Quick ballet history -- Margot Fonteyn, and Swan Lake

  Since today is #InternationalDanceDay and since I've been working on a short project for teaching, trying not to turn short summaries into 300 page history books... (heh...)  I thought I'd share the highlights I've gotten down to on the ballet Swan Lake and ballerina Margot Fonteyn, in case you're unfamiliar with these two and find yourself curious, or know both inside and out and just want to see what I ended up covering.  ;)

  Though it's true that Svetlana Zakharova is high up there on my list of favorite ballerinas...

Svetlana Zakharova as Odile, Swan Lake

   

Svetlana Zakharova as Kitri, Don Quixote

  ...but Margot Fonteyn is either tied with Svetlana for number 1, or may be right at the top of my list, so I had to cover a little of her fantastic career.  But also keep it short enough to fit in the space I had.  Drat.

Margot Fonteyn as a Sylph

• Born Margaret Evelyn Hookham on May 18th, 1919, the English dancer took the stage name Margot Fonteyn when she began her career.  She began dancing at age 4, and studied in England and China.
• Her professional career began in 1935, when she was 16, and she quickly became very well-known and beloved, particularly for the depth of acting she applied to each role.
• Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton wrote numerous roles specifically for her.
• By 1961, at age 42, she was considering retirement.  That year she was asked to dance opposite rising star Rudolf Nureyev, who had just defected from Paris to the Royal Ballet.  Fonteyn was hesitant, especially since Nureyev was 19 years younger than she was, but she accepted.
• In 1962, Fonteyn and Nureyev first performed together in Giselle.  They were a dynamic, smashing success; receiving 15 minutes of applause and 20 curtain calls at the end of the performance.  They continued to dance together and receive great acclaim for their partnering and acting together for the rest of Fonteyn’s career. 
• In 1972, Fonteyn went into partial retirement, then fully retired in 1979 at age 60.  Though she continued to appear in special performances occasionally.  Her last appearance on stage was in September of 1988, dancing in Baroque Pas de Trois with Nureyev.  She retired to Panama and, surprisingly, took an interest in raising cattle.

Fonteyn and Nureyev

Videos:

Fonteyn's 'Sleeping Beauty' Rose Adagio As Odile, with Nureyev as the Prince, Swan Lake 1967

  Then there's Swan Lake.  Such a classic, first of all, plus I love the music and so much of the choreographic style and characterization.  So I tried to keep that one down to fewer-than-I-wanted highlights, too.

• First staged by the Bolshoi Ballet in March of 1877, the ballet was initially considered a failure, but is now one of the most beloved ballets of all time.  Music was composed by Tchaikovsky in spring of 1875.  Most companies performing Swan Lake today base their choreography and musicality on the 1895 revival by Marius Pepita and Lev Ivanov.
• Ballerina Margot Fonteyn was the first dancer to perform the dual role of Odette and Odile in ‘Swan Lake’.  Previously the roles had always been danced by two separate dancers for each performance.  A ballerina from the English National Ballet talks about how the 2 roles must be danced differently.
• Swan Lake relies heavily on the Corps de Ballet dancers to carry much of the story’s texture  and emotional landscape.  In this short interview, dancers from the Royal Ballet talk about their demanding role in this ballet. (...And can we just take a second to appreciate how glorious those green and gold court gown costumes are that show up in that video?!?)
• Based on Russian and German folk tales, it tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by the evil Rothbart.  One night, Prince Siegfried finds a lake, where Odette and her swan maids land and then transform into maidens.  Odette explains her troubles to the prince, and tells him how the spell can be broken.  But Rothbart tries to trick Siegfried by disguising his own daughter as Odette. When the prince realizes he has been tricked, he rushes back to Odette.  Depending on the company, the ballet either ends as a tragedy, or is sometimes changed to a happily-ever-after.

• One of the most famous parts of the ballet is the Dance of the Cygnets; the variation is performed by 4 dancers with criss-crossed arms, and their sharp head movements and footwork are legendary.  The choreography is almost identical across every company, as seen in these 4 versions.

(Pictures and videos belong to their original owners and are shown only for inspiration.  Descriptions here are my own, accurate to the best of my knowledge.)

The One Who Has Waited Long

  I wonder sometimes how hard it must be for the Lord, and how heavy the longings He carries become...  as He patiently waits for each of us —for me— to listen, to be ready to hear and accept, to take in what He is working to teach me at this moment. To show me about Himself and about how He made and rejoices over me, and how He is working incredible things together.  It must be an enormous weight.

  But (wonderfully!) He is so dearly, beautifully, awesomely patient as my eyes and ears and heart strengthen to withstand a little bit more glory. And so endlessly, breathtakingly creative in how many ways He communicates each new chip of diamond He helps my soul be ready to receive. 

