Graeme Murphy's "Swan Lake" with Australian Ballet will delight and astound many, even perhaps some purists!

Ballet lovers are all familiar with the traditional or classical Swan Lake story, one of the most beautifully choreographed ballets danced to Tchaikovsky's wondrous music.  The principal dancer typically dances both the roles of the white (Odette) and black (Odile) swan, a challenging coveted double role which is the dream role of many an aspiring dancer.


Graeme Murphy's retelling of the Swan Lake story takes a huge leap to a modern era where there there is an Odette but no Odile, no sorcerer Count Rothbart, but a married Countess Rothbart who is still in love with the Prince now to be married to Odette.  Where the traditional classical ballet tells of a young prince in search of his perfect ideal love, the young 20th century prince appears first as an emotionally-detached and somewhat caddish and flawed man in the process of being married to a beautiful young woman while apparently still very much involved with his older married lover (Countess Rothbart).  This ballet, commissioned in 2002 and has been performed for 12 years now, although for the first time in Los Angeles in only the second time Australian Ballet has performed in Chandler Pavillion in 50 years.  It is inspired unabashedly by the love triangle Princess Diana was in and whose marriage was famously self-described about being a little crowded with three people in it.  But there is no need to think of Princess Diana and the love triangle she was in when you see this modern-era Swan Lake Ballet, as you will fully empathize with the new bride who discovers in her wedding celebration that her new husband and his lover are still very much together.  The first act is full of pas de trois sequences where the Prince is besieged by the attentions of both women, but the young fragile bride is so overcome with sadness and jealousy and a sense of doom in this marriage.  She becomes emotionally erratic as she makes inappropriate overtures to nearly all the male guests (when she feels rejected by the Prince) and pushes together the lovers in public acknowledgment of their ongoing affair, horrifying everyone.  The first act ends explosively with Odette, with her fouettes and multiple leaps symbolically representing her falling into a psychosis, before being whisked away to the sanatorium, after attempting to throw herself into the lake.

The second act begins quietly with Odette still in her psychosis mode at the window overlooking a lake cared for by nuns in their anonymously huge nun hats.  As Odette dreams of being free as a white dancing swan with a bevy of swan companions, the otherworldly scenes from the tilted lake begins and where the beautifully choreographed sequences performed by the corps de ballet, including the classic cygnet dance, most resemble the classical ballet performances even though these corps de ballet sequences are also innovatively different in its various formations.

There is no evil sorcerer in Graeme Murphy's production and the sole evil character is the Countess Rothbart who, in the third act in an black gown evening ball, is upstaged by a beautiful confident recovered Odette in her white dress as she re-enters the social scene and, this time, the Prince becomes obviously enamored by a nonchalant Odette.  There are no triumphant 32 fouettes here by the black clad Countess who realizes she is really losing the Prince now to Odette and desperately calls the sanatorium staff to come and re-commit Odette.  Escaping the nuns and doctors, Odette runs away, and next appears in the final act by the lake again.  Odette and all the swan companions are black swans and the Prince follows her.  They dance the final pas de deux which starts with an explosive grand jete leap and she is caught by the prince into a sustained lift.  Foregoing the famous dying swan sequences, the ballet ends with Odette vanishing dramatically into the tilted lake.

Comparisons to classic performances to the various versions of Swan Lake by different ballet companies are inevitable by purists who will be upset by the loss of critical elements such as the black swan character, Odile, and the re-arranging of the music to fit the new choreography.  Only the Hungarian national dance remains as part of the wedding celebration in this reimagining of Swan Lake in the modern setting.  The costuming and staging of Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake is spectacular and his choreography is truly exciting with far more explosive leaps and dramatic lifts and more different partnering techniques than I have seen in other ballets.  Like Matthew Bourne's re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty, Graeme Murphy's Swan Lake has become our new favorite and Australian Ballet company dancers are lucky to be able to dance this very different Swan Lake. Australian Ballet is clearly a first rate ballet company that tours extensively and has a strong core of physically-talented and emotionally-expressive principal dancers, soloists, and corps de ballet dancers.  Their Swan Lake will astound and delight you even if you are somewhat of a purist because this new choreography and story narrative is executed so well that is now a new classic that all ballet enthusiasts should see and include in their "ballet-viewing repertoire"!

