Music, Literature, Dance and Fashion | Dance and entertainment

Music, Literature, Dance and Fashion | Dance and
entertainment | Ballet
“In the ballet the whole meaning of the story can be expressed by the dance.… The dance should explain
the spirit of the actors in the spectacle. More than that, it should express the whole epoch to which the
subject of the ballet belongs.” (Mikhail Fokine)
In the 19th century, the art of dance developed into a combination of virtuosity and dramatic storytelling.
The influence of Romanticism and the European fascination for the “Orient” were expressed in the choice
of “Oriental” themes that included the Orientalist elements of the mystical, exotic and the irrational. The
French ballet dancer Marius Petipa (1818#1910), who was chief ballet master of the Imperial Theatre at St.
Petersburg from 1869 to 1903, created a series of ballets in the Orientalist style that included The Daughter
of the Pharaoh (Egypt), Le Roi Candaule and Le Corsaire (Turkey) and La Bayadère (India). The Russian
choreographer Mikhail Fokine (1880#1942) and his ballets for the Ballet Russes Cleopatre, Les Orientales
and Scheherazade are further examples of “story ballets” in this vein. Needless to say, however, none
of these works reflect any desire to relate ethnographic knowledge; rather they are the result of Western
imagination and stereotyping.
Working Number: FR 185
Name:
Aladin ou La lampe merveilleuse : esquisse de décor de l'acte I ou acte II
Holding Museum: National Library of France
Date:
1822
Materials:
-
Curator
Justification:
Replete with movements and images inspired by the “East”, “Story
ballets” were particularly popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Working Number: FR 179
Name:
Holding Museum:
Date:
Materials:
Curator
Justification:
Théâtre impérial du Châtelet. Aladin ou la lampe merveilleuse ; les génies de
la lampe (ballet)
National Library of France
1863
The impact on the Parisian public of “Eastern”-inspired ballets created
waves of Orientalist-inspired creations throughout the fashion and art
worlds.
Working Number: FR 186
Name:
Holding Museum:
Date:
Materials:
Curator
Justification:
Théâtre de l'Opéra. 'Aïda.' L'avenue des Sphinx aux portes de Thèbes (2e
tableau du 2e acte)
National Library of France
1880
Europe’s elite flocked to a dazzling new Cairo to enjoy the sumptuous
palaces, Parisian gardens and the newly built Cairo Opera House on
the banks of the Nile, where Verdi’s Aïda premiered.
Working Number: FR 183
Name:
Schéhérazade
Holding Museum: National Library of France
Date:
1895-1897
Materials:
-
Curator
Justification:
Scheherazade, based on the central character from the Arabian
Nights, was an exotic, timeless, evocative fantasy brimming with awe,
sensuality and wonder.
Working Number: FR 182
Name:
Shéhérazade, ballet de Michel Fokine : croquis de scène
Holding Museum: National Library of France
Date:
1913
Materials:
-
Curator
Justification:
The inspiration for the ballet Scheherazade was the female storyteller
of the Arabian Nights. Fokine’s “Eastern”-inspired ballet conveys the
sensual aspects of the Orientalist fantasy in expressive movement.
Working Number: US1 001
Name:
Costume for Cleopatra in the Ballets Russes production of Cléopâtre, 1918
Holding Museum: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Date:
1918
Materials:
Silk, sequins, mirror, beads, wool yarn, metallic thread braid, lamé
Curator
Justification:
As Romanticism emerged and brought exotic settings into vogue the
“East” became a popular theme for many artists and musicians.