The Firebird Ballet
The Firebird! Oops! I won’t talk
about the musical instrument from Gibson, or that obsolete game
software label owned by Telecomsoft. Those are interesting subjects
though, but they are not the focus of my attention here. What I am
trying to talk about is the Firebird ballet, and nothing
else.
So what about the Firebird ballet?
The Firebird ballet was a notable
form of ballet developed in the early 20th century. The
man who was responsible for its introduction was Igor Stravinsky, a
Russian ballet fan who based the form from the Russian fairy tales
of the magical glowing, the firebird, which is deemed both as a
stroke of luck and blight to its captor. It was first staged as a
ballet by Sergey Pavlovich Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, a ballet
company that has gathered an admirable collection of talents.
Now, let’s take a look at how the
Firebird ballet was told.
The Firebird ballet, as mentioned
earlier, has a story that loosely patterned on the Russian folk
tale. It tells the story of a young prince, named Ivan, who
happened to enter the magical world of an immortal entity of pure
evil, Kashchei, who loves to capture and imprison women and
transform the men who try to meddle on his matters into stone.
Without knowing the real situation, the prince wanders through the
garden of Kashchei where he saw and met an amazing bird, the
Firebird. Awed by the bird’s charm and beauty, the prince steals
one of its feathers and runs away from it.
The story of the Firebird ballet
progresses by detailing the meeting of Prince Ivan and the 13
maidens. He passionately fell in love with one of them and it was
that feeling which triggers him to follow the maidens when they
returned to Kashchei’s castle. Ivan was captured by the monstrous
servants of Kashchei and it was in the moment of transforming him to
stone that the firebird enters and lure Kashchei into a deep slumber
with its elaborate and energetic dance. The devilish immortal was
then killed by the Firebird, breaking his magical power. The
magical creatures and the place all vanish and the real beings,
including the maidens who were once transformed into stones awaken.
The story of the Firebird ballet ends with a victory.
According to some reviews, what
particularly sets the Firebird ballet magnificent was the excellent
choreography and design. The Firebird ballet was actually designed
by a Russian artist named Leon Bakst, and it was accompanied by the
music of its original composer, Igor Stravinsky. The choreography
was directed by another professional, Michel Fokine. With the
powers of these three pros, it’s no wonder that the Firebird ballet
which was first staged at the Paris Opera was presented
successfully. It even attracts millions of critics, professionals
and students of ballet from around the world, causing the rise of a
number of versions of this art form. Today, there is about more
than 10 versions of the Firebird ballet, each was staged and
performed by the professional dancers in the ballet world.
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