THE LAKE EFFECT
In 1993, H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover appointed Jean-Christophe Maillot as the head of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Backed by his experience as a dancer under Rosella Hightower and Hamburg Ballet’s John Neumeier, Maillot—the previous choreographer-director of the National Choreographic Centre of Tours—has since created more than 30 pieces, including several great narrative ballets which have entered the repertoire of large international companies.
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is now in demand throughout the world thanks to Maillot’s iconic works, including Roméo et Juliette, Cendrillon, La Belle, Faust, and his latest, a reimagining of Swan Lake entitled LAC. It is a privilege to witness Maillot’s magical storytelling, especially given that Les Ballets’ globetrotting tour of LAC will only play seven cities around the world: Shanghai, Peking, London, Lyon, Paris, New York, and our own Costa Mesa, where the American Premiere of the timeless story of Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette—swan by day, human by night—opens for one weekend only this Friday, March 7, 2014, at Segerstrom Hall.
In order to bring fresh drama and contemporary applicability to this mainstay of the classic repertoire, Maillot has re-worked Swan Lake with writer Jean Rouaud, whose novel Fields of Glory was awarded the Prix Goncourt for being “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year.”
Of Swan Lake, Rouaud states, “In recent years, successive interpretations have taken great care to subvert the original libretto in order to guard against any academic suspicion that we forget that the history borrowed from old Germanic legends feeds on our own archaic fears—the fear that night will prevail against day. The evil sorcerer Von Rothbart against the handsome hero Siegfried works on the most powerful drivers of transgression: mimetic desire.”
Le Figaro Magazine stated that LAC “is outstanding—one of those rewrites that dance needs, which innovates and entertains without turning its back on the story. Maillot has succeeded in the difficult challenge of reshaping this diamond without removing any of its brightness or its essence.”
LAC is Maillot’s third work to be presented at Segerstrom. His Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo production of Cinderella was performed in 2012, and his Switch with Diana Vishneva played last November. He has the secret to big narrative ballets: Storytelling through dance. He’s all about narrative. As with Cinderella, he can take a very familiar story and bring touches that humanize, layering his characters with backstory that opens them up and gives them a dramatic arc. He avoids flashy steps as vehicles for the dancer; instead of jazz arms and big jumps for their own sake, he uses movement to open up the characters psychologically. This is why a review in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin stated, “‘Swan Lake has never cast such a chill.”
Neither classical, contemporary, nor even between the two, Maillot refuses to adhere to one style and designs dance like a dialogue where traditional dance—whether en pointe work or avant-garde angularity—are no longer mutually exclusive.
Visual artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest, a long-time associate of Maillot designs the scenery; Philippe Guillotel creates the unique costumes; and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, directed by Leonard Slatkin, performs a specially conceived and mastered soundtrack of Tchaikovsky’s score (with additional music by Bertrand Maillot). Free Preview Talks will occur one hour prior to each performance.
production photos by Alice Blangero
and Laurent Philippe
LAC (After Swan Lake)
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Segerstrom Hall
Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa
Friday, March 7, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 2 and 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 9, 2014 at 2:00 pm
for tickets, call (714) 556-2787
or visit www.SCFTA.org