Reminder: Ballet Preljocaj in Blanc Neige

Angelin Preljocaj brings his fascinating theater-dance version of Snow White to Lincoln Center next week for six performances beginning Wednesday through Sunday.

This is not your mother's Snow White. Some Day My Prince Will Come not. No Silly Song, either. Instead, this grown-ups' version relies on Gustav Mahler's serious symphonies and, trust us, literally takes choreography to new heights.

What an imagination:

 

  

Comments

[friedrich]

Haglund,

Has Mr. P....has he been inspired by the Hamburg " Ballet Czar" John Neumeier, by choreographing ballets to music by Mahler....I would rather have root-canal surgery that see another ballet to Mahlers` music. His music belongs in the concert hall , played by a good symphony orchestra , not by some pick-up ballet band.
By the way , how does one pronounce his name ?

Hey, how about a ballet to Bruckners` Symphony #4...calling John Neumeier...just make sure Juergen Rose designs the sets and costumes...and I will sit through the 1.5 hours.....

[Haglund]

Hi Friedrich.

Have you ever seen the solo that Bejart made for Jorge Donn to the Adagietto in Mahler's 5th? It's one of those theater movement pieces that should never be performed by anyone but the original artist. The clips on the internet suggest that as Donn got older, his performances of it may have included a little more acceptance & resignation than his original fury, but it is quite moving to watch him respond to Mahler's music.

Back in the 1970s or 80s, Oscar Araiz created a stirring PdD to Mahlher's Adagietto for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet which I saw Evelyn Hart and somebody else perform. Absolutely beautiful, unique for those times, and the emotion from the music flowed through the movement.

I don't think Mahler should be excluded from the ballet stage - but it would take a grownup choreographer with both mature skills and the maturity that comes with life's experiences to do it justice. I haven't seen Neumeier's ballets to Mahler - except for what is on the internet - but they look fascinating to me.

[friedrich]

Haglund,

Yes , you are right-I remember the Bejart piece for Donn...a remarkable dancer . But after his death there was no dancer who could equal his unique qualities....and the piece disappeared. I do not remember the Araiz PdD for Hart....a now forgotten dancer...

I am surprised that as an American , you find the Neumeier ballets "fascinating"...you should go see his marvelous company at their home theater in Hamburg - the Hamburg State Opera , a wonderful , intimate modern theater . The critiques of his ballets in the U.S. are mostly negative . I like his "Lady of the Camellias"...."A Midsummer Nights Dream", and his radical version of "Swan Lake" - "Illusions- Like Swan Lake" . "Midsummer ....." I would rank below Ashtons and Balanchines versions, but entertaining . And of course his "Third Symphony"...to Mahlers Third. But most of his recent output is rather disappointing.....I walked out of his "Death in Venice" at BAM.....But I do not think that Mahlers music on the whole lends itself to being used for the ballet

[Haglund]

I enjoyed Neumeier's The Little Mermaid for San Francisco Ballet when it was on TV but wonder if it is too cast dependent.