(Description)
White ballet, 2 acts. Story by the Grimm brothers. Music and libretto by Zoltan Demme. DANCERS: Birch King, Birch Queen, Birchflower Princess, Baroness Birchtrunk with Baron Birchbark, Birchroot, Birchsprig her sons, and Birchlimb her servant. GROUP DANCERS: Ghillie Dhu spirits, Penguins, Icebirds, Dripstone People.
Act 1Scene 1-1-1 (SILVER SCENE) GHILLIES AMONG BIRCH TREES
LIBRETTO: Snowy land beyond the polar circle. Silent and clean. Silver ice everywhere. Silver moonlight. Silver birch barks in the moonlight. From behind the birch trees a dozen of Ghillie Dhu step out in a sudden. Spirits of the birch trees they are. Barks of the birch trees their dresses imitate. Like dragonfly they dance, with small, very vibrant movements, as sensitive, vibrating spirits. Sometimes during the their dance they disappear behind the birch trees within a glance. Nothing they leave behind them on the stage ever, during the entire play. Dance continues. Appearance, disappearance, appearance again and again. But finally the disappear. Silence. Cleanness. Cold, silver moonlight on the scene. NOTE : Ghillies are spirits. Ghillie Dhu groups move unusual way on the stage. Groups that disappear somewhere in the backstage return somewhere in the downstage. Groups that disappear somewhere in the left side return somewhere in the right. Groups that jump into water in one place rise up other and again other places. Soloist dancers act same way. For doing this dancers have alteregos.
COMMENT: Music starts off with a soft fantasy-like melody with sharp sounds, balancing each other out. Progresses into an exciting flow which supports the content in the scene effectively. Some mildly comedic elements, some malicious sounding. Steady buildup of tension. The characters are well represented in the sound world of the music.
Scene 01-02-01 (WHITE CREAM SCENE) ICEBIRDS, PENGUINS, FOG
LIBRETTO: Other polar circle area covered with snow. Silence. Cleanness. Evergreen plants. White birch trees. Snowy, frilly, white rocks. Land looks like birthday cake with white creams on. More. Red, blue, brown berries of the frosted bushes and the colored eggs in the birds’ nests seem oval candies on the cake. In the light, foggy afternoon cheerful icebirds appear. Dancing. Groups of giant snow-white penguins appear. Dancing in the background too, but with slow movement. Ending the dance both groups disappear. Cold. Silence. Dissolving light fog. In the downstage, here and there, some round shape surface of stream sources become more and more visible. Amphoras of birch barks to carry water. Colored berries in birch bark baskets. In the left edge of the stage splash, mud, and stumps. Signs of occasional presence of people. No human being appearance is needed. Icebirds, penguins, then fog appears instead..
COMMENT: Playful, mellow and with a countryside vibe, very similar to old video game music (Dance of icebirds). Very lullaby-like, the bells ringing would match visually to the assumedly rhythmic steps of the penguins. Got slightly repetitive but the smooth and enjoyable melody was offsetting to that. (Dance of penguins).
Scene 01-02-02 GHILLIE DHU BALL PREPARATIONS
LIBRETTO: Ghillies step out. White dresses, like birch barks. Older Ghillies from top to toe have dark green veils. They like briar groups stand in the stage. Preparations for the Ball of Baroness Birchtrunk begin. Care of dresses, hairs, faces, eyes, skin. Baroness Birchtrunk, Baron Birchbark, Birchroot, Birchsprig, have a servant. Birchlimb, the blond boy. Birchlimb has dirty dress, he is ragged, muddied, and comes out always at the splash area of the stage. Birchlimb carries water and oil in amphoras supporting ghillies in prettifying. Sometimes, berries in baskets he takes round, as snack. More and more Ghillie Dhu direct him and he runs with no stop. Being bone tired he disappears in a sudden.
COMMENT: Very similar to that of the first scene in all aspects. Became monotonous though for me rather quickly to the point of annoyance. Ending too abrupt with no transition.
Scene 01-02-03 GHILLIE DHU KIDS
LIBRETTO: Dance of Ghillie Dhu kids preparing for their first ball.
COMMENT: Interesting exotic sounding music, however does not fit the scene and its characters in my opinion. Not child-like enough and the drum like sound makes it too intense in this context.
