Evening of one-act Ballets: Divertissement. In the Night. Symphony in C
Credits
Cast to be announced
The performance has 2 intermissions
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Le Divertissement du roi
CREDITS
Music by Jean-Philippe Rameau Choreography by Costume Designer: Lighting Designer: Konstantin Binkin Libretto by Bogdan Korolyok
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Le Divertissement du Roi is a neoclassical fantasy on a baroque theme, it is recollections of the happy beginnings of the art of ballet that unfolded in the Louvre and in Versailles. The protagonist of the ballet is a King who loves to appear at the theatre dressed as the Sun. The prototypes number more than just Louis XIV: contrary to popular opinion, the epithet Le Roi Soleil was first attributed to his most august father, Louis XIII. Just as much as his son, he loved to take part in Court masquerade balls, and not always as the star of day. Much more frequently he appeared as marginalised urban dwellers and port idlers - such as a drunken Dutch captain. Maxim Petrov’s ballet is a catalogue of cherished images of baroque ballet. Although the music used is by Jean-Philippe Rameau – and this is a very late score from the baroque theatre tradition – the divertissement features entrées typical of earlier times. There are peasants on the stage (the indispensable gallants), Play and Pleasure as well as miraculous snails which are also ugly furies. But the protagonist of the evening is Armide the magician. The mistress of enchanted salons that appear and disappear as she waves her hand is, arguably, a key feature of baroque art, tensely feeling the border between dreams and reality, trying to separate illusions from truth. In brief, no-one can ultimately guarantee that the entire so-called “king’s divertissement” is not an illusion – a jester’s trick with fairground comedians. Bogdan Korolyok
Premiere: 14 June 2015, Mariinsky Theatre, St Peterburg
Running time 25 minutes
In the Night
CREDITS
Music by Frédéric Chopin Choreography by Jerome Robbins (1970)
Staged by Ben Huys Costumes by Anthony Dowell Lighting by Jennifer Tipton Recreated by Nicole Pearce
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Prior to the appearance of this ballet in the Mariinsky Theatre repertoire, Russian audiences knew Jerome Robbins only as a hypostasis – Robbins-the-choreographer-of-musicals, Robbins-the-Broadway-triumph. Not for his “live” productions, of course, but rather for his film version of Westside Story, which caused a veritable furore in the cinemas of the Soviet Union. In 1992, the Mariinsky Theatre brought another Robbins to the country – Robbins the lyricist and the intellectual, one of the two leading figures at New York City Ballet. The man who took Chopin’s nocturnes and in 1970 created In the Night – a short ballet for three couples. Initially they appear on stage in turn, while in the finale they all dance at the same time. Each of the couples offers their own version of the dialogue between man and woman – and, impeccably reproducing the choreographic scene, all the performers bring their own ideas of paired relationships to these dialogues. The good-natured coquetry and the claims of divine service, competing in the dazzle and the childlike thirst for trust – all different people, and so every time In the Night looks just that little bit different from the previous display. Anna Gordeyeva
World premiere: 29 January 1970, New York City Ballet, New York Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 18 March 1992 Premiere of the revival: 5 May 2009
Running time 25 minutes
Performed by permission of The Robbins Rights Trust
Age category 6+
Symphony in C
CREDITS
Music by Georges Bizet (Symphony No. 1 in C) Choreography by George Balanchine (1947)
Staging by Colleen Neary Costume design by Irina Press
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
George Balanchine staged one of his most famous ballets for the company of the Opéra de Paris in 1947. Invited from beyond the ocean, the choreographer, in executing the French commission, was absolutely sure of himself: in this new work, as in most mature ballets by Balanchine, there was no plot, there were no human passions behind the dance, and only the music, its rhythm and structure determined the development of the choreographic image. The character of the dance was dictated by Georges Bizet’s youthful Symphony in C Major. Its sparkling lightness provided the name of the work – Le Palais de cristal. It is true that soon after the ballet was brought to New York the invented title became forgotten, and for over half a century many leading ballet companies throughout the world have been proud to have Balanchine’s Symphony in C in their repertoires. This ballet is ideal for showcasing a company’s merits: the four parts of the ballet are staged for four pairs of soloists, and in this ballet dancers can dazzlingly show off their skills and take on the incredibly complex fiorituri of the shading in the allegro, and proudly and majestically “sail” into the adagio. Olga Makarova
World premiere: 28 July 1947, Théâtre National de l'Opéra, Paris Premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre: 9 February 1996
Running time: 40 minutes
The ballet of George Balanchine Symphony in C is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® service standards established and provided by the Trust The Mariinsky Theatre would like to express its gratitude to Mrs Bettina von Siemens for her support in bringing the “Ballets of George Balanchine” project to life
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