Paul Connelly – Landgraf on Dance

27. October 2025

Reborn

“Callirhoe”
Vienna State Ballet
Vienna State Opera
Vienna, Austria
October 19, 2025 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2025 by Ilona Landgraf

The title of Martin Schläpfer’s farewell choreography, Pathétique, summarized the condition of the Vienna State Ballet he left behind after five years as its artistic director. His successor, Alessandra Ferri, restructured the company. Some dancers left, and others joined, some of whom were returnees. Last weekend, she presented the first premiere under her reign, Alexei Ratmansky’s Callirhoe (which he choreographed for ABT in 2020 under the title Of Love and Rage). It felt like the rebirth of the company. I cannot remember when I last saw the Vienna State Ballet perform with such force. Congratulations!

Callirhoe is based on an eponymous ancient Greek novel by Chariton of Aphrodisias. Its date of origin is contested, but the novel was most likely written in the mid-first century AD. It’s about Callirhoe and Chaireas, a young, lovestruck couple, whose romance is put to the test around 400 BC. Fate has absurd twists and a torrent of calamities in store for them, which librettist Guillaume Gallienne condensed into two acts of breathtaking intensity.

The moment their eyes met for the first time, Callirhoe (Madison Young) and Chaireas (Victor Caixeta) fell in love, as if they were made for one another. Less than one-and-a-half minutes later, a kiss sealed their symbiosis. Shortly thereafter, their initially hostile fathers (Eno Peci and Lukas Gaudernak) made peace and blessed the wedding. An embodiment of beauty (or the worldly counterpart of Aphrodite), Callirhoe was the most coveted woman. Three especially jealous admirers successfully conspired to convince Chaireas of his wife’s unfaithfulness.

His rage caused her to fall into a coma. Believed dead, Callirhoe was buried (luckily not below ground but in a gorgeous tomb at sea level) only to be kidnapped by pirates (led by Géraud Wielick) upon awakening. Upon finding the tomb empty, Chaireas realized that Callirhoe was alive. Together with his loyal friend, Polycharmos (Rinaldo Venuti), he set off to find her.

They tracked her to the opposite seashore, where, just as they arrived, she was marrying the aristocrat Dionysius (Alessandro Frola). Both were arrested. A tender and sensitive husband, Dionysius won Callirhoe’s devotion and believed the son she gave birth to was his own. But other men craved to possess her as well. The greater their social power, the more recklessly they pursued her. Mithridates (Timoor Afshar), who happened to have Chaireas and Polycharmos taken captive, tore Callirhoe out of her husband’s arms, his gaze gleaming with lust. The king of Babylon (Marcelo Gomes), who actually should have settled Dionysius’s and Mithridates’s dispute over Callirhoe, grabbed her himself despite his wife’s (Ioanna Avraam’s) vain attempts to get his attention.

The sudden outbreak of a war between Egypt and Babylon shifted the story to the battlefield. There, Chaireas and Dionysius clashed into one another. Chaireas prevailed and found Callirhoe amidst the ruins, and they reunited. Just as Dionysius handed over the son (Julius Urga) to his mother and rightful father, the ending seemed to get mawkish. But thanks to Frola’s superb acting, it pierced one’s heart.

The choreography was rich and complex, revealing a multitude of facets of some protagonists (and the shallowness of others). Each step felt intense and imbued with meaning. By cleverly condensing parts of the story, Ratmansky freed time for extended pas de deux (Mithridates mistreated Callirhoe for quite a while) and meaningful solos from supportive characters, such as Callirhoe’s buoyant maid (Margarita Fernandes) and Dionysius’s clever servant (Rosa Pierro). Particularly in Act I, the corps acted as a mediator or commentator like the choir of a Greek tragedy, creating moments of contemplation.

The plasticity of group arrangements, scenes danced in mirror image like moving sculptures, and a movement style reminiscent of ancient Greece reflected the sophistication of that period culture.
The court at Babylon, by comparison, hopped around overexcitedly as if satirizing their royal status. Gomes’s king moved with heavy steps, his gaze vacant and hair unkempt. His crude assault on Callirhoe in front of all eyes proved that he was mentally unfit for a position of power.

