Charles JUDE: “You could call me a representative of Slavic choreography”
The Serge Lifar International Ballet Festival ended the week before last at the National Opera of Ukraine with the National Opera of Bordeaux’s ballet troupe presenting works by two outstanding choreographers, Marius Petipa (who laid the foundations of the Slavic ballet school) and Serge Lifar (founder of neoclassicism in ballet). While Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Nutcracker Suite, along with Minkus’s Pachita and Glazunov’s Raymonda are quite familiar to the Ukrainian audiences (these ballets are constantly on the capital’s repertoire), Serge Lifar’s interpretations were performed for the first time and received with utmost interest. All date from an early stage of his career: Debussy’s L’apres-Midi D’un Faune, Honegger’s and Sifer’s Icaru, and Lalo’s Suite in White .
“The Lifar style above all means a classically clear pattern, yet it’s not purely classical dancing; it is classic complemented with a modern plasticity,” says Yuri Stanishevsky, president of the Ukrainian Dance Academy. “All his productions are extremely musical, so much so they boast an identity of plastique images, captivating rhythm, and a complete revelation of the dramatic character. Here all the movements blend harmoniously. His dances are inherently on the cantilena side, meaning they are lyrical, melodic, and fit to be sung. Lifar shows no unjustified producer’s gestures, and the audience watches his dances and seems to hear a song at the same time. He developed a whole new ballet trend, and we could see the best samples as interpreted by French masters. They gave us a real dance feast.”
LIFAR COULD CALL A REHEARSAL AT TWO IN THE MORNING
We met with Charles Jude, choreographer, dancer, and head of the Bordeaux National Opera’s ballet troupe, during a break between rehearsals.
“I first met Serge Lifar at the Paris Opera in 1976,” recalls Jude. “Alexander Kaliuzhny, my professor, was his friend and danced with the Lifar group. I was working on Giselle when my professor asked Serge to help me with my part as Albrecht. Lifar was advanced in years, but his authority remained tremendous. I was just starting in my career. Quite honestly, I was scared to work with him at first. We started by analyzing the whole performance in detail. He showed me the entrance in the second act, with flowers, cloak, and ribbon; how I should move my hand so the ribbon would seem to pass through the body and then follow me. He insisted that I keep the flowers lowered, as this would instantly show how grief-stricken I was after Giselle’s death. Then he stopped and suddenly asked where my hat-and-plumes was. I told him there was none in the new version and he was quite perplexed. He assumed (quite correctly) that a count would not walk around bare-headed. There were no trifles for him. Lifar had perfect command of the dancing art and was keenly aware of every mise en scene, even the lighting. He said that one to be precise in every gesture, that sometimes a single nuance helped reveal the character. He knew precisely when and where to pause so the spotlight would catch your face and when the flowers should change hands and run with your back to the audience, making a wide circle round the stage, then stop abruptly as though noticing something and turn around sharply with a frightened face. For at that precise moment Giselle would emerge from her grave. Serge considered the scene the peak of the ballet, and when he still danced critics wrote that his interpretation was one of the most gripping psychologically.
“We staged Prometheus after Giselle, but it was modern dance with an unusual wardrobe, all the costumes white and skintight, head included, so only the faces showed. All the pas de deux were neoclassical, and here Lifar was the trendsetter. Then he showed me Icarus and the Suite in White where I danced the mazurka, pas des cinq, and adagio. I also danced as Hyppolite in Phedre, but that was more like drama than ballet.
“Serge was quite patient working on a ballet. He never missed mistakes and noticed the tiniest nuance. He loved rehearsals, striving to bring every pas to perfection — and this was true of both soloists and the corps des ballet. He never replaced or attenuate the sophisticated elements, believing that if he could perform them anyone else could also. Before starting on a project, he would try to get to know every dancer better. Depending on the performer’s character, he would suggest slow or quick variations. Of course, he had favorites, as a rule the most gifted dancers. He worked onstage like a man possessed and forgot all about the conventionalities. He could call at two in the morning if he had an idea and wanted to share it come what may. He would summon you to the studio and start rehearsing there and then.
“Offstage, Serge was a cheerful and easily amused individual. He loved a good joke. We would often have lunch together; he was a gourmet. Proudly, he would declare that he had never been on a diet and never had any weight problems; he would poke fun at ballerinas waging a lifelong struggle with extra calories.”
Charles Jude admits that he is very fond of Serge Lifar as an extraordinary personality and will always admire him as a choreographer. A recipient of the most prestigious government decorations (Legion of Honor and an Order of the Arts and Literature), Jude treasures the Lifar Prize he won in 1988.
“The program we brought is meant to illustrate the early stage in Serge Lifar’s career,” he continues, “as Icarus and L’apres-Midi D’un Faune were staged in the mid-1930s. The Suite in White appeared in 1943. There is a well-known model of the Faun developed by Vaslav Nijinsky and Jerome Robinson. Their ballet turned out languorous, perhaps even sensual and with crowd scenes. And the critics responded in various ways. Lifar said his interpretation was born after he got into an argument with Nijinsky. Serge’s production was kept in a style we call neoclassical moderne these days. He changed the finale and made a solo ballet. Lifar was narcissistic in his creative approach; he wanted to be first in everything, he did everything so everybody would see him in the first place.
