Faust by Les Ballets De Monte-Carlo

Published on Jan 19, 2015

Rating:

Genre: NCPA

Dates: March 11-13, 2015

Prices: 160, 220, 280, 380, 550, 600, 680, 880

Features: Faust is a ballet in 3 acts / 7 scenes, with choreography and libretto by Jules Perrot. From March 11st to March 13rd, Les Ballets De Monte-Carlo will presents the Faust at opera house of NCPA.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Les Ballets de Monte Carlo (The Monte-Carlo Ballet) is a classical ballet company established in 1985 by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Hanover in accordance with the wishes of her mother, Princess Grace of Monaco. It is the official national company of the Principality of Monaco.

The first performance for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo took place on 1985-12-21, casting among others several guest stars of the Paris Opera. Directed by Ghislaine Thesmar and Pierre Lacotte, the company rehearsed in the Diaghilev studio, performing on the stage of the Salle Garnier at the Monte Carlo Opera and immediately started touring. Their repertoire includes works from the Ballets Russes, contemporary pieces from guest choreographers such as Kevin Haigen, John Clifford, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Dieter Amman, Uwe Scholz. In 1989, Jean Yves Esquerre becomes artistic director, after the departure of Ghislaine Thesmar and Pierre Lacotte one year earlier.

In 1992, Jean-Christophe Maillot joined Ballets de Monte Carlo, first as artistic consultant. He was officially promoted to the rank of director-choreographer in September 1993. Four years later, thanks to his vision and his energy, the Ballets de Monte Carlo left the building that had been their historical home, which had by then become too small, and moved into their own dance center: L'ATELIER. Further, in December 2000, they inaugurated their first ballet season on the huge stage of the Salle des Princes at the brand new congress center in Monaco, the Grimaldi Forum. These were two turning points in the modern history of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, and the beginning of a new dance era in Monaco.

Faust
Faust is a ballet in 3 acts / 7 scenes, with choreography and libretto by Jules Perrot, and music by Giacomo Panizza,Sir Michael Andrew Costa, and Niccolò Bajetti. First presented by the Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala on February 12, 1848 in Milan, Italy. Principal Dancers - Fanny Elssler (as Marguerite), Jules Perrot (as Mephistophelis), Effisio Catte(as Faust), and Ekaterina Costantini (as Bambo-Queen of the Demons).

Summary of the story
Faust is bored and depressed with his life as a scholar. After an attempt to take his own life, he calls on the Devil for further knowledge and magic powers with which to indulge all the pleasure and knowledge of the world. In response, the Devil's representative, Mephistopheles, appears. He makes a bargain with Faust: Mephistopheles will serve Faust with his magic powers for a set number of years, but at the end of the term, the Devil will claim Faust's soul and Faust will be eternally damned. The term usually stipulated in the early tales is 24 years; one year for each of the hours in a day.

During the term of the bargain, Faust makes use of Mephistopheles in various ways. In many versions of the story, particularly Goethe's drama, Mephistopheles helps him to seduce a beautiful and innocent girl, usually named Gretchen, whose life is ultimately destroyed. However, Gretchen's innocence saves her in the end, and she enters Heaven. In Goethe's rendition, Faust is saved by God's grace via his constant striving—in combination with Gretchen's pleadings with God in the form of the Eternal Feminine. However, in the early tales, Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven; when the term ends, the Devil carries him off to Hell.