How to draw beauty and the beast dancing

Beauty And The Beast Dancing Step By Step Beginner Acrylic Tutorial

Beginners learn to paint full acrylic art lesson of Beauty and the Beast. Even if you don't love drawing no worries we have a Traceable so you can be brave like Belle and give this a Go. The background is in another art lesson you can find it in the links here and Icard we well as on the website. https://theartsherpa.com/tas170523.01

Below is a list of recommended materials. This includes the 'Amazon Affiliate' program, and you support The Art Sherpa when using it. It is linked here to make things convienient and easy for you.

Paint Colors

Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid Gloss
Golden Burnt Sienna
Golden Cadmium Yellow, Medium Shade
Golden Mars Black
Golden Phthalo Blue (Green Shade)
Golden Quinacridone Magenta
Golden Titanium White
Golden Yellow Ocher

Surfaces

11X14 Primed Smooth Artist Panel : 27. 94 X 35.56 cm

Paint Brushes

1900 Bristlon®
2100 Cambridge™
2500 Ruby Satin®
6400 Black Pearl™

Other Materials

Arteza watercolor pencils
Artist Tape
Brush soap
Chalk
Lavender Spike Oil Brush Soap
Paper Peel Paint Pallet
Saral Paper
Sharpener
Tracing Paper 9x12
T Square Ruler
Easels
Jack Richeson La Vara Easel, Table Top
Books
How to Mix Skin color
Victoria Finlay History of Color

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Have fun Live with The Art Sherpa during this BEGINNER HOW TO PAINT art lesson in acrylic art tutorial. This is an easy, fun, social art lesson for canvas. We talk about art and other fun subjects. With help and guidance, anyone can paint. You can paint!

Want to see something? Just comment! Tell me what you'd like to paint, or what you want to know about art. This is YOUR art journey. Open your heart and access your art.

HEART MAIL:
Art Sherpa 204
9490 fm 1960 RD W
suite 200
Humble tx 77338

Artwork is the property of Cinnamon Cooney and The Art Sherpa LLC. and is intended for the personal enjoyment of the student. Did you sell a painting of my original design via private sale? Congratulations and big art high fives!

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This artwork is under copyright and is intended for the viewer’s personal enjoyment.

If your paintings of my original design are offered for sale in a retail setting of any kind, please attribute ‘Original design by Cinnamon Cooney, The Art Sherpa. www.theartsherpa.com’

Please, create no prints or mechanical reproductions of your paintings of my original design.

BACKGROUND VIDEO :

Below are a list of materials. The links go through our Amazon Affiliate program, and you support The Art Sherpa when using them. These are link to make thing easy and convenient. *** Acrylic Paint Colors ***

Burnt Sienna: http://amzn.to/1pjk2Gu Cadmium Yellow, Medium Shade: http://amzn.to/1Xqmwhb Mars Black: http://amzn.to/1U1eqOw Phthalo Blue (Green Shade): http://amzn.to/1RhXrjV Quinacridone Magenta: http://amzn.to/1P8CRkB Titanium White: http://amzn.to/1XqooGI Yellow Ocher: http://amzn.to/1Xqnvhm Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid Gloss : http://amzn.to/2hjuE5T 11X14 Canvas board: http://amzn.to/2l0QJqF 27.94 X 35.56 cm

*** Recommended Canvas Size ***

MY EASEL Best European Easel *OS3 http://amzn.to/1Xm9Ieu Jack Richeson La Vara Easel, Table Top http://amzn.to/2audtKw

*** Assorted Brushes for Acrylic Painting *** Medium flick resistance, synthetic Firm filiment. Short Bristles and Bright Acrylic handle over wood and Synthetic fiber over natural . Silver brush Limited Bristlon®

1902 Bright long handle size 2, Black Pearl® 6400 Round size 0 filbert 4

*** Other Supplies ***

Paper towels Water cup Chalk, a few colors Ruler Sharpie Table easel Delicious snack or beverage A smile! *** Other Supplies *** Paper towels Water cup Chalk, a few colors Ruler Sharpie Table easel Delicious snack or beverage A smile!

Want to see something? Just comment! Tell me what you'd like to paint, or what you want to know about art. This is YOUR art journey. Open your heart and access your art.

HEART MAIL: Art Sherpa 204 9490 fm 1960 RD W suite 200 Humble tx 77338 Artwork is the property of Hart Party and The Art Sherpa it is intended for the personal enjoyment of the student and not commercial use. Contact us for commercial use policies. For-profit businesses in the Painting Party industry may not use our tutorial/original painting design without a licensed or signed-use deal with Hart Party. If you’d like to share our tutorial/original painting design with a church group, skilled nursing facility or other nonprofit interest, do get in touch. We have ideas, guides and a few fun little extras to make bringing the Art Sherpa to your community one big party. Let’s collaborate! This artwork is under copyright and is intended for the viewer’s personal enjoyment. If your paintings of my original design are offered for sale in a retail setting of any kind, please attribute ‘Original design by Hart Party. www.theartsherpa.com’ Did you sell a painting of my original design via private sale? Congratulations and big art high fives! Please, create no prints or mechanical reproductions of your paintings of my original design.

Beauty And The Beast Drawing

Some movies and other fictional works are destined to become classics enjoyed for many decades after their creation.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is definitely one of those movies, as since its release in 1991 it has continued to captivate audiences the world over.

The characters who give the film its name have become very well known, and for fans of the movie it can be lots of fun to learn how to draw Beauty and the Beast.

If you love this classic animated movie, then you will definitely love this guide!

Our step-by-step guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast will show you how you can create some great artwork featuring both of these classic characters.

What's in this Blog Post

How to Draw Beauty and the Beast – Let’s get Started!
- Step 1
- Step 2 – Draw the start of his outfit next
- Step 3 – Add more of his body and start drawing Belle
- Step 4 – Now draw some more of each character’s limbs
- Step 5 – Finish the rest of the outlines for the characters
- Step 6 – Now, finish the final touches
- Step 7 – Finish off your Beauty and the Beast drawing with some color
- Here’s how you can make your Beauty and the Beast drawing even better…
- Your Beauty and the Beast Drawing is Complete!

Step 1

In this first step of our guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast, we will be starting with the head of Beast.

This picture is fairly detailed, so you’ll want to try your best to replicate the image exactly as it appears in the reference image.

For now, we will be drawing the outline for his head and beard while also adding smaller details like his mouth and horns.

Step 2 – Draw the start of his outfit next

We will come back to his head later, but for now we shall focus on his chest and jacket. You can use some curved horizontal lines to create the collar of his jacket, and then use some vertical ones for the start of the lapel.

Finally, you can use some slightly more angular curved lines to create his large scarf that hangs over his chest.

That’s all we will be adding to your Beauty and the Beast drawing for now, so let’s move on to step 3!

Step 3 – Add more of his body and start drawing Belle

For this third part of our guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast, we will keep drawing more of Beast’s body while also starting to draw Belle.

You can begin by extending more of the curved lines to form the rest of his lapel. Then, use some straight lines forming two points for the bottom of his waistcoat.

Next, we will be drawing the start of his large arms in their jacket sleeves, and then draw his hand which will be holding Belle’s soon.

Speaking of Belle, you can also draw her head and neck outline as well as the start of her hairdo and dress collar.

Step 4 – Now draw some more of each character’s limbs

Your Beauty and the Beast drawing is really starting to take shape! We will be adding more to their bodies in this step, and we will start with the hand on the left.

Next, you can draw the outline of his trousers in the position they appear in the reference image.

We will also be adding smaller details such as Beast’s ponytail, and then we will be drawing Belle’s arms extending out. You can finish off by drawing some more of her dress as well.

Step 5 – Finish the rest of the outlines for the characters

We will be finishing off the final outlines for these characters in this step of our guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast. This will get you ready for the final touches in the next step!

First, you can draw Beast’s big clawed feet at the base of his trousers. You can finish off his outline by drawing his coattails as well.

