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The Paris Opera Ballet's Controversial Swan Lake
| Article
# : |
11480 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1986 |
982 Words |
| Author
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Barbara Binkley
Barbara Binkley writes frequently about dance for several
newspapers in Pennsylvania and New York. She currently resides
in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. |
The excitement of the Paris Opera Ballet spread quickly to its audience at a matinee performance of the controversial Swan Lake as choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev, the company's dance director. The ballet was given at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center during the company's recent tour, their first U.S. appearance since 1948.
The Paris artists moved with the lightness and speed of butterflies, darting about here and there with the excellent sense of musicality that Nureyev's choreography gave them. At times, they evoked similarities to the work of the famed choreographer George Balanchine and what he had achieved with the New York City Ballet.
Very strong in technique, the Paris company lives up to its fine balletic history which can be traced back to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France.
Nureyev is making an outstanding contribution to the dance world and, in general, it would seem the Paris Opera Ballet is richer for his efforts. However, having enjoyed the Nuereyev version of Romeo and Juliet in years past, I was shocked and disappointed by his Swan Lake which broke with tradition and defamed this beautiful classical ballet.
His production is staged as a nightmare; a bad dream of the prince's that takes place in his imagination. Its morbidity robs not only Odette and Siegfried of their salvation but destroys the mood and thrust of this traditionally beautiful work.
Prince Siegfried is now an antihero is stripped of his virtues, his vitality, and even of his elevations in the choreography.
Nuereyev still performs with the company and it was easy to see this Swan Lake as the perfect vehicle for his present talents. He was, in fact, scheduled to appear at some performances in either of the male roles. He did not, however, perform at this first matinee.
With his dream interpretation, Nureyev makes the ballet a fantasy and denies the validity of the legends of the swan queen which are a fundamental part of the ballet's heritage. He ignores too the power of an eternal vow. This version leaves more questions than it answers. The dreamer who opens the ballet in his chair is not seen again as the ballet ends. It is the broken body of the Prince Siegfried of the dream that is seen lying on the floor. Was the dream then so
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