Ballet in two parts choreographed by Uwe Scholz + Documentary: “Soulscapes”
Performers: Kiyoko Kimura, soloist/Leipzig Ballet/Giovanni Di Palma, soloist/Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/Henrik Schaefer
Studio: EuroArts/Medici.tv [Distr. by Naxos]
Video: 16:9 color
Audio: PCM stereo (performance); DD stereo (documentary)
Subtitles: English, German, French
No region coding
Length: 74 minutes (performance); 91 minutes (documentary)
Rating: ****
Uwe Scholz was a unique young choreographer who died in 2004. Although he used mostly dance movements in the classical tradition, he blazed a new path of “soulscapes” in his choreography, which could communicate an amazing emotional range. There are three distinct parts to this DVD. The first is an amazing solo performance of Stravinsky’s sacrificial dance by Giovanni Di Palma, accompanied by Stravinsky’s own two-piano version of his ballet score. The lone dancer works with images of himself and others projected on the wall behind him on the stage, with some zooming into the prepared footage, leaving the dancer behind on the stage. The music and choreography represent the emotional and mental torments the soloist goes thru, and have a counterpart in the way Scholz’s life ended. The Leipzig audience was stunned according to the notes, and no wonder. In its concluding moments this is clearly the most scatological ballet ever. I couldn’t describe it but just think of a dirty monkey at the zoo.
The Part II version of the Stravinsky ballet used the full orchestral score and the full ballet company, on a bare stage with no props. It is clearly way beyond the normal setting of a prehistoric Russian tribe engaged in a sacrificial dance, but retains much of the basic sense of the scenario. However, there is added a compelling emotional message in which the viewer becomes very empathic with the plight of the girl being sacrificed. Close ups of the facial expressions are very important in conveying the story – which would be impossible to see clearly from most of the audience at a live performance. I’m not sure I understand the girl being lifted up on a rope at the end of the work instead of dancing herself to death, but it seems effective. The orchestra does a workmanlike interpretation – not the finest recording of Le Sacre – but together with the eye-popping choreography and costumes the total effect is most impressive.
Now for the 91-minute documentary (longer than the two ballets), which won two different prizes at European film festivals last year: This film by Günter Atteln is a touching portrayal of the young genius Uwe Scholz, who had choreographed over 100 ballets during his short and tragic career. The filmmaker was evidently doing a documentary on the choreographer centered around the premiere of his two-part Le Sacre in 2003, and therefore had a great deal of footage of Scholz in action with his dancers and around his office at the Leipzig Ballet.
Scholz was a perfectionist and a loner and maintained a very stressful lifestyle in which excessive drinking and smoking were factors. He attempted to translate every single note of the music into physical motion. A ballet critic describes his unique contributions as making the viewer think the music was inspired by his choreography, rather than the other way round. The excerpts shown of his choreography to a Bruckner Symphony definitely caught my eye – no one has done a ballet to a Bruckner Symphony as far as I know! A major part of the documentary is devoted to cutting between actual footage of Scholz and excerpts from his extremely autobiographical solo Le Sacre production which opens this DVD in its entirety. (I noticed the filmmaker thankfully avoided the final scene I refer to above.) Scholz’ death resulted from his compromised health not being resistant to an infection he picked up when he went into the hospital for a circulatory operation.
