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A Sprightly Gambol: Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
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20661 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
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9 / 1992 |
2,082 Words |
| Author
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Bruce Merrill
Bruce Merrill, currently based in Paris, is a dance writer,
critic, and teacher. |
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo opened the Printemps des Arts festival in Monte Carlo on April 18 with a triple bill of world creations, given in the presence of Princess Caroline, patron of the company. A number of critics from Paris and other European cities turned out for the occasion as well.
The works presented were Reflets, choreography by Nicolas Musin; Segunda Piel, by Karole Armitage; and L'Enfant les Sortileges (Ravel), by Jean-Christophe Maillot.
What better place to see the company than it their home, the famous Monte Carlo Opera, designed by Charles Garnier (best known for designing the Paris Opera). The Monte Carlo Opera, inaugurated January 25, 1879, is a sort of miniature of the latter. The theater is a six hundred-seat jewel of gilt and red velvet with perfect acoustics and a superb setting directly on the sea.
Monte Carlo has long been known for its patronage of ballet companies. Starting in 1911 Serge Diaghilev brought his newly formed Ballets Russes there to rehearse and give several seasons a year. Except for an interruption during World War I, they continued to perform there until Diaghilev's death in 1929. In addition to most of the great dancers of the period--including Pavlova, Karsavina, Kehessunska, Lopokova, Danilova, Nijinsky, Bolm, Dolin, and Lifar--Monte Carlo welcomed many choreographers who would leave their mark throughout the world--Massie, Fokine, Nijinska, Nijinsky, and Balanchine. Famous painters of the period--including Bakst, Benois, Matisse, and Picasso--could also be seen there.
The ballet, which changed its name to Les Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1925, continued under the direction of Rene Blum and Colonel de Basil in the 1930s. Between 1945 and 1947, Serge Lifar formed a company with many of the dancers from the Paris Opera-- a company that the Marquis de Cuevas bought in 1947 and, after a famous duel with Lifar, later renamed the Ballet de Marquis de Cuevas, with Rosella Hightower and Andre Eglevsky as stars. The marquis's death in 1961 left a void until 1986, when Princess Caroline realized the long-cherished dream of her mother, Princess Grace, and started Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Ghislaine Thesmar and Pierre Lacotte from the Paris Opera were named artistic directors.
The new company's repertoire was solidly based on classical works such as Swan Lake, Lacotte's La Sylphide, and a good selection of Balanchine works. In 1988 Sonia Mandel, who had spent twenty-five years
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