GREAT PERFORMANCES: LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER: AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: SLEEPING BEAUTY (TV)
Summary
One in this series on the performing arts. In this program -- one in a series of live broadcasts from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City -- the American Ballet Theatre performs "The Sleeping Beauty" at the Metropolitan Opera House. Host Robert MacNeil introduces the ballet which was created in a collaboration between the classical choreographer Marius Petipa and composer Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky nearly 100 years ago. This production features two celebrated American dancers, Cynthia Gregory and Fernando Bujones. In the Prologue, King Florestan XXIV and his Queen celebrate the christening of their infant daughter Aurora. Five fairies each bestow a special virtue on the princess, but the wicked fairy Carabosse, angry at not being invited, arrives and places a curse on the princess, declaring that she will one day prick her finger and die. The Lilac Fairy, who has not yet given her blessing, cannot remove the curse, but she softens it, promising that the princess will fall into a deep sleep until a prince's kiss awakens her. Between the prologue and the first act, MacNeil speaks with Marcos Paredes, who appears still in the costume of Carabosse, the wicked fairy he plays. Paredes describes the extensive make-up for the character, designed and applied by Paredes himself, which requires about an hour and a half to put on. He also discusses the use of mime for his role, the tradition of having a man play this female character, and character roles versus straight dancing parts. Next, Jolinda Menendez, who plays the Lilac Fairy, joins MacNeil and discusses the following aspects of her role: the lack of technical demands in her role versus the pleasure of conveying the story through her pantomime, and her favorite moment of her role in the upcoming Act II.
After a brief intermission, the program continues with Act I "The Spell." On Aurora's sixteenth birthday, four foreign princes, suitors for her hand, arrive. After the peasants dance the "Waltz of the Garlands," Aurora enters, and greets each prince in turn in the "Rose Adagio." A strange old woman offers her a spindle, something she has never seen before, which she pricks her finger on, causing her to swoon. The old woman reveals herself to be the wicked Carabosse and leaves triumphant. The court mourns, believing Aurora dead, but the Lilac Fairy appears and casts a spell so that the whole court will sleep with the princess for a hundred years. At the end of Act I, host Robert MacNeil is joined backstage by Cynthia Gregory who discusses the following topics: the difficulty of the Rose Adagio because of the control and balance it requires; her preparation for the role of Princess Aurora, including specifics like selecting shoes that are particularly flat and firm, as well as detailing the entire process of listening to the music through learning the choreography and building the character in performance; how much freedom she has with the interpretation of the choreography; how her height, nearly six feet in toe shoes, has affected her career; and whether being on television affects how she dances.
Next, Fernando Bujones joins MacNeil and discusses the following topics: how Bujones gets into the character of Prince Florimund; Bujones's view of the Prince as a "melancholic, Romanticist" character; Bujones's use of gestures and mime, ranging from how he signals that the Princess Aurora is initially only a vision to how a prince drinks wine; the status of this ballet as, according to Bujones, one of the "jewels of the classical repertoire" and the need for "elegance, nobility, style, and technical virtuosity" in performing it; how the knowledge that the program is taped for television will affect his performance; and the status of his career.
Act II, "The Vision," follows. One hundred years have passed and Prince Florimund travels through the area with a hunting party. Although he initially joins in some of the courtly dances, he eventually sends his companions ahead. As he broods, the Lilac Fairy appears to the Prince and shows him a vision of the Sleeping Beauty. She then leads him to the palace where he awakens Aurora with a kiss. During the next intermission, John Lanchbery, musical director of ABT since last September 1, joins MacNeil backstage for a conversation, covering the following topics: Lanchbery's view of Tchaikovsky's score, including what Lanchbery sees as the positive effect of the limitations imposed by his collaboration with choreographer Marius Petipa; Lanchbery's view of how Tchaikovsky compared to his contemporaries like Ludwig Minkus; how Lanchbery prepares the orchestra for ballet and how he works with the dancers; how Lanchbery got his start conducting for ballet, what other kinds of conducting work he has and would like to do, and how working for ABT compares to his previous work with the Royal Ballet and the Australian Ballet.
After a brief intermission, the ballet concludes with the final act, Act III "The Wedding," in which Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund are married. The celebration includes a suite of dances in honor of the couple, most notably the pas de deux between the two fairy tale cats and between the Bluebird and the Enchanted Princess, leading up to the royal pair's own dance and individual variations. The ballet concludes with the blessing of the Lilac Fairy.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The Edward John Noble Foundation.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: May 2, 1979 Wednesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:77556
- GENRE: Dance
- SUBJECT HEADING: Dance; Music; Ballet
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1973-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- John Goberman … Producer
- Peter B. Scharff … Associate Producer
- Kirk Browning … Director
- Alan Skog … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Lucia Chase … Director, American Ballet Theatre
- Oliver Smith … Director, American Ballet Theatre
- Marius Petipa … Choreographer
- Nicholas Sergeyev … Choreographer
- Tobi Tobias … Writer
- Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky … Composer
- John Lanchbery … Conductor
- American Ballet Theatre Orchestra … Symphony Orchestra
- American Ballet Theatre … Dance Company
- Fernando Bujones … Cast, Prince Florimund, Dancer
- Cynthia Gregory … Cast, Princess Aurora, Dancer
- Jolinda Menendez … Cast, The Lilac Fairy, Dancer
- Alexander Minz … Cast, Catalabutte, Dancer
- Marcos Paredes … Cast, Carabosse, the Wicked Fairy, Dancer
- Kirk Peterson … Cast, The Bluebird, Dancer
- Marianna Tcherkassky … Cast, The Enchanted Princess, Dancer
- Sallie Wilson … Dancer
- Victor Barbee … Dancer
- Warren Conover … Dancer
- Kristine Elliott … Dancer
- Nanette Glushak … Dancer
- Cynthia Harvey … Dancer
- Yoko Ichino … Dancer
- Charles Maple … Dancer
- Kevin McKenzie … Dancer
- Hilda Morales … Dancer
- Gregory Osborne … Dancer
- Michael Owen … Dancer
- Richard Schafer … Dancer
- Frank Smith … Dancer
- Rebecca Wright … Dancer
- Robert MacNeil … Host
- Martin Bookspan … Announcer