Australian Ballet performs Swan Lake with a live orchestra at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles until Sunday, October 12, with a matinee on Saturday.  There are two intermissions in this 4-Act ballet, but you would never realize how quickly time flies with this fast-paced and radically different Swan Lake ballet.  Tickets are available at:

 http://www.musiccenter.org/reserve/index.aspx?performanceNumber=2546

The full program is at: http://www.musiccenter.org/documents/2014-15/Swan-Lake/
and the final casting list is:

http://www.musiccenter.org/Documents/2014-15/Casting-Swan-Lake.pdf

To fully appreciate this ballet story line in its original classic form, and especially if you are bringing younger children to this ballet, here are two study guides with different levels of complexity and two slightly different story narratives.

http://www.obt.org/outreach_links/SPS_SwanLake_StudyGuide.pdf 

http://calperformances.org/learn/k-12/pdf/2005/Study_Guide_SwanLake.pdf

http://www.sistemaproducciones.com/eng/images/stories/repertorio/descargas/swanlake.pdf

http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/36/libretto/

See some preview youtube clips here, including a good six minutes from various acts of the ballet, at:

http://calperformances.org/performances/2014-15/dance/australian-ballet-swan-lake.php?tab=3#TabbedPanels1

On World Ballet Day, we were fortunate to see the rehearsal for Swan Lake live-streamed and you can see segments of this from 20:30 minutes to 39:00 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q49pGO08Ko

If you just want to listen to the beautiful Tchaikovsky score in 8 parts, without visual distractions, you can hear it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S76CGGPqI3s&list=PL09942EDACAA2D4BB

To watch the Kirov (now Mariinski) Ballet's version of classical Swan Lake online, here is a full version of almost 2 hours where you can see the traditional choreography, including the various national dances and the dying swan.  To see it live in Los Angeles, catch Los Angeles Ballet perform this ballet next at UCLA on October 17 and 19, which I will also review in this blog.

For a peek at Matthew Bourne's irreverent all-male Swan Lake choreography, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUqfdDEYFLQ

If you simply cannot come and watch any of the remaining performances by Australian Ballet, do rent or buy this version of Swan Lake at amazon.com for download or instant viewing:

  

http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Lake-The-Australian-Ballet/dp/B00GXQF5P0

The Music Center provided this press photo.

At the Broad Stage, see South African Isango Ensemble re-styling of Mozart's Magic Flute within its cultural context

Imagine a conductor barefoot on stage while conducting (without a score) 4 marimbas and drums on either side of him off the main center of stage and the orchestra is really part of the stage as singers and musicians are constantly sharing space and alternating roles or sing from the orchestra "pit."  For the most part, you don't see the conductor who may be playing another instrument from the side.  The music flows very organically with the acting, dancing and singing you see on center stage.

Imagine choral members, also barefoot, who can not only sing, dance intricate steps with animated facial expressions, play musical accompaniment and act multiple characters throughout the performance.

Imagine actors/singers coming off the sloping-downward stage along the side aisles and singing and performing as an audience relating to what is on stage.

Imagine a few performers assembling on the top "bridge" platform and tinkling with a metal rod on differently- and graduatingly-filled clear glass bottles held by strings to produce the magical sounding bell sounds.

Isango Ensemble turns western classical conventions of opera on its head and must have unsettled a few heads in the audience.  But for some of us, kicking off our shoes and fully moving to the music and story as it unfolds - with all the emotions the arias and choral voices evoke - seems perfectly natural.  This is not a performance that one needs to sit straight back and hold still for.  Indeed, a silently appreciative audience that applauds after each major aria may even seem a bit underwhelming in a performance that seems to invite more vocal audience responses if we were not in a formal stage environment.  This is the type of company who would probably love it if everyone could move to its dancing and music.  If this performance were held in its cultural homeland - and you can imagine how this performance could have been staged outdoors with some modifications to its minimalist staging -, I cannot imagine people sitting still :)  It reminded me of Matthew Bourne telling his audience that to please clap whenever they feel like it because the dancers really love and thrive on the energy of the audience response in his retelling of Sleeping Beauty by his New Adventures company where he too reinterprets traditional ballets into highly accessible and memorable contemporary "ballets" credited with bringing new audiences to ballet in the UK.   The same could be said of this thoroughly "unstuffy" and vibrantly joyous reinterpretation of the Magic Flute in engaging a broader audience and especially a younger audience for whom a traditional opera might indeed be too much to sit through :)

Just in case one needs a reminder of the basic story line of this two-act Mozart's opera originally intended to have spoken dialogue as well, here is a link that has the original plot summary.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/356710/The-Magic-Flute

For the younger set, or those who want a simpler story line, here is a fun animated plot summary youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-laVXO0IYKY

The smaller venue and the intimate feel of Broad Stage is perfect for this vibrantly colorful and raucously joyful production of Mozart's Magic Flute by Isango Ensemble.  There is no substitute for being in the audience in a life performance, but one gets a sense of this production through these youtube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2am6PD7rbw for an official preview video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIdEIEhd2wQ for some behind the scenes and interview with director Mark Dornford-May.

