Prodigal Son | In The Spotlight
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Libretto: Boris Kochno
Design: Georges Rouault
Lighting: Ronald Bates
Premiere: 21st May 1929, Paris
Duration: 35-40 minutes
Prodigal Son, although lesser known, is a pivotal work in ballet history. Premiered in 1929, only three months before Diaghilev’s untimely death, it was the last ballet to be premiered by the Ballet Russes, closing their final Paris season and marking the end of a significant ballet era.
Premiere Cast:
The Son: Serge Lifar
The Siren: Felia Doubrovska
Other: Eleanora Marra, Nathalie Branitzka, Michael Fedorov, Léon Woizikowsky, Anton Dolin
Libretto:
Kochno’s libretto was inspired by the biblical story of the same name, as well as a passage from Alexander Pushkin’s short story, "The Stationmaster", which features descriptions of engravings that depict the story of the Prodigal Son. I have shared a translation of the excerpt below as it does well to illustrate the synopsis of the ballet, as well as its structure of three clear sections: ‘a rebellious son leaving his father, engaging in debauchery resulting in disastrous consequences, and returning home begging forgiveness.’ Reducing the biblical story to its rudiments, Kochno, added the character of The Siren as a way to personify the temptation that is such a large crux of the story.
Excerpt: The Station-Master (1831) by Alexander Pushkin
“They represented the story of the Prodigal Son: in the first, a venerable old man, in a night-cap and dressing-gown, parts with the restless youth, who hastily accepts his blessing and a bag of money. In the next, the dissipated conduct of the young man is portrayed in glaring colours: he is sitting at a table, surrounded by false friends and shameless women. Farther on, the ruined youth, in a tattered shirt and cocked hat, is seen feeding swine and sharing their meal; his face expresses deep sorrow and repentance. His return to his father is last represented: the good old man, in the very same night-cap and dressing-gown, rushes to meet him; the prodigal son is on his knees; in the background, the cook is slaying the fatted calf, and the elder brother is inquiring of the servants the reason for so much rejoicing.”
Choreography & Design:
Balanchine’s choreography for Prodigal Son came as quite a surprise for those who were familiar with his work. Generally he was known for his clarity, neoclassicism, definite musicality, and exploration of shape and formation, as seen in some of his later works, such as Serenade (1934) and Symphony in C (1947). He tended to prefer to de-emphasise any narratives, enhanced by his simple costumes and set design choices, in order to allow the ‘dance be the star of the show’, as he once stated in an interview. Nevertheless, Prodigal Son, seemed to go against much of his signature simplicity and restraint, requiring an elevation of the story and bold set and costume designs by none other than Georges Rouault. It was a project that posed a new challenge for Balanchine, one that many initially doubted his suitability for.
Collaboratively, it seemed to be a tense process. Balanchine remembers Rouault rarely speaking during rehearsals and his reluctance to share his designs with anyone. Desperate, Diaghilev procured Rouault’s hotel key and snuck into his room, purloining a selection of sketches that became the basis for the ballet’s set design. Overall, the designs for this ballet are strikingly contemporary. The backdrops are brazenly abstract in a slight childish manner that adds to the theatrical nature of the production. The band of hooligan’s that the Prodigal Son erroneously becomes acquainted with are depicted as these grotesque, green, bald, frog-like beings that seem less like humans and more like creatures. There is a touch of ugliness and brashness to the designs. Nothing is so hideous that it would be an assault on the eye, but nothing is overtly beautiful either. There is an earthiness and roughness to many of his choices.
Balanchine’s choreography within the Prodigal Son showcases his excellent ability to choreograph for a narrative, despite it being outside of his preference. This is evidenced through the clear and effortless characterisation of his characters. Unafraid to explore bold and explosive gestures and unusual and acrobatic lifts, often in a heavy contrast to ballet’s elegant lines and rigid traditions, he steps further into a contemporary style that is full of expression, drama, and personality. For example, the bald band of hooligans are characterised by almost permanent crouch-like positions and loutish, drunken movements that do well to display their messy depravity and villainy. The dances he created for The Siren, the temptress, have inspirations akin to a snake charmer, using her long cloak as part of the choreography to hypnotise to Prodigal and bring him to his knees. She is sensual, but with an iciness that reveals her potential disdain and merciless attitude towards the men that get caught in the web of her seduction. Her high hat and pointe shoes allow her to tower over the Prodigal, further asserting her dominance. In a ballet unusually led by male characters, this central female role is uniquely one of power and superiority, augmenting the uniqueness of the production.
Composition:
It seems that Prokofiev was the most bewildered by the choreographical and design choices made by Balanchine and Rouault, finding them to be too contemporary and impractical. He had a preference for realism, wanting the sets bedecked with ‘real glass goblets [and] real velvet cushions'. His vision for The Siren was one of demurity rather than the overt sexual promiscuity captured by Balanchine. Therefore, as the choices made by his two collaborators were so opposite to his own tastes and inclination, there was no surprise that he was upset by them. Although Prokofiev conducted the premiere, a premiere that resulted in success with the production praised by both the audience and the critics, he still ‘refused to pay Balanchine royalties for his choreography’, highlighting his ongoing dissatisfaction.
“I could talk to Prokofiev, but he wouldn’t talk to me.”
Interestingly, in general, Balanchine had a great admiration for composers, having trained at both the Imperial Ballet School and the Conservatory of Music in St Petersburg. He saw music as the ‘floor for dancing’. It was the foundation on which everything else was built and he worked hard to reflect the melodies, textures, and rhythms within the movements and gestures that he created, an approach that became a signature aspect of his work.
This attitude is evident within the Prodigal Son. Balanchine does well to bring Prokofiev’s score to life, and Prokofiev’s score does well to support, enhance, and give context to Balanchine’s dauntless choreography. What came first, the choreography or the composition, it is unclear. What is clear is that in spite of the composer and choreographer’s creative differences, they still managed to find a way to come together and create production where, at least from the audience’s point of view, the music and the dance complement each other well.
Maybe Prokofiev put aside is disappointment and apprehension in order to compose this energetic score that certainly lays the foundation for the coarse and oafish choreography for the band of hooligans, and the icy seduction of The Siren. Or perhaps he was unaware of his own contemporary choices within the score juxtaposing rhythmic and dissonant material with lyrical melodies, enhancing the overall emotional dramatism within the production. Maybe, in the hands of another choreographer, Prokofiev would have received his preferred realism and more conventional approach to story-telling that he was either more accustomed to or more desiring of, but, viewing this ballet through a modern lens, there is no doubt that this collaboration with Balanchine and Rouault was a successful and unique blend of all of their talents.
Listen to Prokofiev’s Prodigal Son here:
Tracks 7 - 16
Read more about Prokofiev here:
Sources:
‘The Station-Master’ by Alexander Pushkin (1831)
“A Dancer’s Choreographer: Looking at the Creation of Three Signature Works” by Zoë Anderson
“A Floor for Dancing: Balanchine’s Scores” by Gavin Plumely
