Balanchine in Paris

[SheilaC]

Balanchine had links with the Paris Opera Ballet, notably in 1947 when he created the original version of Symphony in C (initially called Le Palais de Cristal) and mounted Apollo, Serenade and a lesser known work. In the '70s, over 3 seasons,  he mounted other major works, including Prodigal Son and Agon on the company. Subsequently other staff from New York City Ballet mounted other works but it is only in this season that the company has danced Ballet Imperial and Who Cares.

 

I saw the twelfth and thirteenth performance of that double bill.  A friend who had been to a performance at the start of the run had been very disappointed by the standard of dancing. By the time I saw them they had settled more into the ballets but even so I was surprised that the dancers hadn't sufficiently mastered the Balanchine style and attack, given the company's long exposure to his ballets - and that the redoubtable Patricia Neary was one of the rehearsal directors.

 

The most memorable episode of the first performance was at the curtain call when the Opera director came on stage with the new Director of Dance, Jose Martinez, to announce not one but two promotions to the etoile status (principal). The first was to Hannah O'Neill, a dancer trained in Japan, then Australian Ballet School, who has danced in Paris for nearly 13 years, who was given many interesting roles until Aurelie Dupont became director. She seemed taken by surprise at the announcement but her partner, Marc Moreau, who was very supportive of her, seemed flabbergasted when it came to his turn, bursting into tears and finding it hard to compose himself. Whilst he's a dancer I've always admired, being very versatile, adaptable for all types of ballet, not least contemporary, a solid performer, he was never an obvious candidate for the highest classical status, although he deserves it for his contribution to the company. Neither of them was originally cast in that performance of Ballet Imperial, being late substitutes, which also added to the surprise element.

 

He couldn't even celebrate straight away as after the interval he had to burst on the stage in the main male role in Who Cares. He partnered the three female dancers (Marine Ganio, who also seems to be given more roles under Martinez; Silvia Saint Martin; Heloise Bourdon) well enough but the next night Mathieu Ganio had more panache. Neither came close to the former NYCB dancer, Sean Lavery., who made it his own. The soloists in both performances danced well but didn't have the necessary attack while the female corps dancers in the first part of the ballet were merely decorative, the men fared better as the choreography is faster for them. The decor and costumes are different from City Ballet's, less jazzy costumes and the skyscrapers are more vertical but move after each dance.

 

Ballet Imperial disappointed a little, too. Partly the music was played too slowly- like that for so many ballets nowadays, Although the ballet is primarily a tribute to Russian classical ballet it should still have New York undertones, with speed and tension. which slow music undermines. The women principals, O'Neill and Bourdon, shaped their movements well but Auric Bezard was no more impressive than at the Etoiles gala, seemingly bored and sometimes a bit late in his partnering. At least the company did the tutu version, which looks so much more imperial and classical than the tunic version called Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2.

 

Tonight there will be a 'Live'  showing in cinemas so it may come out as a video some time.

 

Despite my slight disappointment it was at least good to see some Balanchine and not just the whole or parts of Jewels which many companies seem to rely on. It is good that BRB will be doing Apollo in the summer- I hope Desmond Kelly will be able to coach it as he was one of Britain's best Apollos. And we wait to see what the next RB season offers. One of the black and white ballets such as Agon or Four Temperaments would be great and one of the classical ballets, Symphony in C or Serenade would be wonderful. One can only dream.

[zxDaveM]

17 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

good to see some Balanchine and not just the whole or parts of Jewels which many companies seem to rely on.

And we wait to see what the next RB season offers. One of the black and white ballets such as Agon or Four Temperaments would be great and one of the classical ballets, Symphony in C or Serenade would be wonderful. One can only dream.

 

Yes.

And yes, yes - yes, and yes

🙂

[Bluebird]

25 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

Tonight there will be a 'Live'  showing in cinemas so it may come out as a video some time.

