|
Nureyev lives on Sumptuous ballet, timeless tale, stinking choreography? by WALTER KRAJEWSKI
But fairy tales are more than cash cows. Take Sleeping Beauty, for instance. The imagery includes the uninvited--hence insulted--fairy, the threat of a pricked finger, the 16th birthday, the daddy king and the charming prince. Imagine the Freudians with this one. Not only sex, but even incest rears it head. The daddy king wishes to keep his daughter for himself in arrested sexual development. Nonetheless, virginal blood must flow as the female is passed from daddy to the male who can pierce through the great hymen forest. Too analytical? Then how about a simple moral, like keep your guest list up to date? Is there no middle ground between the ridiculous and the simplistic? Happily, there is. The National Ballet, visiting from Toronto, is presenting their time-tested version of Sleeping Beauty as staged by Rudolf Nureyev. Created in 1972 for the National, Nureyev's version boasted sumptuous costumes and scenery fit for a palace. It also broke the bank--according to dance historian Max Wyman, National Ballet founder Celia Franca thought the production was tasteless and declared the choreography to be "stinking." Fittingly, the cost-conscious Franca portrayed the offended fairy in the production. However, the production has been a huge hit with both critics and audiences. That sumptuous decor, having more than paid for itself, is now here in Montreal. And various revivals have proven Franca wrong in her assessment of Nureyev's choreography of dense dance patterns. The fairy tale promise of "ever after" has crossed over into our world: Nureyev passed away in 1993, but the choreography he poured his soul into lives on. Sleeping Beauty will awaken at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, Thu-Sat April 10-12. See dance listings for showtimes. |
Now that the Disney Corporation has discovered the alchemy to transform fairy tales into pure gold, it will be a neverending story. Each year will feature a new hit, doused in vibrant colours, spiced up with songs, sprinkled with touches of feminism and peppered with asides of irony and sarcasm. The kids will be entertained but, more importantly, the parents will be drawn in by the clever songs and the adult allusions. It's not difficult to imagine Disney releases featuring soundtracks by the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys and the Tragically Hip.