Australia Dancing - Sylphides, Les

Sylphides, Les

Duparcq, Derek: Janet Karin and Caj Selling in 'Les Sylphides', the Australian Ballet [3], 1963

Chopiniana, which eventually became Les Sylphides, was first staged at a charity matinee in St Petersburg on 10 Feburary 1907. Choreographed by Michel Fokine to Glazunov's orchestration of piano pieces by Chopin, it was a suite of individual tableaux representing national dances. It opened with a Polonaise in court costumes and was followed by a Polish Mazurka, a Nocturne and a Waltz in classical tutus. It concluded with a Tarantella. Fokine reshaped the work for two years prior to its 1909 staging as Les Sylphides for Serge Diaghilev's Ballet Russe at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The work continued to evolve, but retained its essence as a one-act ballet evoking the Romantic spirit of the sylph in an abstract work described by dance historian John Gregory as 'a visual meditation on beauty – a reverie of the soul'.

Australian audiences first saw Les Sylphides in 1913 when it was performed in Melbourne by dancers of the visiting Imperial Russian Ballet led by Alexander Volinine and Adeline Genee. Volinine reproduced the choreography from the 1909 version. International companies have continued to present the work to Australian audiences over the years. In 1926 and 1929 Anna Pavlova's company staged Chopiniana, arranged by Ivan Clustine and led by Pavlova and Laurent Novikoff in 1926 and by Pavlova and Pierre Vladimiroff in 1929. The work was performed during the Dandre-Levitoff Russian Ballet tour of 1934, and was featured by the three Ballets Russes companies that toured Australia during the late 1930s, following its inclusion in the premiere performance by the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet in Adelaide on 13 October 1936. It was staged by Ballet Rambert during its 1947-48 tour, and by the Royal Ballet on its first Australian tour in 1958. Both the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballets have included Chopaniana in their Australian tour repertoires. The version presented by the Kirov company during its 1973 tour reintroduced elements of Fokine's 1908 version, and was hailed as a particularly fine production.

Les Sylphides is also familiar to Australian audiences through its inclusion in the repertoire of Australian classical companies, as well as through numerous stagings by semi-professional and amateur organisations. The First Australian Ballet was performing the work early in the 1930s, and it was presented by both the Kirsova and Borovansky companies in the early 1940s. In 1947 it appeared in programs of the Ballet Guild, remaining in the repertoire of that company through to its Ballet Victoria performances in the 1970s. The work was also performed by the National Theatre Ballet in the early 1950s, and by the Queensland Ballet in the late 1960s.

The Borovansky Ballet continued to perform Les Sylphides throughout the life of the company, foreshadowing its inclusion in the inaugural repertoire of the Australian Ballet. It was first performed by the flagship company in its second program, on 16 November 1962, with Marilyn Jones, Caj Selling, Leonie Leahy and Rosemary Mildner in lead roles. A number of international artists featured in the Australian Ballet's early performances of the work: Sonia Arova and Erik Bruhn in 1962, Tatiana Zimina and Nikita Dolgushin in 1963, and Lupe Serrano and Royes Fernandez in 1964. Les Sylphides was next performed by the company in 1976, when it was staged by Dame Alicia Markova, whose reproduction was also included in the 1979 season. In 1986, it was reproduced for the company by Irina Baronova, who, with Anna Volkova and Valrene Tweedie, was again involved in the staging of the most recent production by the Australian Ballet. This took place in 2006 as part of the triple-bill tribute to Fokine entitled 'Revolutions', presented with the support of the four-year research and performance project Ballets Russes in Australia: Our cultural revolution. On opening night Lucinda Dunn, Olivia Bell, Damien Welch and Kirsty Martin featured in the lead roles. Les Sylphides is also in the repertoire of the Dancers Company, most recently being performed during their 2006 tour.

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