Scene 01-02-04 STORM THEN THE DANCE OF BIRCHLIMB
LIBRETTO: Discovering the bird eggs in nests. Robbing the nests. Careing face, neck, skin with eggs. Polar storm. Lightning. Ghillies disappear for a while. As lightning stops ghillies come out and continue stealing eggs and careing skin with eggs. Big thunder and lightning. Darkness for a second. When darkness is over, eggs are seen in the nests again! No touch of eggs afterwards. Sons of Baroness Birchtrunk find the servant guy.Everyone directs him again. Birchlimb finds clever ways of passing away submerging sometimes even in the stream sources.
COMMENT: Interesting start with a very rapid “beat” sounds almost abstract. As the melody which I found repetitive previously, it was refreshing to hear that it was intentionally distorted in a mechanical sounding way. Exciting and colourful choices in this music.
Scene 02-01 (WHITE LACE SCENE) OPENING BALL DANCE
LIBRETTO: Snow frosted birch trees. Like lace. Colored berries of bushes in the left side. Truncated birch trees, stumps, mud, splash in the right, marks of occasional prescence of people. Above the high trees, far from the birch forest, a lighted crown is visible now. Palace of Birch King is there. Ball of Baroness Birchtrunk begins. All the Ghillie Dhu dance now. Three brothers bundle off the curious servant guy.
COMMENT: Upbeat winter themed music, mostly fitting the scene. Although it seemed chaotic for me, as if few songs just got matched together and constantly switched on right after the other.
Scene 02-02 TRUMPET OF THE ROYAL DEPUTIES
LIBRETTO: Royal deputies from top to toe in green veils. Gold crown mark on veils. Coming closer and closer. Invitation to the Royal Ball. Beautiful Birchflower Princess in a palanquin. Ovation of Ghillies. Birchlimb comes out and admires princess.
COMMENT: Though it is an East-Asian style music, it produces definitely a royal vibe, and its tone is rather very cold. Complimentary to the scene.
Scene 02-03 PREPARING FOR THE ROYAL BALL
LIBRETTO: Princess and deputies leave. Ghillies prepare. Rush. Dress selection. Dress changes. Behind the birch trees they disappear sometimes within a glance. Birchlimb too desires to participate in the royal party. Baroness Birchtrunk directs him to fill tremendous amount of amphoras with stream water. Three brothers direct him to select great amount of privetberries and sloeberries. He can participate in royal party if work is completed.
COMMENT: Sounds like something from an old video game in a jungle area. Rhythmic and warm sounds. Later on sounds like something from an Asian street festival but still cold and winter-like. Slightly drawn out towards the end.
Scene 02-04 BIRCHLIMB AT WORK
LIBRETTO: Quick labor of Birchlimb with berries and amphoras.
COMMENT: Playful and cute sounding, interesting choreographies could be made of this. The increase in speed toward the end was a nice touch.
Scene 02-05 PREPARING FOR THE ROYAL BALL SECOND ACTION
LIBRETTO: Ghillies. Rush. Dress selection. Dress changes. Behind the birch trees they disappear sometimes and the scene remains empty. Birchlimb finishes his job. Baroness and brothers become furious. Pouring out water. Tumbling berries. Making a work with no end.
COMMENT: Interesting, yet again playful melody although not very melodic and the flow isn’t smooth. Slightly chaotic. Smooth ending.
Scene 02-06 BIRCHLIMB ALONE IN THE SNOWY FOREST
LIBRETTO: Sad Birchlimb sitting in the splash. Blue icebirds appear in a sudden. Dancing . Collecting berries then leaving. Penguins appear in a sudden. Collecting berries then leaving.
COMMENT: Very similar to old video game music, highly fitting to the snowy forest environment. Fine playfullness.
Scene 02-07 PREPARING FOR THE ROYAL BALL THIRD ACTION
LIBRETTO:Ghillies.Rush. Dress selection. Dress changes. Behind the birch trees they disappear sometimes. Job of Birchlimb is done. Baroness and brothers become furious again. They blame the ragged, muddied clothes of the servant guy. They prohibit the participation of the servant guy in the royal party. Ghillies leave in brilliant dresses. Sad Birchlimb sits in the mud.
COMMENT: East-Asian vibes, not cold at all. Not fitting to the scene and its characters in my opinion.
Scene 02-08 BIRCHLIMB CHANGES DRESSES
LIBRETTO: Jumping into the water. Trying to clean clothes. Dress becomes shiny. But it still remains ragged. Other servants appear in a sudden. Cleaning their own clothes jumping into stream sources. Collecting the no ragged pieces of clothes of each servant guy. Putting them together. A brilliant dress Birchlimb gains at the end. He looks like a different guy now. He can come to the Royal Ball.
