Multimedia Ballet: "Belle Redux: A Tale of Beauty & the Beast" to Premiere Valentine's Weekend

It would seem that 2015 is the year of Beauty and the Beast.

Ballet Austin, known for technical excellence and innovative productions, is about to launch their World Premiere of Belle Redux: A Tale of Beauty & the Beast in time for Valentine's Day weekend.

(Funny thing: when I first saw the image used in the little poster below I could have sworn the rose glowed in a pulse - that it was a gif. It was the pulsing of the rose in connection with the rose "multimedia" that caught my attention in the first place. But I can't find it now...)

"Once upon a time... Escape with Ballet Austin into the mysterious world of a beauty, a beast and a ballet, as Artistic Director Stephen Mills seduces you with a modern take on the timeless story of Beauty and the Beast. Commissioned by the global innovators at 3M, this sleek and sexy new production is an exciting evolution of the fairy tale you remember. 

Fall into a dark and intoxicating world of passion and intrigue, featuring Mills' classically innovative choreography and a haunting new score by renowned, Austin-based composer Graham Reynolds."

The production was commissioned by 3M Innovations with the intent that it will contribute to the evolution of the way in which this tale is told.

The sets for Belle Redux / A Tale of Beauty & the Beast draw inspiration from the film noir genre and Jean Cocteau's ground-breaking film La Belle et la Bête. Sleek and mysterious, Michael B. Raiford's designs give dancers the freedom to move about the space while lending a sense of gravity to Stephen Mills' innovative production.

If you're confused, bear with me - I shall explain, with the help of some quotes from the development notes on the production (words in bold and underlined, are my emphasis):

“Belle Redux / A Tale of Beauty & the Beast is unlike anything I’ve previously brought to the stage, and much of that has to do with the way this work was conceived,” Mills acknowledged. “Four years ago, Joaquin Delegado, who was then running 3M’s Austin businesses, approached me with an idea and a concern. He was worried that young people might grow up in a world where the art of innovation—the act of making something better, more interesting or more useful—would be lost or confused with advancements in technology, which is not the same thing. He wanted Ballet Austin to create an original dance work underscoring the complexity of innovation and how it differs from invention, or creating something from scratch.

It turns out the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale is an excellent case study for innovation with regard to storytelling forms - one which Ballet Austin are seeking to continue the tradition of, as well as develop the evolution of with regard to how the story is told (and therefore received/what impact it will have).

From the press notes:

Belle Redux / A Tale of Beauty & the Beast follows the well-known storyline of the French novel La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) first published by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740 and then abridged and re-released by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont six years later. Over two centuries, this tale of a beautiful young woman, who becomes entrapped and then enamored of a prince-turned-beast, has evolved through various art forms. 

French filmmaker Jean Cocteau advanced Beauty and the Beast storytelling through his groundbreaking movie La Belle et la Bête in 1946. Fifty years later, Cocteau’s film noir inspired American composer Philip Glass to create an operatic score that serves as an alternative soundtrack for the movie. In 1991, Walt Disney Pictures transformed the story into an Academy Award-winning animated motion picture, which Disney then adapted into a Broadway musical four years later. Over the years, Beauty and the Beast has constantly transformed and is now a case study on innovation.

In 2015, Stephen Mills again innovates the Beauty and the Beast story and its presentation by unveiling a 21st century, multi-media experience...

Having seen several stage versions of Beauty and the Beast, including ballet and contemporary dance (none of which were Disney, by the way), I'm reserving judgement on how well the innovation aspect of this production is perceived (though I have little doubt the production itself should get excellent reviews). Although I'm extremely fascinated by the idea of evolving storytelling and wish what they are hoping to do will indeed be as revolutionary as they set out to be, I'd be surprised if it made it's way into the public consciousness the ways the other forms of the story have. Why? Because apart from one fairly straight ballet, everything I've seen was incredibly innovative and, most used multimedia as well. (And most of them had adult leanings rather than catered to family sensibilities.)

