Features of the plastic embodiment of the images of Oberon and Titania in the ballet by J. Neumeier's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Khokhlova Dar'ya ORCID: 0000-0003-0426-7469 PhD in Art History Principal Dancer of the Bolshoi Theatre 125009, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Teatral'naya Ploshchad', 1 daria.khokhl@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

     Choreographer John Neumeier has been searching for such a dancer's stage plasticity that would be able to realize the artistic task of an ideologically imaginative interpretation of the literary source for many decades. At the forefront of these searches is the choreographer's third "Shakespearean" ballet (after "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet") – "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to the music of F. Mendelssohn and D. Ligeti. The world premiere of this two - act play with a prologue took place on the stage of the Hamburg State Opera in 1977 .. At that time, John Neumeier had been the head of the ballet troupe of the theater in Hamburg for more than three years, holding this post until today (since 1973). Five years after the premiere of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the ballet was staged at the Paris Opera (1982), and a year earlier it was shown by the Hamburg Ballet in the USSR on the stage of the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater. It was this performance that became Neumeier's first work at the Bolshoi Theater (2004), with which the choreographer subsequently successfully continued his collaboration, transferring The Lady with Camellias to the Historical Stage to the music of F. Chopin (2014) and "Anna Karenina" to the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky, A. G. Schnittke, K. Stevens (2018). In addition to the already named troupes, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has been staged for the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Swedish Royal Ballet (Stockholm), the Danish Royal Ballet (Copenhagen), National Ballet of Poland (Warsaw), Houston Ballet.

     "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by J. Neumeier combines two completely opposite worlds (including musical ones). Neoclassical choreography to Mendelssohn's music and everyday mise-en-scenes, in which "not a single collision of love relationships developing in Shakespeare's play was missed," are contrasted with the extraterrestrial realm of elves and spirits existing in the world of electronic music by Ligeti ^{[8, p. 25]}. The main characters of this kingdom – Titania and Oberon – in the ballet become transformed both externally and plastically by the twins of Hippolyta and Theseus. The idea of such a metamorphosis of characters was previously encountered in the drama theater, in the production of Shakespeare's comedy by Peter Brook on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theater in 1970 (Stratford-upon-Avon, Great Britain). In an article dedicated to this performance, the famous theater critic A.V. Bartoshevich writes: "The Duke of Athens and the Queen of the Amazons also see their "midsummer night's dream", in which the king of the elves Oberon and Queen Titania act as "nocturnal" counterparts of Theseus and Hippolyta" ^{[4, p. 60]}. In addition, the Shakespearean scholar notes that the stage space of the play looks "like a gymnasium and an alien world," which also echoes Neumeier's production [4. p. 58]. In the choreographer's version, the transformation of the main characters into the royal couple of the world of elves and fairies takes place in Hippolyta's dream, coming at the end of the prologue. Neumeier transforms the first act into a kind of cosmic world, where against the background of the kingdom of alien creatures dressed in tight iridescent overalls of icy shades and the same hats, the intricate story of Shakespeare's lovers (Hermia, Lysandra, Elena and Demetria) unfolds. Such elves and fairies in identical costumes, performed by both dancers and dancers, practically merge with each other – at first glance it is difficult to distinguish which of them is which. The confrontation between Titania and Oberon dominates over all this, which develops into the revenge of the king of the elves on his wife, who falls in love with a weaver with donkey ears. This picture is a ballet scholar and researcher of creativity J. N. N. Zozulina called Neumeier "the first ballet experience of "fantasy"", devoting a chapter of her monograph to a performance performed by the Hamburg Ballet on tour in the USSR ^{[8, p. 26]}. However, in this article it seems important to carry out a detailed meaningful interpretation of the plastic solution of the images of Titania and Oberon, since the definition of non-traditional features of the choreography of these roles can help to trace the modification and formation of the choreographer's author's style.

