Beauty and the Beast - Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

Audience Production Guide
February 6 — 15, 2015
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Audience Production Guide
Choreography by Lew Christensen
Staged by Leslie Young
Music by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
Production Sponsor
Many thanks to our generous sponsors for our sensory-friendly performance of Beauty and the Beast:
The Buncher Family Foundation, Ms. Carrie M. Staney, and the Montague Family Foundation
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Education Department is grateful for the support of the following
organizations:
Allegheny Regional Asset District
Allegheny Technologies, Inc.
Buncher Family Foundation
Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable and
Educational Trust
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co., Inc.
Direct Energy Business
Dominion Foundation
Eat ‘n Park Restaurants, Inc.
ESB Bank
First Commonwealth Bank
Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of The Buhl
Foundation
The Huntington National Bank
GENCO Supply Chain Solutions
The Grable Foundation
Hefren-Tillotson, Inc.
The Heinz Endowments
Net Health Systems
Peoples Natural Gas
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Pennsylvania Department of Community and
Economic Development
PNC Bank
PPG Industries, Inc.
Richard King Mellon Foundation
James M. and Lucy K. Schoonmaker
Foundation
Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust
UPMC Health Plan
Hilda M. Willis Foundation
Cover photo by Duane Rieder, 2014. Artists: Amanda Cochrane
and Robert Moore. Guide created by PBT’s Department of Education and Community Engagement, 2014.
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Contents
4
The History of the Beauty and the Beast Story
5
About the Ballet
6
At a Glance: the Setting and Characters
8
A Beauty and the Beast Timeline
7
The Synopsis
9
The Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Music: A Listening Guide
11
The Choreographer: Lew Christensen
12
Christensen’s Con Amore
13
The Choreography: What Makes it Classical Ballet
13
Signature Step: Italian Changement
14
Passing along the dance: The Role of the Répétiteur
15
The Design of the First Production
15
Costume and Scenic Designer Jose Varona
16
Restoring the Costumes
17
The Disney Difference
18
For Further Thought
18
References
19
The Benedum Center
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Accessibility
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The Mythological and Fantastical Origins of Beauty and the Beast
Unlike many of today’s beloved fairytales, Beauty and the Beast did not begin as folklore. The story
hasn’t been passed down through the generations, but instead was brought to life in 1740 by the
French author Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve. Villeneuve’s adult version of Beauty and
the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) was influenced by Charles Perrault’s fairytales, but also draws from
mythological inspiration. The Roman myth of Psyche and Cupid shares common elements with Villeneuve’s Beauty and the Beast. In the Aarne Thompson Uther folklore classification system, Beauty
and the Beast and Psyche and Cupid fall under the same category of “The Search for a Lost Husband.” The following is a summary of the Psyche and Cupid myth:
Psyche is the daughter of a king and queen. This king and
queen have two other daughters, but their beauty is unable to
match that of Psyche’s. Because of Psyche’s unbelievable
beauty, men have begun to worship and pay homage to her
instead of the goddess Venus. This disrespect fills the goddess
with deep contempt for Psyche. For her revenge, Venus commands her son Cupid to inject her with love for a monstrous,
despicable being. When Cupid sees Psyche, he takes pity on
her and is incapable of executing his mother’s command. Psyche, still unmarried while her two sisters are betrothed to princes, grows lonely. Her parents query a wise man, curious about
“Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss” by AntoPsyche’s fate and he tells them that she will be banished to the
nio Canovna (1757-1822) at the Louvre.
mountains and forced to marry a monster.
Once led to the mountains, Psyche lays down to sleep. When she awakens, she realizes that
she is in a beautiful castle. Her husband is kind and loving, but she is only allowed to be with
him in darkness. He tells her that it is better if she does not see his outward appearance. Psyche, beginning to feel like a prisoner in her castle, invites her sisters for a visit. She confesses to
them that she has never seen what her husband looks like. Psyche’s sisters frighten her and remind her that he could possibly be a monster. They advise her to sneak into her husband’s
room with a lamp and sword while he is asleep. Should the husband be a monster, then Psyche
must cut off his head so that she could once again possess her freedom. Psyche follows her sisters’ advice, but she does not discover a horrible monster. Instead, she finds the sleeping god,
