jewels
about today’s performance
They are a cornerstone of every great classical ballet company: the iconic works of the master of neoclassicism George Balanchine (1904–1983), whose purism and extraordinary musicality make them seem timeless. Of the 450 ballets that make up Balanchine’s oeuvre, 19 have so far been premiered at the Vienna State Opera – not including guest performances such as the pas de deux from Sylvia (1991) and Sonatine (1999). The first piece by the master choreographer to be shown at the House on the Ring was the pas de trois from Paquita in 1958. The complete Jewels only entered the Viennese repertoire much more recently, in 2019, though its central section – Rubies – had already been presented as part of a triple bill in 2010. Now this brilliant work that displays almost the full spectrum of Balanchine’s creativity and his incomparable, yet multifaceted style celebrates its revival. Three composers, three colours and three different shades of dance language are combined by the theme of precious stones, which are found in the costumes but also in many of the elaborate choreographic formations, and by the choreographer’s signature – is a concise summary of the three-part ballet evening Jewels, which is credited with being a “perfect introduction to ballet”.
ABOUT TODAY’S PERFORMANCE
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Human beings have been fascinated by precious stones since time immemorial, with coloured stones being used as jewellery and symbols for thousands of years before they were eventually targeted for mining and commercial use. They are an expression of luxury, but also of great beauty and elegance, and have repeatedly played a role in the ballet repertoire. And George Balanchine also had an early enthusiasm for precious stones. For Jewels, which is regarded as the first plotless full-length ballet and received its world premiere in 1967 with the New York City Ballet, he was apparently inspired by the virtuosity of the jewellery designer Claude Arpels and explained: “Of course, I have always liked jewels, after all I am an Oriental from Georgia in the Caucasus. I like the colour of gems, the beauty of stones, and it was wonderful to see how our costume workshop under Karinska’s direction came so close to the quality of the real stones (which were of course too heavy for the dancers to wear!).” Above all the colouration for Barbara Karinska’s splendid costumes in emerald green, ruby red and white created a frame for the ballet, connecting its three virtually independent, disparate sections – Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds. Precious stone-like appliqués decorate the corsages of the ballerinas and the tops of the male dancers and can also be found in Peter Harvey’s stage design, which is hung with shimmering, reflective rhinestones and is intended to suggest a starry night sky – discreetly in Emeralds, in only an abstract, reduced design in Rubies and in elaborate formations suspended from above in Diamonds. Glittering tiaras also decorate the heads of the female dancers, whom Balanchine always placed at the centre of his works and allowed to shine, providing the basis for his legendary statement “ballet is woman”. Each section of this work is unique in both its music and its atmosphere. Emeralds to music by Gabriel Fauré feels lyrical and dream-like, its dancing hovering and light-footed, and is reminiscent of the French romantic ballet of the 19th century. In Rubies the dancers sweep across the stage at pace to the jazzy sounds of Igor Stravinsky and seem to communicate the vitality and flair of New York. Lastly the virtuosic Diamonds to a composition by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky are a homage to the great classic ballets of Marius Petipa in the Russia of the Tsars, evoking pure classicism and culminating in a pas de deux full of elegance and grace. Even if Jewels is termed an “abstract” ballet, its sections radiate a rich spectrum of moods and emotions in which the dancers of the Vienna State Ballet can shine equally in the solo roles and in the ensemble that frames everything.
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ABOUT TODAY’S PERFORMANCE
Elena Bottaro (Emeralds)
Ketevan Papava (Rubies)
inspiring jewels Who can say why a source of inspiration will suddenly appear one day, how it will outlive its own history and belong to a house forever? This is what has happened with dance, an art form that the jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels has cultivated and promoted from the very beginning. Van Cleef & Arpels’s relationship with ballet is deeply rooted in its history, its aesthetic and its understanding of movement. Since the Maison was founded by the marriage of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels in 1906, its brand has stood not only for technical innovation and precious materials, but also for a poetic view of jewellery as something living – as an art form that unfolds in dialogue with the body. It is this idea that connects Van Cleef & Arpels in a very special way with ballet as an art form in which discipline and virtuosity exist in harmonic balance with fluency and powerful beauty. Van Cleef & Arpels’s close affinity with dance was already evident in the early 1940s with its famous “ballerina clips”: brooches representing ballerinas in brilliant tutus, with their arms outstretched or frozen in the moment of a jump or an arabesque. These pieces of jewellery are not purely decorative miniatures, instead they capture the essence of classical ballet – elegance, tension, grace – in a single image. Precious stones and precious metals take on the role of material, light and movement. Rubies, sapphires and diamonds make dresses sway and bodies vibrate as if they will be in motion again at any moment. This aesthetic affinity with dance reached a pinnacle in the links with George Balanchine and his ballet Jewels. A connection between the choreographer’s ideas and the jewellery house is particularly evident here. The precious stones in Jewels are not simply props, rather they are both an inspiration and provider of ideas: they represent moods, traditions and qualities of movement. In similar fashion Van Cleef & Arpels regards precious stones not only as valuable material, but also as conveying emotion, light and rhythm such as the dancers’ bodies in movement. Jewellery and dance meet on a symbolic level in which form and movement are inseparably interconnected.
INSPIRING JEWELS
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Pas de Trois-Clip by Van Cleef & Arpels – piece unique
Cassandra Trenary & Davide Dato (Rubies)
Milda Luckuté (Rubies)