Les Sylphides

Les Sylphides

Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet of mood and atmosphere created for piano preludes and nocturnes, celebrated for its synthesis of Romantic aesthetics, Russian ballet technique and Chopinian piano writing arranged for orchestra. First staged by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and associated with principal figures of early 20th‑century dance and music, the work became a touchstone for companies including the Mariinsky Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and numerous European ensembles. Its legacy links composers, choreographers, impresarios and designers from Frédéric Chopin through Michel Fokine to later interpreters such as George Balanchine and Kenneth MacMillan.

History and Creation

The ballet originated in the era of Sergei Diaghilev's innovative seasons in Paris and Monte Carlo, following collaborations with artists from the Imperial Russian Ballet and émigré composers and designers. Michel Fokine conceived a short tableau inspired by the Romantic sylph figure prominent in works by Filippo Taglioni and evocations in John William Waterhouse-inspired art; Diaghilev commissioned a presentation for the Théâtre de la Gaîté and the Théâtre de la Monaco seasons featuring dancers from the Mariinsky Theatre and guests from the Paris Opera Ballet. The premiere in 1909 gathered a constellation of collaborators including conductor Pavel Kochanski and orchestrators such as Alexander Glazunov and Sergei Taneyev, and drew on performance practices developed under directors like Ivan Vsevolozhsky and star dancers from the Imperial Theatres.

Choreography and Notable Versions

Fokine's original choreography distilled ballet vocabulary into an atmosphere of lyricism, utilizing steps and port de bras that echoed repertory from choreographers such as Marius Petipa and innovators including Lev Ivanov. The central figure, often cast as a poet or white-clad dreamer, interacts with sylphs modeled on Romantic archetypes linked to productions of La Sylphide and Giselle. Prominent interpreters over the decades have included principals from the Ballets Russes like Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina, later staged by directors such as Serge Lifar, Michel Fokine himself in subsequent revivals, and reconstructed by figures associated with the Vic-Wells Ballet and the Royal Ballet. In the mid‑20th century, reconstructions and variant choreographies appeared under names like George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, and company stagings by Diaghilev émigrés in London and New York City. Each notable version negotiated fidelity to Fokine’s lyricism versus incorporations of neoclassical technique championed by choreographers at institutions including School of American Ballet and Harkness Ballet.

Music and Score

The score consists entirely of piano pieces by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated and arranged for ballet. Principal movements use works such as the Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7; Nocturne in A-flat major, Op. 32, No. 2; Polonaise in A major; Mazurka in A minor and the Prelude in A major, among others catalogued within Chopin’s oeuvre. Orchestrations were contributed by Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Taneyev, Maurice Keller and Enrique Fernández Arbós, reflecting diverse orchestral sensibilities from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory tradition to Madrid‑based arranging. Conductors who have presented the score range from Nikita Sokolov‑era maestros to modern interpreters at the Metropolitan Opera, Concertgebouw orchestras and touring companies; pianists and conductors occasionally present piano‑only renditions drawing attention to Chopin’s original pianism and to interpretive choices made by Glazunov and other arrangers.

Performance and Costume Design

Design has been integral, with early collaborations involving stage and costume artists from Diaghilev’s circle, such as Léon Bakst and Alexandre Benois, whose aesthetic framed the sylphs in gauzy white tutus and poetic, forested or moonlit settings reminiscent of John Everett Millais landscapes and Romantic painting. Productions have employed set designers affiliated with the Ballets Russes and later firms linked to the Royal Opera House, Teatro Real and touring houses; costume evolution traces threads through ateliers that worked for Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Serge Lifar and twentieth‑century designers like Cecile Sorel. Lighting and stagecraft, drawing on innovations from Adolphe Appia and later theatrical engineers in Paris and London, shape the dreamlike, nocturnal atmosphere central to audience perception.

Reception and Legacy

Contemporary critics at the premiere included writers from Le Figaro, The Times (London) and Parisian journals, who noted the ballet’s departure from narrative ballets staged by Marius Petipa and its emphasis on mood, while later commentators in retrospectives at institutions like the Ravinia Festival and Jacob's Pillow have hailed its influence on 20th‑century choreography. The work’s melding of Chopin’s intimate piano idiom with orchestral color and Fokine’s pared choreography informed subsequent ballets by George Balanchine, Michel Fokine revivals, and pedagogical repertoires at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and School of American Ballet. Les Sylphides remains programmed by major companies—from the Mariinsky Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet to the Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet—and continues to prompt debates among scholars and directors about authenticity, reconstruction and the relationship between Romanticism and modern stagecraft in ballet history.

Category:Ballets