Cupid. He awakens and is angry at his wife for not trusting him. He leaves her and returns home
to his mother sick and heartbroken.
Psyche searches for her lost husband, but Venus, angrier than ever, holds her captive and gives
her several challenging tasks to perform. Psyche receives assistance with her tasks which only
leads Venus to give her more. Once Cupid is no longer ill, he realizes he cannot live without his
Psyche. He finally reasons with his mother and Venus grants her blessing upon the couple. Psyche becomes immortal and eventually she and Cupid have a daughter.
In 1756, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont reworked Villeneuve’s story. Unlike Villeneuve’s original, Beaumont’s rendition of the tale was intended for children to teach them moral lessons. Beaumont eliminated many of Villeneuve’s mature elements and had them replaced with tamer situations
(e.g., the Beast’s question to Beauty of “Will you sleep with me?” is changed to “Will you marry
me?”). She created a new adaptation that would be translated throughout the world and become the
version from which choreographer Lew Christensen and Disney would model their ballet and movie
respectively.
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About the Ballet
The old moral reads that beauty is only skin deep. So, this ballet says, is beastliness. To love is to
be human, and it is no less, to humanize.
Lew Christensen
In the spring of 1958 San Francisco Ballet celebrated its 25th Silver Anniversary. The company, directed by Lew Christensen since 1952, had recently returned from its triumphant tour of the Far East and was soon to embark for South America on its second State Department-sponsored tour. To
celebrate SFB’s 25th anniversary and its recent successes, Lew Christensen choreographed a new full-length ballet, Beauty and the Beast, fancifully
designed by Tony Duquette, an internationally acclaimed artist and stage
and film designer, and set to an ingenious arrangement of seven pieces of
Tchaikovsky’s music by Earl Bernard Murray.
Beauty and the Beast, which the San Francisco News praised as the “most
delightful, imaginative, enchanting and accomplished ballet production ever
to grace the Opera House stage,” proved to be one of the most popular of
SFB’s full-length works: it was presented every year from 1958 through
1967. Except for Nutcracker, no other SFB full-length work has enjoyed
such a long run. For many years, Beauty and the Beast and Nutcracker
were so popular that they were paired as the company’s annual Christmas
fare.
After intermittent performances during the 1970s, Beauty and the Beast was restaged in 1982.
Christensen’s choreography and the Tchaikovsky score were
supplemented and reworked, and the whole two-act production, with five scenes and 92 costumes, was freshly designed
by Jose Varona. The ballet’s enormous style and charm remained vibrant and rich in fantasy, whimsy, and deluxe stagecraft.
Beauty and the Beast was revived by the Milwaukee Ballet in
1995, with Chris Christensen, Lew’s son, guest conducting.
Several artistic staff at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre danced in the
ballet during their careers with SFB (Terrence S. Orr, Artistic
Director; Bob Vickery, Assistant to the Artistic Director; Dennis
Marshall, PBT School Director; and Andre Reyes, PBT School
faculty). In 2014, PBT purchased the ballet’s sets and costumes and started refurbishing the entire production. PBT will
premiere the completely revamped ballet in February 2015.
Top: Original logo for the ballet, by Tony Duquette, image source. Right: Duquette’s sketch for Beauty’s First Act
costume. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Theater and Dance Collection, Gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels,
www.famsf.org
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A Beauty Timeline
1740 The story (for an adult audience) Beauty and the Beast is published by author Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, using elements from the Roman myth, Psyche and Cupid.
1757 Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont adapts Villeneuve’s story so that it is appropriate for
children. This version becomes known the world over.
1840 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer of the ballet’s music, is born.
1841 Beauty and the Beast: A Play premieres at Covent Garden, London. This is one of many
stage adaptations of the story through the 19th and 20th centuries around the world.
1906 Lew Christensen, the ballet’s choreographer, is born.
1930s and 1950s Walt Disney Studios attempts, and scraps, animated movie versions of Beauty
and the Beast. Producers found the storyline “too difficult.”
1946 Jean Cocteau, French poet and filmmaker, releases a film version of the fairytale, La Belle
et la Bête, to wide acclaim.
1958 Lew Christensen, artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, takes the story of Beauty and the
