RDB's Sylphide/Etudes programme

[Jane S]

Nikolaj Hubbe's new production of La Sylphide opens in Copenhagen on Saturday, and the first photographs have just appeared on the RDB website:

 

http://kglteater.dk/det-sker/forestillinger/sason-2014-2015/ballet/sylfiden-og-etudes#Billedgalleri

 

It's going to be an entirely black-and-white evening!

[John Mallinson]

Thanks. Fascinating. Very dour, and a coven of male witches. Hope you will be seeing it Jane and will tell us what you think.

[Jane S]

I'm not going to the first night but I shall see a couple of performances next week, all being well, and will report back.

[Jan McNulty]

Can't wait to hear your thoughts Jane!

[alison]

Yes, do, please.

 

Hmm, white against white.  I wonder how that will work out.

[stucha]

Based on the images alone, it looks as if it could be an extraordinarily powerful production.

Puritans vs the fear of the unknown/the forbidden/sex.

Black vs White.

Dark vs Light.

Reality vs Fantasy.

 

Can't wait for your report Jane.

Edited October 22, 2014 by stucha

[Bruce Wall]

An early review from the opening here.  

[FLOSS]

I wonder how long the Danes will be saddled with Mr Hubbe's clever design ideas for La Sylphide? Oh well it comes as a relief to know that it is not just the Royal Ballet that gets redesigns horribly wrong.

[Jane S]

First impression is that Hübbe actually hasn't gone far enough - too many inconsistencies to be convincing, and last night, with a different cast, there was no trace of his homoerotic subtext till, literally, 2 seconds before the curtain came. down. But apparently it was different in several ways from opening night, rather less extreme - I swear I saw several people smile in the first act.

 

Good to see Lendorf, anyway, and I'm looking forward to Gregory Dean's debut tonight.

 

More tomorrow, when I get back to a proper keyboard!

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks Jane!  Can't wait to hear your next installment.

[Bruce Wall]

NB: A SIDELIGHT: - Here's another little piece of the Hubbe choreographic touch with two RDB dancers surrounding an established classic (a dying swan as it happens - two in fact - and not a sylph in sight - at least that I could see) presented in support of a cancer charity last Friday.  

 

http://vmd.tv2.dk/2014-10-24-se-nikolaj-hubbes-dans-i-dommerdysten-0

Edited October 29, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[Jane S]

Still sorting out thoughts about the production but meanwhile I can report an excellent debut by Gregory Dean as James, especially in the second act, danced and acted so well that I'd be hard put to choose between his performance and Lendorf's the previous night. Also a very impressive debut from Sebastian Haynes as Madge - I don't know his exact age but if he's turned 20 it's only in the last couple of months, and yet he has the authority and presence of a far more experienced artist. Impossible to forecast how he'll develop but it's going to be very interesting to find out. (He dances in the Dying Swan mentioned in the post above.)

Edited October 31, 2014 by Jane S

[Jane S]

Returning to this after rather long than I meant (brain turned to mush for several days by post-Copenhagen cold, or possibly Madge's curse):

 

It's hard to know where to begin, there's so much to say and so many possible points of view - so maybe I'll start with the bottom line: there are too many illogicalities, too many ill-thought through amendments, and too little justification for changes for the production to be anything close to a success, but there are some plus points and it really isn't the end of civilisation - the company can, and I believe it will, return to a traditional production after this with greater insight. And some people think it's wonderful anyway.

 

The main problem for me is that the concept comes from, and apparently mostly remains in, Hubbe's head: he states explicitly in the programme note that he devised it to help him work through some hang-ups he has with James - a hubristic and dubious justification anyway and one that apparently only comes over properly to the audience when he himself is playing the role of Madge. So rather than the ballet being 'all about Madge', as someone has said, I'd say it's probably rather more about Hubbe, and when he's not there the new concept is only faintly discernible - if you knew nothing about the background you could have watched either of the other two casts and come away only vaguely confused by a few moments of the action; and neither of the new Sylphs I saw will have more than about 10 seconds of action to unlearn if they dance the role in the traditional version in future.

 

The grey and white decor is disconcerting at first and rather depressing by the end of Act 1. Act 2 , the 'white room', works better than you might think as a space for dancing, though in the non-Hubbe version I didn't get any feel for it being 'a place of death'.

From the stalls at least there was no problem at all with seeing the white dresses against the white background, and it was a real pleasure  to be able to see James's feet properly -  for once the black socks were just right.

 

Eva Kistrup saw the first night as well as the 2 performances I saw and has written 2 long and detailed reviews:

 

http://danceviewtimes.typepad.com/eva_kistrup/2014/10/killing-your-darlings.html

 

http://danceviewtimes.typepad.com/eva_kistrup/2014/10/making-stars.html

 

Also a word for Etudes which has got rather lost in all the controversy about La Sylphide: I used to find this ballet rather boring but am now near-addicted to it even in less than perfect performances and - unlike Eva - I was very happy with Holly Dorger's performance in the 'Sylphide' section - she's usually thought of as a strong technician but I loved her adagio dancing and I believe I'd like her better as Odette than as Odile. Lovely arms and a sort of thoughtful grace that gave me a lot of pleasure.

 

[alison]

Thanks, Jane: it's always nice to have feedback about performances outside the UK.