Hi!

My ballet school's next performance will not be a famous ballet, so in stead of 'having' to dance a solo from paquita, I can choose my own music this year. My teacher will then create something that's really 'me', so I could choose a famous variation and do something completely different from the original choreography if I wanted too.
I would really like to do something a bit different this time, so I was thinking of the cancan from Gaîté Parisienne, the very lively and uptempo one minute version. I'm not the adagio type and I think my jumps lack a bit of power, but my teacher likes my pirouettes, my legs go really high and you can tell I really love to be on stage, so this might be a good choice.
But I was wondering... I've never seen a performance of Gaîté Parisienne, but I can imagine this is the piece where all the girls dance together, so wouldn't it be strange to dance a solo on this music? The stage would probably seem so empty... I'd love to know what other students, teachers or ballet-lovers think.
I also don't really know what steps are common for this music (a lot of skirt lifting (is this a 'must'?) and leg throwing i presume, but what else?) and what the right outfit would be (http://www.shomler.com/dance/gaite/gaite96.htm and http://www.shomler.com/dance/gaite/index.htm : I'm guessing it would be the type worn by the girls who are lifting their skirt, but would other styles work too, and can a dance like this be done on pointe?), so all information would be very much appreciated.
And of course, if anyone can think of an other piece of music that might be right for me, please tell me!

Thanks
Katrijn

P.s.: Sorry if some of this isn't clear, I'm still working on my English.

Hi Katrijn and welcome to CriticalDance. That's an interesting question and I hope one of our ballet people can help you out with it.

Looking forward to your future posts.

Hi, Katrijn -- to answer the easiest questions first, I'd say that a solo to this music is fine, and you could certainly do it on pointe.

You can watch a clip of Massine's "Gaite Parisienne" performed by the Ballet San Jose (scroll down). I haven't watched it, so I don't know which part it is. A film of the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo performing the complete ballet, made from different performances over the years, is available on video, PAL or NTSC.

For inspiration, you could also see the 196__? movie "Can Can," which starred Shirley McLaine. There's a very good can-can scene with Gwen Verdon, who was Bob Fosse's inspiration for many years.

For dancing a solo on pointe, I think the costume of the girls who are throwing their skirts, but with a shorter skirt, would be good.

As for the types of steps, any fast turn combinations, or continuous turns, either in place or traveling, would be good. You could get the feeling of the can-can, but a bit more balletic, by doing what I believe are called ballonnes on pointe: fondu to releve with the working leg extended to the front -- high, of course -- and repeated over & over, traveling on the diagonal.

I hope this helps.

Correction: the 1960 movie of "Can-Can" had Shirley MacLaine and Juliet Prowse, not Gwen Verdon. Gwen Verdon was in the original stage musical. I saw a film clip of the Can-Can scene with Verdon, on TV. But the Can-Can scene from the movie is very good.

Thanks for your replies! I'll have to keep searching for other music though, because my mom really doesn't approve of my CanCan-plan.
I hope someone on this forum has some suggestions for me...

If you like the sort of music that the can-can is, I think you could use the coda (the final section) from any number of grand pas de deux from famous ballets. They tend to have that same fast, energetic feel. Or how about the Farandole from Bizet's "L'Arlesienne"? It might be too long, though.

<small>[ 02 June 2004, 12:28 AM: Message edited by: djb ]</small>