Humor often lightened the lovers’ tragedy. Pushed by the lovers’ friends, their fathers stumbled clownishly toward reconciliation. Later, on the battlefield, the catchy tunes of Aram Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance (from the ballet Gayane) made Chaireas’s and Dionysius’s combat cartoonishly urgent. Most of the music was compiled from Gayane. Other music by Khachaturian completed the score (of which Paul Connelly and the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera performed a masterful rendition).

Jean-Marc Puissant’s tasteful, uncluttered decor resonated with ancient Greece and Babylonia. In the first act, a statue of Aphrodite overlooked the goings-on as if to assure everyone that whatever happened was destined. The blue and golden backdrop at Babylon’s court resembled the Ishtar Gate. All order was reduced to ashes at the end. The principle of love was unharmed though. It rose from the rubble like a phoenix.

Links:		Website of the Vienna State Ballet
		“Callirhoe” – Trailer
		“Callirhoe” – Introduction
		“Callirhoe”- Rehearsal
Photos:	1.	Madison Young (Callirhoe) and ensemble, “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	2.	Victor Caixeta (Chaireas) and ensemble, “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	3.	Madison Young (Callirhoe), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	4.	Madison Young (Callirhoe), Victor Caixeta (Chaireas), and ensemble; “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	5.	Margarita Fernandes (Callirhoe’s maid), Giovanni Cusi, and Lars Philipp Gramlich (Chaireas’s friends); “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	6.	Victor Caixeta (Chaireas), Madison Young (Callirhoe), and ensemble: “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	7.	Madison Young (Callirhoe), Rinaldo Venuti (Polycharmos), Victor Caixeta (Chaireas), and ensemble; “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	8.	Rosa Pierro (Dionysius’s servant), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	9.	Madison Young (Callirhoe) and Alessandro Frola (Dionysius), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	10.	Rinaldo Venuti (Polycharmos), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	11.	Timoor Afshar (Mithridates), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	12.	Victor Caixeta (Chaireas) and ensemble, “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	13.	Madison Young (Callirhoe), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	14.	Marcelo Gomes (King of Babylon), Madison Young (Callirhoe), and ensemble; “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	15.	Ioanna Avraam (Queen of Babylon), Gaia Fredianelli, Natalya Butchko, and ensemble; “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	16.	Alessandro Frola (Dionysius) and ensemble,“Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	17.	Victor Caixeta (Chaireas) and ensemble, “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	18.	Alessandro Frola (Dionysius) and Madison Young (Callirhoe), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	19.	Madison Young (Callirhoe) and Victor Caixeta (Chaireas), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
	20.	Madison Young (Callirhoe) and Victor Caixeta (Chaireas), “Callirhoe” by Alexei Ratmansky, Vienna State Ballet 2025
		all photos © Vienna State Ballet/Ashley Taylor
Editing:		Kayla Kauffman

13. July 202424. July 2024

Ambivalent

“Manon”
Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala
Teatro alla Scala
Milan, Italy
July 08, 2024 (live stream)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

Given the mind-boggling speed with which Western culture is changing, La Scala’s live stream of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon felt like a relic from the good old days of ballet. Unlike other staples of the classical repertory—Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, or The Nutcracker, for example—with a spiritual dimension that serves as a source of inspiration in difficult times, Manon has the opposite effect. Based on Abbé Prévost’s novel Manon Lescaut (1731), it dives deeply into the social swamp of early-18th-century France and in the real swamps near the then-French colony of Louisiana. Rabble and the poor crowd the streets and the upper class’s silk and satin façade barely hides their rotten morals. Sex, money, and power reign in everyday life, and, for women, alluring men is the only way to secure an existence. Not a single soul remains untainted in the sex-and-crime-ridden love tragedy of Manon. Continue reading “Ambivalent”

