Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky is in cinemas now.

To celebrate the release of the film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, Madmen Entertainment is giving away a Coco & Igor prize pack to one lucky Behind Ballet reader, featuring a double pass to the film and a fabulous pack of Madman DVDs. To be in the running, email hello@behindballet.com by close of business on Thursday 15 April with the words ‘Coco & Igor’ in the subject header. We’ll announce the winner here!

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is in cinemas April 15

Dame Peggy van Praagh enlisted film and theatre director George Ogilvie to freshen up her production of Coppélia after realising what her weary dolls needed: the deft theatrical touch of a dramaturge. The Australian Ballet’s Coppélia is now in the company of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Russell Crowe’s first major film The Crossing and countless theatre classics on George Ogilvie’s CV. Helen Elliott chatted to George about how he brought Coppélia to life.

One day in 1979 Peggy van Praagh came to George Ogilvie and asked for his help. She was thinking of remaking the sunniest of 19^th century narrative ballets, Coppélia. George was a theatre director and he had never directed a ballet. “I remember,” George says, “being surprised and a little confused. I wondered what she wanted from me.”

She wanted that elusive thing that all directors crave – the old made thrillingly new.

30 years later, to coincide with the centenary of Dame Peggy’s birth, The Australian Ballet performs the Coppélia that she, George Ogilvie and designer Kristian Fredrikson first presented to delighted audiences in 1979. Once again, in 2010, George was involved in the rehearsal process of this charming ballet.

During the ‘60s and ‘70s George and Kristian worked together on countless theatre and musical productions. Dame Peggy was an early mentor of Kristian’s and through her he developed a particular love of ballet, and a thorough understanding of the rigours of ballet design. But although George had worked with dancers, and was familiar with ballet, his great passion and expertise was, and still is, drama. Coppélia was to be his initiation into an entire ballet production. “I later discovered that using a dramaturge was quite common in Europe, but it had not been done here at all,” George says. “So this was a first time for the company and for me.”

The story of the lonely Dr Coppelius and his obsession with his life-like doll, Coppélia has a long history as an audience favourite. And Leo Delibes’ tender score – which offers some of the most danceable ballet music ever written – is a favourite with performers. “It was,” says George Ogilvie, “an old-fashioned story ballet. So how to approach it as something new?

George remembers how the three of them would sit down at a table and talk, Fredrikson would draw, and they would look at the story again and re-think. Delibes’ score was played day and night in the Melbourne house that George and Kristian shared with another friend.  It was, finally, the music that pulled the ballet together. “I found that the music was my master, totally, and it was the same for the others. Everything was controlled by the music. We just listened and listened to the music until it was embedded in our bones.”

Kristian Fredrikson’s design also played a central role in inspiring George and Dame Peggy. He lovingly made detailed models of every act, including the dolls. Dame Peggy was “ecstatic”, George says. He believes Kristian was the genius behind the entire thing. “His ideas were so tight for this gothic farytale.”

It was Dame Peggy van Praagh’s dedication and practical energy that invigorated the ballet, too. “Peggy’s life was ballet,” George says. “She had a sort of private life but ballet was everything. Coppélia was her opportunity to do something for the ballet that was lasting and she did. It was an amazing success. Her greatest success.”

This is an edited excerpt from Helen Elliott’s article for The Australian Ballet’s Coppélia souvenir programme

Image: Yosvani Ramos and Leanne Stojmenov. Photography Justin Smith

If you need to get your ballet on over the break, you can visit The Australian Ballet’s website for videos, galleries, season info and more, wiggle over to our YouTube channel, or swing by Facebook.

Thanks for reading this year. Sophie Bastas is the winner of our comment of the month competition for December for her beautiful missive on Damien Welch’s final performance. For January, we’ll be giving away copies of Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake on DVD to TWO lucky commenters, so please keep the good stuff coming! We’ll announce the winners at the end of the month.

Have a fantastic Christmas and a balletlicious new year,
Behind Ballet

Image: Lana Jones. Photography Justin Smith

Picture this: Mikhail Baryshnikov in a dusty room, being seduced by a red-lipped grim reaper. He throws himself onto wooden furniture and is eventually coerced into committing suicide. This is the opening sequence to Taylor Hackford’s 1985 film White Knights in which Nikolai Rodchenko (Baryshnikov) and evil Colonel Chaiko mimic the two rival nations – Russia and the US – during the Cold War.

What follows is a drama slash dance film set in Leningrad, starring Baryshnikov alongside tap great Gregory Hines. Paralleling aspects of his own life, Baryshnikov plays Russian dancer and defector to the US Nikolai Rodchenko. Nikolai’s plane is forced to land in Russia, leaving him a prisoner to the evil Colonel Chaiko. Hines plays an American expatriate who becomes involved with Nikolai’s plight to escape Russia’s Orwellian society and return to America.
There is romance, car chases and a soundtrack from the likes of Lionel Ritchie, all punctuated by intelligent and powerful dance scenes. Highlights include Baryshnikov’s passionate solo to Vysotsky in a deserted Mariinsky Theatre and his infamous pirouette gamble. Hines bets Baryshnikov eleven-Rubles in exchange for eleven pirouettes. They are done effortlessly. Blink and you’ll miss them.

While you may have seen Baryshnikov’s acting abilities as Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘lover’ in the final season of Sex and the City, it is truly amazing to see his acting talent alongside his natural talent: dance.

Marissa Shirbin was a dancer, is now a romancer and an editorial assistant at Right Angle Publishing

The Sleeping Beauty
Aurora is one of the ultimate ‘ballerina’ roles to perform. It’s so pure and technical with big a story to tell, from Aurora’s 16th birthday right through to her marriage celebrations. Although I always find this ballet daunting and challenging, I have wonderful memories of performances where I danced to my full capacity. Plus, having a new version of a classic created on you and dancing the world premiere is every dancer’s dream.
Don Quixote
Don Quixote is another great technical, demanding and energetic three-act ballet, and  there are so many facets to the role of Kitri. I gained an Australian Dance Award for my performances in 2007.

After The Rain
Christopher Wheeldon, who choreographed After the Rain, was my pas de deux partner at the Royal Ballet School in London. During the Sydney season of After the Rain in 2007, all the other principal girls were off, so I danced this most beautiful pas de deux with three of our principal males alternating each performance. They were each very different in their style, and I loved the chance to respond to their interpretations.

Spartacus
Spartacus is a  great vehicle for the lead principal Flavia. The ballet has a real storyline, with strong characters exploring the tenderness of love and horrors of death. I had tears at the end of each show – the final pas de deux is very special to dance.

Romeo & Juliet
Every ballerina gets asked what their favourite ballet is, and Romeo & Juliet would be high on my list for sure! Robert Curran and I had many wonderful performances together. I love the character, the incredible score and wonderful pas de deuxs.

The Australian Ballet performs The Silver Rose in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide in 2010. The Sydney season goes on sale to the general public on 12 February, but tickets to all other cities are available now.

Images:
01. Lucinda Dunn and Matthew Lawrence in The Sleeping Beauty. Photography Jim McFarlane
02. Lucinda Dunn and Matthew Lawrence in Don Quixote. Photography Justin Smith
03. Lucinda Dunn in After the Rain .Photography Jim McFarlane
04. Lucinda Dunn in Spartacus. Photography Jim McFarlane
05. Robert Curran and Lucinda Dunn in Romeo & Juliet. Photography Jim McFarlane