Ashton, MacMillan and their American reputations

[loveclassics]

Do we know that Des Grieux *has* religious convictions?  I can't remember it from the novel, which I haven't read for a few years now - although as I've pointed out before MacMillan's ballet has so little to do with the novel that it's barely recognisable.  Sure, DG is a divinity student, but I thought that back in that time in French society that didn't necessarily mean much, and that they could be as corrupt as the next man.

Good point Alison.  Aramis in The Three Musketeers is also studying to become a cleric but he happily joins in with his companions rowdy and sometimes licentious behaviour.

 

Also,, I'm pretty sure that Macmillan decided that 'his' Des Grieux is a student of poetry, not religion.  As pointed out by others, Macmillan's Manon is only very loosely based on the book.

 

I think this is one of the problems I have with Manon. I started to find the scenes outside the big pdds a bit too long even if its for the sake of plot and character development, and the violence to women very tiring - maybe I'm becoming more impatient and prudish with age! Much as I admire the naturalism of the RB style, I can see than in retrospect that I went to Manon to see the performances of the dancers, that is Cojocaru-Kobborg, Rojo-Acosta, Guillem-Cope, rather than the ballet itself. As these dancers have dropped away from the RB, I've seen the ballet much less frequently and I've decided to miss this run (though I'm considering the live relay just to see Nunez).

 

That's not to say I don't appreciate MacMillan - I love many of his one-act ballets and both R&J and Mayerling are still very satisfying works to me. But as time's gone by, I think I've begun to prefer the subtlety and conciseness that Ashton brings to his work. I don't ever tire of Ashton's choreography but then again they aren't "blockbuster ballets" and come around less frequently.

 

I have to agree with this, Macmillan's love of brothels and harlots can be very irritating and sometimes downright silly: I hate the Keystone Cops routine when the brothel in Mayerling is raided.  As a feminist I don't find the subjugation of women entertaining and the rape scene in Manon is hard to watch.

 

Like Sunrise, I often went to see Manon in the past just for the wonderful pairings of great dramatic dancers.  In this run I have only booked to see dancers new to the role and discover if their interpretations match up to those of the past.  Sadly, I won't get to see the one I was really interested in: Lauren's Manon.

Edited October 2, 2014 by loveclassics

[alison]

I'm going to try an experiment: the site doesn't have a "Copy Post" feature, unfortunately, but there's so much discussion of Manon on here that I'm going to try and copy contributions into the "Manon" thread.  I hope contributors don't mind.

[toursenlair]

Of course the rape scene in Manon is hard to watch. It's meant to be.

 

As for Mayerling performances in N America, there are very few Mayerlings anywhere other than at the RB. I believe the Royal Swedish Ballet had it for a bit and Vienna acquired it a few years ago, which in view of the subject matter was a brilliant choice. I can tell you, seeing it at the Vienna opera house and then stepping out onto the very streets where Prince  Rudolf would have walked was quite an experience. I have heard that it is an extraordinarily expensive production to mount. And of course you have to have more than one remarkable dancer for Rudolf.

[FLOSS]

I don't think its just Americans who see the Ashton years as the golden age of the Royal Ballet.There are quite a lot of ballet goers here who do as well.There seemed to be a constant supply of great dancers  until the mid seventies when the supply seemed to dry up.I have no doubt  that this was due in large part to the existence of the training ground  provided by the touring company which was axed early in MacMillan's directorship. It had enabled young dancers to learn their craft giving six or seven performances a week in a repertory made up of the nineteenth century classics and works by Ashton and others.

 

No real attempt seems to have been made to provide a scheme for the systematic development of new recruits to the company to replace that provided by the second company..You could argue that this is a problem that persists to this day. David Wall commented on the benefits of his touring company experience when he said that while he had initially been overawed by the dancers at Covent Garden when he first transferred there he soon came to realise that as a result of his time with the touring company he had danced more performances of Siegfried and the nineteenth century male leads than most his new colleagues had. While it is true that not everyone went to the touring company before joining the main company a lot did and significant number of the dancers whose performances are still highly regarded such as Seymour, Jeffries, Thorogood,Conley and Coleman did.

 

MacMillan benefited from the dancers who had been developed during the first two directorships but there was an obvious falling off during his directorship and by the time that the 1977 Sleeping Beauty production was seen in the US it was the subject of comment by the critics that the company no longer had the depth of strength that it had once had.

[capybara]

Mayerling was presented at the Met by the Royal Ballet in 1994 (I think). The role of Rudolf was memorably taken there by Irek Mukhamedov and Adam Cooper among others. I recall the ballet being enthusiastically received by the audiences, especially for its wonderful pdd.

[loveclassics]

Of course the rape scene in Manon is hard to watch. It's meant to be.

 

Why is it meant to be?  Manon is not a documentary.  Factual film/tv programmes often contain distressing images which are accepted as being unpleasant facts which people should know about.  But ballet is art, not reality, and gratuitous/sexual violence is something many choose to avoid, just as they avoid 'splatter' movies and other gore-fests.  Deliberately making scenes hard to watch is not a recipe for success and may explain why Macmillan's ballets are not as widely admired outside the UK as those of Ashton.

 

Disappointingly, quite a few of the RB's upcoming choreographers seem to be influenced by Macmillan's more violent obsessions.  I certainly don't want to see 7 Deadly Sins again and was happy to pass on Sweet Violets.  But another ballet like Fille or Dream would be very welcome.

 

Linda

[toursenlair]

I don't see how it is possible to make a rape scene that is easy to watch if it is depicting a rape. And I don't think sexual violence is  gratuitous in Manon. It's part of the story, depicting a society where men had that level of control over women and could sexually exploit and degrade them at will.

[FLOSS]

Perhaps the reason for the difference in their reputation in the US is attributable to the fact that Ashton,whatever he did, was always very much a choreographer whose work was firmly and clearly based on classical technique. Like Balanchine he took classroom steps and played with them, inverting them and transforming them.  His choreography is clear, precise and uncluttered with a very clear relationship with the music to which it is set. His experience of working in the commercial theatre no doubt contributed to the clarity and focus of his works.As Balanchine said " Mr Ashton and I may make bad ballets but we never make dull ones".

 

MacMillan on the other hand while capable of making fine classical works also made works which were much closer to the expressionist style of Kurt Joos. Not everything that he created had the clarity and originality of The Song of the Earth some works such as  Rituals are silly while Isadora lacks structure and theatrical impact.I don't think that it is just the subject matter of his works that has led to American audiences seeing him as a lesser creative force than Ashton. It is quite possible that they have a better informed view than is the case here.

 

Lady MacMillan's view of her husband's work  and her desire to have it performed is of greater significance to the Royal Ballet and its finances than it is to any American company.And his reputation among those who worked with him also is of little or no account in repertory choices made there.I don't think that anyone there would want to claim that he was in the first division of choreographers of the twentieth century although his widow probably would. With less personal involvement with him and his works and its interpreters ballet goers in the US are in a good position to determine the importance of the man and his works.