From May 25 to 29, 2022, the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève performs “Tristan & Isolde” by choreographer Joëlle Bouvier. A poetic and romantic work that aims to be universal. Two Ukrainian dancers also take part in the show.
Choreographer of the ballet, Joëlle Bouvier remembers the beginnings of this ambitious project: “Philippe Cohen, the director of the ballet, offered me several works. At first I was very tempted by ‘Tosca’, and at the same time I found that the challenge of working on Wagner’s music was interesting. It’s music that is not danceable and at the same time that can be absolutely overwhelming. It makes you want to go with the body, to marry with it. “
A ballet that goes to the essential
“We worked on the whole work, only on the opera, with the singers that the public will not see on stage, and music of which they will not know the words, unless they speak German. I am there went by instinct, trying to retain key moments of drama and the timeline of the show. No matter how much the audience knows the story in detail, this show is regarding big emotions, big engines running human relations”, continues the choreographer interviewed by the RTS.
I didn’t want to choreograph a narrative or psychological dance. This danced work belongs to the world of dreams and poetry.
Carefully selected passages
Wagner’s original work lasts four hours, but Joëlle Bouvier has made a selection of an hour and a half, keeping the important passages. “I worked with a music advisor, Patrick Roudier, and Daniel Dollé, an artistic advisor and playwright who knew Wagner and his writing well. I also met an unconditional fan of the composer who gave me the track of Mathilde Wesendonck, the wife of Wagner’s patron, with whom he would have fallen in love. This impossible love would have inspired the opera ‘Tristan and Isolde’. It inspired me a lot.” The poem “Wesendonck Lieder”, written by Mathilde Wesendonck and set to music by Wagner, also appears in the show.
>> To watch, the choreographer Joëlle Bouvier presents “Tristan and Isolde”:
To understand the original work and its text, Joëlle Bouvier also listened to it with the libretto. Gradually, she understood the importance of the character of Isolde. “In the whole first act, she talks regarding why she wants revenge, what happened before, why the situation is the way it is. That’s what I tried to put in the prelude. Tristan fought, and he was nursed back to health by Isolde, who fell in love with him knowing he was her lover’s murderer. But all of this the public doesn’t need to know regarding…”
Interview by Anya Leveille
Web adaptation: Myriam Semaani
“Tristan & Isolde”Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, from May 25 to 29, 2022.