Christopher Wheeldon's "Oscar" for the Australian Ballet

[stucha]

 

 

 

[oncnp]

And in tomorrow's links ....

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/sep/11/christopher-wheeldon-new-oscar-wilde-ballet

[Emeralds]

The videos on social media look really interesting! 

[Emeralds]

With regards the first point raised in the article, there are already quite a lot of ballets and characters - but Hallberg probably missed out on dancing them because he wasn't in the right place at the right time. Rudi van Dantzig's Monument For a Dead Boy (1965) made for Dutch National Ballet- ironically it was actually mounted for American Ballet Theatre in 1973 (before Hallberg was born though!) but it wasn't revived while he was dancing with the company. There's also Maurice Bejart's Nijinsky, Clown of God (1971) for his own company although it wasn't the sole theme or sole partnership in the ballet, and David Bintley's Edward II (1995) for BRB.

 

The one that's probably the most well known in the UK is Matthew Bourne's version of Swan Lake (1995).And there are lots more nowadays.  So the ballets and characters certainly do exist but one just has to go to the right company at the right time to perform it. 

Edited September 11 by Emeralds

[Angela]

The first male kiss I saw in a story ballet was in John Neumeier's "A Streetcar named Desire", in a dream scene between Blanche Dubois' late husband Allan and his lover - that was in 1983, forty years ago, and yes, maybe a little shocking at the time. There is a gay duo in "Events" by Jerome Robbins from 1961, there are many male, sensual pas de deux in the works by Hans van Manen, f.e. in "5 Tangos" or "Kleines Requiem". The subject is not completely new on the dance stage. There is even a book about it, "A Queer History of the Ballet" by Peter Stoneley. Horst Koegler once wrote an essay in Dance Chronicle about "Dancing in the closet".

 

The infamous German choreographer Marco Goecke made a ballet "A Wilde Story" at Hannover in 2022, but it's more about Wilde's writings. 

 

And I'm sorry, Emeralds, Edward II was made for Stuttgart Ballet in 1995, it came to BRB in 1997 only 🙂 Even BRB seems to forget about this fact sometimes.

[Emeralds]

Thank you @Angela- you are of course right about Bintley's ballet Edward II being premiered in Germany. A Stuttgart Ballet commission, premiered by Stuttgart Ballet in 1995, and the British premiere was actually in 1997 by BRB. Well spotted, and thank you. 

 

I hope Wheeldon's ballet will include Wilde's relationship with his wife Constance and his relationships with his children. I'm not a research scholar on Wilde, but from reading his works and his  writings about his life, his children, the family....were also an important part of his life and his work, which makes his story a little different from other historical figures and fictional characters in works about same sex relationships. He wasn't ashamed of them nor did he try to run away from them or shun them.

 

I think including the differences would make a ballet more interesting than what has been made before. But I'll wait and see how Wheeldon's creation turns out. 

Edited September 12 by Emeralds

[Sophoife]

There will be a review. I'm seeing two of the three casts next week: Callum Linnane (who's in all the photos) and Jarryd Madden. The second name on the cast lists is Constance Wilde, the third is Bosie.

[DD Driver]

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I hope Wheeldon's ballet will include Wilde's relationship with his wife Constance and his relationships with his children.

 

I think including the differences would make a ballet more interesting than what has been made before. But I'll wait and see how Wheeldon's creation turns out. 

 

Yes, I agree that the impact on Constance and their 2 boys would add interesting context!

I believe she was also a complicated character.

After Oscar's imprisonment, she changed her surname back to a family name & they fled to Europe to escape the scandal.

Luckily she had a family allowance.  Women couldn't open a bank account in the UK 'til 1975. 

[Pas de Quatre]

Sounds interesting, I have always enjoyed Wilde's writings. The statement that women couldn't open a bank account in UK until 1975 is simply untrue. It gets bandied about and I wonder if it was originally referring to USA (anyone know) and has simply been copied frequently on the Internet.

[Jan McNulty]

6 hours ago, Angela said:

 

 

And I'm sorry, Emeralds, Edward II was made for Stuttgart Ballet in 1995, it came to BRB in 1997 only 🙂 Even BRB seems to forget about this fact sometimes.

 

IIRC the eponymous role was created by Wolfgang Stollwitzer who subsequently moved over (with great success) to BRB.

 

SDB seemed to have a good working relationship with Stuttgart and several dancers came from there to BRB.

[Sophoife]

2 hours ago, DD Driver said:

Luckily she had a family allowance.  Women couldn't open a bank account in the UK 'til 1975. 

 

34 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

The statement that women couldn't open a bank account in UK until 1975 is simply untrue. It gets bandied about and I wonder if it was originally referring to USA (anyone know) and has simply been copied frequently on the Internet.

 

According to this article in The Guardian, "France, 1881: France grants women the right to own bank accounts; five years later, the right is extended to married women, who are allowed to open accounts without their husbands’ permission. The US does not follow suit until the 1960s, and the UK lags until 1975." [my emphasis]

 

Other sources and more confirm this.

