For its major end-of-year event, the Ballet Nice Méditerranée, under the direction of Éric Vu-An since 2009, dons its most magical shoes to perform, on the Opera stage, two flagship works of the repertoire in the full essence of classical dance: Romeo and Juliet and La Sylphide.
With Romeo and Juliet, the mythical Shakespearean epic of two lovers who break the clan rules and outpace death to join each other, it is the entire “Lifar gesture” that shines through, with its efforts to make dance more expressive and dynamic.
As for La Sylphide, it is more than a work; it is an archetype that has marked the history of choreographic art: every young girl who has walked through the doors of a dance school or a conservatory has dreamed of resembling the ballerina who, in her white, airy tutu, lightly grazes the ground with her pointe shoes.
This ballet also offers the performer of the witch a delightful character role. Éric Vu-An himself embodies the horrible woman, reprising the memorable interpretation he gave in the April 2015 production at the Nice Opera.
The music, composed by Tchaikovsky for Romeo and Juliet and Herman Severin Løvenskiold for La Sylphide, also plays a role in a ballet. This will be even more the case during these seven December performances, as the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted for the occasion by David Garforth, will be in the pit to accompany the movements of the dancers.
