RIGA - When we think of ballet, usually the image of flowing skirts, graceful movement and tutus come to mind.
Prepare to be shocked then at the 13th International Ballet festival held in Riga, Jelgava, and other big cities around Latvia. The Latvian National Ballet never fails to be risque. They banned Cinderella two years ago and it is just now on show again. There is nudity, violence and even some dancing.
It is easy to see why the ballet was banned, especially after seeing the younger audience attendees asking their parents at intermission questions like: "what's going on?" and "why was that lady holding a whip?"
The Festival Director and ballerina Lita Beiris is matter of fact about it all "The program of the International Baltic Ballet Festival has been designed to reflect the most recent and interesting developments in ballet choreography and to present to the Latvian public rising ballet stars and outstanding dance companies," she said.
Cinderella opens innocently enough, with a young woman sweeping and looking fairly gray and downtrodden. However, the scene quickly shifts to that of a brothel/strip club complete with poles, fishnets, thongs and oddly bewigged 70s' style male customers.
Of course, underneath all that there is an original story, and some very talented dancers stretching their creativity in a way that shocked me, but appeared normal to the rest of the audience.
The ballet was originally banned because the estate of the composer, Prokofiev, had complained that there was a huge discrepancy between the music, the ideas that came with it, and what was being shown on stage. They claimed that he had written the music to go with the classic fairytale, and the new ballet was not even remotely related to what he had in mind. The Latvian National Opera had also not gotten the estates permission to use it. The ballet was shut down after only two performances.
All is well now as spring unfolds here in Riga, the ballet is now authorized, and interesting enough to attract attention and warrant a visit.
Some of the dance troupes from Lithuania, Portugal and Germany stick to pieces that are more traditional.
The rest of the festival continues to May 9, with performances from the Klaipeda Music Theatre (Lithuania) and the Ensemble for Contem-porary Dance (Germany) closing out the month long festival. If you happen to miss these fine performances, do not worry, Cinderella, Swan Lake, and Gisele (the latter being more classical productions) are running until the summer months.
In addition, with prices starting at three lats a ticket, it is a good way to take in some culture, mingle with other ballet goers over a glass of champagne at intermission and genuinely wonder how anyone comes up with these crazy plot lines.
The Latvian National Ballet might not be what you expected, but it certainly will entertain you.
For more information and
a detailed program list visit:
www.ballet-festival.lv
