Keeping up with Ratmanksy
It's not easy to keep up with Alexei Ratmansky and his many, far-flung projects. Lately, the prolific choreographer has been keeping busy with two major projects on the United States' east coast, working in both New York and Florida.
For Miami City Ballet, Ratmansky has created a new version of Le Baiser de la Fée (The Fairy's Kiss), to the 1928 Stravinsky score that was originally choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska for Les Ballets de Madame Ida Rubinstein. The original one-act ballet, with a scenario based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Ice Maiden, had its premiere in Paris. Ratmansky's new production had its premiere on February 10, with MCB continuing performances through March 12.
A number of choreographers has been drawn to Stravinsky's exquisite score and the story of a fairy who kisses a young boy and then returns to claim him as he is about to marry his fiancée. George Balanchine choreographed the first of his several versions in 1937; Frederick Ashton and Ronald Hynd have also used the score.
Ratmansky recently spoke about his production, and coached his three leading dancers from Miami City Ballet in tantalizing excerpts, in New York as part of the Guggenheim Museum's Works ad Process series. The three dancers – Simone Messmer as the Fairy, Renan Cerdeiro as the Groom, and Jeanette Delgado as the Bride – showcased the intricate and highly individualized variations Ratmansky has devised. The production features set and costume designs by Jérome Kaplan, and projections by Wendall K. Harrington.
Ratmansky has also been busy creating his latest work for American Ballet Theatre, where he is Artist in Residence. This project is further evidence of the choreographer's ongoing fascination with (and deep knowledge of) ballet history. In this case, he is focusing on a much more obscure ballet from the 1920s – creating his own version of a mostly forgotten 1924 ballet, Whipped Cream. The original, under the title Schlagobers, was choreographed for the Vienna State Opera Ballet by Heinrich Kröller, with a libretto and score by Richard Strauss.
Ratmansky's two-act ballet will feature sets and costumes by Mark Ryden. He “will create a fantastical world to convey the tale of a young boy who overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop,” according to the ABT press release announcing the production.
ABT will give the new Ratmansky production its world premiere on March 15 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, before bringing it to New York in May.
- Susan Reiter