Then we will complete the outline for Belle’s dress. The skirt of her dress has many rounded sections on it, and it will be positioned in such a way as to make it look like she is twirling with it flowing around her.

Once you’re happy with how it looks it will be on to those final details we mentioned!

Step 6 – Now, finish the final touches

As we mentioned in the previous part of your Beauty and the Beast drawing, this step will be all about finishing off the final details and touches.

The main thing that is missing is the faces of these characters, so let’s fix that first!

Beast has quite a few details on his face to make it look more layered and furry, so try your best to replicate it as it appears in the reference picture. We will also add some details like his ear and some fur on his head.

Finally, you can finish off by drawing the features for Belle’s face, including her relatively large eyes.

We will also be adding some minor line details throughout their clothing and bodies to finish it off. Then you will be ready for the final step!

Step 7 – Finish off your Beauty and the Beast drawing with some color

Now you’re ready to finish off this guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast, and what better way to do that than by adding some amazing color! In our reference image, we went with the classic colors from the film.

That means darker colors like blues and browns for Beast’s clothing and bright yellows for Belle’s dress.

You could also change up the colors a bit if you wish, and by using various combinations of art mediums you can also make the shades look more dynamic! How will you choose to finish off this image?

Here’s how you can make your Beauty and the Beast drawing even better…

Create a magical scene with these tips for your Beauty and the Beast sketch!

This drawing of Beauty and the Beast shows the two title characters, but the films are filled with many iconic characters.

You could add some of these characters to the scene to watch as Belle and the Beast dance!

These could be some of the human characters from the film or one of the many living household objects that Belle befriends. Who would you include in this ballroom scene?

While adding characters from the Beauty and the Beast film seems the most logical choice, you could also have some fun adding other classic Disney characters!

These could be characters that have a similar design such as Ariel, Sleeping Beauty or Mulan. You could also go for more cartoony characters like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck.

These are just a few characters you could include, and you could make this the ultimate Disney celebration once all your favorite characters are included!

The Beauty and the Beast film is filled with many famous and iconic songs that fans love to sing along to. If you have a favorite song, then you could incorporate it into your Beauty and the Beast drawing!

This could be done by taking a well known line from the song and writing it around Belle and Beast. If you were to do this, we would suggest finding a fancy font that you could use to write the words.

Finally, you could show where this magnificent dance scene is taking place by drawing a background for your Beauty and the Beast sketch. There are a few ways you could do this.

One would be to use a favorite scene from the movie. Then, you could try to replicate the background from that scene in your picture.

Another approach would be to try and create a brand new setting for Belle and Beast to be dancing in. Which approach would you take for a background to your picture?

Your Beauty and the Beast Drawing is Complete!

You have finished all 7 of the steps in this guide on how to draw Beauty and the Beast, and at the end of it you have a picture depicting a wonderful scene!

There were some small details and specific posing to get right in this picture, so we hope that this guide made it fun and easy for you to work on.

Now you can take it even further, perhaps by drawing a stunning background or by adding details, cool colors and interesting art mediums. We know it will look great no matter what you decide!

You’ll want to head on over to our website for more drawing guides to enjoy when you’re finished with this one! We have more coming out soon, so be sure to keep checking in.

Once your Beauty and the Beast drawing is complete, we hope that you will share it on our Facebook and Pinterest pages. This is the best way for you to let us take a look at your artwork!

Tchaikovsky. Ballet The Sleeping Beauty

Ballet extravaganza in 3 acts (with prologue and apotheosis).

Composer P. Tchaikovsky, screenwriters (after Ch. Perrault) I. Vsevolozhsky and M. Petipa, choreographer M. Petipa, artists G. Levot, I. Andreev, K. Ivanov, M. Shishkov, M. Bocharov, conductor R. Drigo.

The premiere took place on January 3, 1890 at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Actors:

King Florestan XIV
Queen
Princess Aurora, their daughter
Prince Sheri
Prince Sharman
Prince Fleur de Poix
Prince Fortune
Catalabut, head butler of the King of Florestan
Prince Desire
Lilac Fairy
Good fairies: Canary Fairy, Violante Fairy (violent), Crumb Fairy (breadcrumbs), Candide Fairy (pure-hearted), Fleur de Farin Fairy (blossoming ears fairy)
Carabosse, evil fairy
Ladies, lords, pages, hunters, servants, spirits from the retinue of fairies, etc.

The action takes place in a fairyland in fairytale times with a gap of one hundred years.

Prologue. Hall of the palace of King Florestan XIV. The christening of Princess Aurora is celebrated here. Fairy sorceresses are invited, each of them endows her goddaughter with various spiritual qualities. However, the main godmother, the Lilac Fairy, does not have time to approach the cradle, when the most evil and powerful Fairy Carabosse bursts into the hall with a noise. They forgot to invite her, and she is furious! In vain the King and Queen beg her to forgive the mistake of Master of Ceremonies Catalubute. Carabosse only taunts them. “So that the happiness of the princess, which my sisters have bestowed on her, is never interrupted, she will fall into eternal sleep as soon as she pricks her finger.” With these words, the evil fairy utters magic spells. The fun of the triumphant Carabosse and her ugly retinue is interrupted by the Lilac Fairy. She predicts Aurora not eternal, but only a long sleep. “The day will come, the prince will come and wake you up with a kiss on the forehead.” Enraged, Carabosse disappears, and the rest of the fairies surround the cradle.

1. Aurora is 20 years old. The beginning of the holiday in the palace park is overshadowed by a scene with villagers. They found needles banned near the palace. The king wants to punish them severely, but is it worth spoiling the celebration? General fun, dancing peasants. Aurora exit. She dances with four suitors, not giving preference to any of them. Everyone admires the young princess. Aurora notices an old woman with a spindle, curiously snatches it from her hands and, waving it, continues the dance. The sudden pain from the spindle prick frightens the princess. She thrashes from side to side and then falls down, lifeless. Everyone is horrified. The old woman throws off her cloak - this is the triumphant Carabosse. In vain the suitors draw their swords, the fairy disappears. The fountain at the back of the stage is illuminated by magical light, and the Lilac Fairy appears. According to her instructions, the princess is taken to the castle, followed by the courtiers. The sorceress waves her wand and everything freezes. Lilac bushes close the castle, creatures subject to the fairy guard its peace.

2. One hundred years have passed. Prince Desire is hunting on the bank of a wide river. During breakfast in nature, his retinue have fun. Archery, dancing. The prince is tired and orders to continue hunting without him. A luxurious boat appears on the river. From it comes the Lilac Fairy - the godmother of the Prince. Desire confesses to her that his heart is free. By the sign of the fairy wand, the sleeping Aurora is visible in the rock. Together with her friends, the ghost of the princess appears on the stage. With their dances they captivate the young man. The prince is delighted, but the shadow eludes him and disappears into the rock. Desire begs the Lilac Fairy to tell him where to find this celestial being. They sit in the boat and swim. The landscape is getting wilder (panorama). A mysterious castle appears in the light of the moon. The Fairy leads the Prince through the closed gate, sleeping horses and people are visible. Quiet music is heard.

Sleeping Beauty Castle. A layer of dust and cobwebs cover the room where Aurora sleeps surrounded by her parents and retinue. As soon as Desiree kisses the Princess on the forehead, everything changes. The dust of centuries disappears, a fire flares up in the fireplace. The prince begs the awakened father to agree to the marriage with his daughter. “This is her fate,” the King answers and joins the hands of the young.

3. Wedding of Aurora and Desiree. Florestan Palace Esplanade. Entry of the King, Queen, newlyweds with retinue and fairies of Diamonds, Gold, Silver and Sapphires. Heroes of fairy tales march in a large polonaise. Here is Bluebeard and his wife, Puss in Boots, Marquis de Carabas, Golden-haired beauty and Prince Avenant, Donkeyskin and Prince Sharman, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Prince Fortuné. Following are the Blue Bird and Princess Florina, the White Cat, the Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Prince Hohlik and Princess Aime, the Thumb Boy and his brothers, the Ogre and the Ogre, the Carabosse fairy on a wheelbarrow driven by rats, as well as the good fairies led by the Lilac Fairy . A big divertissement where fairies and fairy-tale characters dance. Pas de de Aurora and Desiree. Final common code.