What's notable about this production, though, are a few things: one, 3M's involvement (which means advertising and getting the word out), the professional quality of the production not being in question, the call back to Cocteau's visual style with regard to the multimedia elements (see the images in the post) and the costumes being done in the particular dark-fairy-tale-meets-high-couture signature style of world renowned (and greatly missed) fashion designer and legend Alexander McQueen.
                                           

Drawing inspiration from haute couture and the imaginative designs of the late Alexander McQueen, Ballet Austin Artistic Director/Choreographer Stephen Mills and Costumer Designer Michael B. Raiford mix edgy urban looks with fantastical elements for their 21st century take on Beauty & the Beast.

There is an interview with the dancer playing Belle, Michelle Thompson, and though it will mainly interest those who know and love ballet, she gives her insights into how this Belle might be a little different and how the Beast may be different, as well as how they mirror each other. You can find that video HERE.

For those wondering how much/if the story will change, here's a snapshot of the program notes (click to see full size):

If anyone gets a chance to see this, I'd be personally interested in your impressions so please share. And snag me a program, would you?

"The Crane Wife" by Patrick Ness Named Notable Book by ALA

The Crane Wife by Katrina Pallon

I will admit I know very little about Patrick Ness, not having read any of his books, but Heidi has mentioned him on SurLaLune a couple of times so I thought I'd bring you notice of his latest folklore-based novel, especially since it was just named as one of ALA's Notable Books for 2015.

(And, as a bonus today I'm adding some lovely illustrations, some of which I hadn't seen before today. Credit is under each image.)

The Crane Wife by Kat Leyh

Refreshingly, this story is based on a little-known-to-the-Western-world romantic Japanese fairy tale (one of the better known ones that's usually included in multicultural collections) and was written by a man, both of which make it notable as well.

The Crame Wife by Janey-Jane

The Crane Wife is based on the fairy tale of the same name and seems to follow key aspects of the plot (at least to a certain point), though the setting is more urban and more modern.

The Crane Wife by Eno Keo

Two critically acclaimed authors who draw on folklore and fairy tales, Eowyn Ivy (The Snow Child) and Ali Shaw (The Girl With Glass Feet), both praise the book, which, despite other mixed reviews, is more than enough for me to put it in my shopping cart straight away!

Here's the synopsis, care of Penguin Press:

A magical novel, based on a Japanese folk tale, that imagines how the life of a broken-hearted man is transformed when he rescues an injured white crane that has landed in his backyard. 

George Duncan is an American living and working in London. At forty-eight, he owns a small print shop, is divorced, and is lonelier than he realizes. All of the women with whom he has relationships eventually leave him for being too nice.  

But one night he is waked by an astonishing sound—a terrific keening, which is coming from somewhere in his garden. When he investigates he finds a great white crane, a bird taller than himself. It has been shot through the wing with an arrow. Moved more than he can say, George struggles to take out the arrow from the bird’s wing, saving its life before it flies away into the night sky. 

The Crane Wife by pageboy

The next morning, a shaken George tries to go about his daily life, retreating to the back of his store and making cuttings from discarded books—a harmless personal hobby—when a woman walks through the front door of the shop. Her name is Kumiko, and she asks George to help her with her own artwork. George is dumbstruck by her beauty and her enigmatic nature and begins to fall desperately in love with her. She seems to hold the potential to change his entire life, if he could only get her to reveal the secret of who she is and why she has brought her artwork to him. 

The Crane Wife by Gennady Spirin (retold by Odds Bodkin)

 Witty, magical, and romantic, The Crane Wife is a story of passion and sacrifice that resonates on the level of dream and myth. It is a novel that celebrates the creative imagination and the disruptive power of love.

And here's the author introducing us to his novel:

Has anyone read this? I'm very curious now!

Coming Soon: "The Beast's Garden" by Kate Forsyth

Here's an intriguing sounding book to keep an eye out for: a new retelling of Grimm's Beauty and the Beast, set in Nazi Germany, by fairy tale scholar and writer Kate Forsyth! (Author of The Wild Girl, Bitter Greens and many more.)

Here's the description from Random House publishing:

Linderhof castle, Bavaria, Germany

A retelling of the Grimm's Beauty and The Beast set in Nazi Germany. 

