esmeralda - Milwaukee Ballet

ESMERALDA
Company Dancer Luz San Miguel - Photo: Jessica Kaminski
A Guide to Michael Pink’s Esmeralda
Prepared by Michael Pink, Artistic Director
& Alyson Chavez, Director of Education
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Table of Contents
A Trip through the Spin Drier…
Drier… 3
Synopsis
Synopsis of
of the Ballet…
Ballet… 4
The Novel & the Ballet … 7
Notre Dame…
Dame… 8
Quasimodo…
Quasimodo… 9
Esmeralda…
Esmeralda… 10
Frollo…
Frollo… 11
Phoebus & Fleur de Lys…
Lys… 12
Clopin…
Clopin… 13
Gringoire…
Gringoire… 14
Merci! … 15
Appendix A: Balletomania! … 16
Appendix B: Milwaukee Ballet’s Community Outreach Programs … 17
Thank you to the following sponsors!
Without you our programs would not be possible!
possible!
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A Trip through the Spin Drier
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! As the bells of Notre Dame ring, we welcome you to
Michael Pink’s Esmeralda. If you have been a devoted fan of Milwaukee Ballet since
2002, you may be familiar with Michael Pink’s other masterpieces – Dracula, Romeo &
Juliet, Cinderella and most recently, Peter Pan. In this same style, he brings us Esmeralda–
a dance drama said to be even bigger and more dramatic!
Here are some of the reviews:
“Hunchback is simply a monster smash!” – The Sunday Times
“Spectacular, eye-catching, fast moving … breathtaking sets.” – The Spectator
“Romance and tragedy writ large, dance drama as powerful, eloquent and exciting as
anything I have seen… Hunchback is an unquestioned triumph, a stunning fusion of
skill, talent and artistic vision.” – The Stage
This isn’t a light and airy ballet though. It is heavy – both in subject
matter and in style. It is intense and serious. For this reason, we
have provided this study guide and have recommended that this
show is suitable
suitable for students in middle school and higher. These
notes will give you an inin-depth look into the major players of the
story with notes from Victor’s Hugo’s novel Notre Dame de Paris.
Here’s a preview of what you will see:
“Composer Philip Feeney’s score is taut and luminous, exhibiting a diverse range of
influences and effect. The somber cadence of punishment and death that closes each act is
complemented by set designer Lez Brotherston’s imposing and intricate facades. The
production also contains some flamboyant visual moments:
moments a real bonfire is lit on stage, a
Cathedral rose window seems to symbolize the existence of beauty and hope, and
Quasimodo is costumed in latex and dental prosthetics that recall the hero-villains of silent
film. Yet this is
is no Disney production.
production It allows itself a fruitful ambiguity, and turns
tragedy into a means of artistic expression.” – Emma Jones, State of the Arts Magazine
“Forget Disney, this is the story that Hugo wrote,
and this is the story that packs the punch.
Hunchback grabs your attention, grabs your emotions
and puts you through the spin drier.”
– Michael Pink, Choreographer
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Synopsis of the Ballet
Overture
The Cathedral of Notre Dame
Act I
Palais de Justice
Paris celebrates the Feast of Fools, but poet Gringoire’s play finds no favor with the crowd.
A competition for the most ugly face is more to their taste and Quasimodo, the grotesque
bellringer, is the clear winner. He is carried off in triumph, crowned as the Pope of Fools.
Place de Gréve
The beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda, dances joyously in the flickering light of the giant bonfire
but Archdeacon Frollo condemns her as depraved. As he is carried into the square,
Quasimodo is also harshly dismissed by Frollo, much to the resentment of the crowd.
Journey Through the Streets
Esmeralda makes her way home through the deserted streets, followed at a distance by
Gringoire.
Abduction and Rescue
Frollo incites Quasimodo to attempt an abduction of Esmeralda but she is rescued in the
nick of time by the dashing Phoebus, Captain of the Guard. The luckless Quasimodo is
dragged off to prison.
Esmeralda and Phoebus
The innocent young girl is captivated by the handsome soldier.
The Court of Miracles
Gringoire stumbles into the Court of Miracles, home of the cripples of Paris and after a
bizarre trial, is about to be hanged when Esmeralda saves his life by agreeing to marry him.
Esmeralda and Gringoire
Gringoire discovers it is to be a marriage in name only.
The Pillory
Quasimodo pays a fearful price for his attack on Esmeralda but it is the gypsy girl who
brings him water to ease his suffering. Her kindness is the first he has ever known.
