Great news! While we still have season tickets available, single tickets to BTM shows are on sale TODAY. Visit our Napoli page to get your tickets to this sunny, adventurous production!
Not familiar with Napoli? You're not alone! This 1842 work by August Bournonville has only been performed by a few companies in the United States, so Ballet Theatre of Maryland is thrilled to present it as part of our mainstage season at Maryland Hall on October 26 & 27. Read on to learn a few things about this iconic Danish ballet.
Bournonville: A Brief History
Dancer, choreographer, and ballet director August Bournonville was born in Copenhagen in 1805. After early training with his father, Antoine, and Italian teacher Vincenzo Galeotti, August Bournonville studied in Paris with Auguste Vestris and Pierre Gardel.
A few years after his return to the Royal Danish Ballet, Bournonville created one of the earliest surviving ballets: La Sylphide (1836). Although Filippo Taglioni had first staged La Sylphide with his daughter Marie in the title role in 1832, Bournonville's interpretation of the story with music by Herman Severin Løvenskiold is the production that has survived to the present day.
The ballet Napoli came a few years later, in 1840. Audience members will notice that Napoli has a more grounded and human quality than some of the other ballets BTM has recently performed--Napoli is a much closer cousin to Giselle (which premiered in Paris in 1841) than it is to Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker (produced in Russia in 1889 and 1892, respectively).
Bournonville's choreography is quick, complex, and often joyful. Where later ballets such as Swan Lake emphasize partnering with overhead lifts and other feats of strength, Bournonville's dancing couples are just as likely to dance side-by-side. This echoes ballet's emergence from the French courts and is part of Bournonville's charm.
According to Jennifer Homans in her ballet history Apollo's Angels, Bournonville's methodology had all of the steps and techniques seen in the French school by the early 19th century, but with a more controlled and modest approach: "It prized decorum and propriety, clean lines and unfettered gestures...His best ballets did not feature gods or heroes but focused instead on fishermen, sailors, and other simple folk" (p. 189).
Such is the case in Napoli, which follows the plucky fisherman Gennaro and his beloved Teresina.
Napoli: The Story
Our story takes place in Naples, a city that Bournonville came to adore. In many ways, Napoli was an excuse for him to recreate the vibrancy and color of his time there on the Royal Danish stage.
Our two lead characters, Gennaro and Teresina, have a problem common to many ballet couples: Teresina's mother does not wish for them to marry. She presents Teresina with two other suitors, but Teresina refuses them both. Seeing how in love the pair is, Teresina's mother gives her blessing for them to be together.
Gennaro and Teresina set sail to start their life together, but then a terrible storm strikes. The Neapolitans (citizens of Naples, that is) recover Gennaro, but Teresina is nowhere to be found. Teresina's mother lashes out at Gennaro in her grief.
Feeling responsible, Gennaro does not know how he can go on without Teresina. Fortunately, his religious faith saves him; after seeing a statue of the Virgin Mary and encountering a local monk, Gennaro resolves to search for his bride.
He soon finds her in The Blue Grotto. If you've seen Swan Lake, you know how this one goes: a fearsome enchanter has been capturing women and transforming them into some new shape, and now he's chosen our female protagonist as his latest prize. In the case of Napoli, the sorcerer Golfo has turned Teresina into another of his naiads, or water spirits.
Complicating matters further, this transformation has locked Teresina's memories away. She does not recognize Gennaro! Through the strength of Gennaro's love and devotion, Teresina regains her memories and transforms back into a human.
Back home in Naples, everyone is startled to see the supposedly drowned Teresina. They are certain that the devil must be involved. Once Gennaro and Teresina convince everyone that she is alive, everyone celebrates in classic ballet style: exciting dances with the whole town crowded around them.
Napoli's Highlights: What to Watch For
Napoli has many of the familiar elements that later ballets would draw on, including the insistence of young love, the breaking of a wicked enchantment, and ultimately a happy ending. You'll want to watch for the emphasis on pantomime in Act I, especially as Teresina's two suitors try to win her hand and then later when Gennaro resolves to go in search of her.
Act II's Blue Grotto follows the ballet blanc (or, perhaps, ballet bleu) format of a large and uniform corps de ballet. It is inspired by the real-life La Grotta Azzurra off of the island of Capri, and it lives up to its name! Sunlight enters this grotto through an underwater opening, causing the water to take on its iconic azure coloring. Sailors have long held superstitions about the grotto, making it the perfect setting for an enchanter and his naiads.
Act III features a highlight of the ballet: the tarantella! Frenzied dancing associated with the bite of a tarantula grew into this Italian folk dance, which Bournonville incorporated into Napoli. You'll love the energetic celebration this brings to Gennaro and Teresina's wedding reception.
To see the tarantella, join us for Napoli on October 26 and 27! Buy individual tickets to the show today or consider purchasing a season subscription so that you don't miss a single moment. This year's productions include Napoli, The Nutcracker, Momentum: A Mixed Bill, and Swan Lake.
Check back soon for updates on what our dancers have been up to this summer and our first few local shows of the season. This year is going to be a big one!
Buyers Beware!
Despite the many resellers prevalent online, tickets for performances by the Ballet Theatre of Maryland are only sold through BalletMaryland.org and Eventbrite.com. Purchasing tickets from any other seller or website runs the risk of receiving fraudulent tickets or paying inflated prices. Unauthorized third-party tickets may be invalid for admittance, and the Ballet Theatre of Maryland is not responsible for any lost or stolen third-party tickets. So that we can serve you in the best manner, please purchase your tickets at www.BalletMaryland.org or by phone at (410) 224-5644.
Promotional images by Joanne Marie Photography.
Pictured: Michael West Jr and Lauren Martinez; Lindsey Bell and Isaac Martinez
Resources: Britannica - August Bournonville
To learn more about the tarantella, enjoy Ballet Reign's YouTube video!
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