Apotheosis.

* * *

The initiative for the appearance on the St. Petersburg stage of the ballet based on the famous fairy tale by Perrault came from the director of the Imperial Theaters, Ivan Vsevolozhsky. This nobleman was educated in Europe, composed plays, drew well, received a good musical education. In August, Tchaikovsky received a detailed script for the future ballet, which he liked. The script, which in many respects coincided with the final libretto cited above, differed favorably from Perrault's fairy tale in many details: new characters appeared, scenes of action were outlined more advantageously on the stage. The authors of the script (it was unsigned) were Marius Petipa and, probably, the director himself.

In February 1889, Petipa sent Tchaikovsky a detailed order plan for the prologue and all three acts. In this amazing document, the desired music was painted down to the number of bars. It is amazing how the venerable choreographer saw his performance in detail, not yet hearing a single musical phrase, not composing a single movement. For example, Aurora's reaction to an injection was described as follows: “2/4, fast. Terrified, she no longer dances - this is not a dance, but a dizzying, crazy movement, as if from the bite of a tarantula! Finally, she collapses lifeless. This frenzy should last no more than 24 to 32 bars." Tchaikovsky, formally following all the instructions of the choreographer, created a unique composition, "raising the bar" for ballet music for many years to come.

On the cover of the program released for the premiere, it was written: "The content is borrowed from Perrault's fairy tales. " Firstly, it was deliberately not indicated by whom it was borrowed, that is, who the author or authors of the script were. Only later did the co-authorship of Petipa and Vsevolozhsky begin to be indicated (the latter also owned sketches for the costumes of the performance, which, apparently, only the initiates should have known). Secondly, among the characters of the final act there are heroes of fairy tales not only by Perrault (from the famous "Puss in Boots" to "Donkey Skin" and "Riquet with a Tuft"), but also Madame d'Onoy (The Blue Bird and Princess Florina, Golden-haired Beauty, Prince Avenant) and Leprince de Beaumont (Beauty and the Beast).

All the best forces of the troupe were busy. Aurora was danced by Carlotta Brianza, one of the Italian ballerinas who served under contract at the Mariinsky Theater in the 1890s, and who were to perform the leading roles in the ballets of Tchaikovsky and Glazunov. Desire - Pavel Gerdt, Lilac Fairy - Maria Petipa, Carabosse - Enrique Cecchetti (Italian artist, choreographer and teacher, who also masterfully performed the part of the Blue Bird). Estimates of the premiere of "Sleeping Beauty" turned out to be different. Notebook balletomanes grumbled that the music was "unsuitable for dancing", that ballet was "a fairy tale for children and old people." However, the theater was filled with other spectators who knew and loved Tchaikovsky's music from his operas and symphonic compositions. During the first two seasons, the ballet was performed about 50 times.

* * *

“The luxurious juicy ballet The Sleeping Beauty has the same meaning in the development of Russian ballet as Ruslan and Lyudmila has in the opera” (Boris Asafiev). Thanks to the music of Tchaikovsky, the "children's" fairy tale became a poem about the struggle between good (the Lilac fairy) and evil (the Carabosse fairy). At the same time, in its mood, The Sleeping Beauty is unique in the composer's work. The ballet, written between the Fifth Symphony and The Queen of Spades - compositions full of fatal beginnings and condensed drama, is full of light and lyrics. It is not for nothing that the Sleeping Beauty is called the ballet symbol of St. Petersburg. The malice and envy of any Carabosse are insignificant in the face of the unreal light of white nights, filled with the smell of lilacs.

The musical material of individual numbers is developed into a wide symphonic canvas. The prologue is monumental and solemn. The first act is the active, dramatic center of the ballet. The second is romantic lyrics, especially impressive in extended musical intervals. The final act is a celebration of triumphant joy. Tchaikovsky's famous waltzes in The Sleeping Beauty are diverse - from the dancing fairies in the prologue to the extensive festive Peisan waltz and the short waltz episode of Aurora's dance with a spindle. It is known that the magnificent music of the ballet went far beyond the stage. The best conductors perform it in concerts and record it on audio CDs. It was not for nothing that the composer, always dissatisfied with himself, wrote in a letter to a friend: “The Sleeping Beauty is perhaps the best of all my compositions. ”

Slender in terms of architectonics, the ballet amazes with the splendor of various choreographic colors. At the same time, the designs of the acts are artistically thought out. First, a short pantomime episode (knitters in the first act) or a genre dance (Desire's hunt). This is followed by an extensive dance fragment (the fairy sextet in the prologue, the peasant waltz of the first act, court dances in the second). And, finally, a dance classical ensemble (pas d'axion) - Aurora dancing with four suitors, or a scene of nymphs. Parenthetically, this scene of Desiree's seduction is erroneously called "the dances of the Nereids." Petipa did not have such a name, and could not have, for he knew that Nereids "are found" only in the sea, and not on the banks of the river. In the last act, the inventive genius of Petipa dazzles the audience with a bizarre pattern of diverse dances, the top of which is the solemn pas de deux of the heroes.

As always, the ballerina is at the center of every Petipa performance. The choreographic image of Aurora is characterized by a masterful selection of movements and, at the same time, a rare plastic expressiveness in the dynamics of plot collisions. A young girl, lightly and naively perceiving the world around her, in the first act. A beckoning ghost, summoned from a long-term dream by the Lilac fairy, in the second. The happy princess who found her betrothed is in the finale. It was not for nothing that Petipa was considered a master of female variations. In Sleeping Beauty, these are dancing portraits of good fairies. By tradition, male images, with the exception of the Blue Bird, are less impressive. The choreographer did not consider it necessary, for example, to give Aurora's suitors any dance characteristic, except for the support of the desired princess. In general, The Sleeping Beauty by Petipa-Tchaikovsky is called an "encyclopedia of classical dance."

The stage life of the play at the Mariinsky Theater continued actively into the 20th century. In 1914 it was decided to replace the original scenography, this was entrusted to the famous artist Konstantin Korovin. In 1922/23, when after the turbulent revolutionary years it was necessary to "repair" the ballet, changes were already made to the choreography. In the second act, Fyodor Lopukhov restored the symphonic intermission, composed court dances on the hunt missed by Petipa and the painting "Dream", edited some scenes of the final act. Almost all of this later on came to be seen as inseparable from Petipa's choreography.

In the post-war years, the splendor of Sleeping Beauty seemed to have faded. In 1952, Konstantin Sergeev carried out a major choreographic and director's revision of the old ballet, "aimed at a more complete and profound disclosure of the ideological and artistic concept of the composer and director." The images of the Lilac Fairy, who parted with high-heeled shoes and a magic wand, and Desire, who received new variations in the second and third acts, became more danceable. Some numbers have been re-staged: the entrance of the fairies in the prologue, the farandole of the second act, the procession of the characters and the sextet of the fairies in the last act. The stylish scenery and costumes of Simon Virsaladze evoked admiration.

In 1999, the Mariinsky Theater decided on a seemingly crazy idea - to reconstruct the Sleeping Beauty from 1890. By this time, the collection of the former chief director of the pre-revolutionary Mariinsky Theater Nikolai Sergeev, now stored at Harvard University, became available. Sergei Vikharev, choreographer and director of the reconstruction, wrote: “When I got acquainted with Nikolai Sergeyev’s recordings, it became clear that The Sleeping Beauty can be restored as close as possible to Petipa’s original. And most importantly - dance combinations ... ".

The scenery and costumes were restored based on materials from St. Petersburg museums. The performance turned out to be festively bright, a real “grand feast” for the eyes, but rather contradictory.

The stage history of Sleeping Beauty began abroad in 1921 in London. Diaghilev decided to show Europe an example of the old Petersburg school that formed the foundation of his troupe. The scenery and costumes (more than 100!) for the luxurious production were commissioned by the famous Lev Bakst. True, Diaghilev treated the work of Tchaikovsky and Petipa in his own way. He deleted from the score everything that seemed boring to him and supplemented it with other music by the same composer. He asked Igor Stravinsky to re-orchestrate something.

