BALLET EVENING

27/05 - 18:00

Duration: 1 30min

THE ASTANA OPERA TOUR IN ALMATY

 

BALLET EVENING

In two parts

 

Gala Ballet

* * *

One-act ballets Petite Mort and Sechs Tänze to music by W.A. Mozart, choreography by Jiří Kylián

 

 

Artistic Director of the Astana Opera Ballet Company:

Altynai ASYLMURATOVA, People’s Artist of Russia

 

Stage Manager: Elmira SULTANGAZINA

 

 

GALA BALLET PROGRAMME

1. Adam. Pas de deux from Giselle. Choreography by J. Coralli and J. Perrot. Anastasia ZAKLINSKAYA, Dias KURMANGAZY

 

1. Richter. Duet from How Long is Now?. Choreography by R. Rebeck

Aigerim BEKETAYEVA, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, Olzhas TARLANOV

 

Thaïs to music by J. Massenet. Choreography by R. Petit

Madina UNERBAYEVA (BASBAYEVA), Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan,

Arman URAZOV

 

1. Drigo. Pas de deux from The Talisman. Choreography by M. Petipa

Shugyla ADEPKHAN, Yerkin RAKHMATULLAYEV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan

 

The Old Photo to music by D. Shostakovich. Choreography by D. Bryantsev

Nazira ZAYETOVA, Alexander KORNILOV

 

Leda and the Swan to music by J.S. Bach. Choreography by R. Petit

Anastasia ZAKLINSKAYA, Zhanibek AKHMEDIYEV

 

Kily Zaman to music by Turan Ethno-Folk Ensemble. Choreography by P. de Bana

Sultanbek GUMAR

 

1. Minkus. Pas de deux from Don Quixote. Choreography by M. Petipa and A. Gorsky

Aigerim BEKETAYEVA, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan,

Arman URAZOV

Inserted variation: Sofiya ADILKHANOVA

 

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

 

One-act ballets to music by W. A. Mozart

choreography by Jiří Kylián

 

 

PETITE MORT

(premiere)

 

Production Concept / Set Design / Choreography: Jiří Kylián

Assistant to the Choreographer: Stefan Zeromski

Costume Design: Joke Visser

Light Design: Jiří Kylián

Light Design Realization: Joop Caboort

Technical Supervisor Light/Set: Joost Biegelaar

 

 

The ballet Petite Mort was created to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (the slow movements of two piano concertos) for the Salzburg Festival on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death in 1991.

The title Petite Mort is profound and metaphorical. “La petite mort” (“the little death”) is what the French call the culmination of carnal pleasures, but Kylián is fascinated by the diversity of lovemaking, from innocent touches to passionate entanglements of bodies.

The six adagios arising from the meditative mass compositions are a masterpiece of amazing interpenetration of a magnificent musical basis and filigree movements. The bodies are obedient to the touch of the partners and the breath of the music, the love duels are drawn by an intricate graphic of lines.

Here love and death go hand in hand. The ballet is performed by six men and six women. In the hands of the male dancers there are either sharp rapiers or naked female bodies. The duets in Petite Mort are filled with sensuality, but Jiří Kylián does not at all emphasise the theme of carnal love; on the contrary, the divine harmony of his choreography leads to the fact that the duets suddenly lose all corporal sexuality and the eroticism loses its unambiguousness. It is not by chance that Kylián’s ballet has been called “a love lyric of the highest standard”.

 

* * *

 

SECHS TÄNZE

 

Choreographer: Jiří Kylián

Assistant to the Choreographer: Shirley Esseboom

Set and Costume Designs: Jiří Kylián

Light Design: Jiří Kylián (concept)

Light Design Realization: Joop Caboort

Technical Supervisor Light/Set: Joost Biegelaar

 

The ballet Sechs Tänze was created by Jiří Kylián in 1986, marking the 230th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. And it is probably one of the most famous comic ballets, part of the so-called “Black & White Ballets” series. It has since been one of the most acclaimed productions. Jiří Kylián has a special signature style, which has far exceeded the bounds of the classical “canon”. He has been firmly established as a philosophical choreographer, exploring more the depths of human nature than the physical capacities of the body, and is renowned for his phenomenal musicality. Today, many theatres around the world are fighting for the right to stage dance compositions by Jiří Kylián, the Czech genius of contemporary ballet, the Picasso of dance.

Two centuries separate us from the time Mozart wrote his German Dances. A historical period shaped considerably by wars, revolutions, and all sorts of social upheavals. With this in mind, I found it impossible to simply create different dance numbers reflecting merely the humour and musical brilliance of the composer. Instead, I have set six seemingly non-sensical acts, which obviously ignore their surroundings. They are dwarfed in face of the ever-present troubled world, which most of us for some unspecified reason carry in our souls. Although the entertaining quality of Mozart’s Sechs Tänze enjoys great general popularity, it shouldn’t only be regarded as a burlesqué. Its humour ought to serve as a vehicle to point towards our relative values.

Jiří Kylián

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