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Act II
Fleur de Lys
Fleur de Lys waits for a visit from her fiancé, Captain Phoebus. She and her friends work
on a tapestry and Fleur dances. The Captain’s arrival sends the girls into a fever of excited
dressing and a formal dance, which is followed by a duet for the betrothed pair.
Esmeralda’s Solo
From the street, the sound of a gypsy tambourine is heard and Esmeralda is invited to
entertain Fleur’s guests but her natural grace and beauty arouse the hostility of the
aristocratic girls and she is humiliated and dismissed.
La Pomme d’Eve
A tavern where the low life of Paris meet to drink and gamble. Captain Phoebus arrives
and is clearly very much at home. He sends Gringoire to find Esmeralda but when the girl
arrives, a mysterious cloaked figure is following her.
A Private Room
Phoebus begins his seduction of Esmeralda but, as the climax approaches, the dark figure,
Frollo, bursts from the shadows, stabs Phoebus and escapes into the shadows of the night.
When the guards arrive, it is Esmeralda who is arrested for the murder.
The Nightmare
Esmeralda’s mind floods with terrifying images as she lies alone and abandoned in the
darkness of a prison cell. As the terrified girl is led to the steps of Notre Dame for her final
penance, Quasimodo swings from the battlements of the Cathedral and carries her to
sanctuary.
Act III
The Belfry
High above the city of Paris, Quasimodo anxiously tends to Esmeralda. She finds him
physically repulsive, but she is grateful for his help and this is enough to send him into the
explosion of joy in the great belfry of Notre Dame.
Frollo Alone
The Archdeacon is tormented by his longing for Esmeralda and, unable to control his lust,
he makes his way through the darkened church to be with her.
The Confrontation
Frollo is shocked and incensed to discover that the misshapen bellringer will fight to the
death to protect Esmeralda from any danger.
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The Rescue
The beggars of Paris mount an attack of the façade of Notre Dame and while Quasimodo
is distracted, Gringoire leads Esmeralda through the passages of the church to safety.
The Betrayal
Once outside the protection of the cathedral however, Gringoire gives the despairing girl
into the hands of her hated enemy, Frollo.
The Final Refusal
Frollo is abject as he begs Esmeralda to be his, but she swears she would rather die on the
gallows that submit to his embraces. He is outraged and summons the guards, who drag
Esmeralda to the scaffold.
The Execution
Quasimodo exerts his revenge on the Archdeacon with one mighty blow that leaves
Frollo’s body crushed, but he is too late to prevent the hanging of Esmeralda. Her lifeless
body swings from the gibbet until the heartbroken Quasimodo takes her in his arms. As
the light fades he mourns the only love of his life.
Victor Hugo
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THE NOVEL & THE BALLET…
“It is a colossal work… It’s the Shakespeare of the novel, an epic of the
Middle Ages…” – Lamartine (a follower of Hugo) on Hunchback of Notre Dame.
“…In the middle ages, the Christian faith entailed more fear than consolation
since it inspired terror of the Last Judgement and of Hell. Claude Frollo is a
great mind and spirit; fear of damnation makes of him a sadist. Quasimodo…
the living union of all possible physical calamities, possesses a soul which loves
and suffers beneath the hideous envelope of his flesh; no consolation is held
out to him. Esmeralda, a frail, delicate young girl is thrown into a moldy
dungeon, a dark, filthy sewer. The title of the chapter in which this occurs
is: Lasciate ogni speranza (Abandon all hope) and this cry of despair could
be the epigraph of the entire book.” - André Maurois, Académie Francaise
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It was written about an age of blood and iron – humanity was held in the
clutches of fate and to Hugo, there seemed little chance of deliverance
from the cruel power which ruled the world…
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This was a time when man’s inhumanity toward man was
extraordinary.
Think of a Beauty and the Beast scenario. Why should we judge people by
their faces? It is just as much an issue today – how do we treat people who
are different? How do we treat people with disabilities? How do we treat
people of other cultures? Races? Religions? Sexual orientation? Do we judge
people by their looks, by what they do or how much money they have or by the
content of their character???
The ballet is formatted like a 19th century classical ballet – all the main
characters start with a solo to show who they are – the music identifies the
characters. The ballet is like a pyramid – act one is enormous – leaving the
audience shellshocked with almost too much information. Acts two and three
get smaller; act two starts to focus in on the story, act three is short and all
about Esmeralda, Quasimodo and Frollo and the tragic fate that awaits
Esmeralda…
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NOTRE DAME…
Is this cathedral really a place of sanctuary like it’s supposed to be? Does it
protect Quasimodo? Does it protect Esmeralda?