Sung in a combination of languages including English and South African tongues, the arias remain in the original German. Some singers are stronger performers than others as this ensemble works with a variety of performers at different stages of professional development, but it is the combination of individual, choral and background voices, and all the dancing to the wonderfully mellow and never jarring musical score that sets this production apart and will be enjoyed by the whole family.

I would encourage families to see this even if this is their first opera experience.  Or especially for a first opera performance for younger children.

Unlike in traditional classical operas, where the lyrics or English translation is on a side screen or above the singers, this production provided a full plot summary and all translations and the full libretto.  At the Broad Stage on opening night, these were not handed to every patron but left available in the lobby.  I would suggest getting there earlier and reading through the 20-page program notes and lyrics and translation.  Since it is not always easier to hear all the words even when they are sung in English, a pre-reading and discussion with younger ones would be extremely helpful to help them follow the story.  The entire performance is almost two and a half hours with a 15-minute intermission.

If you have the opportunity and time to do so, always listen to the entire opera on CD or at least the main arias before you watch it being performed.  Here are two youtube videos of the famous aria sung by the Queen of the Night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ODfuMMyss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqBwe9BCj4A

Isango Ensemble's Mozart's Magic Flute is a delightful change from any Magic Flute performances you have ever seen, so try to catch it while it is being performed in Santa Monica's Broad Stage. And you will remember this production long after you have seen it :)  For me, it is probably the most enjoyable, but then again, I am a cultural anthropologist who enjoys cultural translations :)

The last performance is on October 12, and tickets can be purchased here:

 http://www.thebroadstage.com/magic_flute/
Photo of the Queen of the Night comes from this link.

Parking is free in its lot.

Enjoy Los Angeles County Fair this Thursday 9/25 and Friday 9/26 on an educational fieldtrip before it closes on September 28, 2014

LA County Fair ends on August 28 this year, but the last day to go on an educational fieldtrip is this Friday, September 26.  But Thursday, September 25, happens to be a LAUSD non-instructional day, so join us on either Thursday or Friday for a free educational fieldtrip to LA COUNTY Fair with free admission and free parking.  Please contact me at reallykf@gmail.com if you would like to join us and can arrive between 9am to 11.30am before the educational entry gates are closed.  You may stay till closing time at 9pm  if you like. All parking details will be emailed to you if I confirm your participation.  Normal admission and parking costs can be found here:  http://www.lacountyfair.com/visit/get-started/ and if you have to go on another day, use promo code: AS110025 at http://sales.ticketcostars.com/lacf/Fair/tabid/1654/Default.aspx and save $7 on adult tickets.  Parking is normally $15 per vehicle.

We have been going to LA COUNTY FAIR almost every year, and, each year, there are new exhibits to add to our old favorites from the animal farms, railroad models and miniature trains, barn races, art exhibits and students' winning entries, horse-racing and horse shows, and, of course, all the goat-milking (which you can also do) and cow-milking demonstrations and acrobatic and entertaining shows.  We like to do the educational exhibits and farm shows or see blacksmiths and leathersmiths at work in the Heritage Mission in the morning before the public comes in at 11am, and then stay cool with inside art and car exhibits at the NHRA Motorsports Museum (free if you are with an educational fieldtrip) and acrobatic shows (this year, it is a Beijing troupe) within the shopping malls before doing rides when the sun is down and catch the evening shows such as  before going home ... and it is the only place we get huge barbecued turkey legs to share :)

Here is a downloadable map or you can get a hard copy as you enter:  http://www.lacountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2014LACF_GroundsMap.pdf
and here are schedule of shows for both  this Thursday and Friday so you can play your day and minimize backtracking:

http://www.lacountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/9251thursday.pdf

http://www.lacountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/92614friday.pdf

Some Thursday excerpted schedules give you a sense of what you do at the Farm areas:

Aunt Cindi & Uncle Bob Ice Cream & Butter ALL DAY

Five-acre farm of specialty crops ALL DAY 

Extreme Equine Show 11:30 AM, 2:30, 4:30, 8 PM 

Barnyard Racers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 PM

Magic Farm Science Show 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30 PM 

Chicken & Rabbit Talks 2:30, 6, 8 PM 

Thummer, Daisy & Lily Meet & Greets 

5:45, 6:45, 7:45 PM

ESMERALDA’S TRAVELING CIRCUS

presented by Circus Circus 

Circus School ALL DAY (you can learn how to juggle here!)