‘I fell in love the night the Nazis first showed their true nature to the world …'  

The Grimm Brothers published a beautiful version of the Beauty & the Beast tale called ‘The Singing, Springing Lark' in 1819. It combines the well-known story of a daughter who marries a beast in order to save her father with another key fairy tale motif, the search for the lost bridegroom. In ‘The Singing, Springing Lark,' the daughter grows to love her beast but unwittingly betrays him and he is turned into a dove. She follows the trail of blood and white feathers he leaves behind him for seven years, and, when she loses the trail, seeks help from the sun, the moon, and the four winds. Eventually she battles an evil enchantress and saves her husband, breaking the enchantment and turning him back into a man.  

Kate Forsyth retells this German fairy tale as an historical novel set in Berlin during the Third Reich. A young woman marries a Nazi officer in order to save her father, but fears her new husband and the regime for which he works. 

Soldier picking flowers

Ava becomes involved with an underground resistance movement in Berlin called the Red Orchestra, made up of artists, writers, diplomats and journalists, who pass on intelligence to the American embassy, distribute leaflets encouraging opposition to Hitler, and help people in danger from the Nazis to escape the country.  

Gradually Ava comes to realise that her husband Leo is part of a dangerous military conspiracy that plans to assassinate Hitler. As Berlin is bombed into ruins, and the Gestapo ruthlessly hunt down all resistance to Nazism, Ava unwittingly betrays Leo. When the Valkyrie plot fails, Leo is arrested and Ava must flee. Living hand-to-mouth in the rubble of Berlin, she must find some way to rescue her husband before he and his fellow conspirators are executed.  

The Beast's Garden is a compelling and beautiful love story, filled with drama, intrigue and heartbreak, taking place between 1938 and 1945 in Berlin, Germany. 

When will it appear? Release date in Australia is set for July 29th, 2015, according to the website, though Kate's blog cites an earlier date of "late April 2015".

International dates (including UK and US) are yet to be announced.

In the meantime, to further whet your appetite, may I suggest looking through the inspirational images Kate has pinned to her The Beast's Garden page on Pinterest. (Some of those inspirations are posted here.)

Lions Gate Tiergarten Berlin

AFTS Call For Papers on "Transformations: Spinning Straw into Green and Gold" for the 2015 Conference

by Marianne Stokes (& used/altered part of the header for fairy tale blog Spinning Straw Into Gold)

From The Australian Fairy Tale Society: a call for papers for presentation at the 2015 Conference on Sunday June 21st, 2015 (the Winter Solstice in Australia) .

Due date is now Friday, February 27th, 2015. 

Details are below...

Man, I REALLY want to go hear about all this at the 2015 conference! I will have to hook up a remote listening device..! Luckily, this will be recorded for those of us who can't attend, to catch up afterward.

AFTS: Call for Papers

Odette's Transformation by Poppy Alice

Conference theme:

‘Transformations: spinning straw into green and gold’

Transformation is a key element within the enchanted realm of fairy tale, both within the stories themselves and the history of the genre. The possibilities of change are explored in tales where frogs become princes, boys become swans, and many a poor girl is revealed as a true princess following a trial of courage and endurance. Over time and across cultures universal ideas have wrapped themselves in an array of motifs, shifting to suit their audience, setting, and times while retaining the same underlying truth. How have Red, Cindy and Snow adapted to the Australian climate? Are there fairy tales born of our cultural landscape? What changes and what remains the same in a transformation?

Proposals are invited for presentations on the following fairy tale topics:

Daphne by Arthur Rackham

* cross cultural transformations 

* cross generational transformations 

* cultural appropriation 

* European tales from an Australian perspective 

* oral to written and back again 

* folkloric to academic 

* magical transformations – human / non-human 

* therapeutic – personal transformation through story 

by Kaarina Kaila

* adaption across forms – storytelling, music, dance, film, visual arts, etc 

* personal to public and back again 

* maturation / coming of age 

* changing status 

* objects of transformation 

* myth to fairy tale 

* adapting for audience (age, gender, class, sexual orientation, dis/ability), place, and time 

* curses to blessings 

by Christina Marie Day

Performers are invited to present short works or a taster to showcase longer works.

Artists are invited to exhibit and discuss their work.

Along with academic papers, performance, and exhibitions, we are also seeking panelists.

Presentations will run between 15-30 minutes.