Nikolai Sergeev showed the choreography to the troupe, but then Bronislava Nijinska supplemented it with new numbers. The most famous of them - "The Dance of the Three Ivans" - crowned the divertissement of fairy tales. The premiere was danced by Petrograd guest performer Olga Spesivtseva and former premier of the Mariinsky Theater Pyotr Vladimirov. Diaghilev invited Carlotta Brianza, the first performer of the part of Aurora in 1890, to play the role of Carabosse. The troupe, despite 105 performances, failed to justify the colossal expense. The investor took all the scenography on account of the debt, and Bakst received his fee only through the court.

The time of big plot ballets in the West came later. Nowadays, most of the major ballet companies have The Sleeping Beauty in their repertoire in very different stage and choreographic versions.

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov

History of creation

Director of the Imperial Theaters I. Vsevolozhsky (1835-1909), an admirer of Tchaikovsky’s work, who highly appreciated Swan Lake, in 1886 tried to interest the composer in a new ballet theme . He proposed the plots of "Ondine" and "Salambo". The composer, who was then working on the opera The Enchantress, immediately refused Salammbo, but Ondine interested him: an early opera was written on this plot, and Tchaikovsky was not averse to returning to it. He even asked Brother Modest, a well-known librettist, to take over the script. However, presented by M. Tchaikovsky (1850-1916), the variant was rejected by the theater management, and Vsevolozhsky mastered another idea - to create a magnificent performance in the style of ballets at the court of Louis XIV with a quadrille from Perrault's fairy tales in the divertissement of the last act. On May 13, 1888, he wrote to Tchaikovsky: “I decided to write a libretto for “La belle au bous dormant” based on a fairy tale by Perrault. I want to make a mise en scene in the style of Louis XIV. Here a musical fantasy can play out and you can compose melodies in the spirit of Lully, Bach, Rameau, etc., etc. If you like the idea, why not take up composing music? In the last act, we need a quadrille of all the fairy tales of Perrault - there should be a cat in boots, a boy with a finger, and Cinderella, and a Bluebeard, etc. The script was written by him in close collaboration with M. Petipa (1818-1910) based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault (1628-1697) "The Beauty of the Sleeping Forest" from his collection "Tales of Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Past Morals with Teachings" (1697). Having received it in the second half of August, Tchaikovsky, in his words, was fascinated and delighted. “This suits me perfectly, and I do not want anything better than to write music for this,” he answered Vsevolozhsky.

Tchaikovsky composed with passion. On January 18, 1889, he completed the outlines of the prologue and two acts, work on the third act was in the spring and summer, partly during the long journey undertaken by the composer along the route Paris - Marseille - Constantinople - Tiflis (Tbilisi) - Moscow. In August, he was already finishing the instrumentation of the ballet, which was eagerly awaited in the theater: rehearsals were already underway there. The composer's work proceeded in constant interaction with the great choreographer Marius Petipa, who constituted an entire era in the history of Russian ballet (he served in Russia from 1847 until his death). Petipa provided the composer with a detailed order plan. As a result, a completely new type of ballet emerged in terms of musical embodiment, far removed from the more traditional in musical and dramatic terms, although beautiful in terms of music, Swan Lake. The Sleeping Beauty has become a genuine musical and choreographic symphony, in which music and dance are merged into one.

“Each act of the ballet was like a part of a symphony, closed in form and could exist separately,” writes the well-known ballet researcher V. Krasovskaya. But each expressed one of the sides of the general idea, and therefore, as part of a symphony, could be fully appreciated only in connection with other acts. The stage action of "Sleeping Beauty" outwardly repeated the plan of the script. But next to the climaxes of the plot and, in fact, crowding them out, new peaks arose - musical and dance action .... The Sleeping Beauty is one of the outstanding phenomena in the history of world choreography of the 19th century. This work, the most perfect in Petipa's work, sums up the difficult, not always successful, but persistent searches of the choreographer in the field of ballet symphonism. To a certain extent, it also sums up the entire path of the choreographic art of the 19th century. ..”

The premiere of The Sleeping Beauty took place at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater on January 3 (15), 1890. Throughout the 20th century, the ballet was staged more than once on many stages, and the performance was always based on Petipa's choreography, which became a classic, although each of the choreographers who turned to The Sleeping Beauty brought something of his own personality.

Music

Despite the fact that The Sleeping Beauty is a French fairy tale, its music, due to its spontaneous emotionality and penetrating lyricism, is deeply Russian. It is distinguished by spirituality, light romance, clarity and festivity. In its character, it is close to one of Tchaikovsky's opera gems, Iolante. The music was based on the opposition and symphonic development of the themes of Lilac and Carabosse as antitheses of Good and Evil.

The Grand Waltz of Act I is one of the brightest numbers in the ballet. The famous musical Panorama of Act II illustrates the path of the magic boat. The musical interlude, connecting the first and second scenes of Act II, is a violin solo intonation of beautiful melodies of love and dreams. The gentle sound of the violin is answered by the oboe and the English horn. In Act III, Pas de deux of Aurora and the Prince is a great Adagio that sounds like the apotheosis of love.

L. Mikheeva

The circumstances that accompanied the production of Swan Lake could not but have a cooling effect on Tchaikovsky. Only thirteen years later, he again turned to the ballet genre, having received an order to compose music for the ballet The Sleeping Beauty based on Perrault's fairy tale for a production at the Mariinsky Theater. The new ballet was created in completely different conditions. By the end of the 80s, Tchaikovsky, who was in the period of the highest creative maturity, achieved universal recognition in his homeland and in a number of foreign countries as one of the most outstanding Russian composers. The success enjoyed by many of his works on the concert stage and in the opera prompted the director of the imperial theaters, I. A. Vsevolozhsky, to turn to him to create a richly furnished, fascinating performance that amazes the audience with enchanting luxury, variety and brightness of colors. Showing special concern for the staging level of the performances of the largest metropolitan theater, Vsevolozhsky wanted to impress the audience with novelty and brilliance in The Sleeping Beauty, surpassing anything that she could see before. For this purpose, ordinary ordinary ballet music was not suitable and the participation of a composer of Tchaikovsky's scale was needed.

The St. Petersburg Ballet had a strong troupe headed by one of the most prominent choreographers of the 19th century, Marius Petipa. A representative of the classical school, not prone to any bold innovations, he was not only a brilliant master with great imagination and delicate taste, but also a thoughtful and interesting artist. “One of the great merits of Petipa,” the researcher writes, “was his desire to return to classical dance, at least the first plots, his former expressiveness and psychological richness, this is perhaps the most valuable property of the old ballet, long ago reduced to nothing ".

Tchaikovsky wrote the music for The Sleeping Beauty in close collaboration with the scriptwriter and director Petipa, who, taking advantage of Vsevolozhsky's general wishes, developed a detailed ballet plan indicating the nature and quantity (size and number of bars) of music for each individual number. Tchaikovsky tried to take into account all the instructions contained in Petipa's plan with maximum accuracy, but at the same time he did not just fulfill the wishes of the theater director and choreographer, but independently interpreted the plot, creating an internally complete, holistic work permeated with the unity and continuity of symphonic development. Sometimes the composer went against the intentions of the script writers. Vsevolozhsky imagined the music of The Sleeping Beauty as an elegant stylization in the spirit of the 17th and early 18th centuries. Addressing Tchaikovsky with a proposal to take on this work, he wrote: “Here a musical fantasy can break out and compose melodies in the spirit of Lully, Bach, Rameau, etc., etc.” However, Tchaikovsky resorts to such stylization only in a few separate episodes, but in general his music is distinguished by extraordinary richness, fullness and brightness of colors, using all the riches of harmony and orchestral writing of the second half of the 19th century.