• Light vs. Dark
• Good vs. Evil
• Fate
“The subject [of this novel] required a vast knowledge of history. It is hard to
conceive today how little the Middle Ages were appreciated in Victor Hugo’s
youth. Even medieval architecture was scorned. Few cultivated people were
alive to the beauty of the cathedrals… Victor Hugo adored the cathedral of
Notre-Dame in Paris, finding in it the contrasts he sought to express in his
work. The sculptures of the immense façade juxtaposed the sublime and the
grotesque, saints and monstrous gargoyles… Most thorough of all was his
knowledge of the cathedral, its spiral staircases, its mysterious little stone
rooms, its inscriptions, old and new. On one wall he deciphered the Greek
word Ananké (Fate) this word provided the germ cell for his book as he tried
to imagine what lost soul had thus confessed its suffering. The true heroine
of the novel is ‘the immense church of Notre-Dame, which seemed, with her
two towers, her flanks of stone and her monstrous haunches darkly silhouetted
against a starry sky, an enormous, two-headed sphynx seated in the midst of
the city.’ …He endowed a cathedral, a city, a gallows, and a bell with an
indistinct but powerful life of their own.” – André Maurois, Académie
Francaise
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QUASIMODO…
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In the beginning of the novel, Quasimodo is crowned as the Pope of Fools (the
ugliest of the ugly in festival and parade). Here’s a description of what won
him this title:
“We shall not try to describe for the reader that tetrahedron nose, that
horseshoe mouth, that small left eye obscured by red bushy eyebrows; the
right eye which disappeared completely under an enormous wart; those jagged
teeth, with gaps here and there, like the battlements of a fortress; that horny
lip, over which one of those teeth protruded like the tusk of an elephant; that
forked chin, and above all, the expression on the whole face, a mixture of
malice, astonishment, and sadness. …Rather his whole person was a grimace.
His enormous head bristled with red hair; between his shoulders was an
enormous hump, counterbalanced by a proturberance in front; he had a
framework of thighs and legs so strangely askew that they could touch only at
the knees, and, seen from the front, resembled two sickles joined together at
the handles. The feet were huge; the hands monstrous. Yet with all that
deformity was a certain fearsome appearance of vigor, agility, and courage; a
strange exception to the eternal rule prescribing that strength, like beauty,
shall result from harmony. Such was the pope whom the fools had chosen.”
– Victor Hugo
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He’s about 20 years old and has lived nearly his whole life inside the
cathedral.
His movements are sharp, angular and awkward.
The same people that celebrate him in the Feast of Fools are the same that
torture him at the end. They are ignorant, uneducated ruffians.
Quasimodo was adopted by Frollo when he was found abandoned as a baby –
this was not an act of generosity – this was Frollo’s way of securing his spot in
heaven.
His job is to ring the bells of the cathedral. This is his joy – this is what shows
people how wonderful he really is. His joy though – the bells, the sound of
them, also caused him to go deaf and this depressed him so much so that he
stopped speaking.
Frollo forbids him to go outside and has raised him telling him he’s a monster,
a disgrace…
No one touches him – no one comforts him.
Esmeralda is the only one who can see through his outer-ugliness.
Quasimodo becomes loveable. By the end, the audience doesn’t see
Quasimodo’s deformities.
At the end, Quasimodo sees clearly that the man who took him in and saved his
life is also the man that will destroy Esmeralda – the only person who has ever
cared about him.
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ESMERALDA…
Listen to the description Hugo gives– no wonder these characters work so well
in a ballet – especially Esmeralda:
“She was not tall, but her slender lightsomeness made her appear so. Her
complexion was dark, but one guessed that by daylight it would have the
beautiful golden tint of Andalusian and Roman women. Her small feet, too,
were Andalusian, for they seemed at once tight yet comfortable in her dainty
shoes. She pirouetted on an old Persian carpet, spread carelessly under her
feet. Each time she twirled, her radiant face and her large black eyes
seemed to glow for you alone. In the circle all mouths were agape and all
eyes staring. She danced to a Basque tambourine which she tinkled above her
head, thus displaying her lovely arms. She wore a golden bodice tightly laced
about her delicate body, exposing her beautiful shoulders. Below her waist
billowed a multicolored skirt, which in the whirling dance, gave momentary
glimpses of her finely shaped legs. With all this, and her black hair and
sparkling eyes, she seemed like something more than human.” – Victor Hugo
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Starts her solo behind a fire, music is like
the crackling wood of a bonfire
Her dancing is “fast as fire” – lots of
turning and whizzing!
