The Firebird Ballet
The Firebird! Oops! I won’t talk about the musical instrument from Gibson, or that obsolete game software label owned by Telecomsoft. Those are interesting subjects though, but they are not the focus of my attention here. What I am trying to talk about is the Firebird ballet, and nothing else.
So what about the Firebird ballet?
The Firebird ballet was a notable form of ballet developed in the early 20th century. The man who was responsible for its introduction was Igor Stravinsky, a Russian ballet fan who based the form from the Russian fairy tales of the magical glowing, the firebird, which is deemed both as a stroke of luck and blight to its captor. It was first staged as a ballet by Sergey Pavlovich Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, a ballet company that has gathered an admirable collection of talents.
Now, let’s take a look at how the Firebird ballet was told.
The Firebird ballet, as mentioned earlier, has a story that loosely patterned on the Russian folk tale. It tells the story of a young prince, named Ivan, who happened to enter the magical world of an immortal entity of pure evil, Kashchei, who loves to capture and imprison women and transform the men who try to meddle on his matters into stone. Without knowing the real situation, the prince wanders through the garden of Kashchei where he saw and met an amazing bird, the Firebird. Awed by the bird’s charm and beauty, the prince steals one of its feathers and runs away from it.
The story of the Firebird ballet progresses by detailing the meeting of Prince Ivan and the 13 maidens. He passionately fell in love with one of them and it was that feeling which triggers him to follow the maidens when they returned to Kashchei’s castle. Ivan was captured by the monstrous servants of Kashchei and it was in the moment of transforming him to stone that the firebird enters and lure Kashchei into a deep slumber with its elaborate and energetic dance. The devilish immortal was then killed by the Firebird, breaking his magical power. The magical creatures and the place all vanish and the real beings, including the maidens who were once transformed into stones awaken. The story of the Firebird ballet ends with a victory.
According to some reviews, what particularly sets the Firebird ballet magnificent was the excellent choreography and design. The Firebird ballet was actually designed by a Russian artist named Leon Bakst, and it was accompanied by the music of its original composer, Igor Stravinsky. The choreography was directed by another professional, Michel Fokine. With the powers of these three pros, it’s no wonder that the Firebird ballet which was first staged at the Paris Opera was presented successfully. It even attracts millions of critics, professionals and students of ballet from around the world, causing the rise of a number of versions of this art form. Today, there is about more than 10 versions of the Firebird ballet, each was staged and performed by the professional dancers in the ballet world.
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