The conference will be recorded, with the permission of presenters, and uploaded to the AFTS website.

by Anne Siems

Please send 100-200 word abstract submissions to: austfairytales@gmail.com

Submissions close 5pm Friday 27th February, and presenters will be announced in March 2015.

Conference tickets will be discounted to $50 for successful applicants.

So, fairy tale lovers. Start spinning those abstracts and stories, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Let the enchantment begin!

The Australian Fairy Tale Society Committee

Theater: Kabuki "Pinocchio"

This makes complete sense to me. So much so I have to wonder why I haven't see someone do it before... 

(Note: apologies for the weird formatting below - I could not get Blogger to behave today!)

Here are some excerpts from a wonderful article in the Boston Globe:

A Kabuki-influenced version of “Pinocchio” may strike some as the sort of theatrical experiment best suited to an avant-garde troupe performing in a dimly lit basement. But Wendy Lement and Steven Bogart... promise all the laughs and tugged heartstrings traditional to the tale of the wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy, along with some new shading. 

“When we went back to the original story, I was startled at how funny it is,” says Lement, Wheelock’s producer and co-artistic director. “It’s both hysterically funny and very dark in places, and both of those are combined in 
Kabuki.” 

Kabuki is a highly stylized form of traditional Japanese drama involving singing, dancing, and elaborate costumes and makeup. With performances through Feb. 22 at Wheelock, this “Pinocchio” is a world premiere version of the story of the mischievous creation of the poor puppeteer Geppetto. 

...But if it was not set in Pinocchio’s native Italy, then where? Soon she and Bogart discovered their mutual experience with Japanese theater.... They saw how masks and transformations were common to Japanese theater and “Pinocchio,” the 1880s novel by Carlo Collodi that spawned countless adaptations, including Disney’s classic animated film. 

“We’re not Kabuki experts, we’re not doing pure, traditional Kabuki,” Bogart says. “We’re Kabuki influenced, Noh influenced, even Butoh theater-influenced, pulling all of these elements in to create the story.” 

So audiences will face a stage backed by sliding screens, not unlike those in a traditional Japanese-style home, that here can be moved to change the scene. Movement and dance and masks will echo Japanese styles. The band on an upper deck of the set will include a skilled player of the shamisen, a traditional three-stringed Japanese instrument. And as for the marine creature in whose belly Pinocchio ends up . . . 

“In the novel, the whale is not a whale, it’s a dogfish. I don’t know how big a dogfish is, but the Disney version turned it into a whale,” Bogart says. “We did some research and found a character, Namazu, in Japanese mythology, which is a giant catfish. It’s so big, it’s controlled by a god, and when the god is not paying attention, Namazu creates earthquakes and tsunamis.” 

You can read the rest of the wonderful write-up of the show and how it was inspired and created HERE. 

I wish I were able to see this! Unfortunately, I will have to settle for some photos and perusing the many costume designs posted on the Wheelock blog for now, but if you get a chance to see it, do let us know!

PINOCCHIO
Based on the book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Colladi. 

World premiere of an original adaptation by Steven Bogart and Wendy Lement. 

Influenced by Japanese theatrical traditions, Pinocchio’s adventures are told through mystical creatures, live musicians, and gymnastic choreography, making the transformation of an animated puppet into a real live boy, a magical, dynamic, and deeply moving experience. WFT’s Pinocchio will surprise and delight audiences of all ages. 

Playing January 30th to February 22, 2015

Wheelock Family Theatre is located in Boston, MA, USA.

You can follow Wheelock Theatre on their blog HERE and on their Facebook page HERE, and they've included a useful study guide for kids on Collodi and Pinocchio HERE as well.

"Bitter Greens" Wins American Library Association Prize for Best Historical Fiction 2015!

A huge congratulations to our fairy tale friend Kate Forsyth!

(Here's the official award listing from the ALA.)

From Kate's Facebook page a few hours ago:

Charlotte-Rose de la Force

Congratulations again Kate!

The award is well deserved.
*clinks glasses of champagne*
(And we can't wait to read what comes next!)

And the Very Inspiring (Fairy Tale) Blogger Awards Go To...*drumroll*

Six Swans Triptych by Rovina Cai

It's awards season, and Once Upon A Blog just got handed a lovely Very Inspiring Blogger Award by lovely fantasy author, Katherine Harbour. Thank you Katherine!