     Why J. Neumeier so radically "modernized" (for 1977) the fantastic world of dreams, deliberately destroying and contrasting his interpretation with all the canons of ballet incarnations of this theme? In ballet performances, you can count a large number of examples of dreams and illusions. This theme passed through the era of romanticism (the Sylphids in "Sylphide", the Villises in "Giselle") and the classical legacy of M. I. Petipa (Shadows in "Bayadere", Nereids in "Sleeping Beauty", White Swans in "Swan Lake") into the performances of the twentieth century. By the time Neumeier turned to Shakespeare's comedy, the images of ballet dreams of the past centuries (fairies, elves, flowers) had already appeared in the productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream by J. Balanchine (1962) and F. Ashton (1964). It is not surprising that the original thinking of J. Neumeier was dictated by a completely different approach to the interpretation of the dream world – or the subconscious – so often touched upon by the choreographer in his subsequent productions ("Othello", "Peer Gynt", "Tatiana", "Anna Karenina").

     The first appearance of Titania and Oberon in Neumeier's A Midsummer Night's Dream also becomes the first duet of the main characters. In the prologue, the stage communication between Hippolyta and Theseus is limited only to short mise-en-scenes, constantly interrupted by the palace steward Philostratus (to the great chagrin of Hippolyta). Now, in the unreal world, the main performers, dressed in sparkling overalls and hats (much more brilliant than the dancers from their entourage), converge from opposite ends of the stage – the dancer from the left, and the ballerina from the right. Moving with wide lunges on non-rotating half-fingers (the ballerina does not use pointe shoes yet, although she will dance exclusively in them) with her hands wound back, the dancers, without looking away, look at each other. Neumeier makes this method of movement of the elf lords a plastic leitmotif. The hypnotizing gaze of the characters directed at each other lasts until the moment when they converge on the center of the stage. The performer of Titania, as if defending herself, rises on pointe shoes and puts forward the elbow of one hand, and the performer of Oberon takes it with a strong-willed movement. The second hand of both dancers remains lowered with fingers spread and tense. Having walked around half a turn in this position, the ballerina finally looks away and falls to her full foot, straining the fingers of the hand that Oberon is holding her by. The dancer, stopping at the wide and non-inverted IV position of the legs, begins to perform jerks–movements, each of which is followed by the ballerina's response: he takes her with his second hand – she bends her hand to the hip; he grabs her forearm for the second time - she bends her leg at the knee. Next, the dancers begin to slowly squat, while the ballerina stretches forward one leg with a shortened foot. Having abruptly reached her, the performer of Titania, as if releasing the tension of the catapult, jumps onto her partner's shoulder, bending over and stretching out her legs. The dancer spins, holding her on his shoulder, and stops facing the audience. Frozen in a "snake" pose, the ballerina bends one leg and leans with both hands on her partner's shoulder.

     At this moment, the elf Peck crawls between Oberon's legs – the double of the annoying Philostratus. Even in another world, he still destroys the privacy of the main characters. The performer of Titania throws her leg over her partner's shoulder, fixing a diamond-shaped geometric figure in her legs. Then, with the pointe of one foot, she leans on the partner's outstretched hand, and takes out the other d?velopp?s ? la seconde.Frozen in such an acrobatic position, the performer of Titania slowly touches her partner's head with her fingers spread out, depicting pressure. With this gesture, she seems to force the inflexible and regal performer Oberon to sit on his knee – so she descends from his shoulders to the floor. After performing the fouett? from the arabesque position to the ?cart?e, the ballerina lunges towards the Player in the foreground and stretches out her outstretched brush to him. Approaching the elf, trembling with fear, she pushes him away with a shortened foot, forcing him to hide.

