Australia Dancing - Boutique fantasque, La

Boutique fantasque, La

Heaton, Wallace: Edouard Borovansky as the Shopkeeper in 'La Boutique fantasque', Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, c. 1935

La Boutique fantasque was the first of Leonide Massine's works to be seen in Australia. The inaugural Australian performance took place at the Theatre Royal Adelaide on opening night of the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet tour, 13 October 1936. Choreographed to a Gioacchino Rossini score arranged by Ottorino Respighi, the work had received its world premiere by the Diaghilev Ballet Russe in London on 5 June 1919. Massine was responsible for both the choreography and the libretto, with its notable links to Die Puppenfee (The Fairy Doll), an old German ballet that had been revived by Serge and Nicholas Legat in St Petersburg early in the twentieth century. Australian audiences had been charmed by The Fairy Doll, a tale of toys coming to life, during Anna Pavlova's 1926 tour. They again responded positively to Massine's take on this toyshop theme with its gently satirical style and strong characterisation incorporating elements of comedy, mime, national character dance and classically-based divertissements. Valentina Blinova and Leon Woizikowsky were particularly celebrated as the Can-Can Dancers, the roles originally taken by Lydia Lopokova and Massine himself. Design for this production was, as for the original 1919 staging, by Andre Derain.

La Boutique fantasque was one of the works involved in a dispute over copyright following Massine's decision to leave the company of Colonel de Basil in 1937. A legal ruling dictated that de Basil lost the right to perform Massine's pre-1932 ballets following the departure of the choreographer. The work was not presented in Australia by the following two de Basil Ballets Russes tours of 1938 - 40.

The Borovansky Ballet staging of La Boutique fantasque, with designs by William Constable, premiered in 1951. The cameo role of the Shopkeeper, originally performed by Enrico Cecchetti, was performed by Edouard Borovansky, with Kathleen Gorham and Paul Grinwis performing as the the Can-Can Dancers. In the following year, 1952, Gorham was partnered in this role by Poul Gnatt in his first performance with the company.

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