Bausch / Béjart / Wheeldon
The ancient Roman site of the Terme di Caracalla provides a stunning setting for a triple ballet event, Bausch / Béjart / Wheeldon. Featuring the choreography of Christopher Wheeldon, Maurice Béjart and Pina Bausch, each ballet has a distinct style and musical framework. Performed by the orchestra and corps de ballet of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, this evening of ballet includes music by Ezio Bosso, Antonio Vivaldi, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky.
The programme opens with a rendition of Within the Golden Hour, a ballet by Wheeldon set to music by Bosso and Vivaldi. The British contemporary ballet choreographer uses a synthesis of different dance forms within the context of classical techniques to come up with something new in this work. Split into seven concise movements, Within the Golden Hour is akin to a series of sketches that are inspired by the music. His interpretations of two Italian composers from very different eras sometimes flow with their melodies while, at others, they offer a more fragmented vision. It was first performed at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, USA, on 22 April 2008.
Béjart's version of Boléro follows, a ballet that reinterprets a much-loved piece of balletic music which Ravel composed late in his career. Boléro was a commission given to the French composer by the Russian dancer and producer Ida Rubinstein. Its world premiere took place at the Paris Opéra on 22 November 1928. In the ensuing years, Boléro went on to become a popular concert piece but it was reinterpreted by Béjart as a ballet to much acclaim in the 1960s. Its premiere took place at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels on 10 January 1961. Both male and female dancers have been used to interpret the central role of La Mélodie, while Béjart uses male dancers to represent Boléro's notable rhythms.
Ever-powerful, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring provides the music for the final ballet at this triple bill. First staged on 12 March 1975 at the Wuppertaler Bühnen Opera House in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Bausch's balletic vision of The Rite of Spring is faithful to the music's visceral score. The ballet explores the struggle of life suggested in Stravinsky's work through dance. When a girl is selected to be ritually sacrificed, Bausch's choreography deals with the drama in a way that brings out the underlying themes of superstition and misogyny. Her version of ballet places the girl at the centre of the narrative and the audience is encouraged to understand its telling from her perspective as a victim.
The Baths of Caracalla's three-ballet extravaganza provides high drama and wonderfully evocative music during Rome's summertime festival season.