The Afternoon of the Faun

The Afternoon of the faun Review

This was the first performance which Nijinsky choreographed he used a very different style of dance than when he performed for the Ballet Russes. He rejected all classical formalisation of ballet; the dancers danced in bare feet and moved in a very rigid constrained way with no lifts or reconcilable dance moved. It was a very uncomfortable piece to watch because I didn’t at times really understand what was happening particularly when he is dancing with the nymphs.

The Faun was very animalistic in the way he moved and his facial expressions the way he kept his hands closed also the sexual references you can understand why at the time (1912) it was such a controversial production.

The costumes and set by Leon Bakst are beautiful the colourful willow like trees do create a very other worldly feel to the play, the Greek references in the costumes are very clear with the floaty dresses that the nymphs wear.

All though it was interesting to watch a ballet performance that is so different and was really the beginnings of contemporary dance. I didn’t really enjoy the performance I didn’t like the way he moved to present the faun and I didn’t really feel that there was any dance there was a lot of movement across the stage but it was more like walking. I did however; enjoy the costumes they certainly presented a Grecian like world.