COMMENT: Elegant and exciting music, some elements were annoying such as the old telephone-like ringing sound. Transitions are abrupt and even seemingly random. The high bass drum sound is a great fit to the theme.
TEXT OF AN OPTIONAL INTERMEZZO IN THE LIBRETTO:
(WHITE CANDLE SCENE) MOUNTAINS: Closed to the Birch King Palace that is decorated with crown. Mountain peeks everywhere. Peeks look like tapers, with frilly frozen snow on each side. Flowing tallow of candles hardens this way. Downstage has a cave with stalagmite shapes of plants, animals, and people. CACOPHONY IN THE CAVE: In his beautiful dress Birchlimb steps into the cave. Cacophonous music. Stalagmite beings a bit move sometimes. Dripstones with blood like color are visible in some places. Stalagmite Jesus with bloody fingers. Stalagmite Statue of Liberty with bloody hands. Stalagmite historical figures with bloody hands. Here and there huge crowds of stalagmite people with legs wading in blood. ICY FIGURES OF MEN, WOMEN, AND KIDS: A small stalagmite group of men, women, and children at the very edge of the stage. No blood. No dirt. These people are clean. They sing in undertones. A bit they move sometimes. Choir text and sylables: All of the food what we get har-ves-ting ma-ny plants in labs we could pro-duce to-day! All of the food what we get by kil-ling a-ni-mals in labs we could pro-duce to-day! Wild a-ni-mals kill crea-tures! Stron-ger eats wea-ker one! We must be bet-ter than they are! If we, hu-mans, want to be bet-ter than a-ni-mals we must eat none of the crea-tures! Un-til we are not bet-ter than the wild a-ni-mals just mam-mals not hu-mans we are! It is the time no-ow to de-ve-lop, step a-haed, to be-come hu-mans from mam-mals! CACOPHONY IN THE CAVE AGAIN Singing ends.Birchlimb goes ahead. Searching for exit. Leaving towards the Palace of the Birch King. DANCE OF ICEBIRDS On the hillside Birchlimb runs up. Blue icebirds appear. Birds dance happily being satisfied with the events.
Act 2 Scene 01-01-01 (GLASS SCENE) ICY PEARLS ON TREES
LIBRETTO: Palace of Birch King and Birch Queen. Dance hall. Glass-like trees. Even the smallest sprig seem consisting of ice. Most likely sleety rain chilled onto each sprig.
COMMENT: Reminiscent of a sped up lullaby with a creepy undertone. Accurate to the scene and its characters.
Scene 01-01-02 ROYAL BALL IS STARTING
LIBRETTO: Crowd of guests appearing. Baroness Birchtrunk and the three brothers also. Dance. While the Ghillies are dancing Birchlimb too steps in. He far avoids the baroness and brothers because of the fear of recognition. But for fear he has no reason. Outlook of him fully differs of his previous image
COMMENT: Started off as something fitting to the royal ball theme, however after a few seconds the high pitched sound was off putting. Rather chaotic with an abrupt ending.
Scene 01-01-03 ANNOUNCEMENT
LIBRETTO: Trumpet. Waiting for the Ghillie Dhu rulers.
COMMENT: Silly sounding and out of tune, as if a child was playing on a flute, although not inaccurate to the scene.
Scene 01-01-04 ARRIVAL
LIBRETTO: Birch King, Queen, Birchflower arrive. Announcement of the dance competition.
COMMENT: Majestic and uplifting, gives off the feeling of royalty looking down upon their servants.
Scene 01-01-05 BIRCHFLOWER’S SOLO OPENS A DANCE CONTEST
LIBRETTO: Birchflower Princess detail by detail explains and shows each single element of required performance. It is a demanding dance full with complicated elements. Cautious, hiding Birchlimb admires the princess.
COMMENT: High tension and quick, great potential for dance choreography. Highly monotonous, however the subtle changes in high then low pitch makes it exciting and pleasurable to listen to. Some “cute”child-like elements paired with the blunt and aggressive drum sounds make it colourful and work together well.
Scene 01-01-06 FIRST COMPETITOR
LIBRETTO: Dancing and failure. Cautious, hiding Birchlimb.
COMMENT: Exact same as the previous one, except slightly more intense.
Scene 01-01-07 SECOND COMPETITOR
LIBRETTO: Dancing and failure. Cautious, hiding Birchlimb.