Often the symphonist's creative thought led him to such an expansion of scale and complexity of texture that it puzzled the choreographer, who was not accustomed to such developed musical forms and such a degree of "densification" of the material. A number of eyewitnesses testify to the difficulties that Petipa experienced in obtaining ready-made pieces of music from Tchaikovsky (“Tchaikovsky’s music created considerable difficulties for Petipa,” writes one of the memoirists. endlessly changing the music of one or another number <...> Therefore, it was rather difficult for Petipa to work on The Sleeping Beauty. He admitted this to me too.”) . “Petipa,” notes N. I. Nosilov, “was the greatest master of composing ballet dances to non-dance music, but he had not yet had to deal with the disclosure of the ideas and images embedded in the symphony by choreographic means.” Therefore, with all the brilliance of the production, carried out by a venerable choreographer, she still did not reveal Tchaikovsky's scores in all the depth and significance of its content.

For Petipa, The Sleeping Beauty was a fairy-tale choreographic act, which made it possible to develop a wide colorful panorama of pictures and images captivating the imagination, to demonstrate all the richness of the means of classical and characteristic dance. Tchaikovsky, on the other hand, needed the main motive, a through guiding idea that unites all this motley series of scenes and episodes. Laroche found a mythological basis in the fairy-tale story about the sleeping beauty widespread among many peoples - "one of the countless incarnations of the earth, resting in winter and waking up from the kiss of spring." A similar thought was expressed by the inspector of St. Petersburg theaters, V.P. Pogozhev, in a letter to Tchaikovsky dated September 24, 1888, when the idea of The Sleeping Beauty was only maturing with the composer: “The program, in my opinion, is very successful; sleep and awakening (winter and spring) - a magnificent canvas for a musical picture. Perhaps these words turned out to be a hint to Tchaikovsky to some extent and strengthened his decision to write music on a plot that he did not like very much at first: winter and spring, sleep and awakening, life and death - these antitheses often converge in folk art and are interchangeable. Such an understanding of the plot made it possible to connect it with the main problems of Tchaikovsky's work.

The images of the evil fairy Carabosse and the good, beautiful fairy Lilac personify the antagonistic principles in The Sleeping Beauty, the struggle of which determines both the eternal cycle in nature and the fate of human life. Both of them are characterized by constant musical themes, which receive a wide symphonic development in the ballet. These two themes are in sharp contrast. The theme of the fairy Carabosse is distinguished by its sharpness, "prickly" pattern, harmonic dissonance and mobility of the tonal plan (Asafiev draws attention to the “method of mixing tonal colors” used here by Tchaikovsky, which was found by Glinka in the flight scene of Chernomor from Ruslan and Lyudmila.) .

The Lilac Fairy is depicted by a smooth, unhurriedly unfolding melodious barcarolle type melody with evenly pulsating accompaniment, evoking a feeling of clear serene peace.

In contrast to the imperceptibly changeable Carabosse theme, it steadily retains its melodic pattern and undergoes only external textural changes.

The finale of the prologue and the first act, as well as the large picture of the Lilac Fairy and the Prince in the second act, are the dramatic knots, the centers of interweaving of the main acting forces. The unexpected appearance of the fairy Carabosse in the prologue at the celebration of the christening of the newborn Princess Aurora and her ominous prediction about the eternal sleep of the princess causes general confusion. In this scene, the theme of Carabosse is widely developed, taking on grotesque outlines; jerky sounds of woodwinds give it a special deathly cold hard flavor. But after this, a light, bewitchingly affectionate theme of the Lilac fairy appears; the dream will not last forever, she says, and Aurora will wake up from the kiss of the handsome prince. The prologue ends with the triumphant sound of this theme, in which only separate fragments of the Carabosse theme, leaving the palace in anger, are woven.

The finale of the first act is more dramatic, where the forces of good and evil, personified by two powerful fairies, clash again. Immediately preceding the finale is the dance of Aurora, already a young beauty, whose hands are sought by noble cavaliers. Graceful, slightly flirtatious dance (Designated in the score as a variation of Aurora No. 8 in.) begins in the movement of a leisurely waltz, but gradually becomes faster and faster. Noticing an old woman with a spindle, Aurora grabs it and accidentally pricks her finger: a formidable prediction has come true: Aurora is spinning in despair, bleeding ("Danse vertige" - a dizzying dance or dance of madness), and, finally, falls dead. At this moment, the Carabosse theme resounds menacingly on the horns and trombones in a rhythmic increase of (The similarity of this variant with the beginning of development in the first part of the Sixth Symphony is noteworthy.) ,

expressing the triumph and jubilation of the evil sorceress. The horror and despair of all those present subside when the Lilac Fairy appears, accompanied by her leitmotif in the same thick and bright key of E major, in which it is set out in the orchestral introduction and finale of the prologue. With a wave of a magic wand, the fairy plunges everyone into a deep sleep, and the “sleep chords” sound powerful and commanding in the orchestra, which are nothing more than a softened version of the Carabosse fairy theme.

The second act, consisting of two scenes, is a tightly fused chain of dance and pantomime scenes that directly transition into one another. An atmosphere of goodness, love and joy dominates here - evil lurks, only occasionally reminding of itself, and by the end of the action it is completely defeated. After the first divertissement scenes of hunting, games and dances of Prince Desire and his court, some kind of magical light seems to spread over the stage, leading to a mysterious unknown distance. From the moment the Lilac Fairy appears, the color of the music changes, becomes indefinitely shimmering, fantastic - she awakens a thirst for love in the prince and shows him a vision of Aurora. The lyrical Adagio of Aurora and Desiree with an expressive cello solo, the scene of the prince’s passionate plea to introduce him to the beauty, the panorama of the journey of Desiree and the fairies sailing on a boat to the enchanted kingdom, and, finally, the dream picture, remarkable for the subtlety of orchestral writing, are the most important strongholds of everything this big stretch of action (The score also contains an orchestral interlude with a large violin solo connecting the two scenes of the second act, but it is usually omitted during the performance of the ballet. Meanwhile, this intermission is important for the development of the internal action: an expressive lyrical theme close to the theme of love from The Queen of Spades ”, expresses the strength of the Prince’s passion, forcing him to break through all obstacles and dangers to the beauty that captivated him.) . Once again, but quietly, muffled, “chords of sleep” sound from the woodwinds, fragments of the themes of the Carabosse fairy and the Lilac fairy are heard, and all this is as if shrouded in a light transparent haze. The kiss of the prince, making his way through the fog and dense thickets of the forest, awakens Aurora from a long sleep: love and courage overcome the evil spell of sorcery (The moment of "breaking the spell" is marked by the tom-tom strike, the only one in the entire score.) . This, in essence, ends the development of the action - the final third act (the wedding of Aurora and Desiree) is a large luxurious divertissement.

The unity and integrity of the symphonic concept are combined in The Sleeping Beauty with an extraordinary richness and variety of dance forms. In every action we find a kind of parade of dances that create a colorful backdrop for the unfolding of the dramatic plot. Separate dances are combined into larger structures according to the principle of rhythmic and expressive contrast, forming cyclic forms of the suite type. In itself, this principle was not new for classical ballet, but in The Sleeping Beauty the choreographer and composer abandoned the impersonal general dance formulas that have no connection with a particular situation and therefore are easily transferable from one work to another: in each a certain characteristic image is captured from the dances. Such are the variations of the fairies in the prologue, the rural dance and the "waltz of reconciliation" in the first act, a group of ancient dances (minuet, gavotte, farandole) in the second act, and almost the entire third act - this, according to Asafiev's definition, "a holiday that constantly unfolds in its magical flowering dance."

A series of miniature characteristic scenes featuring familiar characters from Perrault's tales are remarkable. Genuine masterpieces of brilliant sound-painting skills are such episodes as “Puss in Boots and a White Cat” with “meowing” oboes and bassoons, “The Blue Bird and Princess Florina”, where the “overflows” of the flute and clarinet create the illusion of singing some unprecedented outlandish birds , “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf”, in the music of which one can hear the timid steps of a little girl, turning into a quick hasty run, and a formidable wolf roar (tirats of violas and cellos). At the end of the third act, after the festive procession of fairy-tale characters ends, the main characters Aurora and Desire reappear. Their Adagio (followed by obligatory quick variations) sounds light, even triumphant, expressing the joy and fullness of the achieved happiness.

