BLACK / WHITE

Short ballets by Katarzyna Kozielska and Serge Lifar

Premiere in the Estonian National Opera on March 24, 2023

“Open Door”

Ballet by Katarzyna Kozielska

Music: Symphony in C major by Georges Bizet

World premiere on March 24, 2023 in the Estonian National Opera

“Suite en blanc”

Ballet by Serge Lifar

Music: Édouard Lalo’s ballet “Namouna”

World premiere on June 19, 1943 in Zurich

“Suite en blanc” by Serge Lifar was created in 1943 to the music of Édouard Lalo – one of Lifar’s rare plotless ballets designed to display the elegance and virtuosity of its dancers. It became a symbol of neo-classical style in choreography. Serge Lifar: “When creating “Suite en blanc”, I was interested of pure dance that is independent of anything else. I wanted to create beautiful visions without any artificiality or intellectual construction. The result is a succession of authentic little technical etudes, choreographic miniatures independent of each other, but related to each other by the same neo-classical style”.

Its title was taken from the white costumes worn by the original cast, although in subsequent revivals the men wore black tights and black boleros and the title had to be changed to “Noir et blanc”. In this ballet, the audience is taken to a journey through the history of French ballet, on a feast of finding and cherishing a perfect movement.

“Dancers are a symphony orchestra with their different parts to play that harmonise, interweave and mix with each other to create a musical flow: there are arms that sing, hands that speak, legs that type and write. The dancer is simultaneously an orchestra, conductor and musician”.

- Serge Lifar