Music You'd Like to See as a Dance Options

[Leigh Witchel]

Ballet Chicago did a work about a decade ago by Gordon Pierce Schmidt called "By Django".

[Mashinka]

Has anyone ever used the music of Philip Glass's Low Symphony for a ballet? In particular the middle section, Some Are, cries out to be danced to.

[Gyromatic39]

MommaJambe,
Blake's The Snowman has been staged by the Birmingham Rep, although it's not all about dance, it has some nice sequences. it's available on video but only in the PAL/SECAM format.

I'd like to see Mahler's Wunderhorn Symphonies, along with the 6th and 8th. Also his Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and Grieg's Peer Gynt. (IMG:http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[dbplanpro]

Yes, Ma Vlast, but let's not limit ourselves to Vlavta (The Moldau). The whole piece has great promise as a ballet. The symphonic poem has 6 tones (or movements). Of course, I'm a huge fan of Bedrich Smetana, so I may be completely biased, but here's a rundown on the stories behind the 6 tones, each is 10-15 minutes in length.

Vysehrad, the opening piece, celebrates the ruined castle at Prague. The piece opens with the bard Lumir, playing his lyre, invoking the Muses at the present ruis of Vysehrad, then brings forth the past glory of the place with King Premsyl and Queen Libuse, the seer, who foresaw the greatness of Prague, and their court, and then returns to the present ruins and the sorrow there.

Vlavta (The Moldau), which is the merging of two brooks into the mighty Vlavta, which passes by a hunting party, a wedding party, the nighttime nymphs, bubbling rapids and finally flows majestically past Vysehrad and then joins the sea.

Sarka is the story of an Amazon maiden betrayed by her lover, who lures the faithless lover and his soldiers into the woods, lulls them to sleep and then has her maiden troops come and slaughter them all.

"Z cesýkch luhu a háju" (From Bohemia's Meadows and Fields) is a pastoral scene, a summer's day with shepherds and snatches of country dances in a much-needed respite from the violence of Sarka.

Tábor is the story of Hussites, who religious zealots in the 14th century who defended their stronghold to the death.

Blaník is a mountain where, legend has it, the Hussites from Tábor will sleep until they are needed to defend their people. There is pasture on this site at the time of composition, with shepherds, but an certain tension. The knights emerge with a new hymn to triumph and restore peace. The bard Lumir returns with his lyre to show his approval and a brief march confirms Queen Libuse's vision of a vibrant, beautiful future for Prague.

Total run time 75 minutes, not counting scene changes and intermission. I adore this piece of music and can see these parts (Lumir, Libuse, Sarka, the merging streams as a lovely couple guiding us through Vlavta, the hunting party, the nymphs, the Hussites) being danced. Sadly, I lack the funds to commission a ballet on my own. Any takers?

[carbro]

Me, me, me!

Ma Vlast is beautiful music, full of kinetic impulse. Seems you've given a good deal of thought to your ballet, more than some choreographers whose work I've seen in recent years.

[papeetepatrick]

Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, 'The Age of Anxiety', with the Auden poem-events as annotated by Bernstein on the album, would be a marvelous dance, modern or ballet--and one of the best story-dances that has occurred to me in a long time.

[Mel Johnson]

It already is, or rather, has been. The Robbins setting dates from 1950, but is now probably among the lost.

[papeetepatrick]

Was it the entire piece? with all the characters in the 3rd Avenue bar? Did you see it? I'm very interested and didn't know about this. Thanks!

[bart]

Thanks, dbplanpro, for reviving this thread.

I love the Smetana piece but am having difficulty imagining how it would be presented and (to be frank) how audience interest would be sustained over that amount of time.

Would you approach each section literally? There seems to be a musical unity -- or at least connectedness -- throughout the piece. Would there be something in the choreography to link the parts, or would each stand alone? Please tell us more.

[4mrdncr]

Me, me, me!

Ma Vlast is beautiful music, full of kinetic impulse. Seems you've given a good deal of thought to your ballet, more than some choreographers whose work I've seen in recent years.

And me! I've been choreographing The Moldau in my head for years, with scenic and lighting designs, and some costumes too, and recently, have started considering the other sections of Ma Vlast. (Unfortunately, without being as knowledgeable about the backstories.) Also unfortunately: No funds to do it, but who knows, maybe I can interest some smaller company some day to consider it.

[Mel Johnson]

Was it the entire piece? with all the characters in the 3rd Avenue bar? Did you see it? I'm very interested and didn't know about this. Thanks!

I'm afraid that this ballet is one from before my time as a viewer. It is, however, described in the first of the Balanchine "Stories of the Great Ballets", my copy of which is not readily coming to hand. In my book, any Robbins/Bernstein collaboration that is out of rep is a really serious loss.

[papeetepatrick]

Don't I agree--I'm sure it was worthwhile, and the Bernstein piece is one of the masterpieces of the mid-century American repertoire. And it sounds like it may have gone out of rep very quickly as well from what googling I did last night. If people just listened to this one piece, they'd know what a great composer Bernstein was, not just for his show music--Lukas Foss's piano (and 'pianino') playing are stunning on the old recording. Will try to find the book. Thanks, Mel.

[Figurante]

I would love to see a ballet to the soundtrack from There Will be Blood. :-)

[Rosa]

*Respighi's "Pines of Rome"
*Elgar's "Nimord" (from "Enigma Variations")
*Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre"

[4mrdncr]

*Respighi's "Pines of Rome"
*Elgar's "Nimord" (from "Enigma Variations")
*Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre"

Elgar's "Enigma Variations" have, of course, already been done by Ashton for the Royal Ballet. I also remember seeing a version (mid-late '70's) by a regional US company that also used the entire Enigma Variations to tell a story rather similar to Tudor's "Jardin aux Lilas". The Nimrod variation of that version was a very beautiful pdd between the male protagonist and the "other woman", or in this case "other girl". The male protagonist did reconcile with his wife at the end, but don't remember offhand which variation was used for that scene.