Prague Journal

Monday, November 15, 2004.

Rick and I don’t typically go to the ballet – we can’t remember seeing a ballet in the last 20 years – but we wanted to take Robert and Cynthia to the National Theater, and the best option for this week was the Swan Lake ballet. Obviously, language is not a problem when watching a ballet, and most of us can sing – or at least hum – along with Tchaikovsky’s score. Performances at the National Theater are always superb – dancers, actors, singers, musicians – and the setting alone is so enthralling, we knew we were in for an enjoyable evening. http://p.o2.cz/prague/national_theatre.html
I’m told that if you’ve seen Swan Lake, you’ve seen ballet. Not only is it the most popular ballet in the world, it’s also one of the most technically demanding, due in part to a remarkable Italian ballerina by the name of Pierina Legnani. When Legnani danced the central dual role of Odette/Odile, she brought to it the ability to perform 32 fouettes in a row. A fouette is fast whipping turn on one foot. The public was so impressed that from that production on, any ballerina who danced the role had to perform the 32 fouettes. Legnani's name is still cursed by ballerinas the world over. Swan Lake is still a favorite among dancers because it is one of the few classical ballets that is as consistently challenging technically as it is emotionally.
Surprisingly, upon its debut Swan Lake was hailed as a monumental flop. At its first performance, it was given a poor choreographic treatment, and the ballet was said to have no future. The version that survives today is the combined achievement of Russia's Petipa and his assistant, Lev Ivanov, the brilliant choreographer who fully developed the central dramatic idea of a woman trapped in the body of a bird through the movements of the dancer's arms, the articulations of her feet and positioning of her head and neck.
Swan Lake tells the story of young Prince Siegfried, who falls in love with the Swan Queen Odette, a woman transformed into a bird by an evil sorcerer. Odette explains that she is destined to remain a strange composite creature, until rescued by a man's undying love. Enthralled by her beauty, the Prince pledges his eternal love -- but later, at a party in honor of his 21st birthday, he is tricked by the sorcerer, von Rothbart, into declaring his love for Odile, an evil twin of Odette. Realizing his inadvertent betrayal, the Prince rushes back to the lake. There, he battles Von Rothbart, and destroys his power. In some productions, the lovers are then reunited. In the production we saw this evening, since the Prince has broken his promise, Odette returns to her bewitched state of being a swan and the Prince remains alone on the banks of the lake.
The National Theater is across the street from the Kavarna Slavia, the beautiful, large, art noveau café where dissidents, writers and philosophers, including Vaclav Havel used to congregate. The windows face the National Theater on one side and the Vltava River on another. At night Prague Castle is brilliantly lit, which adds to the unmatched ambience. With a clear sense of being among the luckiest people alive, we downed fancy drinks and desserts at the elegant Slavia before heading home on the tram.

posted by JWinn @ 9:30 PM