One of my fondest memories is dancing in Swan Lake. Now before you get any grand ideas of my glorious ballet career, I was ten years old in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and my ballet school presented a fully costumed production of Swan Lake at the 5-star Hotel Ivoire. It was the highlight of my dancing days even though I very soulfully pirouetted off in the opposite direction to the rest of the corps of swans. Still, the experience instilled in me (besides a certain contrariness) a love of ballet and especially of Tchaikovsky’s glorious score.
Imagine my delight when I discovered that WETA UK is offering a French 8-part drama, L’Opéra, all about a season at the stunningly beautiful Opéra Garnier in Paris, just in time for its 150th anniversary.
When we’re seduced by the grace and athleticism of a ballet performance, we don’t realize what goes into presenting that vision of human perfection. L’Opéra goes behind the scenes and details the intense pressure and personal drama that sometimes explode in self-destructive ways, despite the dancers’ devotion to their art. The show explores how racism, ageism, traditionalism and the sheer physical brutality of an art form that demands incredible physical prowess can take their toll on the artists.
As you would expect, the music is glorious. There’s Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, plus scores by Mozart, Minkus, and Auber.
The show is in French with English subtitles which is an excellent way to polish your language skills (if not your arabesque).
Ariane Labed stars as Zoé, the principal dancer whose wild lifestyle is endangering her career.
Suzy Bemba is Flora, the young Black supernumerary with big dreams.
Raphaël Personnaz is Sébastien, the dance director who wants to change things up even if it means betraying his friends.
L’Opéra airs on WETA UK Tuesday nights at 9 pm starting March 25, continuing over 8 consecutive weeks. It’s part of WETA UK’s Foreign Favorites block which runs from 8 to 11 pm Tuesday nights. There are so many ways to catch this show: you can livestream WETA UK on the PBS app or weta.org, as well as WETA Passport.
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