“I stuck my hat up,

I caught the raindrops;

I drank the water,

I felt my veins pop. 

I’m nearly sanctified

-I’m nearly broken!-

I’m down the river,

I’m near the open. 

I’m down the river to where I’m going.”

                        (—NEEDTOBREATHE, ‘More Heart, Less Attack’)

  Often He does His shepherding for me throughout a whole day or over a week.  I’ll take a picture of a verse or two and maybe a quote that stood out to me at different times during the day, and keep track of songs or lyrics that keep cropping up in my head or are really moving me as I go about my day.   Then in the evening, when I go to read the verse of the day email I haven’t looked at yet, it’ll be the same as one I took a photo of hours earlier, or directly tie into a verse or song or theme from what I’ve been keeping track of since morning.  Sometimes I’ll see another same or complimentary verse while I’m teaching or running errands.  Maybe a radio broadcast I listen to at random or the book I’m reading will reference or speak to the same themes, to my surprise.  Then I’ll open my devotion journal later to record all those verses, songs, quotes and whatnot, and the pre-written verse or quotes on the journal page for the day will again reflect the same things. 

  This happens regularly essentially every week, if not many times a week.  And I’m surprised, and really touched and moved every time.

  And then surprised that I’m surprised.

  Of course He would do that, and would do it for me...but also how beautiful that the God of heaven and earth would care to and want to orchestrate such gestures for a little person like me. 

  It makes me think of my favorite piece of literature ever, from C.S. Lewis‘s ‘The Horse and His Boy’; when Shasta is wondering, lost at night, on an ordinary not-talking horse he doesn’t know how to direct in the least.  Little by little, he becomes aware of a huge Someone, keeping pace beside him in the dark, and has no idea that it’s Aslan.  Of course he’s initially afraid. But as the Someone continues to just be with Shasta, walking in silence, he gradually works up the courage to acknowledge the Someone... and start to wonder about Him. 

  That Great Lion has been slowly, patiently easing Shasta into meeting Him, and waiting for Shasta to conquer his uncertainty and be ready to not just listen, but to /hear/ what Aslan has to tell him. 

‘ “Who are You?” Shasta asked. 

“One who has waited long for you to speak,” said the Voice.  It was not loud, but very large and deep.’

  Then Shasta finds himself telling the Voice everything.  And Aslan unfolds, a little at a time, how He has been caring for and guiding Shasta all this time.  All his life, actually, though he didn’t know it at the time.  And eventually Shasta comes to ask more important questions:

‘“Who are You?” asked Shasta. 

“Myself,” said the Voice. '

  And only then is Shasta ready for the next level of revelation Aslan has been preparing him for.  Only then is he ready to see. 

 ‘The mist had been turning from black to grey and from grey to white....It must have begun happening some time ago, while he had been talking to the Thing. 

...A golden light fell on him from the left. He thought it was the sun. He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. 

It was from the Lion that the light came. 

...No one ever saw anything more terrible, or beautiful. 

...Shasta took one look at the Lion’s face, and slipped off the horse and fell at the Lion’s feet.  He didn’t say anything, but then he didn’t want to say anything and he knew he needn’t say anything. 

The High King above all high kings stooped towards him...and touched his forehead with the tip of His tongue.’

  That’s the most beautiful unfolding scene in the world to me.  Without fail, it chokes me up whenever I read or think about it.  And about how the Lord does just that in so many ways for me.  Sometimes, He does that same thing for me through movies. 

  One I very distinctly remember was when we went to watch the new live action Cinderella in 2015 when it came out.  Of course it was magical, beautifully told, cinematically gorgeous, so well acted, and with costumes and sets to die for.  And the sweet, innocent, hopeful and radiant spirit the filmmakers kept in the whole thing was a rare treasure. 

  But it was as Cinderella arrives at the palace, stepping out of the golden pumpkin-coach with palpable anticipation in that glorious blue gown, that my heart heard the still, small Voice whispering just for me;

  “This is a little like how glorious it’ll be when you arrive Home, Dear One, to the Forever I’ve created for you.  You’ll be an even more beautiful new creature.  I’ll be waiting with more anticipation and joy for you than any prince, and I’ll adore waltzing with you before everyone, My breathtaking Little One. 

But My grand ball has no ending, and no stroke of midnight.”

  And needless to say, my heart was far beyond full, and there were tears.  And I couldn’t have felt more loved. 

  I am amazed by how gently He makes my soul stronger and deeper, so that a little at a time, He can give me more of the Eternal —more of Himself— than I could ever have handled a moment before.

