Stuttgart Ballet Shades of White

[balletnut55]

Greetings! Long time lurker who has finally decided to contribute due to the fact have recently moved to Stuttgart and so finally have a chance to see ballet on a fairly regular basis. 

 

Last weekend I went to the “Shades of White” programme at Stuttgart ballet and thought some of you might be interested in my (completely novice) view of it. The programme consisted of 

 

Concert for Flute and Harp, choreographed my Cranko, music by Mozart

The Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere (Markova version)

Symphony in C (of course by Balanchine)

 

I thought it was an interesting concept for a triple bill, in that all of the pieces are linked by a similar aesthetic. Unfortunately for me, this  idea was not completely successful (more on that later). I had two ballet newbies with me and I felt quite stressed because I thought their opinion of ballet would largely be formed based on this. 

 

The first piece was the Cranko piece, which is a plotless neoclassical piece. It was the one I knew the least about, and in fact I don’t know if any other ballet company performs it. It quite unconventional, in that it has two principal ballerinas and a male corp of 10(ish) dancers, with two male principal parts embedded within it who occasionally emerge for variations and pas de deux. The choreography was very musical with interesting partnering and very nice moments. Something that really struck me was how much fun everyone on stage seemed to be having. I thought that it must be so nice for some of the male corp dancers to get some limelight and to push themselves technically. I was kind of surprised that it is not more well known, since it was really lovely in many ways. Overall though I felt that it didn’t quite add up to more than the sum of it’s parts. Possibly part of this was the music. Although there is nothing wrong with Mozart, I wasn’t sure how suited this piece was to ballet. The orchestra for it was small and it lacked drama. It was a good job this came first because, although it was very nice, it was followed by two pieces which are (arguably) masterpieces .

 

Apparently La Bayadere has been missing from Stuttgart ballet’s repertoire and this run is a company premiere, not that you would have known that from the performance I saw. The shades passed the wobble test with flying colors during their entrance and the overall effect was nothing short of sublime. It’s something that I think I could see countless times and never fail to be deeply moved by. The three shade variations went well and Solor was suitably dashing, but the real star (along with the corp) was Nikiya, danced by the amazing Hyo-jung Kang. Not that I really know a lot about these things, but I thought she was very sharp technically while at the same time being wonderfully soulful and expressive. She is someone who I would book again specifically to see. 

This was both mine and my friends’ favourite piece of the evening and both of them said they would come again to see the full version (mission accomplished!).

 

Lastly Symphony in C, and here we come to the drawback if this programme. This is ballet that I have watched extracts of on youtube and wanted to live for a long time, but the time it came around I was suffering slightly from what I have dubbed “white tutu fatigue”. I felt that the Cranko piece at the start owed, at least superficially, a lot to Balanchine and although I think Symphony is a wonderful ballet I couldn’t experience it with as much freshness as I would have wanted. Still, the finale was very impressive. Dancer-wise, the male lead in the first movement, David Moore, really stood out to me (in a good way). I was one of those dancers who somehow seems to draw my eye simply by standing still and doing nothing. Interesting. he trained at the Royal Ballet School, but wasn’t taken into the company. 

 

 Appologies in advance for any spelling mistakes or typos. Is anyone else on here a regular Stuttgart ballet-goer?

[Don Q Fan]

Thanks for your review, I saw this triple bill slated and would have liked to attend but I'm a bit booked up at the moment. Interesting to hear your thoughts. 

[Jan McNulty]

Hello balletnut55 and welcome to the Forum!  I can't wait to hear more about performances you see in Stuttgart.

[Sophoife]

Hello balletnut55 and hurray, reports from Stuttgart! I really like some of the things they have there: the pretty lake outlook, the free-postcard-to-anywhere-just-fill-in-the-blanks (my German's just about adequate for that but I did have to ask what two of the adjectives meant), and what demi-soloist Jessica Fyfe tells me is a regular thing - dancers at a table in the foyer/gallery/whatever they call it during intervals, signing autographs.

 

Isn't David Moore wonderful? I saw him as Romeo last year (with Elisa Badenes), and also the excellent Matteo Crockard-Villa.

[Esmeralda]

Thank you balletnut for your wonderful review! I am regular visitor of the Stuttgart ballet company too (though it can be sometimes more difficult to get to Stuttgart due to all the Deutsche Bahn/german train construction sites as to London, haha) and saw them the first time 21 years ago when I was 11. I attended the premiere of this triple bill (13. October).

I agree with you that La Bayadere was a real highlight and I am so glad that the company has it now finally in their repertoire - waited years for this and can´t wait now for the full version.