 

Many thanks for this fascinating review, Sheila.  I just saw that tonight's performance has been cancelled due to today's strikes but they haven't cancelled the cinema relay as they recorded the March 4 performance and are intending to stream that to cinemas. 

 

From Twitter:

"...la diffusion de la soirée #GeorgeBalanchine dans les salles de cinéma et sur @ftvculturebox , prévue initialement en direct, sera maintenue ce mardi 7 mars avec le différé de la captation du spectacle du 4 mars dernier."

[Bruce Wall]

I saw two performances of the same programme in Paris recently and wholly agree with your estimation, Shiela.

 

If people wanted to see Balanchine (Square Dance) and Robbins (his last work, Brandenburg - which I don't believe has ever appeared in the UK) they can at the end of this month drop into the Teatro Real in Madrid (lovely it is too) when NYCB is there (23-25/3/23).  I saw some rehearsals for these pieces in NYC a couple of weeks ago and they were looking good.  It is on a programme with a Peck sneaker piece, The Times are Racing.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Bruce Wall

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, SheilaC said:

The first was to Hannah O'Neill, a dancer trained in Japan, then Australian Ballet School, who has danced in Paris for nearly 13 years,

 

Hannah started ballet in Japan, but in terms of vocational training, she was "made" at Mount Eden Ballet Academy in New Zealand before three years at ABS. After seasonal or surnuméraire contracts in 2011 and 2012, she gained a permanent quadrille position in 2013. Three months later she was promoted to coryphée at the internal competition, rising to sujet in 2014 and première danseuse in 2015 - at which competition she was classified above the lovely Léonore Baulac, who was nominated étoile in December 2016.

 

She has won Prix de Lausanne (2009), YAGP (2010), internal POB Prix du Cercle Carpeaux for the under-24s and silver medal at Varna (2014), internal POB Prix de l'AROP (2015), and the Benois de la Danse in 2016.

 

As you so rightly point out @SheilaC roles for her dried up under the directorship of Aurélie Dupont. For example, she danced Odette-Odile in 2015 but in 2019 got the pas de trois.

 

Back when she was at ABS she was something really special, and those of us who saw her dance then knew her dream of Paris and it's so fabulous to see her finally reach the étoile rank.

 

Interestingly Hannah is the third current female étoile to have joined via the external competition without having trained one day in Nanterre: Ludmila Pagliero and Sae Eun Park the other two. None of the current male étoiles followed that route.

[miliosr]

1 hour ago, SheilaC said:

her partner, Marc Moreau, who was very supportive of her, seemed flabbergasted when it came to his turn, bursting into tears and finding it hard to compose himself. Whilst he's a dancer I've always admired, being very versatile, adaptable for all types of ballet, not least contemporary, a solid performer, he was never an obvious candidate for the highest classical status, although he deserves it for his contribution to the company. Neither of them was originally cast in that performance of Ballet Imperial, being late substitutes, which also added to the surprise element.

Regarding Marc Moreau's appointment as etoile, I wrote this elsewhere:

 

"[S]ometimes events can work in your favor just enough so you can prove what you can do.

 

The ranks of the male etoiles have been depleted recently as the latest defile amply demonstrated - only Mathieu Ganio, German Louvet, Hugo Marchand and Paul Marque walked in the defile. Under a different set of circumstances there would have been three more marchers (and three more etoiles to fill out the star roles): Josua Hoffalt (who is Ganio's age but departed early), Mathias Heymann (has been out indefinitely) and Francois Alu (won the coveted title of etoile and then promptly decamped for the more lucrative provinces of French show business).

 

When you factor in that Ganio and Marchand did not dance in the most recent Swan Lake run (coming as it did hard on the heels of Mayerling) and Louvet was busy with the Pina Bausch evening, that left the Opera having to lean heavily on the premiere danseurs to fill the Siegfried spots. Marc Moreau wasn't cast originally as Siegfried (he was cast as Rothbart instead). He also wasn't cast originally as the title character in Vaslaw for the Patrick Dupond evening - Heymann was. So, Moreau ended up with two opportunities to show his potential in the true star roles, which might not have happened under a different set of circumstances. (He was also a lead in Lander's Etudes for the Dupond tribute and he's currently dancing in both Ballet Imperial and Who Cares? for the Balanchine evening.)