  Like the people from the Grey Town in Lewis’s ‘The Great Divorce’, slowly growing more “solid” so they can walk on even the grass of Heaven, grass that is more Real than they were when living on earth.

  Or the Narnians on board the Dawn Treader, slowly becoming stronger and less in need of rest and able to look right into the sun, as they drink the water of that Last Sea and sail closer and closer to Aslan’s Country. 

  How awesome it is that our God “remembers that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14) and adores us so dearly that He loves to restore us  and make us Real with so much care. 

  Recently for me, He took 3 movies within a close time span to keep growing me along a line He’s working on in my heart. 

  From Star Wars Episode IV Rise of Skywalker, then Frozen 2, and the 2019 Little Women, over several re-watches.  (what a combination of genres!)  Maybe at some point I’ll try to unpack and put into words what connected loudly and swept inside me to teach my heart during those three, working together.
  But anyway, beautifully, God uses all kinds of things to speak to us, to strengthen us for a little more of the Eternal.  It’s uncomfortable and even painful, like growing pains at times.  And certainly so many moments are beyond comforting and glorious.  But more than anything, it’s awe-inspiring and amazing to know and /see/ how hard, how carefully, patiently, tenderly He works to strengthen and expand our souls so He can share more of Himself. 

“I’ve been burying a mountain, 

I’ve been running uphill; 

I’ve been pushing up a big wave 

that I’m carrying still. 

I can see over the mountain, 

and I know that it’s real; 

there’s a river made of roses, 

just up over this hill.”

                            (—NEEDTOBREATHE, ‘The Mountain, Pt. 1’)

(All pictures and thoughts are my own; please do not use without permission.  Quotes and lyrics of course belong to their original authors, and are here only for inspiration.)

12 Days of Christmas -- for me (1 of 2)

  As we're headed into a new year, in just a short time, I'm still reflecting on Christmas.  Maybe next year I can do this one day at a time in the days following Christmas, like I want to...

  But for now, I'll just do this in two chunks.  Reflecting on one thing a day that relates to the number of the 12 days from Christmas onward; something that's meaningful to me this year about the number 1 for Christmas day, then related to 2 on the next day, and so on.
  Here's my first 6 days...

Some of the deer that frequent our yard.

—Day 1—
  John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

—Day 2—
  The two main things God's been pointing me to repeatedly this year about Himself;
                  —first, that He is a God of joy
                  —second, that He knows and He hears 

—Day 3—

  These 3 verses:  Isaiah 40:28-29, 31

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ...But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

—Day 4—

  4 lines from the Christmas carol, Welcome To Our World:

“So wrap or injured flesh around You; 

breathe our air and walk our sod; 

rob our sin and make us holy, perfect Son of God. 

Welcome to our world.”

—Day 5—

  The 5 words at the end of this verse, Hebrews 10:23:

...Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for 

                                He who promised is faithful.

—Day 6—

  The (not at all overstated) epic and gorgeous version of this hymn I listened to at least 6 times in a row when I first saw it: 

(it’s absolutely one of my new favorite tales on a song EVER)

     I Wonder As I Wonder [Epic Version] — Simon Khorolskiy

Coming back to "normal" after Out of Egypt

 Whew, well, I think life is easing back to normal after having finally wrapped up the performances of 'Out of Egypt' with Fidele Youth Dance Company.  Since that has been occupying all my time, especially these last few months, I thought I'd share the brief "behind the show" overview I hashed out for the show's program, trying to share at least a little of my heart and how this show came to be.

  Hopefully more stories from my end of the development of this massive undertaking will follow here in the near future...  And maybe some final show pictures.

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The Story of This Story 

  As far back as I can remember, my favorite Biblical characters have always been Joseph, Moses, and Daniel.  I read their stories repeatedly, and I still love to hunt down archeological articles, radio dramas, sermons, documentaries, novels, anything even remotely related to them.  I’m captivated by the way each of these men -two of them at very young ages- learned to be courageous by trusting the Lord completely, and were used in powerful ways because they were faithfully looking to Him. 

Many hours of finding and piecing together music, and writing scenes. 

(and that beautiful notebook my sister made for me!)

  During most of my childhood, I was fascinated with all things Egyptian history, since Moses and Joseph lived out much of their stories in ancient Egypt.  I even started trying to learn to read and write hieroglyphics, though I never got terribly far with that...

  I was also already in love with dance.  My mom describes our home decor style from those years as something like Wide Open Space For Dancing-Classic.  We had a giant CD and record collection, and one record had a stage musical-style take on the story of Joseph; so I spent hours and hours dancing to and dramatically miming my favorite songs from that one on repeat in the living room.  (...of course usually dressed in fabulous blanket-and-fabric toga gowns I’d created.)