 

Concert for Flute and Harp was restaged three years ago after it was not performed by the company for 25 years. The dancers really love to rehearse and perfome this piece and I am glad that the audience seems to realize this! I am not sure if its currently in the repertoire of other Ballet companies - but I am quite sure that the Nationa Ballet of Canada performed it in the past. By the way Cranko choreographed the ballet kind of as a "occupational therapy" (is this the right word?) for the men of his company since the women were full in rehearsal for Peter Wrights "Giselle". He actually planned it like a mirror to "Giselle" (2 ballerinas to the 2 main men - Albrecht and Hilarion in Giselle and the white costumes) and, as far as I know, it was staged kinda like an intro to Giselle. Maybe this is an explanation to the eventual a little bit odd music choice.

 

And David Moore is absolute wonderful! Everytime I see him I am so glad that Stuttgart saw his brilliant talent and hired him ...I think Cranko would loved him too! Stuttgart was definitely the right choice for him!

[Duck]

Welcome to Stuttgart, balletnut55     I am there from time to time, depending on the programme. Shades of White is on the verge of being too much "white tutu" for me, I'll give Romeo & Juliet a break this year and I am not planning to see Lady of the Camellias either, and so it'll probably be some time before I'll be back at the Opera House. Having said that, I really enjoyed Concert for Flute and Harp when I saw it a few years ago, just because it was different, having a male corps in addition to the two lead couples. Also, I quite liked the rehearsal of the Kingdom of the Shades scene with the Royal Ballet as part of the World Ballet Day. So maybe I'll get a ticket for one of the performances in December after all,  depending on the casting.

 

I don't know to what extent you've been able to look at other local & regional venues already that also offer ballet and dance events. There's Gauthier Dance at the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart (no risk of too much "white tutu" there), and the Forum in Ludwigsburg, just a short train ride north of Stuttgart, has a number of visiting companies throughout the year. Then there's Baden-Baden.  If you are able to travel further, both Strasbourg and Paris generally work for matinee performances. In fact, most of the tickets that I've bought for the current season so far relate to events outside Stuttgart.

 

Feel free to ask here or PM if you have any questions. Would be happy to say "hello" if we happen to be at the same performance.

 

[squadron]

Thank you for the report on Stuttgart!! Looking forward to more reports - I do find John Cranko's choreography very intimate and passionate (Romeo & Juliet and the peerless Onegin have crossed over to Singapore lately). Interesting to hear about how they dance other non-Cranko choreography! :)

 

Hyo-jung Kang is indeed wonderful - was lucky enough to catch her in R&J - the role which saw her promoted to Principal - and she was so, so beautifully expressive.

[balletnut55]

Thank-you everyone for you comments and I apologize for the late reply. I am suffering from severely restricted internet access at the moment. 

On 26/10/2018 at 10:16, Esmeralda said:

 

Concert for Flute and Harp was restaged three years ago after it was not performed by the company for 25 years. The dancers really love to rehearse and perfome this piece and I am glad that the audience seems to realize this! I am not sure if its currently in the repertoire of other Ballet companies - but I am quite sure that the Nationa Ballet of Canada performed it in the past. By the way Cranko choreographed the ballet kind of as a "occupational therapy" (is this the right word?) for the men of his company since the women were full in rehearsal for Peter Wrights "Giselle". He actually planned it like a mirror to "Giselle" (2 ballerinas to the 2 main men - Albrecht and Hilarion in Giselle and the white costumes) and, as far as I know, it was staged kinda like an intro to Giselle. Maybe this is an explanation to the eventual a little bit odd music choice.

 

 

And David Moore is absolute wonderful! Everytime I see him I am so glad that Stuttgart saw his brilliant talent and hired him ...I think Cranko would loved him too! Stuttgart was definitely the right choice for him!

 Thank-you for the insight into Concert for Flute and Harp. I can’t the parallels between it and Giselle particularly jump out at me, either at the time or now in retrospect. It is interesting that you said that it was intentionally choreographed in order to give them male corp something to do and, I suppose, to maintain and develop their technique. It struck me as having a kind of deconstructed quality that reminded me of Macmillan’s Concerto, which had the same goal in mind I think. 

Also, consider me the newest member of the David Moore fanclub. 

 

On 26/10/2018 at 12:20, Duck said:

 

I don't know to what extent you've been able to look at other local & regional venues already that also offer ballet and dance events. There's Gauthier Dance at the Theaterhaus in Stuttgart (no risk of too much "white tutu" there), and the Forum in Ludwigsburg, just a short train ride north of Stuttgart, has a number of visiting companies throughout the year. Then there's Baden-Baden.  If you are able to travel further, both Strasbourg and Paris generally work for matinee performances. In fact, most of the tickets that I've bought for the current season so far relate to events outside Stuttgart.

 

Feel free to ask here or PM if you have any questions. Would be happy to say "hello" if we happen to be at the same performance.

