ARTS
cording to the late Sir Frederick Ashton, Marius Petipa's 1890 ballet The Sleeping Beauty was a 'lesson in style'. Simi- larly, George Balanchine, the father of American ballet, regarded that work as a `pure diamond' while Rudolph Nureyev considered it to be the ballet equivalent of Richard Wagner's Parsifal. It is interesting to note how many people in the dance world claimed to have been inspired by the so-called `Petipa style' .-- allegedly epito- mised in the 1890 ballet — when, in reality, there is no such thing. Theatre dance is arguably the most ephemeral among the performing arts. Prior to the 20th-century creation of uni- versally accessible systems of dance nota- tion, the passing on of the choreographic repertoire relied exclusively on oral tradi- tion and on what is commonly referred to as 'dancer's memory', namely the dancers' capacity to retain in their bodies a physical recollection of a given dance sequence. The numerous inevitable changes in tech- nique, in the performers' physiques, in the theatrical trends and in the public's demands have affected considerably the 19th-century classics which, through the Years, were subjected to a complex series of revisions, interpolations, adaptations and reinterpretations. The style of Petipa is, in effect, the out- come of a widely shared contemporary per- ception, derived mainly from an equally biased interpretation of the available source material on Petipa's style. It is significant that there are two ver- sions of Sleeping Beauty, one Russian and °ne English, both regarded by different and clashing factions of dance historians as 13, °jog 'nearest to the original', and general- '3; accepted as 'standard' versions. It is also significant that neither version contains the choreographic and stylistic features men- tioned in the memoirs of dancers such as NLubov Egorova, Ekaterina Geltzer and ieolai Legat, who worked with Petipa. Yet it is this lack of authenticity that has Often constituted a stimulating factor in the creation of new readings of the ballet, the 4411 Cif which is to 'rediscover' the essence of Petipa's style. Rudolph Nureyev's 1989 staging of Sleep- ing Beauty for the Paris Opera Ballet, recently revamped and redesigned, indi- cates that the celebrated dancer was not !nterested in a philological reconstruction, but preferred to 'reinvent' portions of the Old classic, in order to suit a new, highly individual interpretation. While he retained some of the components of the Russian Kirov/Marynsky production he had Town accustomed to, in his youth, he changed rather drastically other traditional
New beauties for old
Giannandrea Poesio searches for Tetipa style' in two productions of Sleeping Beauty sections, adjusting them to the supreme technical abilities of the French company and to a more contemporary choreographic taste.
The geometrical symmetry to be found in both 'standard' versions of the ballet is thus replaced by complex, contemporary ballet-flavoured solutions. Although Nureyev's formulae may not be everybody's favourites, the convoluted sequences and the extremely flowery composition of the group dances can be seen as the late 20th- century equivalent of the technical com- plexities that characterised the 1890 Russian school. Similarly, the massive spec- tacular proportions of this production hint clearly at that Tsarist splendour which the creators of the 1890 ballet — Petipa, the composer Tchaikovsky and the librettist Ivan Vsevolojsky — wanted to reproduce on stage (it is worth remembering that Sleeping Beauty was used as political propa- ganda to celebrate the Tsarist regime). Despite these references, however, the Nureyev production allows only a partial appreciation of Petipa's genius. One of its major flaws is the way in which significant structural elements and particular aspects of the original scenario — which has been preserved — have been disregarded in the name of that personal interpretation men- tioned above. As it stands, this Sleeping Beauty is vitiated by several narrative incongruities and lacks that dramatic fluidi- ty so carefully planned by Petipa himself.
'I trust this isn't a fabricated confession.' Peter Wright's version, currently per- formed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, reveals a more attentive adhesion to Peti- pa's directions. Based mostly on the pro- duction staged in England in 1939 by Nicholas Sergeyev, former regisseur of the Marynsky Theatre, Wright's version stands out for the way in which innovative inter- pretative solutions blend with more tradi- tional ones, without vivid clashes or stylistic discrepancies. The action, therefore, flows smoothly, following the geometric alterna- tion of danced and mime sequences pre- scribed by the original choreographer. The only major alteration to the 1890 scenario is to be found at the end of the second act, known as 'The Vision'. Instead of the usual wobbling boat that carries the Prince and the Good Fairy to the enchanted castle, in this production the journey through the woods is conveyed by lines of dancing nymphs leading the Prince to the sleeping Princess. Although the 'panorama' — that is revolving sets that conveyed the idea of moving from one place to another — was a characteristic and recurring component of many late 19th-century ballet-feerie, the additional choreography does not detract from the balanced structure of the original scenario. On the contrary, it enhances the `vision' scene, stressing Petipa's nostalgic devotion to the formulae of the Romantic French ballet.
Unlike the Parisian production, the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty does not rely on excessive spectacle. In a sense, Wright's imaginary court of King Florestan XXIV is more intimate and less crowded than Nureyev's one. Still, this `royal cosiness' is only apparent. With a true coup de theatre, Wright introduces, on the final notes of the overture, a valet who acknowledges with a bow the presence of the audience, thus turning the viewers into guests of the christening party. Such a device establishes a parallel with the French ballet de tour, where members of the court — including the King or the Queen — performed for their peers. At the same time, this dramatic innovation ties in with the ideas of both Petipa and the fran- cophile librettist Vsevholojsky, who, by set- ting the action of the ballet in the grand siecle, alerted their audiences to the alle- gorical nature of Sleeping Beauty. Like a 17th-century dance performance, in fact, the 1890 ballet is based on a complex palette of metaphors and symbols that refer to social, cultural and political issues of that period. Petipa's style may have been lost, or survives merely in the form of a palimpsest. Still, it is through the art of those who deal with his creations that his genius continues to be celebrated.
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