L'après-midi d'un Faune
(Afternoon of a Faun) - Music: Claude Debussy. Choreography: Nijinsky. Plot: After a
poem of Stéphane Mallarmé. Sets and costumes: inspired by the works of Léon
Bakst. Premiere: May 19, 1912 at the Théàtre du Châtelet in Paris. Dancers at the
premiere: Vaslaw Nijinsky (the faun), Lydia Nelidova (Leader of the Nymphs).
Nijinsky's masterpiece is being performed with the artistry of Barry Leon
opposite Ballet of the Dolls' Julia Tehven. The work was the center of
controversy at its debut in 1912 over a final movement when the faun encounters
the delicate scarf of a nymph. Nijinsky created this beloved work with static
freeze like movement that resembles ancient Egyptian characters. The movement
creates an illusion of two dimensional images that glide and shift in telling
this unusual story.
Giselle - Act II Pas de Deux.
Composer: Adolph Adam. Choreography: Coralli & Perrot. Premiere: June 14th, 1841 in Paris. Author: Jules Henri Vernoy de
Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier. This beloved duet will be performed
by Ted Sothern and Minnesota Dance Theatre’s Mifa Ko.
The scene is Albrecht at Giselle’s grave where she appears as a sylph, and
moved by the passions that make the story, they dance the pantomime of this
love tragedy. Considered the most romantic ballet of all time, Giselle is a
pure symbol of the classic ballet repertoire. Most ballerinas consider the role
to be the greatest honor to perform as those truly qualified are very few.
Romeo
& Juliet - Balcony Pas de Deux. Composer: Prokofiev. Choreography: Drotar.
Premiere: February 14, 2004 at the O’Shaughnessy
in St. Paul. The Balcony scene will be performed by
Julie Tehven and Ted Sothern. The ballet is based on the play by Shakespeare
and has been performed as a ballet set to both Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev scores
of the same name. This scene of the star-crossed lovers is the most recognized
romantic moment in literature and translates eloquently as a ballet.
La
Sylphide - Act II Pas de Deux. Composer: H. Lovenskjold. Choreography: Bournonville,
based on Filippo Taglioni. Premiere: March
12th, 1832 at the Paris Opera. La Sylphide
will be performed by Michelle Mahowald and Matthew Powell. This ballet is set
in Scotland, a land that was
considered remote and exotic at the time. It was created by Taglioni for his
daughter, Marie, to dance the role of the sylph. The Pas de Deux is from the
second act where James enters a dense forest followed by the sylph with whom he
is now in love, even though she continually evades him. It is only at the very
end of this playful duet that the two ever touch. This romantic piece is known
for the kilt worn by the male dancer.
Carmen
- Pas
de Deux. Choreography: Alberto Alonso. Composer: Bizet. The Pas de Deux will be
danced by Tatiana Berenova & Pavel Homko. This ballet is infused with the
tradition and mystery of Spain and the belief in the
power of Fate. From the midst of the story emerge one man and one woman whom
Fate binds together, sealing their destiny with a flower. The adaptation of
Bizet's music that is most commonly used is that composed by Rodion Shchedrin
for the ballet created for his wife, Maya Plisetskaya. The choreography for
this ballet by Alberto Alonso began before a note of the music was even
prepared.
Le
Corsaire - Composer: Adolphe Adam. Choreographer: Marius Petipa.
Author: Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Premiere: January 23rd, 1856 at the Paris Opera. This classic
work will be performed by MDT’s Mifa Ko and Keith
Glenn of the Tulsa Ballet. This ballet was made famous by the Russian revivals
of it by Jules Perrot in 1858 and Marius Petipa in 1868 and is currently
performed all over the world by many classical ballet companies. Rudolph
Nureyev and Margot Fontaine performed this work as a duet though it is actually
a Pas de Trois in the original full length ballet. Their performance, as a Pas
de Deux, became legendary.
Le
Spectre de la Rose – Premiere: April 19, 1911 by the Ballet Russe. Music:
Carl-Maria von Weber. Choreography: Fokine. Spectre will be performed by
Matthew Powell & Leah Gallas. The ballet begins as a young girl arrives in
her bedroom holding a single rose and is drawn into the beauty and aroma of the
rose as she drifts into sleep. The Spirit of the rose then weaves in and out of
her dreamy fantasy as a beautiful rose-like male. The reality and dream blur as
she begins to move with the ethereal rose creature in a dance that is lush in
its innocent eroticism. The girl returns to her chair resumed in slumber warmed
and fulfilled by her fantasy. The Spectre bids adieu and then makes the
legendary leap through the window leaving the girl amidst Le Spectre de la
Rose.
Swan Lake -
Act III Pas de Deux (Black Swan). Composer: Tchaikovsky. Choreographer: Petipa.
Author: Beghitchev / Geletzer. The Black Swan Pas de Deux will be performed by
Tatiana Berenova and Pavel Homko. Swan Lake was staged for the first time as a
ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877. This production was the only staging
during the composer's life and, ironically, was a failure. In 1895, nearly
twenty years later, choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov restaged the
ballet in Saint
Petersburg
and the work became a legendary success. This version became the base for later
interpretations.
The Dying Swan
– Composer: Saint
Seans. Choreographer: Fokine. Performing is MDT’s Bolshoi-trained gold-medalist
Tatiana Berenova. Diaghilev's Les Ballets Russes de
Monte Carlo originated the legend, The
Dying Swan. It was made famous by Anna Pavlova
and is the most legendary solo in the classic ballet repertoire.
Aria – Composer: Vivaldi. Choreographer:
Jennifer Hart. Music: The Aria Sposa Son Disprezzata. Hart’s Aria is performed with the artistry of
Mifa Ko & Samual Fiepel.
In celebration of all great works having once been new, Jennifer Hart has been
invited to present Aria.
Hart’s compelling new work is set to Vivaldi‘s Aria Sposa Son Disprezzata and is also being presented in Ballet Builders in New York City.