 

 

Thanks for the advice. I definitely want to check out Gauthier dance, at will be at the cinema performance of ROH La BAyadere in Liederhalle next Sun.

[Duck]

Back in October, I mulled over this mixed bill for quite a while as I thought that it would probably include too much “white tutu” for me - happily one of these, maybe two of them, but three? I just wasn’t quite sure. When I finally decided to give it a go, I couldn’t get a suitable return ticket. Thankfully, the programme has been back with a few more performances over the festive season. I saw the performance on 28^th December.

Concerto for Flute and Harp – my favourite piece on Friday. I admired the multitude of geometric patterns, the opportunities that the choreography provides for the members of the corps with their solos and PDD with one of the two lead ballerinas, the petit allegro for the second lead couple, the uplifting and at times poetic atmosphere. I loved Shaked Heller’s entrechats six, the section whereby members of the corps perform double tours as they walk on stage from the side, the many smiles that the corps displayed. Superb performance by Timoor Afshar in the second lead couple, I couldn’t take my eyes of his fleet footwork.

Experience has shown that I don’t tend to enjoy the classics and unfortunately, this also applied to The Kingdom of the Shades.

Timoor Afshar also shone as male lead in the 3^rd set of Symphony in C. I liked the costumes, the chandeliers, the allegro sections of the choreography, the vivacious finale. A great piece to finish the evening, sending off the audience in high spirits.

Was it too much “white tutu” for me? I’d seen Concerto for Flute and Harp previously and enjoyed it. I’d seen Symphony in C at the ROH and liked it, too, but it wasn’t among the works that I’d been looking forward to most at that time. So having these two works in the same programme actually worked better for me than I thought it would. Whether Symphony in C would have had the same impact on me on Friday with a different piece in the middle, who knows. Anyway, good to be back at the Opera House and looking forward to seeing forthcoming programmes in 2019.

 

Adding link to trailer and pictures of the programme https://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/schedule/a-z/shades-of-white/

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Duck
adjusted font size, added link to trailer & pictures

[Duck]

Shades of White was back for two more performances. I saw Saturday’s performance as part of Ballet in the Park, which took place for the 13th time. In complete contrast to last year when I got thoroughly drenched, the weather was brilliant; it was warm, dry and slightly overcast hence no risk of sunburn.

In addition to being free of charge, the audience in the park benefitted – as usual - from interviews with some of those involved in the performance. Tamas Detrich reflected on his first season as Artistic Director, which he had chosen to start with Shades of White before moving on to more modern works later in the season, this as a clear statement that Stuttgart Ballet is a classical company that looks into the future. Sonia Santiago, former Principal with the company and seasoned host of the events in the park, explained the structure and production of a practice tutu. Angelina Zuccarini, Soloist with the company, was interviewed about pointe shoes.

The live screening came with 11 cameras in the Opera House, including from above the stage, allowing the audience in the park to see the various choreographic patterns for the dancers. Concerto for Flute and Harp had the camera often show the full cast and zoom in on individuals for their solos. I guess this is a work that I prefer to see from within the building as this allows me to make my own choice as to who I focus on from among the corps. The close ups were great, however, to show the dancer’s smiles. Contrary to expectation, I enjoyed The Kingdom of the Shades more than at the end of last year, and I found that this work really benefitted from full-stage views. I found Elisa Badenes and Adhonay Soares da Silva technically and artistically well matched as the two leads, and Soares da Silva performed a round of double tours en l’air that looked rather effortless in my (non-expert) view. Diana Ionescu, who has just been promoted to demi soloist for the start of next season, was very much fleet of foot in the first variation. The shades passed the wobble test with flying colours. I am still not overly keen on the work but, all in all, liked it more than the first time round. Symphony in C just fabulous, I was still humming the music the following morning, and I think this work is now becoming one of those that I’d like to see more often. Too much white tutu, a question that I had asked myself earlier in the season. Yes, I think, a little, or maybe this is just down to me having seen lots of contemporary work over the last month.

 

[jmb]

And for me, Shades of White is the first of nine performances with Stuttgart Ballet that I will see over the next 9 days. No white fatigue with me. John Cranko's Concert for Flute and Harp left me asking why more choreographers don't choreograph for a male corp de ballet. Strong, but such superb pas de deux, great footwork, really exciting dance. And the dancers seemed to be having a ball! Kingdom of the Shades, from La Bayadere was in fact the work that got me into my current infatuation. Well, actually I was appauled by the Orientalism of the piece, but the Kingdom of the Shades was utterly bewitching, so here I am. And SBs presentation shows that they are first and foremost a superb classical company. Balanchine's Symphony in C rounded out the evening. It's an absolute favourite of mine, and this evening was no exception. I walked out of the concert hall about 6 inches off the ground, and was still there next morning. And still 8 more productions to go!