Beast as the basis for a new full-length ballet to honor SFB’s 25th anniversary.
1982 The ballet is completely restaged with additional choreography and music, as well as new
set and costume designs.
1984 Lew Christensen dies.
1987 Walt Disney Studios again attempts an animated movie version of the fairytale; after two
years the first concept is thrown out in favor of a musical style format. Work begins all over again in
1989.
1991 Walt Disney Studios releases their animated feature film, Beauty and the Beast.
1994 Disney’s stage musical of Beauty, based on the movie, opens on Broadway, running until
2007.
1994 Composer Philip Glass’s opera La Belle et la Bête premieres at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music.
2014 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre purchases the Beauty sets and costumes from San Francisco Ballet and begins the major task of refurbishing the ballet.
2015 Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents the premiere of the refurbished ballet.
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At a Glance: The Setting and Characters
Act One
Act Two
Prologue—The Forest
Scene I—The Cottage
Stags
Beauty
Nymphs
Beauty’s Father
Forest Creatures
Beauty’s Sisters
The Beast
Stags
Scene I—The Enchanted Garden
Beauty’s Father
Scene II—The Funeral
Funeral Processioneers
Beauty
Roses
Scene III—The Palace
Caryatids
Torch Bearers
The Beast
Courtiers
Simians
Entertainers
Magic Flowers
Roses’ Waltz
Bluebirds
Prince
Beauty
Beauty’s Father
Beauty’s Sisters
Left: The Forest Creatures. Photo by Kelly Perkovich. Right: The Beast transformed and Beauty. Photo from performance video by San Francisco Ballet, 1982
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The Synopsis
The ballet opens in a forest that leads to the magic garden of the Beast, filled with mysterious
stags, nymphs, and creatures. In the enchanted garden wanders Beauty and her father. Beauty’s
father innocently plucks a rose for Beauty, which angers the watching Beast. He banishes her
father from the garden and holds Beauty captive.
The Beast courts the captive Beauty with everything at his
command. He summons his court, including the agile Simian,
who entertains Beauty and presents her with flowers, birds, jewels, a crown, and a beautiful gown.
In spite of it all, Beauty is still unhappy. The Beast tells her of his
love and offers her a rose. Beauty is terrified by the Beast’s
appearance and flees to the cottage of her father and sisters. The
Beast is disheartened at losing her, and mourns piteously while
his entire court tries to console him. He collapses in his garden,
dying of a broken heart and the curse of ugliness cast upon him.
Act Two finds Beauty in her home, sharing her gifts with her
jealous sisters. Later that night, one of the stags from the Enchanted Forest comes to her house
and tosses a rose through her window. She realizes how much she loves the kind and gentle Beast
and immediately departs for his palace.
Finding him lying on a bier, apparently dead of a broken heart, Beauty runs over and kisses him.
The kiss restores the Beast to life and his true nature; he slowly rises, emerging from his ugly
shackles as a handsome prince. Everyone rejoices.
In the last scene, inside the palace a magnificent wedding is held, and the Courtiers dance. The entire corps de ballet joins in the happy celebration with a Roses Waltz, then Beauty and the Prince
perform a romantic and tender pas de deux.
Photos from performance video by San Francisco Ballet, 1982
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The Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Kamsko-Votinsk, Russia on May
7, 1840. He was a precocious child who could read French and
German at the age of six and at age seven was writing verses in
French. He began taking piano lessons when he was seven years
old. He showed an ultra-sensitivity to music and had a delicate
musical ear.
In 1850 his family moved to St. Petersburg; mildly interested in
music, he began composing at age 14. He attended the School of
Jurisprudence and in 1859 and had started work as a clerk first-class.
At age 21 he began to study music seriously at the St. Petersburg
Conservatory, becoming one of their best students. He moved to
Moscow to be a harmony teacher for the Moscow Conservatory. He
led a quiet life there, teaching and composing. In 1877, a wealthy widow started to subsidize Tchaikovsky, a relationship that was to last
Tchaikovsky at 25, photo by Zakharin.
Photo source
fourteen years. However, there was one strange condition to the
widow's financial support—they were never to meet. With this
financial independence, he was able to resign from the Conservatory in 1878. Tchaikovsky ended up
making a great deal of money during his life, but gave away much of it and freely spent the rest.
When Tchaikovsky first began composing for ballet, ballet music was considered unimaginative: the
music world was astonished that such a great composer would "stoop so low." But he showed an
