Ballet Nice’s production of Malandain’s ‘Cendrillon’
This Christmas, Ballet Nice Méditerranée stages one of the world’s best-loved fairy tales, Cendrillon (Cinderella). This version, created by Thierry Malandian, Director-Choreographer of the Malandain Ballet Biarritz, is a contemporary interpretation of the ballet, set to the gorgeous score of Sergei Prokofiev.
It tells of the young girl, Cinderella, who is harassed and neglected by her step-family, but who ends up winning the heart of the handsome Prince, and lives “happily ever after” – as with the heroine of so many fairy tales. Malandain contrasts the innocent beauty of Cinderella with the ugliness of her stepmother and daughters, a trio danced by men, in whom Malandain has imagined some of the darkest aspects of humanity – egocentrism, humiliation and idiocy.
While he remains faithful to the story of Cinderella, Malandain has developed a very personal approach to the ballet, taking his audience, he says, on “A road passing through doubt, denial, pain and hope to finally reach light. Through this vision, made of ashes and magic, sometimes tragic, sometimes comical, something quite universal was written.”
The ballet was premiered on 3rd June, 2013, at the Kursaal de San Sebastián in Spain, and had its French premiere on 7th June, 2013, at the Opera Royal de Versailles. It won for Malandain the Prize for Best Choreographer at the Taglioni European Ballet Awards in Berlin, presented by the Malakhov Foundation.
In Malandain’s work, the traditional trappings of the classical version are replaced by more contemporary costumes, with a solitary backdrop “composed,” says L’Express, “of hundreds of stilettos hung like big black birds under the moonlight”. L’Express goes on to describe the ball “with its huge whirl of black and bright figures, waltzing to Prokofiev’s sharp notes.” La Scène says the ballet is “Harmonious, flowing, inventive and based on solid classical technique”, while Malandain’s choreography “brought a breath of light and fresh air that made Cinderella float”.
The Centre Chorégraphique National Malandain Ballet Biarritz was inaugurated in 1998 by Thierry Malandain. It is a classically-based company which reflects a contemporary image. Malandain himself, as with so many choreographers, started his career as a professional dancer, but branched out into the creation of ballets during his time with the Ballet Théâtre Français de Nancy between1980 and 1986.
He has numerous choreography awards to his name, has over eighty works to his credit, and was also Artistic Director of Le Temps d’Aimer festival in Biarritz, founded in 2000. He has created ballets to the music of composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Massenet, Britten, Brahms, Chopin, Shostakovitch, Stravinsky and Debussy, as well as Georges Antheil and Steve Reich, and his works have been performed by companies which include Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Ballet de Tours, Ballet de l’Opéra de Nantes, Ballet royal de Wallonie, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet national de Marseille, Ballet de l’Opéra national de Bordeaux and Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse.
Marc Leroy-Calatayud, most recently Associate Conductor of Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, is
a connoisseur of French music from the 19th century, and whose repertoire includes opera, ballet and symphonic concerts. He leads the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Malandain’s Cendrillon between 17th and 29th December, at Nice Opera. Tickets may be reserved online by visiting this website. Further information is available on the Ballet Nice website.
Children from 5 to 10 years old can accompany their parents to the 2.30 pm performances on Sunday 22nd December and Sunday 29th December, and while the parents are watching the show, can learn more about the Opera by taking part in an original cultural activity for just €5. Tickets are available, subject to availability, from the box office.
Information sourced from:
Nice Ballet programme notes
Malandain Ballet
Artists’ websites
All photographs © Dominique Jaussein
A version of this article first appeared in Riviera Buzz
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