 

Single and widowed women could have their own bank accounts, as could married women, but until 1975 in the UK married women required their husband's written permission to do so.

 

My mother was one of those married women.

 

 

Edited September 12 by Sophoife
Added last paragraph

[Pas de Quatre]

I don't remember it being so in UK, but maybe all the women I knew and their mothers already had bank accounts when they were single, so we never encountered this.

[Sophoife]

That seems eminently reasonable.

 

My mother arrived in the UK already married, so...

 

Until 1966 in Australia women employed in the public service (that's the civil service to y'all in England) were forced to resign on marriage.

 

In 1971 the Bank of New South Wales took the radical step of allowing a married woman to (gasp) apply for a loan without a male guarantor.

[AnneMarriott]

4 hours ago, DD Driver said:

 

Yes, I agree that the impact on Constance and their 2 boys would add interesting context!

I believe she was also a complicated character.

After Oscar's imprisonment, she changed her surname back to a family name & they fled to Europe to escape the scandal.

Luckily she had a family allowance.  Women couldn't open a bank account in the UK 'til 1975. 

Sorry to disagree but I (a woman) opened a bank account in 1960 when I started university.

 

Oops - should have read some more posts.  I was a single 18-year old when I opened my bank account.  Wasn't aware of the situation for married women at the time, although my mother never had her own account.  I do remember her having to get my father's permission to buy something on "hire purchase".

Edited September 12 by AnneMarriott
add a missing word

[FionaM]

I was very interested in this ballet when it was first announced. Oscar is a fascinating person. I have been eagerly following the teasers and trailers. I totally accept Oscar’s sexuality, and that of anyone. I’ve friends from school days who are gay or lesbian. I grew up with my family’s best friends being a gay couple.  
 

I’m rather put off that they are using queer headlines to market it. I thought we were over having to push a queer agenda. It feels confrontational. I don’t think it helps for the media to jump on this part of the story. Is it necessary to prepare audiences?  Surely everyone knows something of Oscar Wilde? 
 

Maybe because I accept all types of people, I don’t see the necessity to be so ‘in your face’ about this.  

[Lizbie1]

7 minutes ago, FionaM said:

I was very interested in this ballet when it was first announced. Oscar is a fascinating person. I have been eagerly following the teasers and trailers. I totally accept Oscar’s sexuality, and that of anyone. I’ve friends from school days who are gay or lesbian. I grew up with my family’s best friends being a gay couple.  
 

I’m rather put off that they are using queer headlines to market it. I thought we were over having to push a queer agenda. It feels confrontational. I don’t think it helps for the media to jump on this part of the story. Is it necessary to prepare audiences?  Surely everyone knows something of Oscar Wilde? 
 

Maybe because I accept all types of people, I don’t see the necessity to be so ‘in your face’ about this.  

 

Completely agree with this: is it really the most interesting thing about him?

[Vanartus]

Oh dear - am I actually having to read “push a queer agenda” on this thread? Sorry but hackles raised! Patronising. and a little insulting. Sorry, but…

[Emeralds]

9 hours ago, Sophoife said:

There will be a review. I'm seeing two of the three casts next week: Callum Linnane (who's in all the photos) and Jarryd Madden. The second name on the cast lists is Constance Wilde, the third is Bosie.

Thanks Sophoife, really looking forward to read what you and other members in Australia who can see the ballet think of it. 

 

29 minutes ago, Vanartus said:

Oh dear - am I actually having to read “push a queer agenda” on this thread? Sorry but hackles raised! Patronising. and a little insulting. Sorry, but…

I think maybe (hopefully) it wasn't meant in the way it came across? 

 

Oscar Wilde's creative output is impressive and while his comedies are often like the Nutcracker of any theatre company (if you want sellout shows, stage The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband etc) my favourite story of his is The Happy Prince. Actually, it would be fun fo Australian Ballet staged their production Graeme Murphy's adaptation of The Happy Prince in the same season as Wheeldon's Oscar. I'd certainly get tickets to see both in the same season. 

[oncnp]

and it will be streamed in November. Livestream on Ballet TV | The Australian Ballet

 

£14.84 at today's exchange rate

Edited September 12 by oncnp

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Actually, it would be fun fo Australian Ballet staged their production Graeme Murphy's adaptation of The Happy Prince in the same season as Wheeldon's Oscar. I'd certainly get tickets to see both in the same season.

 

Not under David Hallberg they won't 🤣 - he has planned all company seasons starting with 2021, and not one step credited to Graeme Murphy has been included.

 

The Happy Prince was barely seen, as it had been postponed due to the illness of Graeme Murphy, and was eventually presented for just five performances in Brisbane - in February 2020. The planned Melbourne and Sydney seasons were of course cancelled. Great shame.

 

The only way the company is going to get publicity in the "mainstream traditional media" is to have "an angle". They have fairly reasonably chosen to emphasise Wilde's sexuality and/or the ambiguity thereof, because that's what gets The Age or network television hooked.