unprecedented mastery of the art, creating vivid orchestrations, effective themes and melodies that
flawlessly matched physical movements.* He went on to compose three full-length ballets that would
become enduring masterworks of the genre: Swan Lake (1877), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and
The Nutcracker (1892). Tchaikovsky died from cholera less than a year after the premiere of The
Nutcracker.
*The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, p. 152-3
The Music: A Listening Guide
The music for Beauty and the Beast is a compilation of selections from some of Tchaikovsky’s most
famous works, originally arranged by Earl Bernard Murray, which include:
Symphony 1 III Scherzo during the Enchanted Forest scene during Act I; Orchestral Suite 2 II: Valse
during the Roses’ Waltz in Act II’s wedding celebration; and “The Storm,” Opus 76.
More detailed explanations about some of the pieces that are used in the Beauty and the Beast ballet follow.
Orchestral Suite No.3: I. Élégie
Beauty and the Beast is structurally framed with Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No.3 in G. The ballet not only begins and ends with sections of Orchestral Suite No. 3, but pieces are used throughout
the middle of the ballet to create a musical throughline. The ballet opens with Movement I: Élégie.
The Orchestral Suites are made up of dance movements, each complete in itself, with a distinctive,
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descriptive character—a structure inspired by Baroque dance suites. Élégie, which is known for the
sweetness of the melodic line and is less elegiac than the second movement of the Suite, starts out
gentle and becomes increasingly passionate as the forest of the ballet begins to come alive. It opens
with a lilting piano melody in the strings, gradually adding woodwind figures and harp arpeggios. It
builds in intensity and dynamic then switches from a 6/8 time signature to 2/4 briefly before the original melody returns and the number ends peacefully with an arpeggio in the harp.
Orchestral Suite No.1 in D Minor: I. Andante sostenuto
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Tchaikovsky dedicated his first Orchestral Suite to his new patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, when it
premiered in 1879. This number from the Orchestral Suite No.1, Movement I, opens in an andante
sostenuto with a piano melody in the violins (Excerpt 1) as Beauty enters the forest with her Father.
This piece has a more ominous sound than the earlier music and portends the fearful events to
come in the ballet. The violins continue their legato line while woodwinds interrupt with quick sixteenth and thirty-second note patterns. Following a pianissimo note held by the French horns, the
violins begin a fugue section (Excerpt 2)—a common form in Baroque music. The full orchestra joins
in the fugue and builds to a climax until winding down to a pianissimo. The number ends before the
Suite’s moderato section and the ballet instead moves into a violin cadenza.
Symphony No.2 in C Minor: IV. Finale
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.2 was nicknamed “Little Russian” due to his incorporation of Ukranian
folk songs into three of the four movements. This symphony was also highly influenced by Russian
musical folklore. Movement IV has a grandiose intro with full tutti chords (Excerpt 1) that signal the
courtiers to dance during the ballet’s wedding celebration. In an allegro vivo, a folk melody called
“The Crane” is introduced (Excerpt 2) in the form of a gopak, a type of Ukranian dance. Throughout
the allegro vivo, “The Crane” is the subject of a series of variations in a boisterous dance-like setting.
The variations continue to crescendo and build to a dazzling presto coda at the end of the number.
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The Choreographer: Lew Christensen
As a performer, he was this century’s first great American-born danseur, graced with impressive technique,
golden good looks, and an innocence of deportment that provocatively suggested untapped bounty. As a
teacher, he produced—Balanchine said—some of the best male aspirants in the country. As an artistic director, he provided San Francisco Ballet with its first Balanchine ballets, its first television broadcasts, and its first
national and international exposure. As a choreographer, he has created over 100 works, including ballets,
opera divertissements, and dance sequences for musicals, revues, dramatic productions, and television.
These diverse works have been presented by some 22 ballet companies both here and abroad. Christensen’s
dance designs are traditionally acclaimed for their craft, musicality, wit, and utter lack of pretension. His choreography shrewdly yet effortlessly blends the continental legacy with an innate Western liveliness, giving the
academic idiom an intriguing American accent.
~Cobbett Steinberg, San Francisco Ballet: the First Fifty Years
Lew Christensen’s beginnings lay the foundation for what was to be one of the most celebrated careers in American dance during the 20th century. Born in Brigham City, UT, Christensen became