COMMENT: Exact same as the previous one, except slightly more intense
Scene 01-01-08 BIRCHLIMB’S WINNING DANCE
LIBRETTO: The beginning love feeling helps Birchlimb to dance and to have done each single complicated element of required performance. Wonder and love feeling of Birchflower Princess.
COMMENT: High intensity and emotion provoking, similar to a horror-thriller-like soundtrack, reminiscent of a “chasing” scene from a movie or from a nightmare. However way too long and lost its appeal due to its monotony and length, slight changes near the end redeemed those problems.
Scene 01-01-09 CONGRATULATIONS BY THE KING AND QUEEN
LIBRETTO: Queen and King too celebrate Birchlimb. Birchflower brings a birch wreath. Through the head of Birchlimb she places wreath onto the neck of servant.
COMMENT: While the scene is celebratory, the music does not reflect that, only slightly. Could have been more uplifting and slower.
Scene 01-01-10 DANCE OF BIRCHFLOWER AND BIRCHLIMB
LIBRETTO: Birchflower desires to dance with the winner. Blow of love feeling while dancing.
COMMENT: Highly romantic and affectionate, very accurate to the scene and its characters. The buzzing electronic sound along with the quick high pitched piano is a refreshing combination making this immediately stand out.
Scene 02-01 (PEARL SCENE) SHINING ICY PEARLS ON TREES
LIBRETTO: The lovers go outside. Icy pearls everywhere on the trees. Most likely sleety rain chilled onto each tree.
COMMENT: Very fast lullaby-like, icy theme.
Scene 02-02 EROTIC DANCE OF BIRCHFLOWER & BIRCHLIMB
LIBRETTO: The dance of the lovers becomes erotic. Some nudity is allowed if performed in an easy, playing way as children do it, with no real sexual atmosphere.
COMMENT: Highly erotic and sensual, promiscuous such as a lovers dance filled with desire and interconnectivity. Some cartoonish elements.
Scene 2-03 SILVER PEARLS ON TREES UNDER THE SHINING MOON
LIBRETTO: More and more guests come outside. Baroness, three brothers appear curiously. Birchlimb decides to leave. He places his wreath into the neck of the princess. When his lover turns aside for a second, servant guy disappears.
COMMENT: Still erotic however more shy and subtle. Fitting to the scene.
Scene 02-04 BIRCHFLOWER SEARCHES FOR BIRCHLIMB
LIBRETTO: Sad dance of the princess. Searching for his lover everywhere.
COMMENT: Sounds of desperation and sadness, more and more intense as it progresses on. Slightly elements of “hope” scattered around in the soundtrack. The inclusion of fast drum sounds were unnecessary in my opinion.
Scene 2-05 PENGUINS THEN ICEBIRDS HELP BIRCHFLOWER
LIBRETTO: Hopeless princess stays alone. Penguins come out in a sudden. Showing the trace that leads to Birchlimb, birds leave the scene guiding the princess in the right path. A group of icebirds also appear later, showing the right path also to the princess.
COMMENT: The return of the “Penguins theme” and its corresponding sounds which become recognizable almost immediately. Playful, adorable and calming yet exciting and even mysterious. Also iconic and one of the best themes in this ballet in my opinion. Also fitting to the scene and the characters.
TEXT OF AN OPTIONAL INTERMEZZO IN THE LIBRETTO:
(WHITE CANDLE SCENE) MOUNTAINS: Closed to the Birch King Palace. Ball is over now. Mountain peeks everywhere. Peeks look like tapers, with frilly frozen snow on each side. Flowing tallow of candles hardens this way. Downstage has a cave with stalagmite shapes of plants, animals, and people. CACOPHONY IN THE CAVE: Birchflower and penguins step in. Cacophonous music. Stalagmite beings a bit move sometimes. Dripstones with blood like color are visible in some places. Stalagmite Jesus with bloody fingers. Stalagmite Statue of Liberty with bloody hands. Stalagmite historical figures with bloody hands. Here and there huge crowds of stalagmite people with legs wading in blood. ICY FIGURES OF MEN, WOMEN, AND KIDS:
A small stalagmite group of men, women, and children at the very edge of the stage. No blood. No dirt. These people are clean. They sing in undertones. A bit they move sometimes. Choir text and sylables:Un-til we are not bet-ter than the wild a-ni-mals just mam-mals not hu-mans we are! It is the time no-ow to de-ve-lop, step a-haed, to be-come hu-mans from mam-mals! Un-til we are not bet-ter than the wild a-ni-mals just mam-mals not hu-mans we are! It is the time no-ow to de-ve-lop, step a-haed, to be-come hu-mans from mam-mals! Un-til we are not bet-ter than the wild a-ni-mals just mam-mals not hu-mans we are! It is the time no-ow to de-ve-lop, step a-haed, to be-come hu-mans from mam-mals! CACOPHONY IN THE CAVE AGAIN: Singing ends. Birchflower and penguins go ahead. Searching for exit. Leaving toward the territory of Baroness Birchtrunk. DANCE OF ICEBIRDS: Blue icebirds appear outside. Listening to Birchflower and her helpers birds dance happily being satisfied with the events.