     At this time, the performer of Oberon rises, who had previously been sitting with one leg bent, with his back to the auditorium (a pose that Neumeier makes characteristic of this hero). As soon as the performer of Titania turns around and looks at him, the dancer performs a double tour in attitude and freezes, holding out a brush to the ballerina with outstretched fingers. The dancer runs up to him, and the partners take the first pose of the duet. Catching the ballerina by the shoulder, the performer of the Oberon lowers her (maintaining the position with her feet gathered and stretched out) to the floor. Turning on her back, the performer of Titania abruptly throws her legs vertically upwards, and the dancer, as if defensively, intercepts them under her knees. From this position, the performer of Oberon lifts the ballerina in one movement so that she is lying on his hip. Bending over and resting her hand on her partner's knee, the dancer freezes in a figurative, lizard-like pose. The dancers synchronously raise and open their second hand. When they, having described a circle, touched, the performer of Oberon sits on his knee and hugs the grouped ballerina (perhaps this is the first embrace of the heroes), but immediately turns her face away from him. Having lowered his partner to the floor, the hero grows above her in full height, spreading his arms wide and obviously wanting to demonstrate his power. But the performer of Titania is not ready to put up with this: she sharply touches the dancer's solar plexus with pointe shoes, thus showing her own strength. Startled, the performer of Oberon uses the leg that struck him as a lever and pulls the ballerina up, putting her on his hip. Frozen, the heroes look into each other's eyes: it becomes obvious that each of them can use the opponent's next lunge to their advantage.

     The performer of the Oberon puts his hand under the dancer's foot, and she begins to climb as if on a ladder. The second step is the partner's shoulder, leaning on which the ballerina bends the other leg, supported only by the hip. This is how the performer of Titania balances: her legs are fixed in the form of a broken line, one hand with outstretched fingers is raised above her head (which evokes associations with a crown), the second is wound back. And at this time, the partner gradually sits on his knees, holding the partner in the described position. The ballerina slowly changes the position of her legs and, stepping over the dancer's head (it costs her nothing just to step over this formidable ruler), sits on his shoulder, supported by his hands. Like an underwater creature, she wraps her body around the kneeling performer Oberon and slides to the floor, dragging him with her. Kneeling on the lower back of the hero lying on his stomach, she leans on his shoulders, and the dancer frantically tries to escape, hitting the floor with his hands and feet. Having freed her partner, the heroine kneels next to him and stretches contentedly. The dancer, finally rising from the floor, wraps his arms around the ballerina's waist and, complementing the support with a somersault, lifts her onto his shoulder. She descends behind the partner's back, remaining on pointe shoes in the II position of the legs. Without letting go of his hand, the performer of Titania again with a sharp movement provokes the partner to fall to the floor. After walking forward a few steps, she imitates the rotation and movement of the dancer on the floor with her hand. At this time, elves from the entourage of the spouses appear on the scene. Staying at the back of the stage, they move in groups of different sizes in opposite directions, creating the effect of a constant change of pattern. Also, the Pec reappears in the foreground.

     Still holding the hand of the performer Oberon lying on the floor, the heroine, quoting the beginning of the duet, sharply bends her leg, and then slowly stretches it forward with a shortened foot. The dancer who has suddenly risen picks her up by the supporting leg in such a way that the body of the ballerina turns towards his back, and the legs fall on his shoulders. Bending back strongly, the performer of Titania seems to "sit" on the hero circling her in the air, and alternately flaps her arms like wings. Taking the partner by one shoulder, the dancer lifts her to outstretched arms (the ballerina with outstretched legs is in a position parallel to the floor). Then, finding herself again on the shoulders of the performer Oberon, she wraps her body around her partner, turning upside down. Having thrown the ballerina in the opposite direction, the dancer fixes the diagonal position of her tense and elongated body, resting on the floor with pointe shoes. So he "carries" his partner along the proscenium, then turns her over again (with the help of a partner, the dancer makes a full wheel in the air), and "carries" her in the opposite direction, although now the performer of Titania rhythmically bends one leg, waving her arm and head (as if diving and swimming).

