„Sleeping Beauty", revisited: Vienna State Ballet, January 23rd, 2024 (Dornröschen, Wiener Staatsballett)

January 23rd around 6:40 pm at the Opera: Just by chance, I met a Friend whose husband could not come to yesterday's performance. She invited me to join her in her box. Even having a nice place on the 9th Row on the Orchestra level, I decided to change places. It had been quite a while since I had witnessed a performance from the second level of the Opera House. It would give me a chance to pay more attention to formations and analyze more the projection skills of some dancers in particular, as they should (in theory) not dance only for the first rows. I could not have been more disappointed, even without having my specs with me (I forgot them at home).

Concerning the choreographic „body" and the staging of Mr Schläpfer's „Sleeping Beauty" there is not really much to be said – or to be taken seriously.

Somehow, during the whole show, I could not take the title of Stefan Zweig's Marie Antoinette biography out of my mind: „Bildniss eines mittleren Charakters" ( Something like „Picture of an average character”). Why? Because nearly everything in yesterday's performance was „average".

Except for the choreography.

But there is no real need to write about it. All that had to be said concerning the creation of this „Sleeping Beauty", was already expressed in near unanimity by all critics who attended the première back in 2022 (that was also received with a large booing from the audience) and literally destroyed, annihilated the piece, leaving just shambles (My critique was gentle when compared to others) . Yes, the whole concept, if there was ever one, failed and the unnecessary many, completely redundant „dramaturgical adds-on" just serve to make a long boring evening even longer.

During this direction period, there were some triple bill evenings in which the Ballet director placed his choreographies among works of some great choreographers of the last century (Balanchine, van Manen, Morris, Taylor etc.). An audacious assumption. That is all I can say. The ballet director’s choreographies, for all the cliché cellophane of “being” contemporary, are very formal, and tame.

The reason I went to see this particular programme again is the (for me) “new” cast. Although it must be also said that whoever is responsible for the casting, should do better homework.

I won't mention dancers in the irrelevant added 35 minutes in the second act who played the “faun” and the „Forest woman" but Sonja Dvorak, for example (a half-soloist turned into soloist), as Aurora is a case of mistaken „casting", even, considering that there was an improvement on the première's cast. I won't go into details but, to make a long story short, I can only say that the same way Opera audiences wait for Floria Tosca to sing „perché, perché, Signore, perché?" and the famous „perché, perché, Signore, perché?", Ballet connoisseurs also await the defining moment from the „Adagio de la Rose"in which Aurora should show ostentatiously her dignity in holding long balances in attitude, „between" princes, who will walk (quietly) one or two steps to the front to offer their hands to her, while she “in balance” - Normally they don't stick so closely to each other, like in yesterday's and in the première's performances because of Aurora’s inability to keep balance. More of a scream for „help" than showing Noblesse, as Petipas has intended to. The stage is a tricky place. One cannot hide faults as no “real school”, no back while holding an arabesque, no attitude, no strength, no well-founded technique and an emotional gamut from A to B…

Davide Dato, the strongest and best male Principal of the House and the only one with an international flair, following and reputation played Prince Désiré with his usual wonderful and very professional charisma: Precision and his very well-known bearing. However, the role does present any real challenges to him and does not require either acting or special technical skills. But even when just walking, he dominates the Stage. Projection at its best. It is always a joy for the audience to witness Mr Dato’s work.

Lovely Kiyoka Hashimoto and incredibly versatile Masayu Kimoto played the pathetic „Royal couple" with grace. But there is not much to do about the „dramaturgical shards" that were incorporated into these roles in a failed attempt to give them a „new reading" and transform the Royal couple into more significative theatrical characters, forgetting that these adds-on which bring too much infomation with them, are completely unnecessary for the storyline. Less is more, as the saying goes. But to understand that the dramaturg has to understand what “Ballet language” is all about. Miss Anna do Paço, responsible for the “dramaturgy”, obviously doesn’t.

Here and there there were some mentionable executions: Calogero Failla and Igor Milos who did the best they could to give the roles of the Carabosse's Followers some life and dynamic, Helen Clare Kinney and Katharina Miffek giving life to Candide and Coulante and in full command of their roles, in contrast to Helena Thordal-Chistensen (In nearly three years, I had never seen this dancer before) who was visibly lost.

Alexey Popov presented a very average if not poor imitation of the Blue Bird while Natalya Butchko, a dancer with a great potential, has still some homework to be done as Princess Florine. Three (of four) princes Lourenço Ferreira, Andrey Teterin, and Géraud Wielick did a good job. Rashaen Arts was miscast. That is the problem when a company is divided into a group of versatile dancers and a (large) group of solely contemporary ones.

The only real joy and highlight of the evening was Alaia Rogers-Maman giving life to La Fée des Lilas, the lilac Fairy. It has been quite a long time since I have started following Miss Rogers-Maman's work more closely. To be quite frank, I do believe that it is high time for this gifted dancer to make a jump, or better, a double one, from being a member of the Corps de Ballet and become a soloist. She would brighten up and heighten the „Soloist's department" level and even lift the Standards as she would set quite a scale with her work and personality for others to follow. She combines not only looks and classic body proportions but clean, well-founded technique (a precious inheritance from the Royal Ballet School years), acting skills, and “Finesse” in her performances. All this is „drizzled" with intelligence, that „little factor" that makes all the difference. Up there, from the box on the second level, I could feel her projection. Her Lilac Fairy reading was stylishly pin-pointed to the last detail. It is not an easy task to visualize a certain interpretation of a character and stand up and do it exactly as imagined. Miss Rogers-Maman is one of those gifted performers who can do that. Somehow I „see" her “for starts”, as „Lise" and „Swanhilda". Just a thought that'd surely bring an upgrading, a higher standard to present casts.

An additional comment to the choreography and the lack of classical ballet knowledge involved in its making: Pieces of the choreography use erroneously “Giselle” and “Swan Lake” arms (!!!???), a fact that is absolutely unheard of! Just for the record: Every single one of these ballets have their own style! To mix them is an absolute no go and a big sin in what style is concerned. Trained eyes can see that. Petipa must “turn in his grave” every time this is performed!

Conclusion: There is not much anymore to be said about this production/staging, in which nothing fits together (costumes, sety, choreography, music etc.), except that thinking of the original title, it should perhaps be called „Sleeping Pill" (one of the most efficient and effective, ever!). A gentleman in the box next to ours was deeply asleep – as some around me, back in the première night in 2022, were. This time, at least, there was no snoring. Nevertheless I was exhausted and had a wonderful night's sleep after the show, no question about that.

Ricardo Leitner

January 24th, 2024