Pas et Lignes |
Born in 1905, Russian-born, Serge
Lifar was introduced to dance in
1920 by Bronislava Nijinska, under
whom he began to study. Brought
to France to join Sergey
Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Lifar
studied with the eminent teacher
Enrico Cecchetti and became
premier danseur of the company
and created the title roles in a
number of George Balanchine's
early ballets, including The
Prodigal
Son.
After Diaghilev's death, in 1929,
Lifar joined the Paris Opera Ballet
as premier danseur and ballet
master and soon instituted weekly
ballet performances, thus
abolishing the Opera's practice of
producing ballet only in
conjunction with opera. In 1932
he was awarded the title of
professeur de danse and began
reforms of the Opera's school to
enable its dancers to perform the
more modern ballets, particularly
his
own.
Lifar believed that dance was more
important than the music and
decor in a ballet, and he held that
since ballet technique has its own
innate formal values, its
choreography should not derive
from music. Lifar first
experimented with this
controversial concept in
Icare. The work was
performed solely to a percussion
accompaniment that was added
after the choreography had been
completed. In later ballets he
utilized more conventional music
but continued to dictate to his
composers or musical arrangers
the rhythms necessary to coincide
with his
choreography.
Apart from revivals of classical
ballets, Lifar staged more than 50
works for the Opera. Most of his
ballets were considered modern
but classical in structure. Many
were narrative works, with themes
drawn from classical mythology
and legend or from the Bible. His
ballets often attempted to convey
the drama through appropriate
technique and choreography,
rather than through mime-dance,
and, in contrast to prevalent Opera
custom, frequently gave leading,
rather than supporting, roles to
men.
Serge Lifar died in 1986. |
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