Thanks to out friends at Disney we’ve all got a handle on the basic story line right?  So how about some fun facts for your next trivia night or dinner party.

The ballet predates the Disney movie by about 70 years, debuting in 1890 in St. Petersburg.  It shares the same Composer (Tchaikovsky) and Choreographer (Petipa) as Swan Lake  and The Nutcracker.  The story is based on a fairy tale first thought to have come into vogue in the 14th Century, but made popular by the Brothers Grimm – with a few additional fairy tale characters thrown in just to round out the dancing in Act 3.  Much of the music used in the Disney film comes from the ballet score including the famous song “Once Upon a Dream” coming from the Act 1 Garland Waltz.

An almost instant hit, it has only grown in popularity since its debut with almost every major ballet company in the world having a version in its repertoire.  It is the dream of many dancers to perform the famous roles – The Lilac Fairy, Princess Aurora, The various Fairies and for men – the virtuosity of the Male Bluebird.

Below are a number of clips from the famous ballet – there are just too many great bis to limit it to one video!  Enjoy watching, and next time your children/nieces/nephews/baby-sitting charges are glued to the DVD perhaps think about pulling out your phone and showing them a few of these famous clips….

Bluebird Variations (Male and Female) – Dutch National Ballet

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZV-8xoZx9E?rel=0&w=960&h=720]

Garland Waltz – Bolshoi Ballet

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp2wWLTKwWg?rel=0&w=960&h=720]

Rose Adagio – Margot Fonteyn

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9wotb7pyM?rel=0&w=960&h=720]

Lilac Fairy – Marie-Agnes Gillot (Paris Opera Ballet)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83oDuK0wL0?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

So the lights are on but nobody is home? Yep – that’s the story of Coppélia!  One of the few comic ballets, this light hearted tale of love, jealousy, mistaken identity, and break-and-enter (where are the cops when you need them?)  was the 1870’s equivalent to a Pixar movie.  Choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon to the music of Leo Delibes (also wrote Sylvia and La Source) the story is based loosely on E.T.A Hoffman’s tale of Der Sandmann (The Sandman).

Often subtitled ‘The girl with the enamel eyes’ Coppélia is the life sized doll  (made by local madman/magician Dr. Coppélius) who sits on the balcony overlooking the town square motionless.  Farm boy Franz falls in love with her, whilst farm girl Swanhilda is jealous so both decide to break in (separately) to find out what her story is.  The usual chaos of mistaken identities, misplaced affection and mayhem ensue but all ends well with a wedding and a good feast (well, for everyone except poor old Dr. Coppélius).

Below Natalia Osipova dances with the Royal Ballet in the Act 1 Town Square scenes.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1QKY7JVnv0?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

When you say the word “Ballet” what’s the first thing you think?  Is it a lady standing on tiptoes in a white tutu flapping her arms like a swan?  If so – you’re not alone.

Swan Lake has become synonymous with all things ballet.  It’s been remade countless

times from Matthew Bourne’s all male version, to Graeme Murphy’s Princess Diana character, and Natalie Portman’s take on it in the movie Black Swan – as a ballet it’s been plucked, preened, and pressed into more shapes than it’s creators could ever have imagined.  So why all the attention?

Part of the ballet’s enduring success comes from the memorable score by Tchaikovsky.  The repeating themes used for the swans by the lake with their haunting tones could be hummed by most of the general population.

While the original version premiered in 1877 at the Bolshoi Ballet, it was unsuccessful and has been all but lost.  In the early 1890’s choreographer Maurice Petipa approached Tchaikovsky with the idea of re-choreographing the ballet to the impressive score and a new version premiered in 1985 co-choreographed with Lev Ivanov due to Petipa’s ailing health.  Again, this productions was only modoratly sucessful, but remained in the companies repetoire and was performed a small number of times over the next few years.  Over the years the story has been tweaked (or completely changed!) sometimes with a happy ending, sometimes not.  What remains is always Tchaikovsky’s score, and a story of love under impossible odds.  Perhaps we are all just romantics at heart?

Below La Scala Ballet Theater dancers Roberto Bolle and Svetlana Zakharova perform the Act II Pas de deux.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMXPlhFo5A?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

Want something less traditional?  Here’s Matthew Bourne’s take on the famous Dance of the Cygnets

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChOnhxe-Vm0?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

 

 

 

The Nutcracker evokes all things Christmas – snow falling, roasted chestnuts, fur lined mittens and eggnog…. Hang on a sec – no barbie, prawns and potatoe salad?  Oh well, we’re just here for the dancing right?!?

The Nutcracker is one of the “Big 3” in the ballet canon.  Choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (ps. he did the other 2 in the canon, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty) The Nutcracker debuted in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892.  Not initially a success, it was put on ice until 1919 when it was re-staged and has grown in popularity ever since.  Various versions exists all around the world, sometimes adapted to suit local customs, but most retain the story of a young girl Clara, given the gift of a Nutcracker doll under the Christmas tree.

While the Sugarplum Fairy’s twinkly-tones might drive us all insane at the shopping center each December, you can’t deny the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score overall.  It has become a Christmas tradition for many families and no matter the version, leaves you feeling good inside and ready for a hot turkey (or cold ham – take your pick!)

