- "Mon premier Lac des Cygnes" will be playing at the Mogador theater in Paris until February 21. The troupe will then go on tour in France.
- This show is suitable for the youngest audience. Its duration (2 hours 30 minutes), for example, has been reduced to two acts of 40 minutes.
- "I am convinced that you can introduce a 5 or 6 year old child to ballet. He will let himself be carried more than any spectator, he will ask for more, he will return ”, advances to“ 20 Minutes ”Karl Paquette, former star dancer and artistic director of the show.
Difficult to make more mythical than Le Lac des Cygnes . Despite its initial failure in 1877, the ballet composed by Tchaikovsky has known several successful versions across the centuries and the world, in addition to inspiring, infiltrating, all the arts, from circus to video games to music and cinema, including Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. But with its four acts and its duration of 2 hours 30 minutes, Le Lac des Cygnes is not necessarily intended or appropriate for the youngest spectators. While…
"In 25 years at the Paris Opera, I have danced the greatest ballets, but I have always been frustrated that we cut ourselves off from the youngest, because the institution, the price, the schedule, the duration ”, confides Karl Paquette, former star dancer and artistic director of Mon Premier Lac des Cygnes , on display until February 21 at the Mogador theater in Paris then on tour in May-June throughout France.
An initiation to ballet
"It is legitimate not to bring your child to see the three hours of La Belle Bois at sleep at the weekend at 8 pm, recognizes the dancer with humor. But I am convinced, even if it may seem pretentious, that you can introduce a 5 or 6 year old child to ballet. He will let himself be carried more than any spectator, he will ask for more, he will return. "
Karl Paquette thus had the idea of a “first” Swan Lake , suitable for young audiences, from 5 years old. But why Le Lac des Cygnes , and not another ballet? “When we talk about pure classical dance, Le Lac des Cygnes is on everyone's lips. It is linked to the musical score of Tchaikovsky I think, but also to his universe of tutu, magic, magic and a little irrational. "
The adaptation does not only concern the duration of the show
The artistic director admits having hesitated with The Nutcracker for this first time, but Le Lac des Cygnes has imposed itself by its simplicity, in terms of logistics and decor also with "only" two universes: the lake and the village hall . Because the adaptation does not only concern the performance schedule (with sessions at 11 a.m., 2.30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and the duration of the show (two 40-minute acts). “Usually, for example, there are 32 swans on stage, which was not possible due to space and budget, explains Karl Paquette. We have ten, and at the same time, it was interesting for me to work with a small group and I do not have the impression that it is missing. "
It was of course necessary to cut tables, music, but all the key moments of the ballet are there, "with a few personal touches, adds the dancer, like Pas de deux by Tchaikovsky rather than Pas de deux by Cygne Black by Marius Petipa ”. Fabrice Bourgeois' choreography also allows for a few discreet touches of humor, like so many breaths for children, and the booklet and a voiceover offer a narration, a context, to help them better understand. "But the main thing is that they get carried away by ballet and their imagination," says Karl Paquette. Myself [he plays the role of the bad Rothbart], I sometimes forget that I play in front of children, so much silence reigns in the room, the tension is palpable. "
At the end of the presentation, a little girl is tired but happy: “I was very concentrated. " She will come back. Karl Paquette is currently working on My First Nutcracker for the fall, "with the same ingredients but not the same recipe". If Tchaikovsky's three ballets, also with Sleeping Beauty , are universal and therefore perhaps more obvious, he also sees other possibilities, such as Cinderella , Don Quixote , La Bayadère, Raymonda, Giselle, Le Corsaire… De what to make the little ones dance and dream for hours, finally 2 x 40 minutes each time.
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