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.