Katherine Harbour is the author of the spellbinding novel Thorn Jack (a Tam Lin inspired tale) and, as a special bonus for OUABlog, has agreed to treating us to a guest chat in the near future, as we look forward to the paperback release of Thorn Jack and the upcoming sequel Briar Queen, (stay tuned!).

Today's award, however, is a way to spread love and appreciation for bloggers we are inspired by, as well as to give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the people who write to make the blogosphere a good place to roam. To do this I get to share seven impossible things before breakfast.. wait, no seven things about me that maybe most of you don't know. Then I get to nominate up to fifteen bloggers to send you all to appreciate, who are then invited to do the same - pay it forward, pass the appreciation, and spread the awesome!

By the way, Katherine Harbour's intriguing list is HERE. (I am especially looking forward to our chat after reading it!)

So, seven things about me you might not know:

1) I love many, many of the aspects of the Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass stories and I love the merchandising (from Disney through to indie products), but the original books disturb me
2) Despite a bunch of good reasons to feel otherwise, I still love Disneyland
3) I wish I could read German fluently so I could read the original-text German editions of Household Tales, written by The Brothers Grimm
4) I rewrote The Six Swans for animated film, including storyboarding two sequences of it, long before I ever worked in animation (no has ever seen them, nor ever will!)
5) I was an actor and writer for a Children's Theater Company for about a year, touring schools and libraries
6) I love the rain and am creatively energized by thunderstorms
7) My dearest wish since I was small was to talk to animals (completely influenced by fairy tales). This eventually led me to getting an Advanced Certificate (2 yrs pre-veterinary) in Animal Care with an emphasis on Marsupials!



Inspiring Bloggers on my personal MUST-READ list for Fairy Tale News & Thoughtful FT Discussions:

• Kristin of Tales of Faerie (amazing armchair fairy tale scholar with awesome research skills who writes very readable informative posts, that are also very inspiring)
• Heidi Anne Heiner of SurLaLune site and blog (fairy tale study today wouldn't be the same without her and she remains as relevant and insightful as ever)
• Tahlia Merrill Kirk of Diamonds & Toads & editor of Timeless Tales Magazine (& OUABLog's new partner-to-be! Perhaps obviously, we think she's awesome.)
• Adam Hoffman of Fairy Tale Fandom (a very welcome male voice in the fairy tale blogosphere - regular news and wonderful articles)
• AFTS (Australian Fairy Tale Society) with Reilly McCarron currently leading the charge (very regular fairy tale news with an emphasis on activity in Australia)
• Megan Reichelt of The Dark Forest (she doesn't get to blog much these days  - she's busy performing stories! - but there are many wonderful past posts to delve into, if there isn't anything new. I love her witty writing style!)

Other Inspiring Bloggers I love to visit (in alpha order):

• Christie of Spinning Straw Into Gold (fairy tale blogger with a treasure trove of posts)
• Belinda Calderone of The Monash Fairy Tale Salon (fairy tale scholar who writes in a fresh accessible way, in touch with pop culture)
• Cate Fricke of Something to Read for the Train (writer, thoughts on folklore and fairy tale)
• Midori Snyder of Into the Labyrinth (author/artist of many a lovely myth-based and fairy tale work)
• Maria Tatar's Breezes From Wonderland (Harvard blog on children's literature, folklore and storytelling, fairy tale scholar extraordinaire)
• Terri Windling at Myth & Moor (author, folklore and fairy tale writing legend and advocate)
• Kate Wolford of Enchanted Conversation: Fairy Tale Magazine, teacher and author of Beyond the Glass Slipper. She also has a lovely stable of regular contributors to her blog.
• Kristina Wojtaszek of Twice Upon A Time (author with strong folklore and fairy tale leanings and great sense of humor)

If you have been awarded and wish to continue passing on the inspiration (there is no obligation to do this), here's what you need to do: 

- Link to the person who awarded you (me!) 

- List seven things about yourself your bloggers may not know (yet) 

- Grab the award pic and post it on your blog post for all to see 

- List - and link to - up to fifteen bloggers who inspire you and award them! (And let them know so they can get involved if they want to.)