 

As none of us has actually seen it yet (it opens Friday night Australian time) I think none of us can possibly comment with any authority whatsoever on what will actually be put on stage - unless of course any company member is lurking here? 🧐

[Sim]

We have hidden a couple of comments and their responses whilst they are under discussion by moderators.

[JaneHartley]

On 12/09/2024 at 01:06, Emeralds said:

I hope Wheeldon's ballet will include Wilde's relationship with his wife Constance and his relationships with his children. 

 

I think this is a great subject for a ballet but I have fundamentally never seen a ballet (sorry I don't include contemporary dance masquerading as ballet here) between two or more men really work, in the way it works between a man and a woman. The contrasts to me of what both bring are what make it work. This would be my major hesitation of a Wilde ballet, particularly if the intention was to focus on his male loves. I would hope that the wife is included as a major element to contrast between any male on male dancing. 

To be honest, I think LWFC was an awful choice for a ballet, far to complex and difficult to pare down to its key themes to get a cross in a dance medium. As a result it was a mess imo. This at least does have more promise. 

[Jane S]

Did anyone see the Wilde piece that Joe Layton made for the RB's 'New Group' in 1972? The music was by William Walton, Paul Clarke and Michael Somes were the young and the older Wilde, and Margaret Barbieri was Constance. John Gilelgud's recorded voice was heard, reading some of De Profundis.

 

It was not well received and only lasted one season. (I missed it.)

[Sophoife]

Incidentally, with this "big gay ballet" as it's being trumpeted - none of the the three men dancing the title role in Melbourne is gay.

[akh]

11 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

Incidentally, with this "big gay ballet" as it's being trumpeted - none of the the three men dancing the title role in Melbourne is gay.

Does it matter and why do we need to know who is gay and who isn't. Not really relevant or our business. 

[Sophoife]

I feel that as they're trumpeting the gay angle, and they have a number of excellent gay male dancers, perhaps those men could have been given this opportunity? That's all.

[Pas de Quatre]

There may be dancers who do not wish to be defined by their sexuality.

[Sophoife]

I just feel that as Hallberg and Wheeldon have been all over the gay angle, and there are out and proud gay men dancing with AusBallet, it's a missed opportunity for these dancers. Principal artist Brett Chynoweth for example.

 

However, from the "Wheeldon casts who he feels will bring most - and maybe each will bring different things - to the role" angle, I think he's cast a very interesting trio as Oscar for this run - they are all very different stage personalities and styles.

 

I remember when The Winter's Tale was first produced, the Leontes were Edward Watson, Bennet Gartside and Thiago Soares (who didn't go on in the first run in 2014). You just about couldn't get three more disparate stage personalities!

[Lizbie1]

35 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

There may be dancers who do not wish to be defined by their sexuality.

 

I have no argument at all with this. I do wonder whether the creators of the ballet gave a thought to whether Wilde himself would have felt that way, or whether they're being fair to his achievements by - if the advance publicity is accurate! - concentrating on this one aspect. But maybe it was the easiest route to making a viable story out of him.

 

There are some artists whose biography is more important and interesting than their works (mentioning no names); or whose acts or thoughts turn me off to the extent that I can't stomach their art (Eric Gill and Gauguin* come to mind but there are others); or cases where lesser known aspects of their life should be brought to a wider public, but IMO Wilde is not in any of these groups - unless this ballet surprises us.

 

*I know there has recently been a defence of Gauguin but I'm not buying it. I've no wish for him or anyone else to be "cancelled", I just don't want to see any of it.

[Emeralds]

20 hours ago, JaneHartley said:

 

I think this is a great subject for a ballet but I have fundamentally never seen a ballet (sorry I don't include contemporary dance masquerading as ballet here) between two or more men really work, in the way it works between a man and a woman. The contrasts to me of what both bring are what make it work. This would be my major hesitation of a Wilde ballet, particularly if the intention was to focus on his male loves. I would hope that the wife is included as a major element to contrast between any male on male dancing. 

To be honest, I think LWFC was an awful choice for a ballet, far to complex and difficult to pare down to its key themes to get a cross in a dance medium. As a result it was a mess imo. This at least does have more promise. 

Yes, it's been confirmed from the casting that the wife, Constance, is a major character in the ballet. Haven't seen the ballet yet but would assume- given Wheeldon's choreography style  amd strengths- that there are some nice pas de deux in the ballet featuring Constance. 

 

Looking forward to reviews from Australian members or members who have travelled to Australia and were able to see the ballet! 

[Sophoife]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Looking forward to reviews from Australian members or members who have travelled to Australia and were able to see the ballet! 

Wednesday and Thursday nights. Review Friday night after I digest (and suffer the four hour train ride home). Sydneysiders are having to wait until November.

[Emeralds]

No rush, @Sophoife take your time -  especially since you've been preparing the Dance Links too.  Thank you! 💐 

[Sophoife]

Oh no, @Emeralds, I've only done the Links twice in September - it's @Jan McNulty and @Blossom who are the MVPs right now!! 🤭

 

I do enjoy doing the Links though - so pleased I put up my hand and was given a chance!