A charming vision
Because she is a gypsy, because she
dances with fire, because she has trained
a little white goat named Djali to dance
and do tricks, people think her
sacrilegious – a pagan, a devil. The
church and what it represents tells
people to be afraid of her – if people
responded to her temptations they were
deemed bad and evil!
She is stronger than any of the men
around her and is also the victim of all
of them. They all want a piece of her.
She lays down her life for what she
believes in.
She IS virtuous despite what everyone believes (because of how she
looks) – she remains true to herself.
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FROLLO…
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Trombone and church organ
The most deep and interesting character of the ballet.
He represents the incredible power of the church which has never
changed – the Catholic church still holds the same power.
By adopting Quasimodo he secures himself a higher place in heaven – this
was not an act of generosity his motives were driven by power and
greed. Think of the church using fear to control people.
“…A monster, burning with a suppressed sensuality, capable of
condemning a poor young girl to the most horrible death simply
because she had been unfortunate enough to inspire in him a guilty
love.” - André Maurois, Académie Francaise
“To the mind of everyone possessed of the smallest intelligence Quasimodo was
the demon and Claude Frollo the sorcerer. It was evident that the bellringer
was to serve the archdeacon for a given time, at the expiration of which he
was to carry off Dom Claude’s soul by way of payment.” – Victor Hugo
“And if, as he grew older, he had lost himself in scientific depths, still others
opened in his heart. So, at least, believed those who watched the priest’s
face. His soul shone forth only through a murky cloud. Why was his head
always bowed? Why did he so often sigh? What secret thought hid behind that
bitter smile? Why did his lowering brows approach each other like two angry
bulls? Why was his scant hair gray? What caused the fire that occasionally
blazed in his eyes, making them look like holes in a burning furnace?” –
Victor Hugo
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PHOEBUS…
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Bashing
Arrogant
Womanizing
In love with himself
Listen to the trumpet
Phoebus is betrothed to Fleur de Lys for money, meanwhile he’s
spending his time out in the street and is so bold he’ll bring Esmeralda
into his world.
“But the captain had by degrees become blasé; and he had become more and
more cool to the prospect of marriage. Besides, he was of a fickle disposition,
and, if one may say so, of rather vulgar tastes. Although of noble birth, he
had contracted, with the help of his officer’s uniform, more than one habit of
the common soldier. He enjoyed frequenting the tavern and the life he found
there. He was never at ease unless surrounded by gross language, military
gallantries, easy beauties and easy conquests. Although he had received
from his family some education and polish, he had too early been allowed to
run loose.” – Victor Hugo
FLEUR DE LYS…
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Her dancing is set above the street – she and everyone like her thought
they were above Esmeralda and others like her.
She lives above reality, in her own cocoon, isn’t in touch with
anything real.
These women treat Esmeralda as the crowd treats Quasimodo – they are
really just jealous of her incomparable beauty.
“It was a sight worth of a more intelligent onlooker than Phoebus, to watch
these fair damsels, with their envenomed and angry tongues, squirming,
gliding, and writhing around the street dancer. They were graciously cruel;
they searched and pried maliciously into every part of her poor, artless,
tawdry finery of spangles and tinsel. They giggled cruelly and heaped
humiliation after humiliation upon her. Sarcasm, haughty condescension,
and spiteful glances rained down upon the gypsy from every side. One
might have thought they were young Roman ladies amusing themselves by
pricking the breast of some pretty slave girl with their golden pins; or you
might have imagined they were graceful greyhounds circling, with distended
nostrils and flaming eyes, some poor hind of the forest which the will of their
master forbade them to devour.” – Victor Hugo
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CLOPIN…
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King of Beggars
Honor amongst thieves!
The Court of Miracles is humorous but deadly.
Here’s a description of the Court of Miracles:
“The poor poet [Gringoire] looked around him. Indeed, he was in that terrible
Court of Miracles, which no honest man had ever penetrated at such an hour; a
magic circle where the officers of the Chatelet and the sergeants of the
provosty who ventured there
disappeared like crumbs; the
city of thieves, a hideous
wart on the face of Paris; a
sewer from which there
escaped every morning, and
to which there returned
every night to stagnate that
stream of vice, poverty, and
vagrancy that that ever
flows through the streets of
capitals; a monstrous hive,
to which there came every
night all the bees of society
with their evil spoils; a sham
hospital, where the gypsy,
the unfrocked monk, the
discredited scholar, the
good-for-nothings of every
nation – Spaniards, Italians,
Germans – of every religion –
Jews, Christians,
Mohammedans, idolaters –
covered with painted sores,
beggars in the daytime,
transformed themselves at
night into robbers; in short,
an immense dressing room, where dressed and undressed at that time all
the actors of this eternal comedy which robbery, prostitution, and murder
enact on the pavements of Paris.” – Victor Hugo
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GRINGOIRE…
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A poet and a playwright.