ACT 3 Scene 01-01 (WHITE CREAM SCENE) WINTER BIRCHTREES
LIBRETTO: Around Baroness Birchtrunk’s residency. Scene from Act 1. Silence. Cleanness. Evergreen plants. White birch trees. Snowy, frilly, white rocks. Land looks like birthday cake with white creams on. More. Red, blue, brown berries of the frosted bushes and the colored eggs in the birds’ nests seem oval candies on the cake.
COMMENT: Creepy theme, introducing the environment.
Scene 01-02 BIRCHLIMB AND THE STORM IN THE HORIZON
LIBRETTO: Sad Birchlimb in rags. Carrying water in amphoras. Collecting berries. Finding not too much berries, leaving with baskets to get some more. Storming for a while. Darkness sometimes.
COMMENT: A complex mixture of emotions, sadness, feelings of pity for the characters and the intensity and even uplifting nature of the soundtrack makes it colourful and attention provoking. Smooth and pleasurable melody, all elements are synergistic and work well together in a nice balance. The ending was decent however the sound was not fitting in my opinion.
Scene 01-03 DEPUTIES
LIBRETTO: Birchflower, penguins, icebirds. In her hand Birchflower has the green wreath used past night. Guards and deputies later, in hurry, to reach and protect princess. Greetings from Ghillies to the princess.
COMMENT: Silly and comedic, the flute-like sound is a bit annoying.
Scene 01-04 THE THREE BROTHERS
LIBRETTO: Greetings from the baroness and brothers to the princess. Blond Birchbark makes princess curious. Through his blond head Birchflower tries to put wreath into his neck. Head of Birchbark is too big. Failure. Baroness Birchtrunk forces Birchflower for trying blond Birchroot then bold Birchsprig to wreath. Too big heads. Failure both times. All the blond Ghillies directed to come out now. Search by deputies and guards everywhere.
COMMENT: A theme very similar to some in previous scenes, however with a distortion. Sounds like a “boss level” soundtrack from an old video game. The switches from intensity to calmness are very well done. The scene and its characters are well represented in the sound world of the music.
Scene 01-05 SERVANTS
LIBRETTO: Servants, those that helped Birchlimb in the past act, appear now in rags. Some of them want to escape but deputies object this. Checking and checking servants and wreath.
COMMENT: Rhythmic, intense and strong soundtrack with an underlying maliciousness to it, the distorted elements were again a welcome addition.
Scene 01-06 TRIUMPH OF BIRCHLIMB
LIBRETTO: Checking of servants and wreath is contiuned. No result. Birchlimb, surrounded with cheerful icebirds, returns with the collected sloeberries. Wreath fits, though lovers recognize each other even without the wreath. Because of the baroness and barons, Birchlimb tries to disappear in the mud area. But Birchflower follows and follows him becoming full with dirt, splash, and mud. Guards direct baroness and barons to leave the scene.
COMMENT: Very similar to soundtracks before it, with a slight more intensity. As it is repeated it becomes a bit dull. Halfway through it reaches its peak which breaks it out of the monotony. Chaotic due to the immediate transitions. The strong bell sounds were a great choice in my opinion, along with the fast drums at the end.
Scene 01-07 FINALE
LIBRETTO: Birchflower and Birchlimb jump and jump again into the water to have their clothes clean. Joy. Playing. Chasing each other. By the deputies, for the young couple, gold rings and small gold crowns are prepared. Storm in the horizon. Thunder. Lightning. Storm comes closer. Big thunder and lightning. Darkness for a second. When darkness is over, small gold crowns are shining in the stage. But heads of the happy Birchflower & Birchlimb are uncovered ! Their helpers, the servants, the penguins, the icebirds have the gold crowns on their heads.
COMMENT: Very high speed, setting up for the FINALE. Thunderous and fitting to the storm environment in the scene. A great fit to the ending scene.
ANDREW R. DAMU