Notre Dame de Paris
Maurice Jarre
Notre-Dame de Paris
Ballet in 2 acts, 13 scenes
Running time: 2 hours (including one interval)
Please note that the age limit is 10+
Management reserves the right to substitute performers
Libretto and Choreography by Roland Petit
based on the novel by Victor Hugo
Co-produced by Astana Opera and Les Ballets Roland Petit Foundation (France)
The premiere took place on 11 December 1965 at the Paris Opera.
In 1844, Jules Perrot staged the ballet La Esmeralda based on Victor Hugo’s novel. However, Roland Petit changed back the original title to assert his interpretation: “I want the Middle Ages to be forgotten, so that the tragic meaning of Victor Hugo’s creation becomes clearer to the audience.”
At the centre of his ballet is not the beautiful gypsy, but Quasimodo. The choreographer, who was also the first performer of this role, needed no disfiguring costume or makeup – he ‘danced’ his deformity. Quasimodo’s transformation – from the dog-like devotion to his ‘master’ Claude Frollo to the heroic attempt to save the innocent Esmeralda and avenge her death – is convincingly presented on stage.
The sharp grotesque, imbued with modern plasticity, accentuates perfect beauty of classical dance in the ballet Notre-Dame de Paris. Harsh reality and grim fantasy intertwine in this monumental tragic spectacle. If the 19th-century La Esmeralda had an obligatory happy ending, the lone miserable Quasimodo is the only character who is left alive in the severe 20th-century performance.
The celebrated fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, who created the costumes for the ballet, shocked the whole Parisian beau monde by dressing the heroine in a daring mini – at a time when miniskirts were only just coming into fashion. Yet he was convinced that Esmeralda, the irresistibly beautiful woman, must appear in such a white-lilac mini-dress.
It was a triumph for Roland Petit and his creative team: almost immediately after the premiere, Notre-Dame de Paris has become a classic of world choreography.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Ballet Master-Producer – Luigi Bonino
Costume Designer – Yves Saint-Laurent
Music Director and Conductor – Arman Orazgaliyev
Conductor – Ruslan Baimurzin, Holder of the Order of Kurmet
Set Designer – René Allio
Assistant Ballet Master-Producer – Gillian Whittingham
Revival Costume Designer – Philippe Binot
Lighting Designer and Production Coordinator – Jean-Michel Desire
Revival Assistant Costume Designer – Assel Dosmuratova
Artistic Director of the Ballet – Altynai Asylmuratova, Honoured Artist of Russia
MAIN ROLES AND PERFORMERS:
Esmeralda – Aigerim BEKETAYEVA, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan (29, 31 October)
Shugyla ADEPKHAN (30 October)
Quasimodo – Baktiyar ADAMZHAN, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan (29, 31 October)
Galymzhan NURMUKHAMET (debut, 30 October)
Frollo – Aibar TOKTAR (29, 31 October)
Serik NAKYSPEKOV (30 October)
Phoebus – Dias KURMANGAZY (29, 31 October)
Yerkin RAKHMATULLAYEV, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan
(30 October)
ORCHESTRA, BALLET ARTISTS, CHORUS AND EXTRAS
OF THE ASTANA OPERA THEATRE