 

Talent matters. Marc Moreau has it and the promotion to etoile is a deserved one. But sometimes events can lend you a little helping hand."  

 

To the extent Moreau was shocked by his appointment, it might be because he sees himself in much the same way as the audience does - as the loyal, hardworking "company man" who can be relied on through thick-and-thin. Not the typical definition of a star but absolutely the kind of bedrock performer a company needs at all times.

[Lizbie1]

I saw this programme a couple of weeks ago: I'm not qualified to talk about Balanchine style (my exposure is too limited for starters) but I don't think it would be unjust to say that the corps seemed under-rehearsed or perhaps ill-at-ease in Ballet Imperial.

 

Loved the costumes though - beautiful, for both ballets!

[Emeralds]

I would like Serenade and The Four Temperaments to be revived at RB- they did those two much better than Symphony in C and Agon. It’s not that Agon and Symphony in C were done badly but that Serenade and The Four Ts were danced much, much better, and as first ballets on a programme maybe didn’t receive the hype and plaudits that the closing ballets did.

 

RB were also lovely in Ballo della Regina ages ago-hope they will revive that soon. I’ve always wanted to see Mozartiana live after watching it on video so it would be brilliant RB decided to acquire that- plus I think they do have the dancers (plus students at the School) for it, and many would enjoy it. Robbins’ Brandenburg would be lovely too, and certainly ROH has the musicians for it as well.

 

I love that the Paris Opera Ballet has stuck with the original name of Le Palais de Cristal (the glass, not the champagne) as it was originally named when created on them. Their costumes and sets always look gorgeous in this ballet. What has happened to Mathias Heymann?? 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

Congratulations to Hannah and Marc on their promotions! There’s a great video that Dance Europe magazine have put out on YouTube of their interview with Hannah. 

[miliosr]

10 hours ago, SheilaC said:

I saw the twelfth and thirteenth performance of that double bill.  A friend who had been to a performance at the start of the run had been very disappointed by the standard of dancing. By the time I saw them they had settled more into the ballets but even so I was surprised that the dancers hadn't sufficiently mastered the Balanchine style and attack, given the company's long exposure to his ballets - and that the redoubtable Patricia Neary was one of the rehearsal directors.

I think the trouble with how the Paris Opera Ballet performs Balanchine is that the relationship, while one of longstanding, is an intermittent one. His works come and go in the repertory - there are periods of prominence and then there are periods of marginalization. I don't know that those periods of prominence are ever long enough for the troupe to truly master the Balanchine style. (I'm not talking about the actual steps, which I'm sure stagers like Patricia Neary can impart.)

[JNC]

I believe this link may work to watch the performance (for free, until July).

 

https://www.france.tv/spectacles-et-culture/opera-et-musique-classique/4707304-soiree-george-balanchine-par-le-ballet-de-l-opera-de-paris.html

 

[Pas de Quatre]

Thank you JNC, I have just created my free account so I can watch later. 

[art_enthusiast]

8 hours ago, JNC said:

I believe this link may work to watch the performance (for free, until July).

 

https://www.france.tv/spectacles-et-culture/opera-et-musique-classique/4707304-soiree-george-balanchine-par-le-ballet-de-l-opera-de-paris.html

 

 

Unavailable in the UK! 

[Pas de Quatre]

Unfortunately that's what I have just found. 

[Sophoife]

Unavailable in Australia too.

 

Isn't it lucky I bought a 12-month VPN subscription which I have just discovered allows me to watch france.tv streams!

 

Plus they made sure the on-screen credits say "Hannah O'Neill étoile Marc Moreau étoile"...didn't they used to say "danseur/danseuse étoile"?