Below, artists of the Mariinsky Ballet perform the Waltz of the Flowers

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOC36Qjug4U?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

PS – Did you know there actually is an Australian-ised version of The Nutcracker?  Choreographed in 1992 by Graeme Murphy (then the head of Sydney Dance Company) it tells the story of a Russian ballerina who settles in Australia.  Check it out below – but SPOILER ALERT!!! This is the final scene….

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GcXmszYfko?rel=0&w=960&h=720]

Les Sylphide holds an remarkable place in the history ballet. It straddles the beginnings of modern ballet in the Romantic Era, but debuted at a time of great change during the era of the Ballets Russe.  Stylistically it is supremely traditional, but revolutionized tradition being the first ballet to debut without having a story line.  How did such a unique piece of work come about?

The musical score was written in Frédéric Chopin  and debuted in 1893, but it was not until 1909 that the ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine debuted onstage with the famous

Anna Pavlova in the lead role.  Though it is still un-decided whether Australia or New Zealand can claim the invention of the Pavlova dessert,  there is no debate over her claim to fame of Prima Ballerina at the time.  Her notoriety led businessman Sergei Diaghaliev to recruit her as the star for his newly founded Ballets Russes  – a touring ballet company taking the world by storm with a new style of ballet productions.  Modern choreography pushing the boundaries of what audiences defined as ballet, elaborate sets and costumes designed by artists such as Pablo Picasso and Coco Chanel, the Ballets Russe was the hottest ticket in town at the time (think a troupe of Lady Gaga’s in 1909).

Les Sylphide could be seen as the younger cousin of the full length story ballet La Sylphide (1832) which debuted at the start of the Romantic Period of ballet.  The early 1800’s saw many progressions in the art – the invention of dimmable gas lighting allowed stages to be set as moonlit woodlands, and the rise of the ballerina dancing on the tips of her toes (en pointe) lead to a fashion of ethereal characters and tragic love stories.  What made Les Sylphide different from ballets that came before it was that it contains no story line – it is dancing just for the sake of it.  Like its elder cousin, it debuted at a time of great change in the life of ballet – but its choreography and costumes hark back almost 100 years in terms of style.

So lets pretend its 1909, sit back, and enjoy watching beautiful dancing just for the sake of it….

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvDoMNpNlzY?rel=0&w=960&h=720]

Let’s be honest.  If you’re reading this, you probably grew up dreaming of a being a ballerina.  I know I did.  We imagined the pointe shoes, the tiaras, the tutus, and dancing the lead role in our favourite ballet (mine was Coppelia – what was yours?) opposite a stunningly handsome male lead with muscles chiseled out of marble (did someone say Roberto Bolle???).

Not many of us made it all the way into a professional company, but lots of us still dance because it’s what we enjoy doing.  Our day to day lives are taken up with emails, phone calls, errands and at times frustrations – but there is a beauty and a joy when you walk into that ballet studio, that this is time just for you.  Your head clears as you do your first plié, you begin the think about your technique and feel your muscles responding to your commands.  Your heart rate lifts as you move, you feel that trickle of sweat down your neck – and that report that was dumped on your desk that morning is long gone from your mind.  For that moment you are living your childhood dream.  You feel free, energized, alive.  We can each be that ballerina for a class.

And guess what – maybe we really are living the dream.  Aren’t we getting the best of both worlds?  The joy of ballet without the daily grind?  Would you trade your job for an 9:30am start that didn’t finish until you’d taken class, rehearsed, and performed till 9:30 that night?  Would you rather multi-task 5 open browser tabs and a ringing phone, or learning 3 different parts while balancing an foot injury and feeling so tired all you want to do is sleep (but you can’t – because you have to put on make-up for the 7:30 show).  Did we know how hard it would be when we were kids? No way.  Do we appreciate it now? Heck yeah.  But I wonder if sometimes ballerinas wish they had desk jobs….

Every job has its ups and downs.  Every job takes a huge amount of skill – whether it’s a double pirouette or dealing with an angry client.  Neither is better than the other, they’re just different.

So let’s see how the other half lives….

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rryxZjqLtNs?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

What is ballet really about?

Is it a series of steps, learned, and perfected over the years? A language of technique honed and shown off to the extreme?  Is it expression, movement, or is it communication?

If it’s communication – with who? The audience, the dance partner, yourself?

Yet it must be more than just that, because there are many ways to express and communicate that don’t involve ballet.  You can tell a story with words or pictures.  But by the same token you can dance ballet steps over and over without communicating anything at all.

So what really is ballet?  Is it something different to each and every one of us?

In this video, Royal Ballet Principal Artists Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae discuss the difficult repertoire (steps) of Sleeping Beauty, but also what they think ballet is.

What is ballet for you?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Q3OLE491U?rel=0&w=1280&h=720]

It’s something I hear far too often.  “But I’m too old to start learning ballet!”.

I could substitute ‘old’ with many of the the other excuses people give – too un-fit, too un-coordinated, don’t know anything about how to…. But in my book they are not hurdles that stop you from beginning to learn the joys of ballet.

In this beautiful story by the UK’s Channel 4, the reporter looks at how ballet is helping people with Parkinson’s disease.  So watch and be inspired.  Then book yourself into a ballet class….

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