Ballet premieres

Last night I saw the Slovak National Ballet company premieres of two very well-known ballets, Balanchine’s 1934 Serenade and Raymonda Variations, a ballet staged in many versions, based on Petipa’s 19th-century choreography.

I made the mistake of going to the ticket office when it opened Friday morning, thinking I would have my choice of good seats in the boxes. It was almost sold out, so I had to settle for a seat in the top balcony. I can’t complain about the ticket price of 160 SKK ($6.40), but I will have to plan ahead to get better seats in the future.

Photos are not allowed during the performance, but so many flash bulbs were going off during the curtain calls that I sneaked a shot myself (though with the flash turned off). The depth and narrowness of this stage is striking, along with the less-than-ideal view from the top balcony. The costumes are exactly what you see in every staging of Serenade.

This was an historic night -- the first time the company had performed a work by Balanchine – and the crowd in the orchestra and box seats was dressed in evening finery to celebrate. A young American who writes for the English-language Slovak Spectator sat next to me; he said the press office told him this was the first time any company had performed Balanchine in Slovakia, so that added to the sense of history.

The Balanchine Trust gives permission to perform his works, and Serenade seems to be the favorite for a company new to his work. Was this up to the standards of the New York City Ballet, with their lifetime of training in his technique? Of course not, but it was a lovely first venture into new terrain for this company that will help them grow as dancers and the audience mature in its experience of the possibilities of dance.

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Surprises at the ballet

This morning I headed over to the historic Opera House to see a “matiné” at 11:00 a.m. of two ballets, Raymonda, a 19th-century Russian classic originally choreographed by Petipa with a score by Glazunov, and Serenade, choreographed by George Balanchine to Tchaikovsky. Matineés in the U.S. are typically regular performances in the afternoon on weekends, so that was the first puzzle. The ridiculously low prices (60 SKK or $2.40 for an orchestra seat) were another.

A helpful usher tipped me off that this was not an actual performance, but a lecture-preview of the new productions, which will premiere next weekend. I sometimes hear about pre-performance lectures to help audiences appreciate what they are about to see, but even that is unusual in the U.S. We were not allowed to take pictures of the presentation, but here is the stage set up for the guest speakers in this lovely little opera house that is becoming my second home.

A youngish crowd, many in jeans, and a significant presence of older balletomanes in casual dress were in the audience. This was a sharp contrast to the very formal dress I usually see at performances.

As I am one of those devoted balletomanes, I was fascinated to hear discussions of the performances, with some video clips. Two American dancers who stage Balanchine works, John Clifford and Patricia Barker, provided insights on working with Balanchine, the distinctive aspects of his technique, and their work with the Slovak dancers in setting the first Balanchine ballet they have performed. Thank goodness they spoke in English, with Slovak translators. Johnny Chang, Ballet Master of the Royal Winnepeg Ballet, also speaking in English, explained his production of excerpts from Raymonda and the history of the many versions of the ballet. I look forward to seeing both ballets next weekend at the premieres.

On Friday night, I saw the company’s magnificent production of Bournonville’s 1836 La Sylphide, the oldest classical ballet still in active repertory. After seeing it performed three decades ago with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland, I thought I was ruined for life for enjoying any other performances. While not quite evoking those two legendary dancers, the male lead (Adrian Ducin) earned appreciative and well-deserved applause and “bravos,” with a dynamic presence and the precision and polish demanded by this very distinctive style of choreography from Denmark.

For more information on the performance:

http://www.snd.sk/?ballet&predstavenie=balanchine

I regularly encounter other international visitors and today was no exception. An older couple from Washington, DC sat behind me today. They had been hiking in the High Tatras mountains in northern Slovakia and were now visiting Bratislava. Outside the ticket office, I had a fascinating discussion with an older couple from the Netherlands, speaking very good English, as we traded our memories of seeing Serenade performed by other companies. A few days ago, I struck up a conversation with another Dutch citizen taking pictures of the same Holocaust monument I was photographing. He spoke fluent English, works in Vienna, and was spending the day with his girlfriend in Bratislava -- could I give him suggestions on what to see in one day? I was happy to oblige with my recommendations.

NOTE: Click on any image in this blog to see it full-size.