Acknowledgments
& research.
At
the end of my recovery period after my neck surgery I dedicate this letter and
all the research to those nearby and far away who were close to me during all
this months, especially Chris & Ronny & Assiyeh & Pato and also Ana,
Angela S.V., Abraham, Elena, Erica, Maria-Laura, Stefania.
Song of a
Wayfarer.
How a dance influenced forty
two years of a lifetime.
The letter is based on the
fourth song.
Songs of a Wayfarer.
Texts and Music: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Fourth song: "The two
blue eyes of my darling."
The two blue eyes of
my darling -
they have sent me into
the wide world.
I had to take my leave
of this well-beloved place!
O blue eyes, why did
you gaze on me?
Now I will have
eternal sorrow and grief.
I went out into the
quiet night
well across the dark
heath.
To me no one bade
farewell.
Farewell! My
companions are love and sorrow!
On the road there
stands a linden tree,
and there for the
first time I found rest in sleep!
Under the linden tree
that snowed its
blossoms onto me -
I did not know how
life went on,
and all was well
again!
All! All, love and
sorrow
and world and dream.
After the
death of Bortoluzzi, Donn and Nureyev, Maurice Béjart didn’t want “Songs of the
Wayfarer” to be danced any more. He only permitted it on the occasion of the
gala organized at the Palais Garnier to commemorate the tenth anniversary of
Nureyev’s death on January 20th 2003. Laurent Hilaire and Manuel Legris – both
promoted “principal dancers” by Nureyev – were the performers. It was in the
repertoires of the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and
I found also a 1988 broadcast studio performance of the ballet on YouTube, as
staged by Maina Gielgud for The Australian Ballet and danced by Steven
Heathcote and Adam Marchant.
The only
remaining images, interviews and a bit of dance by Nureyev and Bortoluzzi, made
during a rehearsal for the premiere of the ballet in 1971 can be found on:
and
The Australian Ballet links:
The 2007 Moscow Prix Benois
Gala with Laurent Hilaire and Manuel Legris links:
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