For the celebratory opening night of Albert Ballet's Love Lies Bleeding, a contemporary ballet production set to Sir Elton John’s music, audiences are encouraged to strut around in their most spangled spandex pants, flag t-shirts or corsets, sunglasses the size of modern art, furry platform boots or whatever nostalgic piece of 1970s glam rock attire strikes their fancy.
Jean Grand-Mâitre, the choreographer who won international acclaim with the 2010 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver and the Joni Mitchell-directed ballet The Fiddle and The Drum, is turning this much-awaited debut into a party that hasn’t been seen since "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" last screened at The Plaza on Kensington at midnight.
Biographical Narrative Expands into a Transpersonal One
“Originally, I structured the story of Love Lies Bleeding around Sir Elton’s biography, but it wasn’t enough,” Grand-Mâitre explained during Alberta Ballet’s first dress rehearsal, on April 14th, 2010, at the company’s Nat Christie Memorial Hall studios in Calgary’s Beltline.
“I was struck by how celebrities are deified in our society, and wanted to track that elevation into superstardom with both its healthy and unhealthy effects. Their lives — Sir Elton’s life — become so much larger than their personal existence, and their charisma has so much popular appeal that they bring an enormous and liberating influence to bear on the people who, in essence, worship them. The downside of this, of course, is that the excess carries on into personal lives with often disastrous side effects. And so, the ballet’s narrative expanded into the story of that entire subculture and, by extension, all of us who have heard his music and were influenced by that era, those times.
“The lead character named Elton Fan #1 is danced by our principles, Yukichi Hattori and Kelley McKinlay. He plays a young man obsessed with Elton John, whose personality reflects the one projected by his hero, from his seemingly endless outpouring of creative energy to his personal demons, which are danced by other members of the company. They show him in various states of being uplifted and inspired, or fallen.”
Grand-Mâitre’s work extends past superstardom into the heart of fandom itself, with its codified fictions, artificial performance personae, and collisions between glamour and reality.
An Internationally Acclaimed Team of Designers
Grand-Mâitre drew upon the talents of six designers from around the world who provided him with:
- 14 of Sir Elton’s songs segued with original soundtrack transitions,
- 150 eye-popping costumes, props and headpieces,
- 7 different sets,
- Numerous special effects,
- Acrobatic techniques which Grand-Mâitre used in the 2010 Olympic opening ceremonies.
“The costume used designs taken from glam rock, burlesque, Cabaret and surrealism,” Grand-Mâitre said. “Our designer used images of pop stars like Michael Jackson and Dame Edna, haute couteur models, Louis Quatorze, and Las Vegas entertainers.”
“The sets [designed by Guilliame Lord] are unlike any the company has used before. One incorporates a rotating stage with a centrepiece of a white piano. Another is filled with flying pianos. We utilize special effects and aeriels like you see in Cirque du Soliel. I wanted a spectacular show to pay adequate homage to Sir Elton’s showmanship.
“Once I had his approval and blessing, every design, every step of the way was planned in conjunction with his management company.”
Love Lies Bleeding runs May 6th – 9th, 2010 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, and May 11th – 12th, 2010, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. Choice matinee seats are still available. Tickets can be purchased online at The Alberta Ballet Website.
The story of the inspiration and force behind the creation of this ballet can be read in Simone Keiran's March 25th, 2010, article, Elton John & Alberta Ballet Love Lies Bleeding and Love Lies Bleeding, The Contemporary Elton John Ballet.
Simone Keiran - Simone Keiran’s book A Brief History of Western Sculpture, Quantum Books, was released at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair. Her articles ...
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