October 22-23, 2012
Do Now:
1. Dress out
2. Grab your Spiral
3. Grab a pen or pencil
4. Locate the next blank sheet in your spiral; write the date
5. Watch and write:
1. The Nutcracker:
- Composed in 1891 by Tchaikovsky
- Choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
- The story of a young German girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads.
- A tradition during the holiday season
2. Swan Lake
- Swan Lake is the most technically and emotionally challenging classical ballet (many of its early performers claimed it was too difficult and complex to dance)
- Much is unknown of its original production, but its revised production by the famous choreographers Petipa and Ivanov is the base of the many versions we see today.
- While hunting, Prince Siegfried sees an amazing swan. As he takes aim to shoot, the swan turns into a beautiful woman. The woman, Odette, tells the prince that she is a princess who has come under the spell of an evil sorcerer. During the day she must be a swan and swim in a lake of tears.
3. A Midsummer's Night Dream
- 1962, George Balachine premiered his first full length (entire evening) ballet.
- A Midsummer’s Night Dream, a Shakespeare classic, served as the base of Balachine’s ballet.
4. Coppélia
- Coppélia was composed by Delibes and choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon.
- Coppélia is a light hearted tale portraying man’s conflict between idealism and realism, art and life.
- Its world premier with the Paris Opera was successful in 1871
- Coppélia is a life-size doll created by the mad Doctor Coppélius, who leaves her sitting at the balcony. She looks so human, that a boy named Franz is mesmerized by her, forgetting his engagement to Swanhilda. The latter finds out that Coppélia is only a doll, and decides to impersonate her to show Franz his foolishness.
5. Peter Pan
- Peter Pan is relatively new to the world of ballet.
- There is no “set in stone” way to perform the piece and can be interpreted differently by each producer, choreographer and music director.
- Although each production may be different, the story remains without much variation
6. The Sleeping Beauty
- The Sleeping Beauty was Tchaikovsky’s first famous ballet.
- The choreography was created by world renowned Marius Pepita who also choreographed The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
- As the ballet begins, baby Princess Aurora is being christened. The evil Carbosse storms in and curses the baby, as her invitation to the event had been overlooked. The curse states that on her 18th birthday, the princess will prick her finger and die.
- Many versions of Cinderella exist, but the most common are those that use Sergei Prokofiev’s score.
- In 1948, choreographer, Frederick Ashton staged a full-length production using Prokofiev’s music which turned out to be a huge success.