Cinderella In New York

"End of the Night"

The marketing is beginning to increase exponentially for Disney's next live action remake "Cinderella" but, sadly, there isn't much I've seen that inspires me to see the film.

This new, mixed-media look at Disney's Cinderella, currently making the rounds on Tumblr, is far more interesting to me. For some reason, putting these animated characters into real backgrounds really makes you think about the story, and perhaps more about the many different types of Cinderella stories there are, including those under our noses today (and particularly if you live in New York).

"Mean Girls"

The artist responsible is New York based photographer and musician Harry McNally, for his new series titled Moments Like These. And Cinderella isn't the only familiar "neighbor" you'll discover in a very current New York context.

McNally places our most beloved Disney characters in the most real (and so New York) situations: The evil step-sisters parade around the Upper West Side as if they're fresh out ofGossip Girl; Alice gets lost in the subway instead of Wonderland (because who hasn't?); and Jasmine orders bottle service... at the club. 

"The photographs were not taken with the intention of adding characters to them," he tells Refinery29. "The idea for that came one night while I was obsessively reviewing my photo archive. The scenes depicted in the photographs can be suggestive, some more than others. A situation is already there, ready to be imagined. Adding the character element makes the situation more of a 'moment.'" (source)

I've seen a lot of variations looking at Disney in modern context but this series does a great job of telling the story in a very fresh way (though I think the flippant commentary on the images, care of the reporter in the linked source, detracts). The angles and sizes are so well done it doesn't take much of a stretch of one's imagination to turn these animated figures into possibly-very-real people.

"Transformation"

My other favorite is the confused Alice in the subway, trying to choose which tunnel to take... You can see her and more characters-in-context HERE and buy (pricey) prints HERE.

Tim Burton's Long Lost Disney Project: "Hansel & Gretel" (1982)

This "long lost" film resurfaced on YouTube last year while I was in recovery and I found my note to myself to post the news on OUABlog when I returned, just today. (The images included are some of Burton's concept art for the project.)

A little background:
The film was conceptualized and created by Tim Burton whilst in Disney's employ. It aired one time only on Halloween night in 1983 on the The Disney Channel, due to the Disney Executives horrified reactions when they saw it on air, and I think, in this instance, they were right. It doesn't really fall within the Disney branding, and I wouldn't have been pleased to find a little one watching this either! (Did no one check the show before it aired? Yikes.)

The film was included in the MoMA exhibit that featured Burton's earlier and lesser known works and history a few years ago but hasn't been available to see anywhere before or since (except in Paris for a similar exhibition).

The movie is usually classified stop motion, though it uses real (amateur) actors, all of whom are Japanese*. (Note: it's also Tim Burton's first time working with live actors, which may be apparent in the quality of performance, though his direction is often very imaginative.) In yet another interesting choice, (especially for the time period) the same male actor plays both the Stepmother and the Witch. Seen throughout are designs now considered "Burtonesque", many of which might be considered precursors to other film designs seen in Frankenweenie and The Nightmare Before Christmas. There's interesting use of birds in this one too (duck and swan in particular), and that little toy duck looks remarkably like one Jack Skellington has Halloween town make as one of the presents.

From Wikipedia:

Filmed for $116,000 on 16mm, this live-action short film featured a cast of amateur Japanese actors, kung fu fights (despite kung fu being Chinese) and Japanese toys, as Burton was obsessed with Japanese culture at the time of production. The film's design style and color schemes paid homage to the Godzilla movies and is said to be heavy on special effects, making use of front projection, forced perspective and even some stop-motion animation.

Here you go. Enjoy! (Or, be creeped out):

CAST--------- 

Hansel - Andy Lee 

Gretel - Alison Hong 

Stepmother / Wicked Witch - Michael Yama  

Father - Jim Ishida 

Dan Dan the Gingerbread Man (voice) - David Koenigsburg 

Features early work by Stephen Chiodo of the Chiodo Bros. Studio as well as the late Joe Ranft of Disney and Pixar. 

Music by John Costa of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood fame!(source)

Can I just say: I'm just not going to ask what the Father did to the Stepmother, and I will stick with my regular Gingerbread Men, thank you very much!

* Has anyone else noticed the Asian (specifically Japanese) fascination with Hansel and Gretel? I wonder what it is about the tale, exactly?