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The Audition - WorkDoc
🕑 Added 2022-06-20 09:28:37 +0000 UTCBackground information of The Audition
In this series, a group of ballet dancers audition for a new production of Swan Lake. This time it’s an all-male cast, and each member does his utmost to impress the stern and intimidating dance master.
You can download the PDF file at the bottom of the post.
Inspiration
I’m a great lover of classical music, dance, and opera. So, for me, it was just a matter of time before engaging in a project like The Audition. I’m, of course, fully aware that this theme is not to everyone's taste. But I hope you have nonetheless enjoyed the dreamy storyline, the dynamic of the characters, and the splendor I tried to convey with settings.
For this series, I was mostly inspired by Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, a contemporary ballet based on Tchaikovsky’s original and best known for having the traditionally female parts of the swans danced by men. It was first staged in 1995 and appears to have been the longest-running ballet in London's West End and on Broadway. I’ve never seen a live performance, but it’s quite impressive to watch it on-screen as well. It was a delightful distraction during the long and dreary hours during lockdown last winter.
Other sources of inspiration for this project came (obviously) from the ballet paintings by Degas, the beautiful movements of the dancing figures by Matisse, and in one scene, you may have recognised the elegant poses from The Three Graces, a sculpture by Canova.
The Models
When content and software company DAZ came up with a series of 3D ballet characters and dance poses, the idea to make my own version of Swan Lake became irresistible. Of course, the whole cast had to be all-male as well, but the story would obviously go much further than is usual on stage.
The first part of the story is in a dance studio, a very large and bright space that seems to be located in a very posh part of town. For the exterior of the dance school, I used a model of the iconic Brownstones of New York. The interior of the building is based on the model of an old boxing club, something I also used before in The Champion series.
An audition makes no sense if there’s no performance, so the second part of the series is in a full-scale theatre, with a large audience and a complete orchestra. I wanted it to be really big and crowded, magnificent and sumptuous like those grand opera houses. It gives the story a whole new boost, and I think it makes an interesting contrast with the plain settings of the first part.
The interior of the theatre was compiled from several loose bits and pieces, and it was based on a 3D model of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. Unfortunately, the original was far too big for this project, and at 3K perhaps also a bit too expensive as well ;o) The stage background - the dark forest with the monument - is something you may perhaps recognise as well, for I have used it in The Education of Achilles series many years ago.
Test Renders
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Comments
Priapus of Milet
I guess they could all have been present there, at whatever time the story was set. Didn't think of adding recognizable characters in the scene. I'll keep that in mind for a next time ;o)
Priapus of Milet
My pleasure! :o)
Thomas Polk
By the way, thank you for putting the workdocs into pdf form.
Thomas Polk
I was so hoping that the occupants of the Royal Box were the Queen and Prince Charles but then realized that we were in Paris at the Palais Garnier and not Covent Garden so I was probably looking at the princesse de Chimay, Marcel Proust and the comte de Montfort.
Priapus of Milet
Yes, very tragic. A recent version even suggests that Tchaikovsky was ordered to commit suicide in order to avoid a scandal, some prince of a high official was involved... A bit like the Oscar Wilde scandal a few years later. It's high time to do a more positive version of Swan Lake. For we live in better times now... that is, for the moment, at least... ;o)
Joël
The choreographer Bertrand d'At also created a contemporary version of "Swan Lake" with the Strasbourg Ballet some fifteen years ago, in which the "Prince" was confronted with the pressure of society to choose his sexual orientation: the norm with the girl chosen by his family or his feelings with the love he feels for Rothbart. The swans in the second act were replaced by the prince's sporting friends. The ballet ended with the murder of Rothbart by the Prince, who could not come to terms with his feelings and went mad. A scenario that is not too far removed from Tchaikovsky's life.
Priapus of Milet
Yes, that's right. I remember now. Must have been the first time I say a fragment of that choreography. Very impressive :o)
Joël
Matthew Bourne's choreography is also the one we see at the very end of the movie "Billy Elliot".
Priapus of Milet
I can imagen and thanks for sharing! I have indeed the feeling that there's more to this as well ;o)
Andrew
I can not look at this in the same way now: https://youtu.be/6rQwof50VsA
Gulliver
Matthew Bourne΄s Swan Lake is a new classic! Just like Priapus's! Priapus/David is the most learned artist, who could transform all the very best in human history into something new, thoughtful, sophisticated, and tasteful! And of course, erotic & arousing! Bravo!
Priapus of Milet
I'm sure you're not!... ;o)
Keith Nathan
Aaaaah so I'm not the only one having naughty thoughts watching Bourne's Swan Lake :P
