Bringingthe PastAlive "Remember you are magical beings andthat you necks," he kept reminding the fairies. \ilhenever a question aroseabour shine from your sides," choreographer Alexei Ratmansky exhorted a a step or an angle of the body, the Ratmanskys consulted a black binder group of dancers.They were rehearsingthe {airies' entrance in Ameri- of notes and a laptop loaded with photographs and drawings. can Ballet Theatre's new production of The SleepingBeauty, which ABT's new SleepingBeauty is something of a radical undertaking. premiered in Costa Mesa in March, and came to New York in late May. Instead of reinterpreting the ballet, Ratmansky resolvedto get asclose as The choreographer'scheeks were flushed; his quiet voice vibrated with he could to the stepsimagined in 1890by Marius Petipa.And in doing intensiqr He leaned eagerly forward as he stood at the front of the stu- so,his Beauty and other recent reconstructionshave revealedjust how dio, backed by four ballet mastersand his wife, Tatiana,who assistedin much the style of theseballets has evolved sincethev were created.As the the staging."Remember to pronounce your words clearly," Ratmansky dancehistorian Lynn Garafola said recently,"The notion of an original urged the fairies, referring to the detailed mime. As they moved, he re- is hard to pin down, becauseballets are remade in performance." Over cited alongwith them: "From here,ro here"-now the fairiesgestured time, the accruedtweaks-accommodations for expandingtechnique, toward the crib-"you will be protectedby us." the excisionor simplification of mime, changesin musical timing and No detailwas too slight to escapehis inreresr,from the height dynamics-turn the balletsinto something quite different from what was of the legs-never above90 degrees*to the curve of the kneesand originally intended, divorcing the choreography from its story, affect and the slightly less-than-typical turnout. "Re1axyour hands, relax your spirit. How many times have we seena SleepingBeauty or Swan Lake 42 JUNE 2015 "Withoutthe amazingtechnical feats...there is more emphasis on exudingcharismaand inner light. " -GILLIAN MURPHY the foot is in pass6or coup6," aswell aswhich way the dancer is {acing and traveling, whether she is on pointe and how she is using her wrists. Many scoresare incomplete, however, as though the scribeshad tired of recording every detail. Though Ratmansky sayshe has added almost no choreography of his own to Beawty, myriad decisionshad to be made about the upper body movements. Reading notations is a creative act. "People started to consult the notations again in the 1980s," says Doug Fullington, a dance notation expert who has helped restagesev- eral bal1ets.As artistic director of the Bolshoi, Ratmansky produced a version of Le Corsaire based on notes rn 20Q7with the help of histori- cal reconstruction specialistYuri Burlaka. Last year, during a rare lull in his schedule,Ratmansky and his wife taught themselvesto read the Stepanovscores. tWith Fullington, he then reconstructed Paquita for the Bavarian StateBallet. The ballet came alive, with scintillating, witty stepsand mime as clear as dinner conversation.The softer arms and lighter footwork came acrossas charming and vivacious rather than oedantic or museum-like. "This isn't a history book or a presentation for a university. It's a live performance," Ratmansky remarked recently of his reconstructions. For him, it's about rediscovering the spirit of the age, dusting off forgot- ten sensationsand colors. But despitehis love for the original Petipa, Ratmansky has included some latter-day flourishes: a few lifts not seenin the original Beauty, as well as the famous fish dives in the wedding pas de deux. "They're an iconic moment, like the balancesin the Rose Adagio, and people would miss them," he says.Likewise, the costumesand sets, by Richard Hudson, are inspired not by the 1890Mariinsky production but by the lavish 1921 L6on Bakst designs for the Ballets Russes. Ratmansky is aware that this new-old style is not easyfor dancers to adopt. Paloma Herrera, in her fina1season at ABT, told the Washing- ton Postthat she pulled out of the Nevr York performances of Beawty becauseshe felt that the look wasn't how she wanted to present herseif in her iast performance. Gillian MurphS who is dancing the role of Aurora on opening night in New York, told me, "There is something to be said for leg extensionsbetween 90 and 180 degrees,and a lot of clarity has been added to the use of turnout and port de bras over time. But it has been fascinating to have this insight into how ballet has and askedourselves, "\7hy don't I care?" changed." She appreciatesthe intimacy and conversational quality of To rediscover the original, Ratmansky consulted a variety of late the older style. "\Tithout the amazing technical feats to rely on, there is Murphy, 19th- and early 2Oth-century sources'including first-person accountsin more emphasison exuding charisma and inner light," she says. to qualities in books, drawings by the dancer Pavel Gerdt and others, early photo- Ratmansky and Fullington all remark on the similarities pliancy of the torso graphs and fi1ms.But his main source was a trove of notes written out Frederick Ashton's choreography, especiallythe far have been rapturous: "A L St.p"nov notation, a system invented by a dancer at the Imperial and the livelinessof the feet. Reviews so crowed the Ballei(aka the Mariinsky) at the end of the 19th century. After the newfound dancing style matches stepswith music-finally" Revoiution in L91.7,the Mariinsky's r6gisseur,Nicholas Sergeyev,used Los Angeles Times. "I'm them to stageballets in the'West, more or iessestablishing the classical For Ratmansky's part, the experiencehas been life-changing. ballet canon. glad it's not my choreography so I don't need to be ashamedto say Stepanov'ssystem is basedon the musical staff and usesmark- I love it," he told me recently. And he's not finished with Stepanov; ings that look like notes, organized in measuresthat corresPond to the next February at Ballet Zurtch, he plans to return to the notations for a score. Separatedinto three horizontal tracks, the markings indicate the reconstruction of SzpanLake . I movements of the torso and head, the arms, and the legs.As Ratmansky says,"It's very clear when the leg is bent, flexed, how high it is, whether Marina Harss is a freelance dance writer in Neu York City. DANCE I\4AGAZIN E z+J.