Esmeralda’s Traveling Circus ALL DAY

This End Up 1:30, 3:30, 7 PM

Aerial Arts Circus Show 2, 4, 6, 7:30, 9 PM

Venardos Circus 2:30, 6:30, 8:30 PM

Conjurer 3, 6, 8 PM

Mango and Dango 3, 8 PM (funny action comedy)

You might not expect to see underwater creatures, but  some of these shows are well worth seeing:

BENEATH THE SEA: AN UNDERWATER ADVENTURE

Beneath the Sea ALL DAY

Live Stingray Encounter ALL DAY

Sea Lion Splash 2:30, 6, 9:30 PM

Mermaid Linden 3, 4, 5, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 PM

Live Shark Encounter 3:30, 7, 9 PM

Below are links to all the educational exhibits, and the new featured exhibit this year is:  Hall of Heroes and Luminasia.

http://www.lacountyfair.com/play/whats-new/

http://www.lacountyfair.com/play/hall-of-heroes/

Here's a description from the link above about the Hall of Heroes:

Your adventure begins at the “Identification Station” where you learn about the various kinds of Superpowers. You then travel through our towering Cityscape and into the various Galleries of Power. They are: “Powers of the Body”, “Powers of the Mind”, “Elements”, “Mastery”, Real Life Heroes”, Gadgets”, and the “Superhero Gallery”. In each gallery you will find dramatic artwork and interactive devices demonstrating the real life forces employed by your favorite Superheroes.

In Powers of the Body you can learn about radiation from a very angry Hulk, and test your strength, balance, and senses,  under the watchful eyes of Superman. Have your brain scrambled by the puzzles of the Riddler in Powers of the Mind. Test your reflexes and your skills with magic in Mastery. Elements will expose you to the shocking secrets of a Tesla Coil, and let you walk into a Tornado Chamber.

In Gadgets you can check out Dr. Who’s Tardis, and another iconic Time Travel vehicle, the DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future (don’t forget your Flux Capacitor). Batman is there with his cool Batcycle from the 1960s, although he is not happy about being given a ticket by a CHIPS Officer. Iron Man and Optimus Prime are also present, as a couple of examples of the ultimate in Gadgets. Across the hall in the Superhero Gallery is an assortment of Superhero Fine Art, along with Rubbings and Coloring Stations allowing you to create your own Superhero Art."

LUMINASIA is completely new and there is an additional fee to enter, and here is a description from the website:

Luminasia "lights up LACF’s hillside with a spectacular, larger-than-life Asian themed and whimsical lanterns. Each is hand-crafted and custom built using an ancient art form and 100 artisans from China. No exhibition of its kind has ever been seen in California, and it’s only here at LACF."

To see how Luminasia was planned and structures were created, see this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNaXGV6OeRY

To see what it looks like at the fair, here's a preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyypRF9_5Uk
Luminasia admission fees:

Adult Admission	(ages 18+)	$9.00
Child Admission	(ages 6-17)	$5.00
Child Admission	(ages 5 and under)	Free

Most schools are unable to stay more than a few hours, but if you drive your own children or carpool with others, you can stay till closing time at 9pm if you arrive with an educational group between 9am and 11.30am.  It is a long day at the fair, but if you keep cool and rest in between walking and sit-down shows, it is completely doable even with kids :)

Other tips from many years of going to the fair:

Click on your specifc day to see the schedule of educational and entertaining shows for the day and many shows are presented twice or more a day. Allow extra time for children to go slower and enjoy what they see along the way.   However, if you have never been to the fair before, it is a good idea to plan out your route based on performance shows or demonstrations you want to catch. You can do that ahead of time with this online interactive map in the blue box above.

It is always hot at the fair, so plan any rides for after the sun has gone down when it is cool,  Bring hats and sunglasses and sunscreen ...and have plenty of water bottles.  I know there is good ice-cream opposite the cow-milking areas.

