posted April 23, 2002 13:45            

quote:

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A new commissioned ballet in 4 acts with an original libretto based on J.R.R. Tolkien's magical world of Middle-Earth, to an original score by Butler composer-in-residence Frank Felice.

The Silmaril recounts the pre-history of The Lord of the Rings and explores the love of Beren, a mortal hero, and Luthien, the immortal elf-maiden, and their conquest of a stolen jewel from the grip of the Lord of Evil.

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posted July 07, 2002 14:38         

The official website hasn't been launched yet, but will be shortly and the Butler dance site will have a link (http://www.butler.edu/dance/butler_ballet.html).

I'm really excited about the ballet so I could go on and on about it and bore you, but the important details are these:

The Silmaril
A new ballet based on the story of Beren and Luthien from J.R.R. Tolkien's THE SILMARILLION
Presented by the Butler Ballet under the direction of Stephan Laurent
Original orchestral score by Frank Felice
Story adapted by Ellen Denham
April 25-27, 2003
Clowes Hall, Indianapolis

posted July 07, 2002 14:53            

I bet there isn't anything you can say about either Tolkien or the ballet that would bore me. I can't imagine being bored by either of those subjects. Please tell us more........

In your opinion what aspects of the Silmarillion makes it suitable for dance?

Do you think the other Tolkien stories are suitable?

posted July 07, 2002 14:54            

I'm sure you'll get a few takers.

Just so the URL is clickable, here it is again:

posted July 07, 2002 15:23         

Those are some good questions. I can answer the first one with a quote from a presentation I gave about the ballet:

"The story of Beren and Lúthien seems to me to be a natural subject for a ballet, because after all, there is a lot of dancing in it! Beren first falls in love with Lúthien when he sees her dancing upon the grass in a woodland glade. When Lúthien comes before the throne of Morgoth, the original source of evil himself, she offers to dance for him, and in doing so weaves a spell of sleep that allows the capture of a Silmaril and her escape with Beren."

A longer excerpt from the presentation can be found at: http://www.tolkienonline.com/docs/5282.html though the name of the composer is incorrect in that article.

I have been a Tolkien nut since I was able to read, so I'm thrilled to be part of the production. I am sure there are other stories that might lend themselves well to dance, and off the top of my head I think the creation of Middle-earth might be nice since it is all started with music. The tale of Turin Turambar I have often thought would make a good opera, but I suppose ballet might be possible as well.

I can't really see a Lord of the Rings ballet, though there was a dance production of 'The Hobbit' not too long ago I believe in Norway.

The Silmarillion is a very long book and even the story of Beren and Luthien had to be cut down substantially to write the libretto.

As for the style of the ballet, that is really a better question for the choreographers, but it is probably going to look more neoclassical with some modern dance influence.

posted July 07, 2002 15:56            

I take it that Stephan Laurent is your husband (if I read that correctly) - will he be doing the choreography?

Also, I noted that you are a classical singer. I tried to hear you sing on the player provided at your site - but the timing was not correct - like an old fashioned 33 1/3 record going too fast.

May I ask you - can you visualize background singing in this ballet a la the children's choir in Carmina Buranna? or the choir of voices in the dance of the Snowflakes in Nutcracker? It would lend an 'otherworldly' atmosphere/sound. What do you think?

posted July 07, 2002 17:30         

I need to fix that link from my webpage with the sound file - apparently the software I used is outdated or something. Thanks for letting me know!

The possibility had occurred to us to use singers at some point in the production, but I don't think the composer has any current plans to do that at this point. I think that a lot of the 'etherealness' of the elves will be represented by harps.

And how I went about adapting it - well, I started by rereading the three published versions of the Beren and Luthien story, though I wanted to stick mostly to the most familiar version in The Silmarillion. I tried to take into account the fact that Butler has a lot of dancers who need roles. I started out with a more grandiose plan to start with a prologue depicting the creation of the world and the separate destinies given to Elves and Men, and planned to include Sauron, but quickly realized that this would end up being a trilogy! I decided to cut the story out of its context and focus on the love story, the quest for the Silmaril, and the choice Luthien makes. Sauron doesn't make it in there, nor do Feanor's sons, but Huan, Melian, Thingol, Morgoth, Mandos, and Carcharoth all show up!

posted July 07, 2002 18:17            

Ellen's libretto quickly captured my imagination and that of my co-choreographers on the Butler dance faculty (and we have some heavy-hitters there. If you don't want to believe me, does the name "Norman Walker" mean anything to you?). Anyway, this is obviously the highlight of the Butler Ballet's 2002-03 season. A new web page giving details about the production will go online in a few days... just go to www.butler.edu/dance/butler_ballet.html to find the link (effective July 10 or thereabout).

I am a relatively recent, but firm convert to the Professor's wonderful world and promise to try to make this world premiere an exciting and memorable event. Beren and Luthien's story, in Ellen's fabulous libretto, makes for quite a world premiere. Frank Felice's score, of which I just heard the first few sketches on midi rendition, promises to pack quite a punch. And the Butler Ballet is renowned for presenting productions with technical merit, artistic valor, authenticity and visual punch.

Mark your calendars... April 25-27, 2003, Clowes Memorial Hall, Indianapolis. Tickets go on sale September 1, 2002.

Gee, I hate to sound like a marketer... I'm just a choreographer/director - but I bet every word I said in the post above will be found to be true come next April. Have I got your interest yet? ;-)

With fond regards to all you dance lovers,

Stephan

posted July 08, 2002 13:07         

I previously said that the Hobbit ballet I read about was in Norway - I jogged my memory and recalled that it was actually in Finland. I don't know much about what the costumes or anything else was like, but I wish I could have seen it! I think that The Hobbit is an excellent choice for a ballet, particularly for children.

Costume design hasn't even begun yet for The Silmaril, but most probably it won't be very classical, e.g., no white tutus, and the elf women will probably be wearing something very soft and flowing. Luthien will be in blue, as described in the book. We are going to stick to the book as much as possible when descriptions are given.

posted July 09, 2002 20:52            

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Stephan Laurent
laurent@butler.edu
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