Every dancer is familiar with the sculpture called "The Little Dancer" created by Edward Degas in 1881. The model was a 14-year-old student at the Paris Opera Ballet School named Marie van Goethem. The figure of the girl, standing in a casual fourth position, arms clasped behind her, has appealed to people everywhere, and is admired by dancers for its correct depiction of turned out limbs.
Now the story of the model and the artist has been brought to the stage in a new musical, directed and choreographed by the legendary Broadway choreographer Susan Stroman. It is now running at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC till the end of November, with the expectation of transferring to New York in the near future. The lead role of the young Marie has been created for Tiler Peck, a principal dancer of New York City Ballet.
That will be one of the rare Broadway musicals NOT based on a film. Christopher Wheeldon, on the other hand, will be directing and choreographing a stage version of one of the most iconic musical films of all time: An American in Paris. The evergreen Gershwin songs guarantee a first-rate score, but it remains to be seen how Wheeldon can handle the pressure of a big Broadway musical and bring the film's characters to life in a 21st-century manner. Wheeldon is much better known as a classical ballet choreographer. He's got a terrific leading man: NY City Ballet principal Robert Fairchild, an exceptionally versatile and personable virtuoso, will take on the Gene Kelly role. An American in Paris (taking its title quite literally) opens in Paris at the Théatre du Chatelet in December and arrives on Broadway in April next year. Expectations will be high.
Read more about these and other Broadway happenings in an article by our New York correspondent Susan Reiter in the current issue of Dance Australia! Buy from your favourite retail outlet, or download our app here.
Photo: PAUL KOLKNIK
