Paper 1
Natalie Hernandez
February 27, 2013
Ballet History
Historical Context Paper
“Petite Mort”
In 1991 Jiri Kylian was asked by the Salzburg Festival to create a brand new piece for this year’s show case. He was only given one parameter that he had to follow and all other creative choices were up to him. Since the festival was dedicating this year to Mozart’s 200th anniversary of his death they wanted the piece somehow related to him. Kylian chose two of Mozart’s slow and most famous piano concertos for his twelve dancers to move to and with that “Petite Mort” was derived. His reasoning for choosing these two particular pieces of music were to show that ““This deliberate choice should not be seen as a provocation or thoughtlessness – rather as my way to acknowledge the fact that I am living and working as part of a world where nothing is sacred, where brutality and arbitrariness are commonplace.” He wanted to show one of the two meanings of the phrase petite mort; that of a small death or in its sexual context an orgasm which can really both be used in the sexual context. The six men and six women dancers all wore nude corset type tops and nude underwear taking away gender roles and putting them on the same playing field. Even though they are all dressed basically the same the movement quality says otherwise.
The movement that Jiri Kylian chose to put on these dancers was meant to give off the idea of a petite mort. The men start out the piece with fencing swords, protection against women. The women later dance with blood red gowns on wheels giving them the appearance of gliding and elegance, a trait women were supposed to have in the 16th century. These dresses are also playing the part also as armor against the swords of the men. The duets of the women and men have no swords or dress armor to protect them from each other leaving them exposed. The movement of each duet is that of intertwining limbs and thrusting pelvises. All six duets although different in
February 27, 2013
Ballet History
Historical Context Paper
“Petite Mort”
In 1991 Jiri Kylian was asked by the Salzburg Festival to create a brand new piece for this year’s show case. He was only given one parameter that he had to follow and all other creative choices were up to him. Since the festival was dedicating this year to Mozart’s 200th anniversary of his death they wanted the piece somehow related to him. Kylian chose two of Mozart’s slow and most famous piano concertos for his twelve dancers to move to and with that “Petite Mort” was derived. His reasoning for choosing these two particular pieces of music were to show that ““This deliberate choice should not be seen as a provocation or thoughtlessness – rather as my way to acknowledge the fact that I am living and working as part of a world where nothing is sacred, where brutality and arbitrariness are commonplace.” He wanted to show one of the two meanings of the phrase petite mort; that of a small death or in its sexual context an orgasm which can really both be used in the sexual context. The six men and six women dancers all wore nude corset type tops and nude underwear taking away gender roles and putting them on the same playing field. Even though they are all dressed basically the same the movement quality says otherwise.
The movement that Jiri Kylian chose to put on these dancers was meant to give off the idea of a petite mort. The men start out the piece with fencing swords, protection against women. The women later dance with blood red gowns on wheels giving them the appearance of gliding and elegance, a trait women were supposed to have in the 16th century. These dresses are also playing the part also as armor against the swords of the men. The duets of the women and men have no swords or dress armor to protect them from each other leaving them exposed. The movement of each duet is that of intertwining limbs and thrusting pelvises. All six duets although different in