My best tip for managing the heat is to alternate between outdoor activities and indoor events in air-conditioned buildings - the art gallery, car museum and all the shopping areas as well as the garden/flower buildings.  Look at the map to see where things are and look at the schedule to see what times you want to be in a certain areas. 

Bring these to cool off:  a light-weight baby-stroller (lighter than a wagon) even if you don't have a toddler so you can carry ice-cold frozen waterbottles without breaking your back as well as any healthy snacks (although the turkey legs is really something if you are not vegetarian!).  Neckerchiefs or even paper towels that you can wet to cool off around the necks, or handheld battery-operated fans, or the watermisters for fun cooling,  

 When you first enter, you will be near Fairview Farms and you can see prize-winning 4-H animals, bee-exhibits and you can hang out near the FarmViews and Heritage Farm and Crafts earlier in the day if you are interested in all the animals' exhibit (don't miss the cow-milking by machine, goat-milking by hand, and pig races), and the air-conditioned America Kids Building where you get your read-to-ride tickets in the morning. For the horse lovers, you can see some horse shows near the farm area and you can also see real horse racing at the fair .. another place to cool off and rest :)

Oh, if your kids want to earn some free junior ride tickets for up to 8th grade, you can get up to 6 free tickets-to- ride by printing out this form:

http://www.lacountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014_ReadToRideProgram.pdf

By listing the titles of books your child have read this summer and making pictures reports (K-2nd) about them or brief book reports between 25-50 words depending on their grade.  They can type or write them .. and the retired teacher volunteers would sometimes ask them about the books they read  :) Bring the form and "book reports" to the counter near the entrance at America Kids and get the read-to-ride tickets.  This building also has all the winning art work worth looking at and also dress up and play areas.  See if your child's favorite books have special features and activities here .. don't miss the Magic Tree House Stage for some action:)

Wells Fargo provided a new educational resource on financial education called Hands-On Banking at different grade levels:

http://www.handsonbanking.org/htdocs/en/t/

To organize a trip for next year, here's where you can find Fairkids fieldtrips info: 

http://www.lacountyfair.com/learn/fairkids/

For curriculum connections, click on each topic below:

• America’s Kids
• Beneath the Sea
• California’s Heritage Square
• The Farm at Fairplex
• Flower & Garden Pavilion - this year the focus is on rainforests of China
• Historic Trains - see the real thing retired here and, yes, you can pull the whistle/horn!!
• Millard Sheets - art museum
• Mojo’s Wild & Crazy Lagoon
• Hall of Heroes – New!
• Wilderness Ridge - where you can see animal shows and learn about ecological conservation

Field Trip Resources

• Important Field Trip Information
• Scavenger Hunt
• Free Milk Coupon - if you wish to get free milk, each registered group can get milk for everyone in the group.
• FairKids Map
• Read to Ride Program - write-up 6 books you have read over the summer, and get 6 junior ride free
• Millard Sheets Tours - this is the art museum and this year, the exhibit is Mid-Centuy Art -  the retro, classic, and cool. Details at:  http://www.lacountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2014_LACF_GuidedTours_LetterToSchool.pdf

============================
The official address of the fair is:

1101 W McKinley Ave

Pomona, CA 91768 But Gate 9 in the BLUE GATE area is off WHITE AVE if you are doing a homeschooler/private school fieldtrip. http://www.fairplex.com/fp/company/groundsmaps/index.html is a good map to orient yourself and you can see WHITE AVE and GATE 9 as well as the freeways. I would gps the intersection of McKinley and White Ave unless you see a closer route from the freeway you are taking.  This map is interactive so you can click on each named areas.

Celebrate a Day of Chivalry in the Middle Ages at Getty Center's Family Festival this Saturday, September 20, 2014.

If you have never been to a Family Festival at either Getty Center or Getty Villa, come this Saturday to the Getty Center and be surprised by all you can enjoy on a themed family festival between 10 am. and 6 pm.  Admission to the Getty is always free, but parking is $15 per car and there is alternative public transportation. Trams start running by 9am and you can always pack a family picnic or purchase food in this amazing venue where art, music, story-telling, live demonstrations, gardens, and architecture can be appreciated in a Family Festival.   The schedule below for the day's event allows one to plan your day between performances, art projects, and the galleries.  Don't forget to check out Chivalry exhibit that inspired this family festival.

