Dona Nobis Pacem -- 8 -- Blog 4 Peace

Once again it is my great joy to take part in Blog 4 Peace, started by Mimi Lenox over at her blog in 2006.

I missed the very beginning of her challenge, but it didn't take me long to discover her peace movement rippling out over the blogosphere. 2008 was my first Blog Blast for Peace.

Today Blog 4 Peace takes place across all forms of social media. On Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, probably on Tumblr and Instagram and more than likely on other platforms I haven't yet heard about.

The challenge that goes out to all of us each year is to bring the ideal of peace to the forefront of our collective consciousness by flooding the internet with messages of peace. Mimi's event has grown over the years to include participants from countries all across the globe.

Today, from my eastern Canadian part of the world, I'd like to share a piece of ballet with you that deals with forgiveness.

Many people who are drawn to Blog 4 Peace find themselves disheartened by the state of the world, currently fighting its share of battles politically, socially and in its most primal form -- environmentally.

When faced with such Big Picture issues, we're often advised to look within ourselves as the starting point for change.

One of the most difficult feats to achieve for any person is to experience forgiveness.

As hard as it is, it's still more common to forgive someone who has wronged us than to forgive ourselves.

In this ballet -- Giselle -- a nobleman betrays the peasant girl he loves by forsaking her in favor of his arranged marriage to a woman from the aristocracy. When Giselle dies of a broken heart, the nobleman Albrecht visits her grave in the forest where he is in danger from the Wilis, the vengeful spirits of wronged women.

Giselle, who has joined the ranks of the Wilis, reunites with Albrecht and they dance a pas de deux (or duet) of forgiveness.

The dance language in this piece between Giselle and Albrecht uses trust movements, support movements, risk movements, balance movements (as she makes the decision to forgive) and symmetrical mirror movements (to show how this couple has achieved a deeper connection following her death, now that her spirit understands his true remorse and as he acknowledges his wrongdoing.) 

Because forgiveness is a means of letting go, of refusing to let negativity entrap our futures, on this Blog 4 Peace Day I offer forgiveness as something we can do within ourselves to effect change.

The piece I'm sharing with you today begins at the 4:45 mark, and ends at the 10:11 mark.

Giselle is performed by Natalia Osipova, and Albrecht is performed by Vladimir Shklyarov.

  

5 on Friday - Set 108

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

I'm in a ballet frame of mind this week, so here are five rather dreamy pieces I've always loved.


1 - Dulcinea variation - Don Quixote, composed by Ludwig Minkus


Danced by Svetlana Zakharova



2 - Peasant pas de deux - Giselle, composed by Adolphe Adam


Danced by Natalia Osipova and Vyacheslav Lopatin

The main piece of music I'm showcasing here ends at the 2:50 mark.




3 - Kingdom of the Shades - La Bayadere, composed by Ludwig Minkus


Danced by Paris Opera Ballet

I just get the shivers when this piece starts. This piece, once begun, is somewhat of an ordeal for the first line of dancers. Once it begins, we're watching something incredibly special.



4 - Entrees des fees (Fairies entrance) - Sleeping Beauty, composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky


Danced by Paris Opera Ballet

I especially love the way this scene announces with fanfare that we're about to be treated to a cherished piece of dance history. Not only are the fairies arriving at court accompanied by courtiers in the story, but they carry the history of this piece from the 19th century to us now, in a chain of performances that has been passed down and down across time.

The music I'm showcasing begins at the 5:07 mark.



5 -Morning Dance - Romeo and Juliet, composed by Sergei Prokofiev


The piece I'm showcasing here ends at the 1:41 mark.  Of course, longtime readers of this blog will know that the tragic music soon following is what I listened to while writing my vampire novel.

5 on Friday - Set 102

It's a big day here at A Piece of My Mind!







Two years ago my blog friend Travis started a musical meme that he called 5 on Friday. I joined this Friday event two sets in, and have barely missed a week since. It's one of the highlights of my week.

I've met many good blog friends since then. Happy 2nd Anniversary to all of us as we keep spinning the tunes!

1 - Donauwalzer or Blue Danube - Vienna State Opera Orchestra



2 - Retour de la vendange or The Grape-Pickers' Return - Composed by Adolphe Adam, performed by the American Ballet Orchestra

The piece included for today's celebration starts at the 0:15 mark, and ends at the 2:52 mark. Giselle is danced by Carla Fracci in this clip, and Albrecht is danced by Erik Bruhn.



3 - Etudes - Composed by Carl Czerny, performed by the Royal Danish Ballet Orchestra

The section meant for today's set begins at the 5:03 mark and ends at the 7:19 mark.



4 - Firebird finale - Composed by Igor Stravinsky, Conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, performed by the San Francisco Symphony



5 - Apotheosis from Sleeping Beauty - Composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky based on the pre-French Revolution national anthem Marche Henri IV, Conducted by Laurence Siegel, performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra

Poetry Monday - 73 - Giselle

Once again, there is no poem more perfect than the wordless poetry of dance.

On Saturday I had the great joy of watching The Royal Ballet's performance of Giselle in High Definition broadcast at Park Lane Cinemas in Halifax. Having worked as an usher for eight years at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto, the former home of the National Ballet of Canada, you'd think I'd have seen enough performances of Giselle to last a lifetime. But au contraire.

No true ballet freak can ever get enough. Ever.

And the Opus Arte series of broadcasts from Empire Theatres gives me a chance to see the greatest dancers from the stages of the world when there is not the merest hope in heaven for me to fly to their home cities to see them in person. As you can tell, I'm beyond grateful to the people who came up with this blessed, blessed idea.


I'd already had the absolute pleasure of seeing Alina Cojocaru in an earlier broadcast of Sleeping Beauty, and couldn't wait to see her dance Giselle. To say that she was born to dance this role is not overstating the case. Her technique is ethereal, perfect for the second act when Giselle has become a spirit.

And her acting is true and heart wrenching, most especially in the Mad Scene which ends act one.

I have watched my share of Mad Scenes by ballerinas who cannot act. I would say that watching the 10-minute Mad Scene danced by a ballerina who can't act should be registered with the UN Convention as a form of torture. Really. I can't even conceive of watching three of those back-to-back. I'd invent stuff to get them to stop.

The marvellous Alina Cojocaru gave us a Mad Scene that punches us in the gut - in a good way. She reaches in and wrings our hearts - but we want her to! See for yourself. This is the end of the Mad Scene where her lover Albrecht is discovered to be a nobleman, and not the peasant he claimed to be. Not only that, but he's promised in marriage to a noblewoman, though he's asked Giselle to marry him.

Alina's Albrecht is played by Johan Kobborg, her real life partner:




I had the immense pleasure of seeing Johan Kobborg dance at my old theatre when he was a guest artist with the National Ballet of Canada in the 1990's.




I was very sad on my own account when he joined the Royal Ballet in England, but very, very happy for him.

Click here to see their pas de deux from act one where Albrecht courts Giselle.

Here is their breathtaking pas de deux from act two, where Giselle's spirit appears to Albrecht when he visits her unconsecrated grave deep in the forest. They are surrounded by the Wilis, the spirits of jilted women who died before their wedding day. The wilis capture any man they come across and force him to dance until he drops dead. In this scene, Giselle and Albrecht share their love, longing and forgiveness with one another before the Queen of the Wilis begins her fatal command for Albrecht to dance.



Here the dancers speak about their roles in Giselle.



I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my heart. Because if you could look inside, there would be a darkening theatre, an orchestra tuning, an audience applauding as the conductor stands at the podium - and as the curtain rises on the ballet, you would see my heart glowing with an indescribable joy.