Starting some choreography with Mimi

  Then when I was about 6 years old, I saw my first in theater movie.  I was instantly captivated by Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt, playing out in one of my favorite settings, about one of my favorite people.  And I couldn’t quite grasp what moved me so deeply about that beautiful scene when God speaks to Moses from the Burning Bush.

  Not only is the story of Moses very well told, especially coming from secular filmmakers (and amazingly without trying to downplay or explain away the hand of God in the story!), but Hans Zimmer’s incredible score completely captured my little dancer heart.

A portion of costume fabrics waiting to be prepped.

  Once I got the soundtrack, The Prince of Egypt and that Joseph record were turned on to dance to constantly, for hours on end through the next years.  Sometimes I’d choreograph a little of what was in my head for The Burning Bush; things that reminded me of the golden angelic creatures the Lord later told Moses to craft on the top of the Arc of the Covenant. 

  Most often I’d dramatically choreograph Deliver Us, complete with props and costumes and fabric, cast my dancer friends in parts, then invite them over and try to get my grand imagination to come out in a full performance on my parents’ wide-open bedroom floor.  Unfortunately my friends were never as enthusiastic about it as I was... but getting dressed up in my colorful layered fabric-togas was still fun, even if we didn’t get far in the planned performance.  And I’d try it again another time.  Once my little brother was old enough to join in, I made him a pleated reversible tunic out of an oversized t-shirt, complete with detachable accessories, so he could be little Aaron and then switch to little Moses.  (I’m pretty sure I also put him in a laundry basket as baby Moses several times when he was smaller...)  He was happy to join in, and my sister was always game and loved dancing as little Miriam. 

More choreo with Moriah.

    

  Over the years, I wondered occasionally how I could put the full story of the Exodus on stage.  I saw one smaller dance company do a show based on The Prince of Egypt once, but nothing that captured what I was picturing.  I still loosely choreographed and thought through scenes in my head, but there it stayed.

  Last fall we were talking through ideas for Fidèle’s 2019 season, and I felt prompted to suggest this long-dormant idea, just in case.  When Mimi and Tina were all for it, I was definitely surprised.  And a little stunned.  It felt like it was the right time, but I suddenly wasn’t sure I was ready to pull this massive project together. 

Costumes for the Plague Leaders were one of a few select things

 I wanted to do myself.  How often do you get the opportunity to make

 something look awful on purpose?!

Pre-lining Pharaoh's coat.

  Around December 2018 I dove in headfirst.  Sifting through notes and ideas, finding and arranging and cutting music, thinking through sets and costumes, bouncing ideas off my wonderful siblings and my best friend Darcie, writing the scene-by-scene script notes, choreographing (more than half in collaboration with Mimi and with Moriah Swank — I’d work with you guys on anything!), building the Burning Bush (thanks for “Bushing” with me, Mimi!), sewing some of the costumes, etc. etc...  Fleshing out a dream I hadn’t really seen coming. 

  So many people supported me in so many ways as I’ve invested hundreds and hundreds of hours in what has been truly a labor of love.  I know I can’t thank them enough!

 

The Burning Bush during construction.

  Seeing this show come together has been a surreal experience.  At every step, there has absolutely been no way I could take credit for anything coming about as well as it has; God’s hand has been everywhere, and any concerns I’ve had have been met with solutions I couldn’t have dreamed up or forced to happen in a million years.

  There were still moments when my heart would fall, feeling totally unsure whether any of this made sense or would work outside my own head.  But those times were most quickly washed away by hearing people excitedly anticipating the story, and by these phenomenal dancers (and actors!) taking my little dream deeper and farther with their skill and passion than I could’ve hoped.

Inking Hieroglyphics on a prop -- definitely special 

when a childhood obcession with Egypt pays off!

  We hope you are engaged and encouraged by our take on a portion of this enormously epic part of history.  I hope you come away with a bigger picture of the power, tenderness, and patience of God, and knowing that He is not distant. 

—Ms Bree  

     And the Lord said: I have seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, 

and have heard their cry... and I have come down to deliver them 

out of the hand of the Egyptians. ...

                                                                              Exodus 3:7-8a 

  

  ‘We must tell stories the way God does, stories in which a sister must float her little brother on a river with nothing but a basket between him and the crocodiles. 

Stories in which a king is a coward, and a shepherd boy steps forward to face the giant. ...Stories with fiery serpents and leviathans and sermons in whirlwinds.… Stories with dens of lions and fiery furnaces… 

Stories with courage and crosses and redemption.  Stories with resurrections.’ 

                                                                                            —N.D. Wilson

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(all thoughts, pictures, etc. are my own.  Please do not use without permission.)