As a special note, if you become interested in the historical sword fighting in the German medieval tradition after seeing the combat exhibition and other demonstrations by members of the Academy of Arms, check them out at: http://www.academyofarms.com/ and ask the demonstrators for more information.  My son is one of their enthusiastic apprentices and will be one of those teaching lessons at the festival :)

"Chivalry first developed as a code of honor that emphasized bravery, loyalty, and generosity for knights at war in the 11th and 12th centuries. By the later Middle Ages illuminated manuscripts had helped establish chivalry as a system of values that permeated almost every aspect of aristocratic culture. 

This exhibition, which is drawn from the Museum's permanent collection, traces chivalry through its many manifestations—from courtship to hunting to jousting to war. With lavish illustrations celebrating the visual splendor of elite life, these manuscripts played a central role in promoting the tenets of chivalry, many of which have shaped the values of our own culture."  See the nice video introduction from this link:

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/chivalry/

Let’s remake chivalry for the 21^st century is part of the Chivalry Project.

Check out this digital rulebook of chivalry written by our contemporaries and respond to medieval rules and add a new rule of your own. The next free workshop at the Getty Center will be on: Saturday, November 1, 2014

http://thechivalryproject.org/

Finally, don't forget to bring your address book because Getty Center will post for you any postcard you decorate or write to any part of the world.  Don't miss the hidden cactus garden and have your younger children explore the family room :)

http://www.getty.edu/visit/
http://www.getty.edu/visit/exhibitions/
http://www.getty.edu/visit/center/art.html



The Competition in Sittacene and the Placating of Sisigambis (detail), about 1470–75, Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation and assistant. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 8, fol. 99

 Chivalry in the Middle Ages

Date: Saturday, September 20, 2014
Time: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Admission: Free; no reservations required.

Travel with your imagination to the age of chivalry in this daylong festival celebrating knights in armor, ladies of the court and all things noble, inspired by the exhibition Chivalry in the Middle Ages. Listen to tales of Arthur's Round Table and deeds of great bravery through age-old stories and myths. Watch as a master blacksmith demonstrates how to forge a suit of armor, design a family coat of arms, and decorate a goblet for your own royal feast. 

Photo courtesy of Les Enfans Sans Abri

MUSEUM COURTYARD STAGE 

Les Enfans Sans Abri - A Knight To Remember: The Chivalrous Tale of Gillion de Trazegnies
11:15–Noon and 2:30–3:15 p.m.

A tale of a noble knight who makes a vow to his new bride that takes him far from home and the adventures (and misadventures) this promise gets him into. When the two finally meet up again fifteen years later... each has quite a surprise for the other! 

	We Tell Stories

We Tell Stories - The Chivalry of Knights and Samurai
1:00–1:45 p.m. and 4:15–5:00 p.m.

With their signature sense of humor and audience participation, We Tell Stories will examine the chivalric code—Honor, Valor, and Devotion—through stories from the court of King Arthur to the ancient dynasties of Japan. 

STROLLING 

Music of the Middle Ages
Noon–4:00 p.m.
Members from the USC Collegium perform festive songs and dances of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, played on lutes, guitars, recorders, and shawms by strolling minstrels. Featuring the greatest hits of the courtly jousting ear, from "rostibolli gioiso" to improvisations over Greensleeves - the birth of the four-chord progression! 

Tony Swatton

LECTURE HALL 

Jousting and Jesting with David Prather
12:15–1:00 p.m. and 3:30–4:15 p.m.
Chivalry is not dead! Come slay dragons, joust with knights and rescue damsels in distress—fun for the whole family! 

RESEARCH INSTITUTE GROVE 

Arms and Armor
Noon–4:00 p.m. 
Master blacksmith armorer Tony Swatton of Sword and Stone demonstrates materials and techniques used in making arms and armor of the Middle Ages. 

	Photo courtesy of Academy of Arms

MUSEUM COURTYARD

Academy of Arms
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Don't miss our medieval combat exhibition. Mock duels, weapon and armor displays, historical fencing lessons for children and adults, and much more! 

WORKSHOPS
10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. 
(last seating at 5:30 p.m.) 

Noble Goblets 
Bring the Middle Ages into our current day by making a goblet of visual splendor. Create individualized designs inspired by medieval manuscripts. 

Wave Your Arms in the Air 
Design your own coat of arms on a flag and march it around the Getty grounds. Participants will use traditional imagery and discover the meanings behind these symbols. 

Illuminated Frames 
Using a variety of gold pens and translucent papers, decorate a frame to display your postcard-sized art. 

