distorted to accommodate the latest performance fads. The existence of Ratmansky’s production does not prevent the staging of “after Petipa” productions.It gives audiences an opportunity to get as close as possible to the ballet’s original choreography, performance style and musicality and make their own choice about what they prefer to see.
The same can be said of his reconstructed Sleeping Beauty. In his reconstruction Aurora is not going for gold in trying to set a world record for the duration of her balances and the number of suitors she can ignore. This comes as a breath of fresh air and goes a long way to restoring the structure of the entire ballet and makes it possible to see the act 3 grand pas de deux as the culmination of the ballet rather than a somewhat limp choreographic after thought.
These productions emphasize musicality,a harmonious flow of movement and dancing as movement rather than posing.For me seeing them has given me the opportunity to understand and appreciate Petipa’s real significance as a choreographer and what we we have lost in the process of “improving” his choreography.In the process of making the princes in these ballets appear more heroic and active the choreographic vocabulary of the roles has been significantly reduced. The original choreography for these roles is far more challenging than the usual Soviet heroic choreography which we now accept as the norm.I do not think that the existence of these productions diminishes anything.It does not force choreographers to use late nineteenth century dance vocabulary or performance style but it does expand the awareness of both audiences and choreographers to its existence and perhaps offers an extended range of colours to the individual choreographer’s palate.