the third generation of dancers in his family. He took lessons from his uncle at the family school as
well as music lessons (his grandfather, Lars, was an accomplished violinist who emigrated from
Denmark in 1854). When his older brother William started a dance troupe the 1920s, Christensen’s
career as a performer began. Because there were no professional ballet companies in the U.S. at
this time, they toured the vaudeville circuit all over the country and won acclaim for their more sophisticated routines.
But Christensen’s big jump into ballet came when he began taking classes at the newly formed
School of American Ballet in NYC in 1934. Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine, the school’s
founders, immediately recognized his potential. He was the first American dancer cast in the lead
role of Balanchine’s seminal work, Apollo. His relationship with
Balanchine and Kirstein blossomed. Balanchine had found a
male with whom he could easily work and who could showcase
classical technique. Kirstein found a natural leader for his experimental troupe, Ballet Caravan, for whom Christensen created his landmark ballet Filling Station, notable as the first truly
“American-made” ballet—by an American, based on an American theme, danced by an American company, and with music
and designs by American artists. Christensen became America’s premier danseur noble of the time.
By 1941, Christensen married Gisella Caccialanz, a principal
dancer with The American Ballet, and was promoted to ballet
master for Ballet Caravan. After touring Central and South
America with the group, he created his second masterpiece,
the haunting ballet, Jinx, set to music by the British composer
Benjamin Britten. Christensen was later commissioned by the
U.S. Army during World War II and posted as an administrator
Christensen in Filling Station. Image source:
Library of Congress
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collaboration, the Ballet Society (later, New York City Ballet). But it was not long before Christensen felt the pull to establish his own place in American ballet, outside of Balanchine’s shadow. In
1948 he joined his brother William as co-director of the San Francisco Ballet. (SFB).
His career with SFB was long and illustrious. In only two short years, Christensen succeeded his
brother and became sole Artistic Director. During his first year at the helm he began a one-of-a-kind
exchange program with the New York City Ballet, in which each company exchanged works with the
other. Christensen is credited with not only bringing Balanchine to the West Coast but with being
the ballet’s most important pioneer there. In 1954, he would replace his brother William’s version of
The Nutcracker with his own, a version later filmed for television with Cynthia Gregory and David
Anderson dancing the lead roles. Lew’s version of Nutcracker stayed in the permanent repertory of
SFB for nearly 50 years. He continued choreographing and receiving national and international acclaim for his ballets.
The last decade of his career saw several accomplishments, including the prestigious annual award
from Dance Magazine and the Capezio Dance award (both shared with his brothers), the choreographing of two major and hugely popular story ballets, Cinderella and Don Juan, and the inclusion
of his Four Norwegian Moods at NYCB’s Stravinsky Centennial Festival in 1982. But his final days
were marred with uncertainty. SFB was embroiled in a bitter dispute over the continuation of Christensen’s co-director, Michael Smuin. Only days before his death, Christensen was in conversation
with NYCB principal dancer Helgi Tomasson about Tomasson taking over the leadership of SFB.
(Tomasson celebrates his 30th season there this year.) When Christensen died at the age of 75 on
October 9, 1984, he left behind his wife and son, Christopher, who followed in the family footsteps
as a conductor for SFB, NYCB, and the Joffrey Ballet.
Christensen’s Con Amore
Beauty and the Beast is the second Lew Christensen ballet to enter the PBT repertoire. In 1990 the
Company performed the action-packed comedy Con Amore, which critics have described as both
giddy and gutsy.
Artists:
Kevin Trybalski,
Tamar Rachelle,
Jeffrey Bullock,
Michael Wilson,
Raymond Julian.
Photo by David Farmerie.
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The Choreography
Most of the time when a ballet is referred to as a
“classical ballet,” it means a ballet that was choreographed in the late 19th century by Marius Petipa.
Petipa established a set of aesthetic criteria for his
ballets that distinguish them from the Romantic ballets in the early 19th century and from the modern
and neo-classical ballets of the 20th century. But
many, like Christensen, have tried to emulate the
aesthetic style of classical ballets, particularly in
story ballets. Look for these characteristics below
when watching Beauty and the Beast.
What Makes it Classical Ballet?