17. November 201527. July 2016

A Sweeping Goodbye

“Manon”
Semperoper Ballet
Semperoper
Dresden, Germany
November 11, 2015

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2015 by Ilona Landgraf

One could make things easier when it comes to the end of a dance career. A favorite piece which the audience likes should make for a decent leave-taking. Jiří Bubeníček is of another caliber. After nine years with Semperoper Ballet Dresden he tackled a debut for his farewell, Des Grieux in Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon”. Moreover, he asked a ballerina, with whom he had never danced before, to be his Manon: Royal Ballet’s principal Melissa Hamilton, who will stay with the Semperoper company for the whole season.

“Go for it!” is one of Bubeníček’s principles. Exactly this is what he did. In fact, what the whole company did. Aaron S.Watkin, the company’s artistic director, aimed to use “Manon” to explore yet another style with his already versatile company. It was enthusiastically received. No wonder. All ingredients merged splendidly presenting “Manon” as a gripping narrative. Continue reading “A Sweeping Goodbye”

23. February 201519. December 2016

Stunning Emotions

“Tristan + Isolde”
Semperoper Ballet
Semperoper
Dresden, Germany
February 17, 2015

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2015 by Ilona Landgraf

Reportedly a few of the audience had expected to see the opera, while others, having had a slightly closer look at Semperoper Dresden’s program, were anticipating hearing Richard Wagner’s famous music. Both parties must have been surprised. “Tristan + Isolde” is a ballet by David Dawson to new music by Szymon Brzóska.
Dawson wisely abstained from using Wagner’s well-known opera music. Instead Brzóska, a Pole, composed a tailor-made score for the Dresden company. Both had already collaborated on Dawson’s ballet “Overture” for Dutch National Ballet in 2013. Generally speaking, his music, Brzóska told in an interview, would range between contemporary avant garde and extended tonality that inclined towards minimalism. The new composition reminds one of film music. It’s emotional music, conveying love’s bliss but also dramatic, fragile and threatening moments. Though expressive, Dawson never left it to the music to bring forth the action but always backed it with choreographic substance. Paul Connelly and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden highly focused playing captivated one from the first tone on. Laurels to them! Continue reading “Stunning Emotions”

10. December 20144. December 2016

An Attempt to Live Up to an Epic Story

“Anna Karenina”
Ballet Zurich
Opernhaus Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland
November 29, 2014

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2014 by Ilona Landgraf

Adapting a complex novel of remarkable scale for a ballet is a courageous undertaking. Christian Spuck, Ballet Zurich’s artistic director, took up the challenge. “Anna Karenina”, his new work, premiered earlier this season. It is based on Leo Tolstoy’s eponymous novel, more than one-thousand pages of intricate family histories, written within 1873 – 1878. Spuck boiled them down into a two-hour ballet. How did he approach this task and with what success?

Next to the triangle between Anna Karenina (Viktorina Kapitonova), her husband Alexei Karenin (Filipe Portugal) and her lover Count Alexei Vronsky (Denis Vieira), Spuck also portrays the other protagonists’ love affairs as well as other lesser characters: Dolly’s and the unfaithful Stiva’s messed up marriage (Dolly: Galina Mihaylova, Stiva: Arman Grigoryan) as well as Kitty’s and Levin’s tentative approach to each other, their wedding and apparently happy rural life (Kitty: Katja Wünsche, Levin: Tars Vendebeek). Princess Betsy (Giulia Tonelli), a socialite with dubious morals, and her companion (Wei Chen) – a wimp whom she makes look like fool – are featured as is the rigid Countess Lidia Ivanovna (Eva Dewaele), Alexei Karenin’s later life partner. The settings include those of Moscow’s and St. Petersburg’s high society, the Karenin’s home, a farm harvest with hands at work (Levin’s environment), the famous horse race, Anna’s and Vronsky’s sojourn in Italy and, of course, some train journeys to get from A to B plus Anna’s last fatal encounter with a train. Continue reading “An Attempt to Live Up to an Epic Story”

