La Sylphide

Herman Løvenskiold

La Sylphide

Ballet in two acts

Libretto by Adolphe Nourrit

Choreography by August Bournonville (1836), revised by Elsa-Marianne von Rosen

Revised version

La Sylphide is the oldest surviving romantic ballet in the world. Its plot is based on Charles Nodier’s fairy tale Trilby; or, The Fairy of Argyll, substantially revised by librettist Adolphe Nourrit. The music was composed by Jean Schneitzhoeffer.

Choreographer Filippo Taglioni staged the ballet in 1832 at the Paris Opéra for his daughter Marie, of whom enthusiastic contemporaries said: “She does not dance, she sings like a Paganini violin...” The desire to embody the image of the maiden of the air, a beautiful and unattainable dream, is believed to have forced the ballerina to dance en pointe for the first time in history. In other words, it was La Sylphide that made the art of ballet what we know it to be today.

Four years later the Danish ballet master August Bournonville staged his own version in Copenhagen, changing the music and choreography but leaving the plot intact: the peasant James, seduced by the Sylph, runs after her into the woods, leaving his inconsolable bride behind. The scarf with which James tries to catch the winged creature turns out to be poisoned – the Sylph’s wings fall off and she dies. Bournonville’s La Sylphide, unlike Taglioni’s disappeared ballet, has never left the stage of the Royal Danish Ballet and is therefore preserved in its original form.

La Sylphide is not without reason considered to be a production for ballet gourmets. Everything in it arouses admiration and gives aesthetic pleasure – from the exquisite choreography to the costumes, elegant in their simplicity. The entertaining plot, with its phantasmagoria and reality, and the protagonist’s difficult choice make the ballet straightforward and understandable even to the unsophisticated audience.

LEAD ROLES AND PERFOMERS

The Sylph –      Shugyla ADEPKHAN / Anastasia ZAKLINSKAYA

James –            Daniyar ZHUMATAYEV / Dias KURMANGAZY

Madge –           Sultanbek GUMAR / Sunggat KYDYRBAY

Effie –               Yerkezhan ZHUNUSSOVA / Adelina TULEPOVA

Gurn –              Olzhas TARLANOV / Zhanibek AKHMEDIYEV

Nancy –            Natalya KONDYA / Diana YESKALIYEVA

Anna –              Inessa KOTLOBAYEVA / Alina KHALIMOLLA

BALLET DANCERS AND THE ASTANA OPERA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Choreographer: Altynai Asylmuratova, People’s Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of the Astana Opera Ballet Company

Conductor: Arman Urazgaliyev

Set and Costume Designer: Vyacheslav Okunev, People’s Artist of Russia, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Lighting Designer: Sergei Shevchenko

Assistant Choreographers: Konstantin Zaklinsky, Honoured Artist of Russia Elena Sherstneva

Assistant Conductor: Elmar Buribayev

Assistant Set Designer: Malika Tulegenova

Assistant Costume Designer: Dariga Taishikova

Assistant Lighting Designer: Mikhail Yepanchin

Stage Managers: Altynganym Akhmetova, Ainur Khalelova

Tickets purchased at the Astana Opera are exchangeable and refundable only in cases of cancelled or postponed performances. In all other cases, no refunds and exchanges are possible.