Women dance on pointe

Turn-out of the legs and hips 

Upright torso

Graceful, flowing movements

Precision, exactness

The “architecture” of the
dance is balanced,
symmetrical
Ethereal: in leaps and jumps
a quality of floating on air

Grand Pas de Deux for main
male and female dancers
Signature Step: Italian Changement
In ballet a changement de pieds is simply a change of the feet in the air. For instance, if a dancer
starts in fifth position with the right foot in front, the dancer would jump in the air, switch feet, and
land with the left foot in front. But there are different versions of the changement (shan-jzh-ma). Enrico Cecchetti (1850-1928), the late 19th century Italian dancer and ballet master, created a codified
system of ballet training, the “Cecchetti method.” His version of the changement is called the “Italian
changement.” In the Italian version, sometimes called the “grand changement,” the dancer does a
deeper plié (or bending of the knees) to enable a higher jump. Then, when in the air, the knees
bend so the toes meet in the air, almost like they “kiss.” The feet only switch position on the way
down from the jump.
PBT Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr remembers that Lew Christensen, Beauty and the Beast’s
choreographer, loved the Italian changement and featured it prominently in many of his works. (Mr.
Orr was a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet when Christensen was artistic director there.)
In Beauty and the Beast, Christensen used this high jump to characterize the Simian servants in the
Beast’s castle.
Information source.
Watch Paris Opera Ballet ballerina Dorothee Gilbert execute an Italian changement in the ballet
Raymonda. (The jump comes at :42 in the video.)
See how to do a changement de pieds in this step-by-step guide from a London ballet school.
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Passing along the dance: The role of the Répétiteur
Ballet is an art form that is taught in person, through demonstration, from one dancer to another. While a ballet company also uses video and digital imagery to learn a particular work, ballet is largely handed down
through demonstration and instruction by a répétiteur (from the French verb répéter—to repeat—one who
teaches the steps and roles of a ballet to a company of dancers). He or she often has an intimate connection
with a particular choreographer’s work. The George Balanchine Trust, the Antony Tudor Trust, Twyla Tharp
Dance Company, and others each have their own corps of répétiteurs who travel to ballet companies to teach
and rehearse their works.
Répétiteur Leslie Young visited PBT in September 2014 for two weeks to begin to teach the Beauty
and the Beast ballet to PBT’s dancers. (This is called “setting the ballet” on a company). She returned in January for final rehearsals; between September and January PBT ballet masters Steven
Annegarn and Marianna Tcherkassky (as well as Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr) continued to
lead the company in rehearsals of the ballet.
Ms. Young, who danced with San Francisco Ballet for 19 years, considers herself a caretaker of
Lew Christensen’s works and strives to recreate them as he originally intended. She refrains from
showing video early in the process of setting a ballet; she prefers to have the dancers learn the
steps and “make the ballet their own” by honing their own artistry rather than just copying another
dancer's. When rehearsing Beauty and the Beast, one of her main goals is to convey Christensen’s
intense musicality and masterful stage craftsmanship to the dancers, and to uncover for them the
ballet’s layers. One of its many subtexts is illuminating the sheer power of a movement. This is
beautifully illustrated by the Beast himself: because he is heavily costumed he must rely on movements alone to convey the turmoil he feels—his choreography becomes hugely important, down to
even the tilt of his head, the position of his hand. It is this kind of choreographic depth, interweaving with storyline and music, that Young says allows Beauty to stand the test of time more than 50
years after its premiere.
Répétiteur Leslie Young
Leslie Young began her training at Ballet Arts, under Lynette