     The characters are left alone on the stage again. Freed from the hands of the performer Oberon, the ballerina stops in front of him, turning in profile to the auditorium. The dancers quote the pose of the beginning of the duet (only now Oberon is on the right and Titania is on the left): the heroine rises on pointe shoes, putting her bent arm forward, and the partner imperiously takes her by the elbow. Here the performer of Titania notices a Pack in the back of the stage, other elves also slowly enter the stage, moving in a canon (each group of dancers begins to perform the same choreographic combination with a different musical beat). Looking at Peck, the ballerina continues to clearly perform the rhythmic movements of the beginning of the duet. The support following the first bundle in the final of the duet is replaced by a leitmotif from the middle of the duet: the ballerina steps, as if on a ladder, on the partner's arm and shoulder. Only now is the third stage of her ascent being added – this is the hand of the approaching elf, who slowly carries his mistress backstage in the upper support.

     So, the first duet of Titania and Oberon does not have pronounced parts that differ in character or in the tempo of movements. Throughout it, emphatically profiled, graphic and carefully geometric positions of the performers' bodies are actively used, which is accentuated by tight-fitting suits. The plastic solutions of the characters' images announced in the duet are further developed in their subsequent appearances.

     After seeing Titania disappear behind the scenes, the performer of Oberon remains on stage and switches his attention to Pack. After performing a bunch of synchronous movements with him, the main character, standing behind the elf, begins to put pressure on his head with his hand – obviously, instilling his plans:

And if the juice of this flower

We will lubricate the eyelids of the sleeper, — waking up,

He is the first living being,

What he will see, he will fall madly in love ^{[21, p. 212]}.

     The magic flower appears in the subsequent peculiar duet of Oberon and Pack: the main character shows it after lifting the performer of the elf, throws it on his shoulder and puts it on his knee. The difference from Shakespeare's comedy lies in the fact that in the ballet Oberon does not send Pack in search of a flower. In Neumeier's version, viewers see this attribute for the first time in the prologue – Theseus gives a red flower to Hippolyta, and the heroine falls asleep holding it in her hands. Now the flower is in the hands of Oberon, who uses it to play with the Pack: the dancers follow each other in a circle, performing tours de force. But Pack fails to catch up with his master: he turns his charms on one of the elves of the retinue lying on the floor. Spreading his hands wide with closed fingers and performing the grand rond de jambe, the performer of the Oberon goes into a cascade of rotations, picked up by the Pack. The rising elf also fits into their canon and approaches the fairy lying on the floor. Having raised her with his magic, the performer of Oberon continues to beckon Pack with a magic flower, making leitmotif broad lunges, during which the elf grabs him by the neck and tries to reach the desired trophy. After the dancers' synchronized double saut de basque, their attention is drawn to the back of the stage. There, still being in the upper support on one arm of the elf partner, the performer of Titania, surrounded by her retinue, floats by. After seeing the picture, the completely angry Oberon gives Pack a flower and, thinking, moves to the foreground. The performance is followed by love duets, monologues and scenes of other characters (Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, Elena, artisans) who got lost in this magical forest. Oberon observes what is happening first from the foreground (the dancer freezes reclining, in his leitmotif pose with one leg bent), and then from the throne, located in the crown of trees in the center of the back of the stage. He intervenes in the action only when Peck, overly naughty, takes Elena's glasses from her (in Neumeier's version of the short-sighted). Having restored justice, Oberon hides behind the scenes.

     In her next outing, Titania appears with her entourage. This happens before the heroine's dream scene:

Now you lull me to sleep,

Then go: I want to sleep ^{[21, p. 216]}.

