ITALY: WORLD OF LATE ITALIAN FILM DIRECTOR FELLINI TRANSFERRED TO A BALLET WRITTEN IN HIS HONOUR
Record ID:
384953
ITALY: WORLD OF LATE ITALIAN FILM DIRECTOR FELLINI TRANSFERRED TO A BALLET WRITTEN IN HIS HONOUR
- Title: ITALY: WORLD OF LATE ITALIAN FILM DIRECTOR FELLINI TRANSFERRED TO A BALLET WRITTEN IN HIS HONOUR
- Date: 20th August 1995
- Summary: (FILE NOVEMBER 1993 ) (REUTERS TELEVISION - AVAILABLE ALL) FEDERICO FELLINI'S FUNERAL ACTRESS GIULIETTA MASINA, FELLINI'S WIDOW, BEING COMFORTED BY FRIENDS AT FUNERAL FILE
- Embargoed: 4th September 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROME, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVA7ISD15GX0FNTWKBERUN4BXZ86
- Story Text: The fantastic world of late Italian film director Federico Fellini has been transferred from the big screen in a ballet written in his honour.
The work, simply entitled "Fellini", was unveiled on Sunday night (August 20) as part of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera open-air summer season.
The ballet was the fruit of months of collaboration between friends and colleagues of the late director, who changed the face of Italian cinema with films such as "La Strada" (1954) and "La Dolce Vita" (1960).
The ballet revolves round a trip down memory lane by two elderly dancers -- interpreted by Russian dance legend Natalia Makarova and 72-year-old Frenchman Jean Babilee -- who meet during a rehearsal for a television show. The meeting sparks off a trail of memories in the male character which are acted and danced out by Makarova and members of the opera's ballet corps.
Some critics have already suggested the elderly dancers represent Fellini and his wife, the actress Giulietta Masina who died in March 1994, less than five months after Fellini's death.
Film critic Tullio Kezich, composer Nicola Piovani and choreographer Micha van Hoecke, the main artistic forces behind the ballet, say it is not a direct interpretation of Fellini's life but rather a kaleidoscope of the settings, characters and images in his films.
The scene switches from a television set to a circus big top, from a small town cafe to an elegant Rome restaurant. The final scene is set on deserted beach and is reminiscent of an episode in the film "La Dolce Vita".
The spectator is introduced to a myriad of Fellinesque characters during the ballet, such as the fascists portrayed in "Amarcord" (1973), and the ornately-dressed cardinals of "Roma" (1972).
One minute the petite figure of Makarova, 55, captures the essence of the jaded female ballroon dancer in "Ginger and Roger", the next she embodies the pathetic figure of the circus girl Gelsomina in "La Strada".
Italian television star Valeria Marini struts across the stage at one point wearing very little; in another scene is decked out in furs and jewels in an incarnation of the prototype Fellini siren which features in all his films.
It is hard to guess what Fellini would have thought of this dance pastiche of his life's works. The ballet is the latest of Rome's tributes to Fellini, who died in October 1993. Earlier this year the city inaugurated a massive retrospective exhibition on the director which is now travelling the world.
The ballet is due to run in Rome until August 31. The opera house said there was the possibilty it would accompany the Fellini exhibition when it goes to New York this autumn. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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