LONDON STUDIO CENTRE

ASSESSMENT WORK COVER SHEET

Name of Student: BETHANY JANE WATTS

Date: 5th APRIL 2013

Title of Programme: BA HONS. THEATRE DANCE
Year: 1
Module Number: M104
Course Title: SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT, DANCE HISTORY
Name of Tutor: LISE UYTTERHOEVEN
Title of Essay or Assignment:
WRITE A CRITICAL ACCOUNT OF THE WAYS IN WHICH THE CONTEMPORARY
WORK DRAWS FROM THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY OR TWENTIETH-CENTURY
TRADITION.

Submission Date: 10TH May 2013

Word Length (+ / - 50 words)

I declare that the attached essay/assignment is all my own original work, save those parts where I have depended
on, referred to or quoted the work or words of others. I have indicated these parts by the use of quotation marks
and/or by other means, and have stated the details of the same, adhering to the Harvard Style of Bibliographical
References. I have read and understood the regulations in the course handbook on plagiarism and Middlesex
Universitys Regulations on Academic Misconduct.

Bethany Jane Watts

Tutors comments:

La Sylphide, arguably the most famous Romantic ballet ever created, premiered on the 12th
March 1832 and went on to revolutionise ballet together with the entire Romantic era. It
shaped the dance for the next hundred years and more and the effects are still evident
today in the great ballet companies around the world (Dorris, 2008, p.481). Matthew
Bournes cutting-edge rework in 1994 Highland Fling took the story of La Sylphide and
evolved it into a new vision; uniting the old with a wry twist of modern day culture.

The Question both ballets pose is where the magic of life, as it were, is to be found.
In both the central male character learns too late that this should have been sought in
a near rather than a distant reality.
(Brown, 2007, p.94)

When referring to the original it is important to note that although the most important
restaging was August Bournonvilles version in 1836 (Chapman, p.1362) Bournes rework
mostly takes influence from the 1972 remake for film of Taglionis original choreography and
style in 1832. Both stagings consist of two acts; the first set in pedestrian scenes and the
latter a Ballet Blanc, something intrinsic to a Romantic Ballet. Furthermore Bourne kept the
narrative and the score the same as Bournonville, making his creation of something so new
and fresh even more credited. Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll was certainly not a tagline seen
on the original poetic vision (Chapman, p. 1361). Bournes rework brings light to a much
more savage and animalistic approach, with even the opening scene starting in the grimy
toilets of a club as opposed to the idyllic rural scenes of the original. A big difference in the
salient features of these two ballets however is the cast size. The original having a full ballet
cast of perhaps thirty to fifty performers whilst the rework having originally just seven
members, and later eleven.

Bourne uses the music from Bournonvilles version, as opposed to Jean-Madeliene

Schnietzhoeffers score, as that is the one most famously associated with La Sylphide. He

describes the score by Herman Lovenskiold as wonderfully melodious, highly dramatic,

witty, moving and, of course, great music to dance to (Bourne, 2005) so it is no wonder he
kept it, allowing the music to depict where the work shall go.

Bournes Highland Fling is still set in Scotland but rather than a rural village we now witness
a modern day Glasgow. He said he wanted to combine a very earthy contemporary world
with the magical and spiritual world of the fairies and sylphs (Bourne, 2005). So our James
is this version is a young unemployed man living in a council flat. Drug culture also features
heavily in this version, with again the opening scene showing a group of young adults at a
club on the popular drug of the time, ecstasy. Although this may appear to be a new idea it
was actually something Bourne drew from the original and other Romantic ballets. While it
was not so heavily demonstrated there was always the suggestion of drugs in many
Romantic ballets, most obviously in La Bayadere where a whole scene takes place under
the influence of opium. Influence for Bournes use of drugs sparked from this and also from
the Danny Boyles film Trainspotting 1996 which focused heavily on drug culture.

