(The Bayadères at the Adelphi, printed playbill, Adelphi Theatre London, England, October 1838 (Image source: V&A))
G's spice-infused and fantastical piece on The Australian Ballet's production of La Bayadère for Fjord Review, Shades of Mysticism and Opulence, has recently been published. Here is a little appetiser:
Stanton Welch's new production of La Bayadère, a glittering tale of betrayal and unrequited love, is akin to finding one’s self within an Indian miniature painting. Swirling shades of burnt coral, gold, dusty pink, turquoise, and an olive green tinged with yellow guide us down the Orientalist path to Mythic India in a romanticised period. The magician's optical illusion in play, nature is contrived by hand and presented as an ordered frame to a stage. The trompe l'oeil effect in motion to both trick the eye and delight sees a Rajah's palace appear before the eyes. And just as an Indian miniature seeks to emphasize mood (or bhava) through rich lyricism, when coupled with the melodies of Minkus in response to the exotic theme, La Bayadère brings to life a daydream of the past through an explosion of dance.
To understand the landscape one needs to remember that La Bayadère, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa for the Russian Imperial Ballet, was first performed in 1877. As Welch explains of the ballet, "during this time, the Middle East in particular and all of Asia was really this mysterious, fantastic place for the West. You have to view it as a Russian concept of that place, it's not in any way meant to be authentic to the country, it’s authentic to a Russian's version or dream of what that country may be."[i] But in order to attain secure footing in this fantasy-scape of Bengal tigers, spice-hued costumes, and slippers that curl upward at the toe, one needs to surrender to the brilliant spectacle as it unfolds, teases, sparks, and entrances. It is impossible not to be a little awe-struck when the house lights come on. It is, in fact, a little like smoking opium with Solor, our warrior lead, at the behest of the fakir, Kalum.
The chance to be transported to a place where Gods' leap, snakes slither, and saris swirl even in the ballet world does not come often enough.... (continue reading)
Additional links to peruse:
George Paton Gallery: Artist's Books (reprised) exhibition on wotwedid
100 Cats opening at Off the Kerb
Dream Worlds and $10,000 Tutus on Broadsheet
World Ballet Day, 1st of October, 2014
Militant Surrealism: Jan Švankmajer Shorts Part II as part of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival
Support Materiality's Pozible campaign
And don't forget, we're offering FREE POSTAGE ON ALL ORDERS placed through our ONLINE STORE ALL SEPTEMBER LONG. Enter in the magic code word, 'Zarafa', upon checkout. Lenni is ready to help with the wrapping.
And finally head across to our instagram account to see a little of our collaged response to beauty in light of The Australian Ballet's 2015 season. For us, beauty can be found in nature, untamed or otherwise, but more on this later.
