A late post, but Kylián’s Kaguyahime is on at the Opéra Bastille until July 15!
Kaguyahime
Choreography: Jirí Kylián
Paris Opera Ballet
Opéra Bastille
21 June 2010
Western dance has been exploring the far east this spring at the Paris Opera Ballet. The season has brought a revival of the exotic La Bayadère, Siddharta, a new work based on the life of the Buddha, and now the company premiere of Jirí Kylián’s Kaguyahime. Based on the 10th-century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the oldest surviving narrative in Japanese literature, this 1988 work impressively intertwines two theatrical traditions.
It tells the story of Kaguyahime, a moon princess who descends to earth and whose beauty provokes war and chaos among men before she returns to the sky. Kylián’s contemporary staging is respectful of the tale’s enigmatic symbolism. Kaguyahime, in a glittering white unitard, is a remote presence. The men’s earthy dances evoke a latter-day Bayadère divertissement, while the broken lines and open palms, inspired by many-armed Hindu gods, insist on the message of peace the princess brings with her. (…)