The premiere of The Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theater on January 3, 1890 became an event in the artistic life of the Russian capital. Despite the usual attacks of conservative criticism, the novelty and scale of the phenomenon were obvious to everyone. Evaluating the music of the ballet, Laroche put it on a par with the best works of Tchaikovsky as “the highest point to which the Glinka school has so far reached, the point at which the school is already beginning to free itself from Glinka and open up new horizons that have not yet been clarified ".

The departure from the usual clichés, the unusualness of the performance that presented itself to their ears and eyes, most of all worried balletomaniacs, who criticized the production of The Sleeping Beauty precisely from this position. At the same time, Tchaikovsky's ballet evoked an enthusiastic reaction from the figures of the younger generation, who were destined in the near future to bring a new refreshing stream to Russian art. Young A. N. Benois, having visited one of the first performances of The Sleeping Beauty, was especially delighted with the music of Tchaikovsky, finding in it “ the same that I always somehow waited for ”, “something infinitely close, dear, something that I would call my music”. “The admiration for The Sleeping Beauty,” he wrote already in his declining years, “returned me in general to ballet, to which I had cooled off, and with this ignited passion I infected all my friends, who gradually became“ real balletomaniacs ”. Thus, one of the main conditions was created that in a few years moved us ourselves to activity in the same field, and this activity brought us world success.

This confession of one of S. P. Diaghilev’s closest associates in organizing the Russian Seasons in Paris, who directly collaborated with Stravinsky and other composers of the same circle, is convincing evidence of the outstanding role played by The Sleeping Beauty in the renewal of the ballet theater in turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Y. Keldysh

Tchaikovsky's ballet art →

Publications

"Sleeping Beauty" in the new edition of John Neumeier 16.01.2022 at 21:35

34th Nureyev Festival: from classical to neoclassical 05. 06.2021 at 13:36

Tour of the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater in St. 2013 at 13:41

Tchaikovsky and the Imperial Stage 05/30/2013 at 16:54

"Sleeping Beauty" in London 01/17/2013 at 23:06

"Sleeping Beauty" in Flanders Sleeping Beauty at the Bolshoi: Italian Awakening 12/15/2011 at 10:21 am

Sleeping Beauty by Grigorovich: made in Krasnodar! 11/24/2011 at 4:51 pm

Ondine sank and the Sleeper woke up 03/23/2006 at 11:36 am

Everything we can tell you about the new Disney movie Beauty and the Beast

We can't until the release of the tape in Russian distribution to reveal all its secrets, but we can tell a lot about the film, in which Emma Watson and computer-drawn characters sing, dance and act out the events of the fairy tale, which we in Russia know as "The Scarlet Flower".

Beauty and the Beast 1991

Walt Disney has wanted to make Beauty and the Beast ever since he decided that his studio would release full-length cartoons on a regular basis. It was an exotic, untested format at the time, and many in Hollywood called Walt Disney's feature-length debut Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Disney madness." However, the critical acclaim and impressive box office in 1937 proved the legendary producer right, and Disney immediately compiled a list of fairy tales that he wanted to bring to the screen. Beauty and the Beast was on that list.

After that, Disney employees tried for several years to write a script for a film adaptation, but nothing came of it. The tale, best known in the West in the literary version of the 18th-century French writer Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (we know Sergei Aksakov's The Scarlet Flower better), was too dark for the then Disney style. Whereas in Snow White and the later Disney adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, the heroine's heart was won over by a valiant prince, in Beauty and the Beast, the prince was a nightmarish monster who kept the heroine locked up and waited for her to fall in love with him and take him out. him a spell of ugliness. Yes, the Beast Prince wasn't a complete scumbag, and the girl in the castle was rolling around like cheese in butter, but it was still too tough, too morally ambiguous for the Disney studio. So the scenario key to the fairy tale before the Second World War could not be found.

After the war, Disney wanted to continue this work, but in 1946 the playwright and director Jean Cocteau released in France a black-and-white adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with Jean Marais as the monster. Although French cinema was then just beginning to recover from the German occupation, Cocteau's tape turned out to be exceptionally successful. She enjoyed international success and was called a "masterpiece" by critics. Disney considered that he could not fundamentally surpass this canvas, and ordered to switch to other ideas, since he had more than enough of them.

It was not until the late 1980s that Walt Disney decided to return to the film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, when the studio felt it was time to draw ambitious fairy tales again. The concept of the film was based on the key plot move of Cocteau. The Frenchman included in the script a brazen guy who first obsessively seeks the hand of the main character Belle, and then tries to kill the Beast when the girl begins to fall in love with the monster. Thus, a full-fledged villain appeared in the film, and in contrast to him, the Beast began to be perceived as an ambiguous, but still more positive than negative hero. Although in essence the actions of the monster prince remained reprehensible. Note that in much the same way, The Godfather makes viewers empathize with bloody criminals - he opposes them to even greater scoundrels.

In the early drafts of the script, there was another sinister character - Aunt Belle, who wants to forcefully marry her niece to an unloved guy. But since feminists often scolded the Walt Disney studio for opposing the beautiful and the evil old woman in The Little Mermaid (they say, the cartoon hints that the main enemies of women are not patriarchal principles, but other women), the studio refused the unprofitable aunt and directed all the audience's indignation on the impudent and selfish Gaston.

The final version of the script was written by aspiring writer and screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who was a former producer of children's programs and director of children's theater. Woolverton became the first woman in Walt Disney history to be entrusted with writing an animated script. Her main task was to combine progressive feminist trends with a traditional patriarchal story. As Woolverton later admitted, the screenwriter Gaston was partly a parody of her former boyfriends, so Belle was the writer's alter ego. Unlike the fearsome monster, Gaston was made handsome to emphasize the moral of the tale: "Appearances can be deceiving"

In the classic fairy tale, the heroine was served by invisible servants, but Cocteau decided that his film would be more magical if living utensils lived in the Beast's castle - in particular, a candelabra. Woolverton and Disney designers developed this idea and populated the castle with conscientious servants, who were turned into utensils and furniture by the curse imposed on their master. So, for example, the prince's butler looks like a clock, and the head waiter looks like the aforementioned candelabra. Each of these characters was endowed with a voice and unique demeanor, in keeping with the Disney tradition of surrounding bland protagonists with colorful and hilariously funny supporting characters.

Belle was a well-read girl, and Woolverton defended this hobby of the heroine, although the animators wanted the girl to do something more dynamic than reading. For the screenwriter, it was very important to emphasize that Belle is smart and intelligent and that this contrasts the heroine with other residents of her town, who did not take a book in their hands. However, the girl does not read mathematics textbooks, but love stories, so the heroine's feminism is very moderate.

Beauty and the Beast was directed by animators Kirk Wise and Gary Truesdale, who previously worked together on Oliver & Company and The Rescuers in Australia. The tape became their full-length directorial debut. Under Wise and Truesdale, a whole galaxy of future famous directors worked, who at that time were Disney animators. Here are just a few: Roger Allers (The Lion King), Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon), Brenda Chapman (Prince of Egypt, Brave), Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2"), Joe Ranft ("Cars"), Glen Keane ("Rapunzel: Tangled") ...

Influenced by the success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast was also made into a cartoon musical in the Broadway spirit. Poet Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken again pored over the songs. Ashman already knew that he was dying of AIDS, but kept it from everyone except his closest friends and employees. Many Disney people did not suspect that the author of witty songs, in which there was not even a bit of depression, might not live to see the premiere.

When drawing a cartoon, Disney people were inspired both by real French landscapes and castles (artists were specially brought to France for sketches), and by their sometimes unbridled imagination. So, the design of the Beast was the creation of Chris Sanders, who combined the features of a bison, a bear, a lion, a gorilla, a deer, a wolf and a wild boar in the monster prince. However, in the end, the Beast turned out to be similar to the mask worn by Jean Mare in the film Cocteau.