Stevens DeFazio, and at the San Francisco Ballet School.
She joined San Francisco Ballet as an apprentice in 1985.
She was promoted to soloist, and in 2004, after a nineteenyear career, retired from the Company. Immediately after retiring, Ms. Young created and ran the San Francisco Ballet
School Trainee Program under director, Helgi Tomasson. Ms.
Young has worked as a choreographic assistant and ballet
mistress for Julia Adam and has also set works of Val Caniparoli, Lew Christensen, Tom Ruud and Helgi Tomasson.
She graduated from the Benesh Institute at the Royal
Academy of Dance with a Certificate in Benesh Notation and
is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award. As a dance educator, Ms. Young has taught master
classes, given lectures and has modeled and collaborated on projects including an exercise video
for Felissimo (1999) and Ballet for Dummies by Evelyn Cisneros (2003). She lives in San Francisco
with her husband and young daughter.
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Design of the First Production
The original costume and set designs for Beauty and the
Beast were created by Tony Duquette, a renowned and
prolific American designer. He designed costumes and
settings for film and theater; interiors, jewelry and special
furnishings for celebrities; and large works of public art. He
won a Tony Award for costume design for the Broadway
production of Camelot, and was the first American to have
a one-man show at the Louvre, Paris.
The original ballet was performed dozens of times over
two decades and the costumes and sets became worn.
When the ballet was revived in 1984, Lew Christensen
asked designer Jose Varona to create an entirely new production.
Duquette’s sketch for the ballet’s “People of the
Forest.” Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
Theater and Dance Collection, Gift of Alma de
Bretteville Spreckels , www.famsf.org
See more of Duquette’s Beauty and the Beast designs at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
website. For more information on Duquette, visit tonyduquette.com.
Costume and Scenic Designer Jose Varona
Jose Varona is an internationally distinguished costume and set designer
for both ballet and opera. He has designed costumes and sets for the
Paris Opera, the Australian Opera, New York City Opera, New York City
Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, and ballet luminaries George
Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn.
He had a close relationship with opera star Beverly Sills, designing numerous costumes for her in some of her most famous roles.
Image Source
Varona was born in Argentina in 1930 and was self-taught in both painting
and design. He is said to have used the tiles on the floor of the family’s patio as a canvas for fanciful drawings, and was heavily influenced by his
hometown of Mendoza, which was rich in music, ballet, and theater. He
began his design career in Argentina in the
1950s and moved to the U.S. in 1962.
Choreographer Lew Christensen asked Varona to design the revival of
Beauty and the Beast in 1982 and was so pleased with the result that he
tapped Varona again for his new Nutcracker production that premiered
four years later. Critics have praised Varona for his keen understanding of
the grandeur needed for opera and ballet design, and for the sense of
magic and enchantment that his work evokes. In 2003 he received the
prestigious TDF Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award.
Design by Varona for Beverly Sills in the title role of Maria Stuarda, New York City
Opera. Image Source
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Restoring the Costumes
When Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre purchased the Beauty and
the Beast production in 2014, the costumes hadn’t been
touched in nearly 30 years. They had collected years of
dust, and here and there bits and pieces had deteriorated
with time. PBT Costumier Janet Marie Groom took on the
monumental task of refurbishing the ballet’s 104 costumes.
She called in Svi Roussanoff, a free-lance costume craftsman, to tackle the elaborate masks and armor. He sees the
costumes as an incredible feat of design and engineering.
Here are few highlights about the costumes and the restoration process:

