OVER 40 YEARS AFTER ITS PREMIERE, HOW DO YOU AS A STAGER AND DANCER INTERPRET GEORGE BALANCHINE’S ORIGINAL VISION FOR CHACONNE?
Diana White: Everything is there in the music and the choreography. The dancer should hear the music and fall in love with it, do the steps as well as possible, and then be a spontaneous channel to whatever mystical aspect might come through. When a gifted and honest performer just dances, the audience is transported. One mustn’t overlay an interpretation or try to surpass the choreography with extra effects. This was very important to Mr. B.
Patrick Yocum: All dance, from its earliest beginning, is the perfection of imitation. It evolves when the dancers take in what they are copying and allowing it to live through them. It’s a living thing and just like any living thing, this repertoire is vulnerable. That’s part of its vitality.
CHACONNE IS DESCRIBED AS “PURE DANCE.” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
Diana White: There’s no story! Nevertheless, the two sections of the ballet are on different planes of heaven. In the opening section, the dancers are Blessed Spirits, pure and unadorned, but in the second section they are god-like in a more temporal and resplendent sense. The dancers should feel they are covered in jewels and beautiful brocades. It’s a celebration of the triumph of love through music and dance.
Patrick Yocum: The music from Chaconne is from Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice, based on the Greek myth. The first section of the ballet is music that, in the opera, sets the scene of Elysium. It’s a vision of paradise, but the way the Greeks saw paradise. It’s not necessarily this perfectly happy place. There is this kind of ethereal melancholy. It’s very serene and peaceful, but there is a little bit of sadness. So even though we don’t have a narrative, we can use dance to replicate the mood. Maybe that’s what “pure dance” means—using bodies to communicate on a level deeper than just narrative.
WHAT SHOULD AUDIENCE MEMBERS LOOK FOR WHEN WATCHING CHACONNE FOR THE FIRST TIME?
Diana White: Fall in love with the music, and enjoy the spectacle. Chaconne is an offering to luxuriate in along with the dancers on the stage!
Patrick Yocum: Mr. Balanchine famously would say very little about his ballets. He didn’t want the audience coming in having any preconceived notions apart from what they already knew about the music or the dancers themselves. What he wanted was a truly original experience. So, in that regard, just enjoy the experience with openness.