He is intelligent but no one cares that he can read or write. The beggars
want him to fail (in the Court of Miracles) so that they can watch an
execution which is as exciting as sports are today!
“In truth, Gringoire, was ‘not the lover type’. He was not of that chivalrous
and swashbuckling class who take young maidens by assault. In love, as in
every affair, he was temporizing, and preferred a middle course.” - Victor
Hugo
“ ‘You already know my name is Pierre Gringoire… When I was six years old,
therefore, I was an orphan who had nothing but the pavements of Paris for
soles of his shoes. I do not know how I spent the interval between six and
sixteen… At sixteen I wanted to choose a profession. I tried everything. I
became a soldier, but I wasn’t brave enough. I became a monk, but I wasn’t
holy enough; besides I wasn’t a hardy drinker. In despair, I became an
apprentice in the carpenters; guild; but for that I wasn’t strong enough. I had
wanted most to be a schoolmaster. True, I didn’t know how to read, but that’s
no obstacle. I perceived, at the end of a certain time, that I was, for one
reason or another, fit for nothing. So I decided to become a poet and
rhymester. It’s a profession one can always take up, if one’s a vagabond;
and it’s better than stealing…’ ” – Victor Hugo
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Merci!
This guide was written by Michael Pink, Artistic Director
and Alyson Chavez, Director of Education
This guide was originally written for Colorado Ballet
A special thanks to Tiffany Grady at Colorado Ballet for contributing to this guide
A very special MERCI for
Michael Pink, Choreographer, Esmeralda
& the Cast & Crew of Esmeralda
Resources:
Behr, Edward. The Complete Book of Les Misérables. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1989.
Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Trans. Walter J. Cobb. New York: Penguin Group, 1965.
Maurois, André. Afterword. The Hunchback of Notre Dame. By Victor Hugo. New York: Penguin
Group, 1965. 501-511.
Hunchback of Notre Dame – Michael Pink’s press kit and reviews
http://en.wikipedia.org
www.discoverfrance.net
www.studyguide.org
Want to see more Hunchback?
Check out the following movies:
1923 Silent version starring Lon Chaney, Sr.
1939 LiveLive-action film starring Charles Laughton
1956 LiveLive-action film starring Anthony Quinn
1982
1982 LiveLive-action film starring Anthony Hopkins and Derek Jacobi
• 1996 Disney animation by Walt Disney Studios
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Appendix A: Balletomania!
There are many ways to become a balletomane (a ballet fan or enthusiast) besides taking
dance classes or wanting to be a ballerina or premier danseur yourself. Here are some
suggestions for enjoying ballet:
Watching ballet on film – check with your local library to see what videos they offer.
Regular video stores also offer musicals, which sometimes have some great dancing in them
(although not usually ballet).
Read the stories the ballets are based on and listen to the music before you go to see the
show – you will understand the whole ballet a lot more if you are not struggling to keep up
with what the characters are doing. If the ballet does not have a plot, being familiar with
the music will help you focus on the dancing more.
Keep a ballet scrapbook – clip and save articles, reviews and promotional ads from the
newspaper. Collect and save all of your programs, ticket stubs and even autographs from
your favorite dancers to add to your book. (Sometimes, if you wait at the Stage Door after
a performance, you can meet the dancers as they leave the theatre.)
Write a review of the ballets you see – read the professional reviews in the papers first. Do
you agree with them? Do you like things they forgot to mention? If you don’t agree with
them, or you think there is more to say, write your own review and try to describe what you
saw and why you liked it.
Check out books
books in the library about ballet – there are a number of fictional and nonfictional books about ballet, being a dancer, the art of ballet and its stars.
Workshops – attend special workshops at your school or local theaters.
Look for ballet in art – several painters, sculptors and photographers use dance and
dancers as their inspiration. For example, Edward Degas painted dancers on stage and in
the studio. Local artist, Jason Fricke does beautiful drawings of Milwaukee Ballet’s
dancers.
AND OF COURSE . . .
Going to the theatre – attend as many performances of Milwaukee Ballet and other local
dance companies as you can. Did you know that almost all companies offer at least one
free performance a year? Check the entertainment section of your newspaper for listings
of upcoming shows and events.
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