 The brilliant Bolshoi Ballet. Pic Damir Yusupov
The distilled essence of Romantic ballet ,this is a 2008 version of LA SYLPHIDE, adapted from the Bournonville by Johan Kobborg with the 1836 music by Lovenskiold .It is very similar to the 2005 version he did for the Royal Ballet in London. Being the world renowned Bolshoi, the dancing is outstanding. There’s fine ensemble work throughout and some amazing solos. The Bournonville style demands soft ballon, very precise technique and plenty of jumps and petit batterie, especially for the men.
There are some wonderful show off solos for Vyacheslav Lopatin as James and Denis Savin as Gurn .Their entrechats are stunning ! Coming from the 1830’s, there is a particular use of delicate soft rounded arms for the women as sylphs, as in the lithographs of the era. The jumps, arabesques of today are higher and the pointe shoes of today much harder and stronger. (This ballet is famous as one of the first ballets that introduced pointe work in the original performances by Taglioni. It extended the dancer’s ‘line’ and made the female dancer – in this case the sylph- appear far lighter and more elusive.) It also incorporated the Romantic ideal of the woman as other-worldy and unobtainable.
In this production we see a blend of the Vaganova and Bournonville styles. As this is set in misty Scotland in Act 1 there is some marvellous exuberant dancing as in the pre wedding celebrations, finely performed and demanding incredibly precise footwork. Lovenskiold’s lilting tuneful music was excellently performed by the orchestra of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia under the dynamic baton of Pavel Klinichev.
The opening tableaux brings to life the famous lithograph with James asleep in a large chair, the sylph beside him. There is a huge baronial hall with a giant staircase for Act1 and plenty of tartan. Queen Victoria would have loved it! Act 2’s set in the ‘woodland glade’ where James has followed the sylph to, and this is beautifully realised.
As the Sylph, Ekaterina Krysanova is exquisite, ethereal and floats lightly in and out of James’ vision. She is elusive and tantalising. Is she a vision or real? Why can only James see her ?
Her costumes were delicately pretty, with incredible attention to detail (for example, the rose in her bodice and the flowers in the underskirt). She is a romantic dream. Her other-worldiness is emphasised in Act 1 in the scene where she disappears up a chimney and in Act 2 where she offers James birds’ nests. Her death in Act 2 is very fragile and moving. You can see how this work led to, for example, GISELLE, created a decade later, especially with the lines of the sylphs.
Vyacheslav Lopatin as James is wondeful. He is an ordinary mortal swept up in other-worldy events beyond his control . His dancing is superb, jaw dropping at times with amazing jumps and immaculate control. Bravo!
Effie , James’ fiancee was sweetly ,prettily danced by Anna Rebetskaya in fine form .As already mentioned James ’ rival Gurn was excellently performed by Denis Savin .
I was however disappointed in red haired Madge the witch ( Irina Zibrova ). In this version she is much younger and far more beautiful than usual . She looks like an escapee from MANON or LES MIS and generally is not threatening or evil at all . The ending, however, is chilling. Having had her revenge, has she actually killed James or does she leave him there unconscious, having lost everything?!
This was a wonderful treat for ballet lovers, and I am very much looking forward to next year’s performances of this work by the Australian Ballet .
The Bolshoi Ballet’s production of LA SYLPHIDE screened at arthouse cinemas on the weekend of the 10th and 11th November, 2012.
© Lynne Lancaster
14th November, 2012
Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- LA SYLPHIDE, Bolshoi Ballet, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster
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