Beauty and the Beast was the second Disney film after The Rescuers in Australia to be created using Pixar's CAPS computer animation system. Back then, it was just a matter of computer manipulation of hand-drawn images and the abandonment of laborious work with transparent sheets of plastic that had been used for decades to produce animation. Nevertheless, there was a significant fragment in the picture, created using three-dimensional animation calculated on computers - that is, computer graphics in the modern sense of the word. It was a ballroom scene, and the programmers were responsible for the movement of the walls in the frame, against which Beauty and the Beast were dancing. The episode turned out to be so successful and spectacular that the studio decided to continue investing in computer graphics. Over time, this led to the birth of the Pixar we know and love today.

The cartoon was released on November 22, 1991. It cost $25 million - one and a half times less than The Little Mermaid, the creation of which was largely an experiment. However, Beauty and the Beast's animation was more refined, its plot was more gripping, and its songs were more sweeping. And the audience understood this. The film earned $425 million worldwide, and few critics dared not call it an outstanding painting or a masterpiece. Only feminists found fault with the picture, who reproached the tape for glorifying the "Stockholm Syndrome". But their opinion did not carry much weight.

A few months later, Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. It is clear that the award did not go to the tape ("The Silence of the Lambs" could not be bypassed), but it was still an amazing honor. Menken won an Oscar as a composer and shared with Ashman the Oscar for Best Song for Beauty and the Beast. Of the five songs nominated that year, three were taken from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. Unfortunately, Ashman had died by that time - he did not even have time to see the final version of the film, the songs of which the poet wrote literally on his deathbed.

Prehistory of the new Beauty and the Beast

Admiring the Wise and Truesdale cartoon, American critics have repeatedly noted that they would love to watch a Broadway musical based on the songs of the picture. At first, then-head of the Walt Disney Studios, Michael Eisner, was against the idea, but he quickly became a fan of it when he realized that the company could make good money by reusing its intellectual property.

Linda Woolverton personally worked on a new version of the script, adapting the plot to the possibilities of musical theater. English poet Tim Rice, who also worked with Alan Menken on Disney's Aladdin, was brought in to compose the new songs (Ashman began writing songs for this cartoon but died before the project was completed).

The premiere of the new production took place in April 1994. The play ran first at one and then at another New York theater until July 2007, making Beauty and the Beast one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history. Clearly, it was a huge success. The show could have gone on, but in 2007 the Disney people presented the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid to the public and felt that the old performance would take viewers away from the new show from the Disney princesses cycle. Foreign productions of "Beauty and the Beast" in London, Paris, Madrid and other megacities were also successful.

Michael Eisner loved the show so much that he wanted to keep it for posterity. He thought about filming a television version of the play, but at a certain moment he got the idea to make a full-fledged feature film with the removal of the actors to France and filming in historical baroque interiors and against the backdrop of real French landscapes. Eisner did not realize this idea until his departure from Walt Disney in 2006, but the studio did not forget about this plan, although Eisner was forcibly "survived" from the company after the studio's crisis in the first half of the 2000s.

In the second half of the decade, Eisner's vision grew into a massive plan to film live-action versions of famous Disney cartoons. Although the studio had plenty of original ideas, Walt Disney sought to ensure its financial stability by squeezing the best out of time-honored brands. It was important that the game remake does not replace and does not obscure the cartoon fairy tale, as sometimes happens with successful remakes of game films (who now watches "The Fly" in 1958 instead of "The Fly" 1980s?). It becomes next to the cartoon on the shelves of video stores, and its release reminds the public of the classic canvas that little viewers might not have seen.

The first film in the new cycle was Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton. Artistically, it was a rather weak movie (written by Linda Woolverton, by the way), but it grossed a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, and this gave the Disney people reason to plan future blockbusters based on a cartoon.

In 2014, Maleficent was released, the development of which began during the work on Alice. In the same year, it became known that the Disney people were preparing a new Beauty and the Beast. Initially, the film was supposed to use only a couple of songs from the cartoon, but the success in 2013 of Frozen proved that the audience has not lost interest in full-fledged Disney musicals. So the project was reimagined as an almost exact copy of the original cartoon, albeit with a lot of new material (the new picture is 40 minutes longer than the original).

Working on the new Beauty and the Beast

The first version of the script for the new Beauty and the Beast was written by Greek-born Evan Spiliotopoulos. He's had a hand in a number of Disney side projects like the Jungle Book sequel and the third installment of Cinderella, but he's also scripted the blockbusters Hercules and Snow White and the Huntsman 2.

Apparently, Spiliotopoulos was trying to make Beauty and the Beast a more "masculine" story, with references to Gaston's participation in the war and other plot aspects that would be more interesting for boys (Disneys do not really like to release romance films that are mainly intended for girls and girls). But the billion-dollar fees of Frozen persuaded the studio to abandon this concept, and to return the script to the “feminine” channel, the writer, screenwriter and director Stephen Chbosky, the author of the film “It’s good to be quiet” was invited, a school psychological melodrama, which became one of the first acting work of Emma Watson after the completion of the cycle of Harry Potter. Nevertheless, the mention that Gaston was at war remained in the film.

The new Beauty and the Beast was directed by Bill Condon, who won an Oscar for writing the drama Gods and Monsters, which Condon directed himself. He also worked as a screenwriter on the musical "Chicago", and as a director on the biopic "Kinsey", the musical drama "Dreamgirls" and the duology "Twilight. Saga. Dawn". This is one of those directors whose name immediately comes to mind when producers think about who can make a musical melodrama with an abundance of special effects.

Condon spent six months at Framestore, a London-based special effects studio, before beginning the detailed art work on the film. Together with production designer Sarah Greenwood (Atonement, Anna Karenina, Sherlock Holmes) and the Framestore staff, the director experimented with different visual approaches to the film (primarily fantasy characters) and looked for ideas that seemed to him the most successful. . Eventually Condon decided to dance from real Baroque interiors. In particular, Cogsworth's butler clock and Lumiere's maitre d' candelabrum were inspired by authentic French baroque utensils, with their extremely ornate design and abundance of gilding.

As for the plot of the new tape, its main difference from the original was more attention paid to the past of Belle and the Beast. The creators of the tape decided to show that the hero and heroine lost their mothers early and that the realization of this becomes a romantic moment that brings the characters closer. In one of the scenes associated with this part of the story, the authors of the film used a magical artifact that was in the original fairy tale, but was not useful to the cartoon. This is a magical book that takes the owner to wherever he pleases. As you can see, the scriptwriters bothered to return to the original source and draw an idea or two from it. Although they were mostly based on the script of the cartoon.

Condon hoped to be able to include songs written specifically for the stage musical in the film, but regretfully found that they did not fit his vision for the film. So Menken and Rice were hired to write three new songs for the main narration and the song How Does A Moment Last Forever, which plays over the end credits. This song was performed by Celine Dion - the one who at one time buzzed everyone's ears with her song for the Titanic. By the way, Dion sang Beauty and the Beast in a duet with Peabo Bryson for the end credits of the cartoon 1991 years old. Their recording won a Grammy. Ariana Grande and John Legend sang the title duo Beauty and the Beast for the new film.

After the director understood what kind of picture he wanted to make and what kind of picture he could create with a budget of one and a half hundred million dollars, he was able to start casting. The creators of the 1991 cartoon could afford to hire Broadway performers and focus on vocal abilities, rather than world-famous actors. Condon had to look for his performers among famous stars - those whose names and faces made sense to put on the poster. We have already written that the Disney concept of game remakes requires the involvement of celebrities, since this is the key feature of these films: “Want to see how Angelina Jolie played the evil sorceress Maleficent? Of course you do!” Vocals also mattered to Condon, but he was in second place. The director asked candidates to sing "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King to gauge what he and the sound engineers would have to work with.

