Two Ballets for Easter
John Neumeier, St. Matthew’s Passion. Aleix Martínez, Xue Lin, ensemble. © Kiran West
Are you looking for the perfect Easter ballet? Probably not – but maybe you should! TWoA has two suggestions for you: John Neumeier’s St. Matthew’s Passion and Frederick Ashton’s Tales of Beatrix Potter. These two ballets embody two very different aspects of Easter: its spiritual essence, and the cuteness of the Easter Bunny.
Easter
All the chocolate Easter Bunnies and egg-shaped candies sometimes obscure the fact that Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian Church. According to the bible, Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday, buried for three days, but resurrected on Easter Sunday. The passion of Jesus – the story of his last days – is told in the four different gospels of the bible. It’s a very dramatic story, full of betrayal (one of Jesus’s disciples betrays him to his enemies who have come to arrest him, another denies knowing him) and sacrifice (according to the bible, Jesus died for humanity’s sins), but also of boundless love and hope.
John Neumeier’s St. Matthew’s Passion
Choreographer John Neumeier is famous for his psychological story ballets and his exploration of the spiritual, philosophical side of our existence. He considers his ballet to J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion one of his most important works. During his acceptance speech of the 2015 Kyoto Prize, Japan’s highest private award for lifetime achievement in the arts and sciences, Neumeier said: “For me, the struggle of the human being to understand his relationship with a higher existence - a dialogue with God - has always been one of my most important themes. Therefore, of all my works, the most important and profound is perhaps my ballet to Johann Sebastian Bach's “St. Matthew’s Passion." Inspired by Bach's deeply religious music, I have explored choreographically - in direct narrative episodes as well as meditative solos and commenting group dances - the work’s central and universal themes: community, betrayal, violence, vengeance and the power of forgiveness and love. The “St. Matthew’s Passion” is for me the prime example of the possibility dance may possess to embody a universally comprehended language.” But Neumeier doesn’t just explore the greater philosophical themes of Christ’s passion. He also establishes a connection to our own lives by asking the question: how would I act in a situation like this?
What about the Easter Bunny?
If this is too heavy for you, you might be yearning for the comfort of the Easter Bunny at this point. But what are the origins of the Easter Bunny? The Christmas Tree and the Easter Bunny are probably the most successful German exports in history: both customs are rooted in pagan festivals marking the passage of the seasons but became symbols of Christian holidays when these began to transform into family celebrations less and less connected with the Church. The custom of the Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg hunt is first described in a German dissertation from 1682. The idea of a bunny bringing colourful eggs is certainly original. The exact origin of the custom is shrouded in mystery, but it reflects the connection between Easter and earlier, pagan celebrations marking the onset of Spring. Bunnies are extremely fertile and among the first animals to have babies in Spring, while eggs are a symbol of new life and rebirth and have associated with Easter since at least the Middle Ages. The Easter Bunny and easter eggs are certainly a nice celebration of new life as Spring begins to unfold around us.
Frederick Ashton’s Tales of Beatrix Potter
One of the most popular bunnies is Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. In 1971, Sir Frederick Ashton, the father of British ballet, created an adorable film-ballet based on Beatrix’s Potter’s beloved characters: Tales of Beatrix Potter (later adapted for the stage.) If you are looking for a cute, uplifting ballet full of humour for Easter, join Peter in his Spring-time dance!