Lez Brotherstons designs for Highland Fling were simple yet effective, drawing some
influence from the original but again giving it a thoroughly modern edge. Two reversible
boards; one side showing a public toilet and the other the walls of James home and a large
window were used throughout Act one. Act Two uses a simple backboard with some railings
on and a deserted car to give the illusion of the dumping ground creating the illusion of a
glade that is close enough to a city to be a convenient dumping ground for unwanted cars
and furniture (Bourne, 2005). One salient image that was kept the same however, was the
arm chair by the fire in Act One. This famous image on James asleep on the chair, and the
Sylph appearing to him was something Bourne used in his own rework.

Pierre Ciceris scenery was revolutionary for the contemporary audiences his landscape
decors, helped by the new invention of gas lighting, influenced a whole generation so Even

though technology has greatly advanced since the Romantic era and he was able to use a
much wider range of lighting effects throughout the ballet such as neon colours in the club
scene, Bourne was not foolish enough to draw too far from the foundations of La Sylphide.
He still kept the same eerie moonlight effect over the second Act just like the original
creating his very own Ballet Blanc. In this scene it was his intention to closely resemble a
romantic Ballet Blanc, however for the most part his biggest influence was in fact Giselle, not
La Sylphide.

The costumes used in Bournes piece resemble that of the Romantic version no doubt taking
some influence from here. Pedestrian outfits are used in both Act ones, with Scottish kilts
and tartan featuring heavily in both ballets. However, once again Bourne has put a modern
day edge to them, his characters sporting mini-skirts and glasses in place of traditional
longer ballet character attire. In Act two Bourne also stuck to the basic ideas for costuming
seen in the original. Staying true to the idea of the supernatural, he kept the all-white
costumes. Drawing influence from Robert le Diables Ballet of the Nuns 1831 the original
saw a female cast dressed in outfits that were soft, billowing and as light as air (Chapman,
1362). Bourne kept this idea in his rework with his Sylphs dressed in white material that
flowed around them in an ethereal fashion, and kept the small wings on their backs.
However the bodices and bell-shaped skirts were not present, instead he drew away from
the airiness of the Sylphs and instead gave them an earthier look with dirt smeared across
their costumes, again giving them a wild appearance. Taglioni used an all-female cast of
sylphs, in fact the Taglioni era heavily featured women in place of the men as the cult of the
ballerina took over, it was Bournonville that introduced males back into the ballet,
remembering his own status as a male dancer. Bourne unites these ideas and fights the
stereotype by having both male and female sylphs giving his rework an entirely new edge.

While the aural and visual settings do not stray far from the original, the movement material
differs vastly. Taglionis version is a prime example of a classical Romantic ballet. Low

rounded arms, low attitudes and arabesques, and minimal physical contact (Andersen,
J.p.997) is seen throughout La Sylphide with classic lines and held torsos. Expressive mime
(Scheff, Sprague, McGreevy-Nichols, 2012, p.28) is used throughout. Bourne similarly uses
a lot of mime and drama in his work, depicting the same emotional journey as that of the
original. Taglionis had a skilful use of his dancers to give depth to his choreographic
conception (Chapman, p.1361) as does Bourne, specifically choosing performers to fit his
character roles. However his movement material could not differ more. Brash pedestrian
movements, bravura jumps and a heavy use of the floor appear all over Bournes work,
influences he did not draw from the original but instead from his own contemporary dance
background. Bourne does touch on national dance within his work, it being set in Scotland,
often taking a series of movements and evolving them into something new. This in
influenced by the original that also used national dance in Act One.

For the Sylphs, La Sylphide displays them in a graceful, aerial style that transformed earthbound ballerinas (Bianconi, Pestelli & Singleton, 2002, p.278). Marie Taglioni, the original
Sylph had a mystique and virginal grace that paradoxically drove her audiences to near
frenzies (Ellot, 2007, p.41). Bourne keeps the essence of mystical, ethereal beings yet as
previously mentioned creates a much earthier creature, often with streaks of violence and
aggression over grace and charm.

Matthew Bourne created a rough and tough urban world with a cast of disenchanted young
characters whose emotions are never far from the surface but it was also one of his most
dance orientated works, the second act being almost completely dance drama. It was also
one of his first works to be a real tragedy, just like the original. Mans obsession with the
unknown and unobtainable is a pertinent now as it always has been, however there is still
great beauty to be found in this savage world (Bourne, 2005).

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