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Swan Lake

11K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  Marsilius 
#1 · (Edited)
This masterpiece deserves a thread:

(Sorry for happy ending lovers, but originally the end was with Odette and Siegfried dying together and rising to the heavens-pretty tragic, isn't it?)
 
#20 · (Edited)
I love Swan Lake in all of its incarnations, whether legit, the Ballet Trocadero, or Matthew Bourne's reimagining. The Trocadero dancers are astonishing; satire or no, they dance extremely well. I wouldn't call it "Gay Swan Lake," they stick to the story, and there are only a few moments of camp, mostly for laughs (the falling of feathers on The Swan, for instance). You wouldn't know the ballerinas were boys, unless you knew in advance so good are they.
 
#23 ·
One of my favorites of their bits is when one dancer in the line falls down, then stays there until they come back, then just gets up and proceeds as if nothing happened. There is an interesting documentary on the troupe which points out that they have to get custom made shoes since they don't normally come in their sizes.
 
#26 ·
No, in post 18 I pointed out that, contrary to your assertion that you regarded Bourne's Swan Lake as "not related to Tchaikovsky", there is a very apparent and obvious relationship simply because Bourne's Swan Lake has been set to Tchaikovsky's score.

While you may have meant that MB's production is not related to Petipa's original production, that is not the same thing at all.
 
#28 ·
It was impossible to argue anything against a response as utterly unsupported by evidence/argument as "I'm personally offended by it".

I could have coped with "I personally find it crudely choreographed OR unoriginal OR poorly designed OR lacking in any other one of dozens of other objective criteria", but to dismiss it merely because it "offends" you adds nothing to reasoned discussion.

As we cannot read your mind, do take the opportunity to tell us exactly what it is about Matthew Bourne's production that is so offensive.
 
#30 ·
The clip attached to this story shows the power of music:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...sidebar&pm_medium=web&pm_campaign=recommended

At first, I thought it was perhaps exaggerating the degree of response, but you can see that she is not just following the music, but anticipating it, and remembering the facial expressions as well as the movements (to the extent that she is able to do them at her age and in a wheel chair).
 
#33 ·
The more familiar 19th century ballet set to Tchaikovsky's music hinges on heterosexual attraction. Bourne's 20th century ballet set to Tchaikovsky's music hinges on same-sex attraction. Both utilise coherent stories and fit the music expertly. Why is one of them necessarily "an abomination"? If you don't want to see it, don't go to a performance!
 
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