See Los Angeles Ballet perform Balanchine's Serenade and La Sylphide at UCLA's Royce Hall on Saturday, June 21st, at 7.30pm

                     
                                   
Los Angelenos will be delighted to catch Los Angeles Ballet's last performance of Balanchine's Serenade and La Sylphide in 2014 at UCLA's Royce Hall on Saturday, June 21st, at 7.30pm.

Performed to Tchaikovsky's 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48, Serenade was created by a then 30-year old George Balanchine soon after he first arrived in the United States.  It is a complex choreography distilling strong classical ballet techniques into an ethereally beautiful and seemingly plotless piece where you can interpret the dance the way you see/feel its beauty and/or sadness.   I earlier blogged about Balanchine's musical training and only someone with his musical sensibility could choreograph a piece as if the composer could visualize a physical representation of his music:   To hear and learn more about the music, please check out these links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGRglp6tvs
https://content.thespco.org/music/compositions/serenade-for-strings-piotr-ilyich-tchaikovsky/

For more on Serenade as a seminal ballet work, see:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703467004575463543929815752 for an expansive history and interpretation of Serenade

This insightful video about dancing this ballet from the point of view of a NYC prima ballerina discusses Serenade in terms of specific major roles is definitely worth watching to see beautiful dance footage from an elevated angle that you won't see from the audience's perspective here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBtzyRzk0UM

La Sylphide as performed by Los Angeles Ballet is a shorter version from the Royal Danish Ballet tradition with a beautiful stage set complete with stunning Scottish highland tartan and kilt costumes and character shoes while the syphs (imaginary spirits inhabiting in air) are ethereal by contrast.  Children will be especially excited to see the aerial hoisting of dancers up the chimney and through the sky.  Below is a full story line which is worth reading before seeing the show.  If you are unable to see this performance or want to see different versions of this ballet, here is a full length version of La Sylphide with a slightly different choreography by Paris Opera Ballet in 2004:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450Y-8uR60E

If you have just seen Maleficent the movie, you will see a similar de-winging scene except, in this case, the hero was unwittingly the cause of the sylph's death. In one, you see a benevolent witch touched and transformed by a child's innocence; in the other, a truly maleficent witch who seeks revenge after being offended and tricks the hero into killing his enchanting love.

La Sylphide is not to be confused with Les Sylphides which was created in 1909 by the Ballets Russes where Balanchine was choreographer for before he came to the United States. Les Sylphides is considered the first plotless ballet set to the music by Chopin.  Here is a performance of Les Sylphides for comparison as performed by Mikhail Barynishkov:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBJNc3h7Hp8

Tickets for Los Angeles Ballet are available at
310-998-7782 or www.losangelesballet.org

The detailed plot summary below is from:  http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/234/libretto/
and I have excerpted some hostorical details about the ballet dancer for whom La Sylphide was choreographed for.   Enjoy the performance either live or on youtube.

Synopsis

Act I
A Scottish manor-house

It is the morning of James’s marriage to Effie and he is asleep in his armchair. A winged figure, a Sylphide, is kneeling by his side. She kisses him on his forehead and he wakes up confused. Entranced by the vision of the Sylph, he attempts to capture her, but she escapes him; as she reaches the fireplace, she vanishes up the chimney. Troubled, he wakes his companions but none of them have seen her. Gurn, James’s rival, arrives and learns that James is infatuated with someone other than Effie.

The preparations for the wedding are in full swing. James hardly notices Effie; instead she is wooed by Gurn whom she ignores. James joins in the preparations but gradually realizes that, as Effie dreams more and more of the wedding, his own dreams go far beyond the walls of the manor-house.

An old woman, Madge, has slipped unnoticed into the hall to warm herself by the fire. James, sensing that she is a sinister presence, takes an immediate dislike to her and cannot bear to see her sitting where he last saw the Sylph. He orders her to leave but Effie calms him and persuades him to let Madge tell the fortunes of some of the guests. Madge prophesies that Effie will marry Gurn, and James, furious at this, threatens Madge, who curses him. Effie runs off to dress for the wedding leaving James alone and in turmoil.The Sylph once again shows herself to James, declares her love for him and tells him that they belong together, Gurn enters and, believing that he may have caught James talking to another woman, attempts to reveal the situation to Effie but failsAs the wedding festivities begin, the Sylph reappears and, unable to resist her enticements, James follows her into the forest. Effie is left broken-hearted.
Act II

