Siddharta
Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj
Paris Opera Ballet
Opéra Bastille, Paris
11 April 2010
If you have been wondering what is wrong with the Paris Opera Ballet these days, don’t miss Siddharta. This lavish creation is the latest and perhaps most obvious symptom of the derailment of a system – a state-funded institution with a budget most other companies can only dream of, but with no artistic control other than that of its long-time director. A lot of money has obviously been thrown at this season’s major premiere, created in the large Opéra Bastille – with a commissioned new score, splendid sets, shiny new costumes and gorgeous promotional images, how could it go wrong? Well, it did, with some of the most blindingly mediocre choreography I have seen in a long time. Is there a captain onboard?
Siddharta is based on the mystical journey of the man about to become the first Buddha. We witness him unhappy at his father’s court and with his wife Yasodhara; an immaterial being, the Awakening, impersonated on stage by a woman, appears and persuades him to leave his material life behind to commit himself to an ascetic existence. In the end, having overcome tentation, he becomes one with the Awakening. Spirituality should shine through in this story, but the production does the opposite: it sacrifices content to form. The commissioned score by Bruno Mantovani, difficult and dark, is not without interest, and yet Preljocaj only ever uses it for cheap effects – the entrance of Siddharta to guitar riffs, for instance. The stunning sets created by Claude Lévêque are another missed opportunity. The enormous sphere hanging over the initial scene of decay, swaying back and forth like a monstrous reminder of time, filling the air with incense-like smoke, is the most striking image of the ballet. Without a choreographic response, however, it is little more than an empty vessel. (…)
» Read the full review in Ballet.co Magazine
Aurélie Dupont & Nicolas Le Riche in Siddharta © Anne Deniau
Siddharta
Choreography: Angelin Preljocaj
Paris Opera Ballet
Opéra Bastille, Paris
11 April 2010If you have been wondering what is wrong with the Paris Opera Ballet these days, don’t miss Siddharta. This lavish creation is the latest and perhaps most obvious symptom of the derailment of a system – a state-funded institution with a budget most other companies can only dream of, but with no artistic control other than that of its long-time director. A lot of money has obviously been thrown at this season’s major premiere, created in the large Opéra Bastille – with a commissioned new score, splendid sets, shiny new costumes and gorgeous promotional images, how could it go wrong? Well, it did, with some of the most blindingly mediocre choreography I have seen in a long time. Is there a captain onboard?
Siddharta is based on the mystical journey of the man about to become the first Buddha. We witness him unhappy at his father’s court and with his wife Yasodhara; an immaterial being, the Awakening, impersonated on stage by a woman, appears and persuades him to leave his material life behind to commit himself to an ascetic existence. In the end, having overcome tentation, he becomes one with the Awakening. Spirituality should shine through in this story, but the production does the opposite: it sacrifices content to form. The commissioned score by Bruno Mantovani, difficult and dark, is not without interest, and yet Preljocaj only ever uses it for cheap effects – the entrance of Siddharta to guitar riffs, for instance. The stunning sets created by Claude Lévêque are another missed opportunity. The enormous sphere hanging over the initial scene of decay, swaying back and forth like a monstrous reminder of time, filling the air with incense-like smoke, is the most striking image of the ballet. Without a choreographic response, however, it is little more than an empty vessel.