21. July 201429. November 2016

In Honor of Richard Strauss

“Legends – Homage to Richard Strauss”
Semperoper Ballet
Semperoper
Dresden, Germany
July 11, 2014

Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949), the German composer and conductor, would have celebrated his 150th birthday this year. He was closely connected to Dresden, where nine of his fifteen operas had their world premieres. Thus it isn’t surprising that the Semperoper Dresden is celebrating this jubilee extensively with an array of operas, concerts, song recitals and the ballet evening “Legends – Homage to Richard Strauss”. The ballet program, based on Strauss music, includes two world premieres. For the first time, Alexei Ratmansky has created new choreography in Germany – the ensemble piece “Tanzsuite”, first on the program. The other premiere, “The Legend of Joseph”, is by Stijn Celis, a choreographer already familiar with the Semperoper’s dancers.

Richard Strauss and Alexei Ratmansky seem to share a trait: both are passionate about the past, about evoking history and reconfiguring it as contemporary art. One of Strauss’ historical sources of inspiration was the French rococo period. Its lightness and esprit found expression in Strauss’ creation “Ballroom and Theater Dances in the Style of Louis XV”, better known as the “Tanzsuite”, which premiered 1923 in Vienna. Strauss’ composition drew on a selection of François Couperin’s ‘Pièces de Clavecin’, pieces for the piano from the years 1713 – 1730, which Strauss adapted, rearranged and scored for small orchestra. The style of 20th century’s late romantic music was subtly woven into the rococo miniatures, which evoked a French court of the 18th century. In charge of the choreography for Vienna was Heinrich Kröller (1880 – 1930), a German ballet master and choreographer who worked first for Munich’s ‘Royal Court and National Theater’ and later for the Vienna State Opera. Playing with court dances and including mythological figures, Kröller enchanted his Viennese post-court audience with royal grandeur. Continue reading “In Honor of Richard Strauss”

10. April 201429. October 2016

Does a Big Name Deliver its Promise?

“Ratmansky/Welch”
State Ballet Berlin
Schiller Theater
Berlin, Germany
April 04, 2014

At the end of his era as head of State Ballet Berlin, Vladimir Malakhov mounted two German premieres: Stanton Welch’s “Clear” and Alexei Ratmansky’s “Namouna – a Grand Divertissement”. Both works showed the company to be in good shape and its atmosphere confident.

“Clear” was Welch’s reaction to the terror attack on the World Trade Center that took place September 11, 2001. It premiered with American Ballet Theatre the same year. However, a connection to 9/11 isn’t obvious at first glance. Seven men and one woman indulge themselves in energetic duos, trios and group numbers. Foremost, these dances radiate verve. They are lively, in accord with the music – Johann Sebastian Bach’s concertos (Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C-Minor and Concerto for Violin in G-Minor, excellently played by violinist Wolfram Brandl and oboist Fabian Schäfer).

Continue reading “Does a Big Name Deliver its Promise?”

27. February 20148. December 2022

Sex and Crime – Stijn Celis’s Shakespeare Falls Short

“Romeo and Juliet”
Semperoper Ballet
Semperoper
Dresden, Germany
February 21, 2014

To ‘carry off the audience to emotionally deep experiences’ was Stijn Celis’s stated aim for his new “Romeo and Juliet” adaptation at Dresden’s Semperoper. His approach is totally modern, avoiding any reference to the Renaissance. The Belgian choreographer wanted his work to be ‘linked to reality’ and to abstain from ‘artificiality and deformation’. Did he accomplish these noble goals?

Concrete dominated the set, aptly so for a current approach. Gray walls served as a church interior or as facades of austere homes. Two large windows allowed either a view into what was going on in apartments or, when the windows were opened, served as balconies for the two lovers’ core encounter. The atmosphere was as gloomy as Jan Versweyveld’s decor. Continue reading “Sex and Crime – Stijn Celis’s Shakespeare Falls Short”