One of Beauty’s dresses had disappeared sometime in the last decade or so. Ms. Groom
created an entirely new one, using an original black and white costume rendering found at the
Museum of Performance and Design in San Francisco. Grainy performance video from 1984
gave a hint of the lavender color.

The PBT Costume Shop created two new gold
tutus for Beauty to accommodate the different ballerinas who will be dancing the role. Because of
the layering, hand-stitching and beading, constructing the tutus took a month of continuous
work.

The Beast’s ornate cape is made of screening and
leather, which have been appliqued, painted with
layers of color for texture
and depth, and glittered.
There is boning in the collar to make it stand up. The cape is a unique
and beautiful work of art unto itself.
The Simians’ unitards are hand-painted; their fur is actually sheer
fabric that’s been frayed to look like animal fur.

The Statues’ masks, headpieces and armor are made of screening
and fabric, which are then soaked in plastic to harden. Couch foam is
used to give 3-dimensionality to the facial features. The interior is coated with liquid rubber.

The Stags’ heads are made of leather, which has held up much
longer than a synthetic would have. They’re sprayed with Lexall, a
product used on car interiors, to keep them supple.

Top: Roussanoff at work in the PBT Costume Shop; Middle: a mound of gold tulle for
Beauty’s new tutus; Left: one of the Statues. Photos by Aimee DiAndrea
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The Disney Difference
Many audience members are probably familiar with Disney’s animated
blockbuster hit, Beauty and the Beast. The film premiered in 1991 and
was instantly popular with fans who enjoyed the comedy of the supporting characters, delightful music, and positive rendition of the tale. It became the first full-length animated film in history to be nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. Although it didn’t win, it did take home
two other Oscars for Best Music, Original Score, and Best Music, Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast”).
But the ballet version of Beauty and the Beast is quite different from the
Disney version. Here are just a few differences you might notice:
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s version
Disney version
-The main character’s name is Belle.
-The main character is called Beauty.
-Belle is an only child.
-Beauty has two sisters.
-There is a character named Gaston who
tries to win Belle’s affection.
-The character of Gaston, or a suitor for
Beauty, does not exist in the ballet.
-While prisoner in the Beast’s castle, Belle is
entertained by talking household objects.
-While Beauty is a prisoner in the castle, she
is entertained by various animals and flowers.
-Belle’s father is an inventor who gets lost
along the way to a competition. He looks for
shelter and trespasses into the Beast’s castle.
-The Beast is angry at Beauty’s father for
picking a rose from his garden so he banishes the father and holds Beauty captive.
-Beauty does not volunteer to be a prisoner.
-Belle willingly takes her father’s place as a
prisoner.
-The Beast gives a rose to Beauty as a gift.
-The rose symbolizes the Beast’s life. Belle
admits her love for the Beast before the last
petal falls.
-When Beauty rejects the Beast, he dies of
a broken heart.
-Gaston and an angry mob try to kill the
Beast.
Similarities
-There is a red rose in each version.
-Both Beasts turn into handsome prince’s at the end.
-Belle’s/Beauty’s true love breaks the spell.
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For Further Thought
1. The Beauty and the Beast ballet retells one of our most beloved fairytales through the medium of
dance. How does dance contribute to or enhance such a familiar story? Does it detract at all?
Without words to tell a story, what do we lose and what do we gain?
2. The score for Beauty and the Beast is a compilation of Tchaikovsky works that were not originally composed together nor were they composed for ballet. Do you feel the score is a cohesive
vehicle that advances the story? Does it work as well as music that is composed specifically for a
full-length ballet, such as Swan Lake or The Nutcracker? The music that Tchaikovsky did create for
ballet is said to have a profound effect on dancers’ movements and “spirit.” Where do you see this
in Beauty and the Beast?
3. Review the elements of classical ballet on page 12. How does the classical ballet “style” affect
how the story is presented? How would the story be different if the choreographic style was
contemporary ballet, modern dance, jazz, or hip hop?
4. Beauty and the Beast was one of San Francisco Ballet’s most popular ballets in its repertoire, as
evidence by the fact the four current staff members at PBT danced in it at some point during their
careers! What aspects of the ballet do you think have made it such a hit with audiences over the
years?
5. The Beast is a character that at once is regal and at the same time hideous. In what ways is this
dichotomy shown through his movements, mannerisms, and costume?
References
“The Annotated Beauty and the Beast” at Surlalunefairytales.com
Beauty and the Beast Folktales, University of Pittsburgh website
“The Choreography of Lew Christensen” at LewChristensen.org
“Christensen Brothers,” San Francisco Ballet Website
“Lew Christensen,” The Kennedy Center Website
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The Benedum Center
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is the
crown jewel of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Cultural District in downtown Pittsburgh. It was renovated in
1987 and is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The 2800 seat theatre used to be the Stanley
Theater, still visible on the lighted marquees outside. It
has the third largest stage in the United States measuring
144 feet wide by 78 feet deep. The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
all use the Benedum for their performances.
Learn more about the Benedum Center. Investigate the Stanley Theatre’s role in music history
here in Pittsburgh.
Accessibility
PBT is committed to being an inclusive arts organization that serves everyone in the greater Pittsburgh community through its productions and programs.
In conjunction with the Benedum Center for Performing Arts, the following accessibility services
are provided to patrons:

Wheelchair accessibility

Braille and large print programs

Assistive listening devices

Audio recordings of select program notes

Sign Language Interpretation provided by special request only. Please contact the Education
Department (see contact information below) at least 2 weeks in advance. Thank you!

Sensory-friendly performance for people with sensory sensitivities on Friday, February 13 at
11 AM.

Audio-described performances (Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 2 pm for Beauty and the Beast).
For more information about all of these programs please visit the accessibility page on PBT’s
website. Should you have a special request that is not listed above or have any questions about
our accessibility services, please do not hesitate to contact at 412-454-9105 or [email protected].
For more information about the accessibility services at the Benedum Center for the Performing
Arts, please visit their accessibility page.
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