Princeton Packet, NJ
March 4 2005
University to stage Prokofiev work after years of research.
Princeton University Professor Simon Morrison, a musicologist
specializing in Russian music and ballet, is consumed with a unique
fascination.
He said it began about three years ago while he was researching
French and Russian ballet for a book on the phenomenon of “lost
ballets,” and the extent to which surviving musical scores allow for
the reconstruction of these works.
In the course of his research, he encountered the work of theater
historian Lesley-Anne Sayers, who teaches at the Open University in
Britain. Professor Sayers wrote her dissertation on one of the great
lost ballets of the 20th century, “Le Pas d’Acier,” or “The Steel
Step,” by legendary Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, spending eight
years researching and creating models of the set.
“She and I hatched this idea of trying to stage this thing,”
Professor Morrison said. “Three years later, and a lot of
fund-raising, meetings and sorting out of logistical details, we will
perform this piece, re-created with a gorgeous set, student dancers,
student musicians and choreography by renowned choreographer
Millicent Hodson.
“This is essentially a world premiere, because the ballet was
never performed the way Prokofiev conceived it,” he added.
“Le Pas D’Acier” is scheduled to be performed 8 p.m. on April 7, 8
and 9 at the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center for the
Performing Arts. Three short pieces thematically related to the
ballet, created by university composers and choreographers and
others, will open the production, the university said.
The ballet has a budget of more than $175,000. The production will
feature about 30 dancers and 60 musicians, all Princeton students, as
well as an elaborate set and custom-made costumes.
Prokofiev, arguably one of the most popular composers of the 20th
century, wrote such classics such as “Peter and the Wolf” and
“Cinderella.” He intended the little-known “Le Pas d’Acier” as a
dramatic story of factory life following the Russian Revolution. It
was to be a celebration of Soviet industrialization that Prokofiev
hoped would endear him to the authorities.
But budgetary constraints and a reshuffling of choreographers
resulted in a scaled-back version of the ballet that was performed in
Paris in 1927 by the Ballets Russes. The altered version mocked
industrialization rather than celebrating it, which didn’t go over
well with the Soviet bosses. The ballet has not been performed since
1931.
“‘Pas d’Acier’ caused a political scandal when it debuted in 1927,
because it ended up as a satire of Soviet society,” Professor
Morrison said.
The set for Princeton’s production is a replica of the one
originally planned for the ballet by Georgi Yakoulov. It is a
stylized mechanical world of brightly colored spinning wheels, gears,
levers and a rotating conveyor belt representing factory life. An
8-foot-tall replica of a train that emits steam from its smoke stack
will come into view partway through the ballet.
The $45,000 set, designed from Professor Sayers’ extensive
research, was constructed by members of the McCarter Theatre staff
and overseen by Darryl Waskow, managing director of the Program in
Theater and Dance.
“What’s fascinating about this piece is that it’s the only ballet
I know which involved the dancers building the set onstage, and it
makes sense,” Professor Morrison said. “It’s about factory life and
the constructivist art movement. The set in effect operates the
dancers.”
The ballet’s choreography has been re-created using action cues
and stage direction from the original musical score as well as
drawings and photos discovered by Professor Sayers in archives in
Paris, London and Armenia, the university said.
Princeton student dancers are drawn from an advanced contemporary
dance class taught by Professor Hodson, a ballet reconstructionist
and visiting fellow of the Humanities Council, and Rebecca Lazier, a
lecturer in the Humanities Council and theater and dance.
The costumes are being created by Ingrid Maurer, a New York City
costume designer, using drawings and photographs from the 1927
production. The Princeton University Orchestra, under the direction
of Michael Pratt, will perform Prokofiev’s score.
“For me, the great pleasure first and foremost is the students,”
Professor Morrison said. “That’s the greatest pleasure for me.
Second, this is an opportunity for myself and Lesley to translate
academic research into performance and practice.”