A glade in the forest

Deep in the forest, shrouded in mist, Madge is planning her revenge. She makes a veil, irresistible to all in a magic cauldron. As the fog lifts, James enters with the Sylph, who shows him her realm. She brings him berries and water but evades his embrace. To lift his spirits she calls on her sisters and the forest fills with sylphs, who dance for James. Try as he might, he is unable to catch the Sylph in his arms

Effie and James’s companions reach the glade looking for him. Gurn finds James’s hat, but Madge convinces him to say nothing. He proposes to Effie and, encouraged by Madge, she accepts. Everyone leaves to prepare for the wedding of Effie and Gurn.Meanwhile, James is desperately looking for the Sylph, and Madge convinces him that the veil she has made will enable him to catch her. The Sylph appears and, seeing the veil is totally captivated by it. She allows James to place it around her shoulders and as he does so, he kisses her. His embrace is fatal and the Sylph’s wings fall to the ground. In despair James sees what should have been his own wedding party in the distance. As Madge forces him to see what he has lost, he realizes that in trying to possess the unobtainable he has lost everything.

La Sylphide is also a significant work for other reasons and here's a little history worth reading about as excerpted from:  http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/234/details/

This is a work which marks a turning point in the genre: first, it is the oldest of the classical ballets which are known today, second, the ballet of the same name marks the start of dancing on pointe, third, it is not fortuitous that it was in that ballet that the ballerina — Marie Taglioni, the first ballerina of the romantic era — was to rise on pointe, the sylphide, after all, is a maiden of the air.

La Sylphide — produced by the prima ballerina’s father Filippo Taglioni — was premiered in Paris in 1832. Two years later, it was seen by August Bournonville, the man who made the name of Danish ballet, who decided to do a version of it for his Company. He did not have enough money to acquire the rights to the score but, nothing daunted, he commissioned new music from a Danish composer. And so — in 1836 — the Danish La Sylphide which was to become famous the world over, saw the light of day. And, thanks to the reverent attitude to this ballet of generation after generation of Royal Danish Ballet dancers, it has been preserved for posterity.

From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/romantic-ballet/, you can also read more about the romantic ballet tradition and about Marie Taglioni for whom La Sylphide was written.

Marie Taglioni (1804 - 84) in the ballet Flore et Zephre, engraving by Richard James Lane (1800 - 72), after a drawing by Alfred Edward Chalon (1780 - 1860), hand-coloured engraving, England, 1831. Museum no. E.5055-1968

Marie Taglioni

‘Will that little hunchback ever learn to dance’ mocked Marie Taglioni’s teacher in Paris. Despite being exceptionally plain with very long arms and legs, Marie Taglioni became more than the world’s most famous dancer. Her look became the defining image of the ballerina, poised on the tips of her toes, wearing a long white tutu and a floral wreath, her dark hair parted at the centre and drawn back.

Marie Taglioni was born in Sweden into a family of dancers. She trained in Paris but was not considered talented until her father, Filippo, became her teacher. In 1832, Filippo created La Sylphide to show Taglioni to her best advantage. This supernatural, tragic story with its romantic Scottish setting, combined with Taglioni’s ethereal look, became a defining moment in Romantic ballet. Taglioni became the rage of Europe.

The ethereal image of the sylph was reflected in fashion. Young women often drank vinegar and water to make themselves look pale and interesting.

Marie Taglioni danced the title role in La Bayadère in London in 1831. Her dress was based upon conventional dance dress of the period, but the ballet's Indian setting is clear from the scoop neck, fitted short sleeves, wide belt, pearl droplet head-dress and long earrings seen in this print.

A bayadère is an Indian temple dancer. The 1830s knew little about Indian dance and the movements were based on visual sources such as books or paintings. London did not see authentic Indian dancing until 1838, and even then some spectators preferred Taglioni's 'Indian' dance to the real thing.

Taglioni stands 'en pointe' (on the tips of her toes). There are prints of dancers standing en pointe in the 1820s, but then it was not used artistically but as a technical trick. Taglioni and her choreographer father honed the technique to perfection, making it effortless and an expression of character. To her audiences, she seemed to float above the ground. From now on, point work would be an integral part of ballet technique.

of her ballet shoes was sold for 200 roubles, cooked, garnished and served with a special sauce, then eaten by a group of ballet fans. History does not record whether the shoes had been worn or not.

In England the London to Windsor stagecoach was named after her.

Taglioni retired from dancing in 1847. In 1860 she choreographed her only ballet Le Papillon (The Butterfly) for her pupil Emma Livry. Tragically, in 1863, Emma’s stage costume brushed against a gas jet and caught fire. She later died of burns.