Although Mitchell's book has been made into a film and even a musical, it has never been transformed into a ballet.
The Hungarian National Ballet's production of Gone With The Wind will use the music of Anton Dvoak, including his Symphony No. 9 (New World), the third and fourth movements of his Symphony No. 8, the overture to Othello, Cypresses and the first and second movements of the Cello Concerto.
The music for the ballet was selected by Ádám Medveczky, who notes that Dvoak spent three years in the United States, teaching composition in New York. Though he instructed his students in the European tradition, he was keen to experience the influences of American music, notably African American spirituals and Native American music, both of which can be heard in the New World Symphony.
The libretto for the ballet was written by Lilla Pártay, who is also the production's choreographer.
"The novel had a big effect on me," Pártay says, "for example those psychological moments which can be expressed with dance. At the same time, dance is not prose - here one can express many emotional things...which cannot be expressed with words."
Pártay insists her rendering of Gone With The Wind is accessible to all. "Even those who see (Gone With The Wind) for the first time on the ballet stage will understand the kernel of the work," she says.
Gone With the Wind will be performed by the Hungarian National Ballet at the State Opera House at 19:00 on March 23 and 24.
Source: Fidelio.hu
