Nureyev Is Mesmerizing As The Faun

Ballet: L'Aprés-midi d'un Faune (Afternoon of the Faun)
Music: Claude Debussy
Choreographer: Vaslav Nijinsky
The Faun: Rudolf Nureyev
Leader of the Nymphs: Charlene Gehm
Nymphs: Cameron Basden, Ursula Burke, Lynn Chervony, Krystyna Jurkowski, Patricia Miller, Carole Valleskey
Performance Notes: Joffrey Ballet, 1979

Story behind the ballet:
The poem, Afternoon of a Faun, was written by French author Stéphane Mallarmé. It describes a faun's encounters with a group of young girls as he awakens from his afternoon nap. It is Mallarmé's best-known work and a landmark in the history of symbolism in French literature. It is considered by some to be among the greatest poems in French literature. The ballet, Afternoon of a Faun, was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. Set to music by Claude Debussy, both the score and the ballet were inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé's poem. The style of the 12-minute ballet, in which a young faun meets several nymphs and proceeds to flirt with and chase them, was deliberately archaic. In the original scenography designed by Léon Bakst, the dancers were presented as part of a large tableau, a staging reminiscent of an ancient Greek vase painting. They often moved across the stage in profile as if on a bas relief. The ballet was presented in bare feet and rejected classical formalism. It is considered to be one of ballet's first modern productions.

Pam's Notes:
1. 8'30 did Nijinsky/Nureyev invent the ""moonwalk" ??
2. 10'05 - 10'21 love the relevés as he moves up the steps.
3. I much prefer Nureyev's gentler ending over the more dramatic ones I've seen others do.

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