CriticalDance Forum

With Valentine's day upon us, any thoughts on the most romantic moment in ballet?

I am going say that the last three minutes of Swan Lake , at that exact moment when the you can hear the harp, then the strings, is THE romantic ( yet tragic ), moment in ballet.

Matthew, I agree about the apotheosis in "Swan Lake," especially in the San Francisco Ballet version, with Odette and Siegfried united after death -- underwater.

But that's in the old classics category. I'll have to think about the newer classics (such as "Romeo and Juliet") and come up with something from that category.

Actually, I find the first white act of "Swan Lake" more emotionally charged and romantic then the second. The second act of "Giselle" is VERY romantic to this day and a tough-minded mainly contemporary dance friend of mine talks about being "Giselled out" from all that emotion.

In the post-1950 rep, Kenneth Macmillan certainly had a way with romatic pdds, as did Cranko and the "mirror" pdd in his "Onegin" has much romantic magic, especially as it is imagined.

For contemporary/modern dance, romanticism is not a common theme, but Darshan Singh Bhuller's "Planted Seeds" has a fine, tragic duet where a couple from across the race divide love and die, as they try to escape Sarajevo. Kim Brandstrup is a UK contemporary/modern choreographer who enjoys narrative work and some of his pdds are emotionally charged.

Other thoughts?

Stuart, I agree that as a whole, the 2nd act of "Swan Lake" is more romantic that the last. But the apotheosis in SFB's production affects me greatly.

Maybe because I just saw it for the first time, but "Le Spectre de la Rose", especially with Herman Cornejo dancing was a wonderful Valentine's treat for me.

I think "Dances at a Gathering" takes the palm for the most romantic hour in contemporary ballet -- the Chopin score, the nostalgia for lost innocence, friendships -- it has it all.

For the most incandescent moment of romanticism, I offer the second-act Divertissement from Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream....

The country scene from Ashton's Marguerite and Armand, but only with Fonteyn and Nureyev dancing.

Driving home last night, I kicked myself for failing to mention the master treatment of romantic themes in contemporary ballet: Serenade.

Speaking of romantic moments, from the SF Chronicle article yesterday on Muriel Maffre and Benjamin Pierce:

[url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/14/DDG23B9R9H1.DTL]
Read more[/url]

Another moment worthy of mention: the Pas de Deux to the Mendelssohn Nocturne in Ashton's "The Dream." Balanchine's setting of the identical music is ironically touching and affecting.