     In the ballet, the main character appears from behind the scenes in the upper support on one hand of an elf partner - probably, the choreographer means by this that it is natural for her to be at such a height. The other elves (seven dancers) form a kind of ladder from their backs, lining up perpendicular to the ramp and leaning on different levels. On these steps, the performer of Titania descends, supported on both sides by her hands. Then seven dancers lie down on the floor perpendicular to the ramp, and two lift the ballerina and lay her on a bed of their bodies (then they themselves take a place in the line). The whole living "cradle" begins to move. First, the dancers synchronously turn over from the side to the stomach and from the stomach to the back, and the ballerina makes a turn and remains lying on her back. Each of the elves alternately raises one hand and puts it on the chest of a neighboring artist, then they also bend their arm at the elbow: a fan of hands forms the edge of the cradle. After that, the artists lift their legs perpendicular to the ramp (also alternately, from the edges to the center), and with their hands lift the performer Titania, balancing in a position parallel to the floor. Holding the ballerina, the dancers alternately open their legs to the sides, crossing them with neighboring ones: this creates a bizarre pattern of the other edge of the cradle. Having gathered their legs together, all the elves begin to synchronously tilt their legs in one direction, and the hands holding the performer Titania in the opposite direction. The whole composition produces the effect of a ship rocking on the waves. For the next choreographic construction, the central dancers slightly open their legs and place a ballerina in the resulting gap, now holding only on this support. The other edge of the cradle, formed by the hands, depicts undulating movements, after which all the dancers touch the ballerina. So, holding her in their arms, the elves synchronously sit down, and smoothly lower the performer of Titania onto their shoulders. At some point, the weight of her body is completely transferred to the central dancer, who holds the heroine with open hands. The rest of the participants of the stage sit on their knees, forming a line behind the ballerina and her partner. They first raise one hand, canonically describing a circle to it and placing it on the elbow of a neighboring dancer (the movement is performed in opposite directions from the central elf holding Titania), then the other, mesmerizing with rolling movements. At the same time, the effect is created that each of them is connected with Titania and rocks her. After this combination, all the dancers intercept the ballerina from the central elf and first lift her up at arm's length, then lower her to the floor, bending over her. Extreme dancers cover the edges of the composition with their free hands.

     This scene can be called one of the most extraordinarily original, spectacular and memorable choreographic compositions not only in Neumeier's performances, but also in Western European ballets of the second half of the twentieth century. Neumeier used similar constructions in his other productions ("Daphnis and Chloe", "Tristan"), but, in addition to them, he actively experimented with various types of multi-figure, choreographically saturated compositions.

     Titania's subsequent Dream becomes a dream within a dream, revealing the most hidden and hidden corners of the subconscious of the sleeping Hippolyta. Next to the reclining performer of Titania, Peck appears: he drives away other elves and waves his hands over the heroine's eyes. Stepping aside, he reveals to the audience the figure standing behind him. This is a Base weaver with donkey ears. Lying down on the floor, the dancer begins to roll slowly, and the performer Titania moves behind him. The ballerina sits down on her knees, spreads her arms wide with her fingers spread out and, noticing the Man lying in front of her, begins to study him carefully, passing his nose from head to toe like an animal. Suddenly, she deviates with her whole body – feeling the effect of the flower's charms. With her index finger, as if amused, the ballerina runs all over the dancer's body, then begins to wrap her arms around his legs and, clasping his neck, rocks him. Pushing him away and provoking a somersault, she crouches to the floor, then, still sitting on the floor, turns around her axis and stretches in the splits, languidly opening her arms. After repeating the combination several times, it tends to get closer to the Base, cautiously crawling away from it. Having risen, the performer of Titania resolutely approaches the dancer and climbs onto his shoulders, giving her legs a zigzag shape. In this position, she begins to gently stroke the ears of the Base, waving her arms contentedly, bending and bending (sometimes complementing the movement by changing the position of the legs to a mirror).

