New York Theatre Ballet.With its production for young audiences of The Magic Rose: A Tale of Beauty & the Beast, choreographed by Edward Henkel, New York Theatre Ballet New York Theatre Ballet (or the NYTB) was founded in 1978 by its artistic director, Diana Byer. Dedicated to the principles of the Cecchetti-Diaghilev tradition, the company both reprises classic masterworks and produces original ballets. delivered both enchantment and confusion. Youthful spectators are well versed in the tale "Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale (type 425C -- search for a lost husband -- in the Aarne-Thompson classification). The first published version of the fairy tale was a meandering rendition by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in ," particularly in the Walt Disney version. What hardly any of them know, however, is the myth of Theseus and Ariadne, so awkwardly combined here with the fairy tale as to leave even adult viewers questioning what the Greek legend added other than an interesting opportunity to weave a labyrinth out of a skein of thread and a second scary monster, the horned Minotaur (danced by Jeff Moen). The Theseus and Ariadne plot is presented at curtain's rise as a masque masque, courtly form of dramatic spectacle, popular in England in the first half of the 17th cent. The masque developed from the early 16th-century disguising, or mummery, in which disguised guests bearing presents would break into a festival and then join with their for the court of King Minos (Paul Burns), who casts out the young man loved by his daughter. My wise, six-year-old companion, Irene, cut through the clutter at once with her statement, "It's silly to call him Theseus, when we know he's The Prince." When Ariadne (Sylvia Nolan) sets off to follow her hero (Jack Hansen) through the maze, she is transformed into Beauty by the Magic Rose (Ursula Prenzlau), because the lovers' quest has actually led to the garden of the Beast (Elmar Streeter). Bewilderment grows with such details as a magic mirror and a statue (the lost Ariadne? her mom?) at whose base the king pines, but so, too, grows the degree of captivation cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. . Sylvia Taalsohn's lovely costumes and the ingenious set designs by Gillian Bradshaw-Smith made a picture-pretty environment for some delightful dancing to Elgar's Wand of Youth The Wand of Youth Suites 1 & 2 are suites for full orchestra by the English composer Edward Elgar. The title given them by Elgar was, in full:
tr.v. be·witched, be·witch·ing, be·witch·es 1. To place under one's power by or as if by magic; cast a spell over. 2. To captivate completely; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. ; her first appearance had some delicate port de bras port de bras n. The technique or practice of positioning and moving the arms in ballet. that quoted from Fokine's Spectre de la Rose. Nolan is a fine dramatic dancer, and Hansen executes princely tours en I'air. Elizabeth Bruning, Patrice Burnside, Olivia King, Tracy Roberts, Rubria Rodriguez and Felicia Terlecki danced as the corps. A clever activities sheet introduced young balletomanes to the term choreographer. Irene, who liked the dancing a lot, picked up the new term at once when she concluded, "But the choreographer didn't tell the story very well." |
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