Amour sorcier, L'

Dupain, Max: Portrait of Helene Kirsova as the Widow in 'L'amour sorcier', 1936/1937

Research Materials | Other Resources

Leon Woizikowsky's L'amour sorcier was performed in Australia by the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, opening at His Majesty's theatre Melbourne on November 21, 1936. This ballet was the revival of a work performed by the Ballets de Leon Woizikowsky, the company from which a number of the dancers in de Basil's Monte Carlo Russian Ballet were drawn. L'amour sorcier was set to music of the same title by Manuel de Falla and based on a libretto by Gregorio Martinez Sierra. Design was by Natalia Gontcharova. On opening night, Nina Raievska performed as the Bride, Leon Woizikowsky as the Groom, and Helene Kirsova as the Widow. The Argus described the ballet as 'a series of exciting Spanish dances welded into an artistic unity by a somewhat tenuous story', and noted the 'stirring interpretation by Helene Kirsova of the tragic widow'. The following Sydney season was positively reviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald, claiming that 'Woizikowsky has expressed the inmost spirit of the Spanish dance'. Gontcharova's design was also noted:

'The blackcloth displayed a single blasted, branchless tree, silhouetted against hill after hill of yellowish-brown desert. The gipsies, sitting in a bodeful circle, all wore costumes of brown and rust-colour similar in general design, but different in detail'.

Earlier ballets using the same title, libretto and music include that popularised by the ballet of Argentina in Paris in 1928 and that choreographed by Boris Romanov for the Ballets Russes in 1932. Another version was created by Serge Lifar in 1943.

Bibliography:

'Brightest Programme of the Ballet Season', The Argus, 23 November 1936, p.4; 'Les Cents Baisers, L'Amour sorcier', The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February 1937, p.3

See also: Ballets Russes Australian tours ; Kirsova, Helene ; Lifar, Serge ; Woizikowsky, Leon

---

Research Materials

Picture

---

Other resources

Find more about Amour sorcier, L' in:

• Internet - Google
• Articles - New York Public Library Dance Collection
• Pictures - Picture Australia