     Now the Foundation is clearly changing its attitude towards Titania and their duet begins to have a sensual character. Sliding off the partner's shoulders, the ballerina wraps one leg around his waist and stretches the other; the dancer strokes her legs until she rests against a sharply reduced foot. Changing the position and holding the ballerina by the stomach (the dancer waves her arms and one leg with obvious pleasure), the partner carries her to the corner of the stage, and then throws her on one shoulder. Bending back, the performer of Titania quickly dangles the bottom of her legs and passionately hugs the dancer by the neck, sliding to the floor and dragging him with her. She repeats her turn on the floor with the transition to the splits, only now complementing it with a seductively languid bend and a circle with her hands - and the performer of the Basics repeats the movement after her. Now he is trying to win her favor: standing up in a handstand, he approaches the sitting Titania so that the heroine strokes his ears. Such a plastic grotesque soon leads to the climax of the duet: the dancer gets down on all fours, and the ballerina, approaching him, stands full-length on his back. The performer of the Basics begins to slowly sway back and forth, which is reflected in the balance of the dancer, then squatting and winding her arms back, then growing up again. When she gets down to the floor, she rises on pointe shoes and clamps his head between her legs. Growing up, the dancer intercepts the ballerina so that her legs form a rhombus. Wrapping her partner's body around her, the Titania performer first bends backwards, then forwards, reaching up to her own legs and hugging the Base like an unknown insect. At this moment, Oberon appears on the stage (walking with wide lunges on half-fingers, as at the beginning of the first duet) and begins to follow what is happening with interest. The base takes Titania deep into the stage, stopping in the middle of it. The artists are illuminated only by a light beam: the partner puts the ballerina on her hands, then puts her on her stomach and, sitting on top, begins to describe circular movements with her foot. The ballerina lies down on him and, lifted in the arms of her partner, bends, constantly moving her legs.

     This is how Neumeier illustrates this erotic scene, which soon goes into darkness and is blocked by the emerging decoration of the tree-throne. Oberon, leaning back and forth, imitates laughter, and Peck, who has appeared on the stage, approaches him. Alternating broad lunges with the IV position on the half-fingers (a new kind of hero's gait), the performer of Oberon crosses the stage. Then, rotating tours cha?n?s, he approaches his throne at the back of the stage. The obsessive Peck follows him, repeating every move. However, the lord is pleased with his servant: sitting down next to the throne, Oberon pats Pack on the head. Obviously, this is exactly the effect he was waiting for from his plan. Having occupied a convenient observation post, Oberon and Peck continue to follow the twists and turns of the entangled relationships of human heroes. But at some point, the king of the elves notices that his servant has confused everything by using the flower incorrectly, and becomes enraged. He stomps his feet and pushes the elf with a shortened foot, and then begins to go behind the scenes with his characteristic step. The offended Peck very funny imitates him, hobbling behind.

     The next time he appears on stage, Oberon discovers that the relationship of the characters in love is only more confused, and sends a thunderstorm to the forest. The audience finds themselves once again in the world of alien creatures, which concludes the first act of the ballet.

     In his version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, John Neumeier loops the theme of Sleep and the illusory fantasy of Hippolyta. In the finale of the play, after the happy ending of the plot and the wedding divertissement of three couples in love, the choreographer returns to the motive of the heroine's subconscious. The stage lights are dimmed, and it seems as if the performance is already over. But the figure of the main character appears in the light beam, reincarnated as Titania. She rolls across the stage, and Oberon comes out of the wings, walking with his formidable gait. Holding a magic flower in his hands, he himself conjures over his sleeping wife (quoting the movements of the first act). When she wakes up, she sees her husband and the charms help them reunite. Now the movements of the performer Titania do not resemble a competition or a duel, but are linear and cantilevered in nature (the arabesque pose and travel in it, slow twine and final support on the partner's outstretched arms). The final pose of Titania and Oberon confirms the happy relationship of this hypostasis of the main characters: the ballerina, upside down, embraces the hero, gently looking into his eyes. "It is incomprehensible how D. Neumeier managed to create the illusion of dreams, relying only on plastic ... one endless flowing gesture, whose exquisite and free line draws the whole world of sleep" ^{[8, p.32]}.

     So, when staging the analyzed roles of Titania and Oberon, J. Neumeier used qualitatively new, including non-traditional plastic methods, which were significant in the context of his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and influenced the further development of the choreographic style of the choreographer.