In January 2015, Emma Watson announced on Twitter that she had been cast as Belle. It was a natural decision, since Watson made a name for herself playing the charming "bookworm" Hermione in "Potteriana" and since the actress had dreamed of playing Belle in some version of "Beauty and the Beast" since childhood. By the way, although Watson was born into an English family and educated in Britain, she was born in Paris, where her parents lived and worked at that time. So "Beauty and the Beast" for her is somewhat of a "native" fairy tale. Other contenders for the role were Emma Roberts from Scream Queens and Lily Collins from Snow White: Revenge of the Dwarves.

Englishman Dan Stevens, former hero of the Downton Abbey series and current hero of the eccentric superhero show Legion, became the Prince and the voice of the Beast. Condon brought Stevens with him from the biopic thriller The Fifth Estate, where the actor played a supporting role. You may also have seen him in the blockbuster Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, where Stevens portrayed Lancelot. The actor looks "sweet" and romantic enough to portray the prince, but he can also play ambiguous and strange characters, which he demonstrates with brilliance in "Legion". Therefore, "Beauty and the Beast" he quite approached. Prior to Stevens's invitation, the studio hoped to get Ryan Gosling, but he chose to star in La La Land. In contrast, Watson turned down a role in this musical to play Belle.

Inventor Maurice, Belle's elderly father, was played by film and musical theater actor Kevin Kline, Oscar winner for the comedy A Fish Called Wanda. He was one of the voice actors for the Disney cartoon The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Welsh actor Luke Evans, Bard from The Hobbit, Dracula from 2014 Dracula and the main villain of Fast and Furious 6, has been cast as Gaston, a hunter, former mercenary and self-proclaimed suitor for Belle. His stellar career began with the image of the divine handsome Apollo in the Clash of the Titans. In real life, Evans would never lay claim to Watson's heart because he prefers men.

Film, TV and Broadway comedian Josh Gad, who voiced the snowman Olaf in Frozen, played Lefa, Gaston's hanger-on, in Beauty and the Beast. In the cartoon, this is a purely comic character who only does what he sings of his friend, while in the movie this role is expanded, and Lefou not only follows Gaston's lead, but also expresses doubt in his most vile deeds. In addition, in the interpretation of Condon (like Evans, the director is openly gay), Lefoux is in love with Gaston, although he does not really realize this.

The other key stars of the film mostly worked in the recording studio, creating the voices of the live castle utensils. Former Star Wars hero Ewan McGregor has rocked out as candelabra head waiter Lumiere, who loves to throw dinner parties. He was invited when they could not hire French Oscar winner Jean Dujardin. Former Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, Ian McKellen, voiced the cowardly and pompous butler Cogsworth, turned into a mechanical watch. At first, the actor did not want to act, but in the end he agreed.

Two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson played and sang the role of Mrs. Potts, the head cook who looks like a teapot. Black British actress with South African roots Gugu Mbatha-Raw from "Jupiter Ascending" portrayed the maid Plumette. American black actress and singer Audra MacDonald, winner of six Broadway Tony awards, sang the part of the castle singer Madame de Wardrobe, which the curse turned into a wardrobe. Finally, Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci played Maestro Cadenza, a castle composer turned into a harpsichord.

Contrary to Michael Eisner's long-standing plans, Condon did not travel with the band to shoot in France. Beauty and the Beast was filmed in England, predominantly at Shepperton Studios. Large-scale scenery was built there, which became even grander thanks to computer additions. Scenes where nature was to be shown in bloom (the action of the picture takes place simultaneously in summer and winter, since the enchanted castle has its own, cold weather) were filmed in the picturesque surroundings of the Berkhamsted Golf Club. For Watson, these were familiar places - she was filming there for the "Potteriana".

Filming took place from mid-May to late August 2105. At the same time, the premiere of the film was scheduled for 2017 from the very beginning. The producers gave the film such a long post-production period that Condon had time to finish numerous CGI scenes.

Of all the "impossible" characters, the Beast was the most difficult to implement. During filming, it was assumed that Stevens' head would be on the screen, covered with the most complex plastic make-up, the actor's real torso and "non-human" body parts like hooves drawn on a computer. So the actor was present on the set and acted in all his scenes. He had to do this on stilts, since the Beast is taller than the Prince before the transformation.

Later, however, it was decided that the Beast's makeup was not good enough and that the actor's head would be replaced with a computer-generated muzzle drawn from Stevens' facial expressions. So the actor played his entire role again, in a chair for capturing facial expressions, counting on computer processing.

For Watson, the main test was singing. The actress specifically took music lessons to cope with her role. Since the star's vocal range is off-Broadway, Belle's part was simplified so that Watson could sing it without embarrassment.

Beauty and the Beast characters

Belle is the main character of the picture. This is a smart, kind and well-read girl from a small French town. Belle feels like an outsider among the book-hungry townspeople, and she hopes to travel the world someday. Belle becomes the Beast's prisoner when she agrees to replace her father in the castle dungeon. Belle was played by Emma Watson.

Monster is the main character of the picture. The Beast was once a heartless prince who lived in a luxurious castle. A powerful sorceress punished the Prince for his insensitivity by turning the young man into a terrible monster, and his servants into utensils. If the Beast does not start an affair with a girl before the last petal falls with the rose sorceress left behind, then the former prince will forever remain a monster. The monster does not even hope that the curse will be lifted until Belle enters his castle. The monster was played by Dan Stevens.

Gaston is the main villain of the picture. This is a selfish and narcissistic former mercenary turned hunter. Gaston is very fond of the city girls, but he wants to marry Belle, although she does not reciprocate. For him, it is not a matter of love. Gaston is simply sure that he deserves marriage to the city's first beauty, which, despite her "weirdness", is considered Belle. Gaston was played by Luke Evans.

Maurice - Belle's father. This is an inventor who received a Parisian education, but lives in the outback. Maurice is supportive of Belle in her love of reading, and he does not consider Gaston a worthy match for his daughter. Maurice incurs the Beast's wrath when he plucks a rose for his daughter in the garden of an enchanted castle. The law requires Maurice to spend his entire life in prison, but Belle convinces the Beast that she should replace her father. Maurice was played by Kevin Kline.

Lefou is Gaston's hanger-on and constant companion. He often praises a friend, even if there is no reason for it. Nevertheless, he is not devoid of conscience, and he does not like Gaston's crimes. Lefou was played by Josh Gad.

Lumiere is the head waiter of the Beast's castle that looks like a chandelier. Lumiere loves to arrange lavish receptions, and he gladly receives Belle in the castle as a dear guest. He does not hesitate to disobey the orders of the Beast in order to please the heroine. Lumiere was played by Ewan McGregor.

Cogsworth is the butler of the Beast's castle that looks like a mechanical clock. Cogsworth is executive and cowardly. Subjugation to the Beast is the most important thing for him, even more important than breaking the spell. Therefore, Cogsworth does not like the way Lumiere for the sake of Belle violates direct orders. Cogsworth was played by Ian McKellen.

Mrs. Potts is the Beast's castle cook who looks like a teapot. Like Lumiere, Mrs. Potts is very kind and friendly, and she takes care of Belle like her own daughter. Missy Potts was played by Emma Thompson.

Plumette is the Beast's castle maid who looks like a dustbin. Plumette loves Lumiere, and she is with him in everything. Plumette played Gugu Mbatha-Row.

Madame de Wardrobe is the Beast's castle singer who looks like a wardrobe. She loves to dress everyone who asks for it and who doesn't. Madame de Wardrobe was played by Audra MacDonald.

Maestro Cadenza is the composer and pianist of the Beast's castle, which looks like a harpsichord. The maestro writes music for Madame de Wardrobe and accompanies her with pleasure. Cadenza was played by Stanley Tucci.

Expectations

Based on past Disney remakes and Hollywood analysts, the new Beauty and the Beast is going to be a big hit. The picture will easily pay back the $160 million that was spent on it. The only question is whether not too favorable reviews and reviews will affect the fees, which reproach the picture for offering little new in comparison with the 1991 cartoon and spoiling a lot of the old. Let's see if Emma Watson as Belle can beat the bad press the film has already received and will continue to receive.