The Tower Season Of Madame Butterfly
East and West collide in The TOWER Season of Madame Butterfly, a tragic tale of love and betrayal presented by the Royal
New Zealand Ballet.
Cio-Cio San and Suzuki: Courtesy of the Australian Ballet. Photo: Branco Gaica.
Danced to Puccini's score, with choreography by Australian Stanton Welch, it is a richly shaded and passionate rendition
of the famous love story.
Set in Japan on the eve of the 20th century, the ballet revolves around the beautiful geisha Cio-Cio San, known as
Madame Butterfly. She sacrifices everything for love: renouncing her faith and her family to marry Lieutenant Pinkerton.
What begins as an arranged marriage is little more than a one-night stand for him, but for Butterfly, it means much
more. He deserts her, only to resurface years later with an American wife. Abandoned and betrayed, Butterfly is left
with one honourable course of action.
Cio-Cio San on her knees: Courtesy of the Australian Ballet. Photo: Branco Gaica.
Welch burst on to the international dance scene in the 90s and has since secured a place as one of the most celebrated
talents in the contemporary ballet scene. Marrying classical dance with dramatic flair, he gets to the very heart of the
tragedy. The ravishing wedding night pas de deux, a performance standout.
Says Welch: "Everyone at some point in their lives has loved someone more than they were loved back.
Cio-Cio San: Courtesy of the Australian Ballet. Photo: Jim McFarlane.
"I have tried to follow closely the opera's storyline, changing only what I thought necessary to achieve the same
dramatic effect through movement."
Asked why he set about transforming one of the world's most loved operas to ballet, Welch says he wasn't the first to
have the idea: "Years and years ago, Frederick Ashton wanted to do Madame Butterfly. So John Lanchbery condensed the
Puccini score for him. However, it never happened because at that time the music was still under copyright. Butterfly is
also the first opera I ever saw with my father, who told me that one day he was going to do a ballet on it. It never
came about, and so I did it. Opera fans will be offended by the lack of voices, but dancers deserve the chance to dance
to Puccini's gorgeous music."
Pinkerton and Cio-Cio San: Courtesy of the Australian Ballet. Photo: Jim McFarlane.
Lanchbery's arrangement of the haunting score imaginatively uses different instruments, notably the cello, in place of
the human voice. Peter Farmer's sets evoke the mystery and languor of 19th century Japan, providing a picturesque
backdrop for the passionate, dishonest relationship between Butterfly and Pinkerton.
First performed by the Australian Ballet in 1995, Madame Butterfly has become a signature work for Welch, with companies
in the USA, Singapore and Canada including it in their repertoire. The Melbourne Age pronounced it "a triumph", and The
New York Post said the work was "a vividly compelling piece of dance theater".
Wedding night: Courtesy of the Australian Ballet. Photo: Branco Gaica.
The TOWER Season of Madame Butterfly is a homecoming tour for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, following its prestigious
six-centre, six-week tour of the UK. It opens in Wellington on 23 July and tours Napier, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin
and Palmerston North until 4 September.
For more and how to book… see… http://www.nzballet.org.nz/