NUREYEV WAS MY FATHER, BROTHER, AND FRIEND
“I took up ballet by chance and very late, at 16. I’m Asian on my mother’s side and was born in Vietnam. We came to France because of the war there. Studying music and dancing was my father’s idea. I have four sisters and two brothers, all conservatory graduates, but I was the only one to make a name in ballet. My younger sister is a musician. I studied in Nice, but you could all me a representative of the Slavic school of choreography,” Charles smiles. “Judge yourself. I had a Russian professor, Alexander Kaliuzhny, then I worked with Serge Lifar and George Balanchine, and then with Rudolf Nureyev for twenty years. They were all spectacular personalities but absolutely different by temperament and attitude toward others and art.
“I met Balanchine when he was looking for a dancer for The Prodigal Son. He chose me, and I was flattered. I also danced in his Apollo and solo parts in The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Crystal Palace, and Violin Concerto. I remember Balanchine as serene, slow-speaking, and immaculately dressed. His knowledge of music was immense. He was a short man but adored tall girls and dedicated his productions to them. In many ballets he offered dancers a chance to boast their well-practiced pas invariably followed by ovations.
“Rudolf Nureyev marked a very significant period in my life. He was my father, brother, and friend. I first saw him on an Azure Coast beach. His appearance sent the other vacationers astir, but Rudolf seemed unaware of all those eyes glued to him. He had arrived at the Paris Opera Ballet with Natalia Makarova to dance in Swan Lake. He would come to the rehearsals and watch the dancers. He chose me for his production. He was the author of original renditions such as Cinderella, Raymonda, and Washington Square, and we worked on them together. I also danced the title part in Tristan which he staged for the Paris Opera Ballet. Nureyev was a rebel by character (something that kept many a colleague at a distance), but also a brilliant dancer, so I didn’t care about all his antics. He could be insufferable during rehearsals. When he showed something it had to be done correctly the very first time. If something went wrong he could just turn and leave, slamming the door with a bang. Rudolf was fond of repeating that in dancing there is never enough time. Once he was asked in an interview whether there were any other dancers of his caliber anywhere else in the world. He replied, ‘There are lots of excellent dancers that know how to dance well, but it takes something else to be a star.’ I took part in the tours of his group Nureyev & Friends for more than twelve years. I consider that period one of the most rewarding experiences in my life and a school of mastery. Those tours brought me in front of the best audiences in the United States, Royal Ballet in London, Vienna Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet. I took master classes from Nikolay Bezobrazov in Monaco and at the French Association of Classical Dance Masters.”
MANY WESTERN BALLERINAS CAN’T DANCE ON POINTS
“I have worked with the National Opera of Bordeaux since 1996. Before signing the contract I told them I wanted to return the classical style to their company. Previously the ballet group consisted of thirty dancers doing mostly modern dance. I added ten dancers to the corps des ballet and could now handle classical pieces. We have an international cast, including a Ukrainian, Yevhen Uzlenkov. I combine choreography with dancing ballet parts. I’m glad that Vain Precaution is back on the repertoire, for this ballet marked a turning point in world choreography. The great Marius Petipa started his career at Bordeaux. I revived his Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Raymonda. Our renditions of Giselle, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Petrushka, Lilac Orchard, Romeo and Juliet, and Salon Dances are very popular. As you see, we keep our repertoire varied. Swan Lake will premiere this May. In fact, we update it every year, inviting leading US, Dutch, and British choreographers for modern balets.
“I think that the classic school is the basis for a dancer. If he can master it he has command of a richer choreographic language. For example, we know Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as a model school. We consider productions by Maurice Bejart, Roland Petit, and Yury Grigorovich as innovative, but in short while young ballet masters regard these gifted choreographers as classics, a modern choreographer, if he has mastered the language of dance, can use points, gym shoes, or even regular shoes, or he can have the cast dance barefoot. The important thing is not what you wear but how you can use that plastique language to convey your message. Here is a very good example. George Balanchine staged modern ballets, but all of his ballerinas danced on points, the way they do in classical ballet. Points allow you to perform technically more complicated elements. Many Western ballerinas can’t dance on points simply because they lack the professional training.
“Our company receives 70% of the financing from the municipal budget; 15% is provided by the department and government subsidies. We stage four or five premieres a year and we tour a host of countries. Recently we returned from a three month tour of America after 68 performances.”
In conclusion, Charles Jude thanked the organizing committee of the Kyiv festival for the welcome accorded the French dancers. He said he hoped his company would visit the Ukrainian capital on more than one occasion, and that Ukrainian performers would appear on the stage of the National Opera in Bordeaux. He wants to stage Lifar’s Mirage and Phedre if the maestro’s widow, Lillan Ahlefeldt, gives her permission to include the renditions in the Ukrainian National Opera’s repertoire. Charles readily admitted he was enchanted by Kyiv. They had a day off and visited St. Sophia’s Cathedral, the Kyiv Pecherska Lavra Monastery of the Caves, and Andriyivsky uzviz. They also bought souvenirs that would remind them of their four February days in Ukraine.
