Salmar Theatre’s popular dance series resumes Sunday, Sept. 30 with the Bolshoi Ballet production of La Sylphide.
Settle yourself into a Scottish manor house.
It is the morning of James’ marriage to Effie and he is asleep in his armchair. A winged figure, a sylphide, is kneeling by his side.
She kisses him on his forehead and he wakes up confused. Entranced by the vision of the sylph, he attempts to capture her, but she escapes him; she reaches the fireplace and vanishes up the chimney.
Troubled, he wakes his companions but none of them have seen her. Gurn, James’s rival, arrives and learns that James is infatuated with someone other than Effie.
The preparations for the wedding are in full swing. James hardly notices Effie; instead she is wooed by Gurn whom she ignores. James joins in the preparations but gradually realizes that, as Effie dreams more and more of the wedding, his own dreams go far beyond the walls of the manor-house.
An old woman, Madge, has slipped unnoticed into the hall to warm herself by the fire. James, sensing that she is a sinister presence, takes an immediate dislike to her and cannot bear to see her sitting where he last saw the sylph.
He orders her to leave, but Effie calms him and persuades him to let Madge tell the fortunes of some of the guests.
The sylph once again shows herself to James, declares her love for him and tells him they belong together, Gurn enters and, believing that he may have caught James talking to another woman, attempts to reveal the situation to Effie but fails
As the wedding festivities begin, the sylph reappears and, unable to resist her enticements, James follows her into the forest. Effie is left broken-hearted.
Follow the action into the mist-shrouded forest of the second act, Sunday, where magic and malice reside and where some are rewarded by love and others learn lessons of loss .
It is James who discovers that in trying to possess the unobtainable he has lost everything.
The ballet runs at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Salmar Classic Theatre.
This year’s dance series also features ballet companies from the Nederlands Dans Theater and London’s Royal Opera House.
The 2012-13 season’s Bolshoi Ballet offerings include The Pharaoh’s Daughter – Nov. 25, La Bayadère – Jan. 27, The Rite of Spring – March 31 and Romeo and Juliet – May 12.
The Nederland Dans Theater presents Move to Move on Feb. 17 and from the Royal Opera House comes La Fille Mal Gardée on Oct. 14, The Nutcracker Dec. 16 and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on April 21.
Tickets are $22 for adults and $11 for youths. Adult season’s passes are $158 and $79 for youths.
The Salmar’s other popular satellite series, Live at the Met resumes Saturday, Oct. 1 at 9:55 a.m. with L’Elisir d’amore.
Other productions in the new season include Otello – Oct. 27, The Tempest – Nov. 10, La Clemenza Di Titto – Dec. 1, Un Ballo in Maschera – Dec. 8, Aida – Dec. 15, Les Troyens – Jan. 5, Maria Stuarda – Jan. 19, Rigoletto – Feb. 16, Parsifal – March 2, Francesca da Rimini – March 16 and Giulio Cesare – April 27.
Tickets are $24 for adults and $18 for children and students. An adult season pass is $230 and a student/child pass is $172.
