Who was the (Catalan) dancer painted by Degas and Manet?
The National Theatre revives the story of pioneer Rosetta Mauri, principal dancer at the Paris Opera in the late 19th century.
BarcelonaRoseta Mauri's is one of those epic biographies that has been left out of official history, probably because she was a woman and a dancer. But the passage of time only serves to magnify the exceptionality of this important figure in Catalan artistic heritage. Roseta Mauri was a poor girl from Reus "who ate pigeons for dinner" and who would end up becoming, with her talent and years of sacrifice, a unique case: the prima ballerina of the Paris Opera, an influential figure in the Parisian cultural scene at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the subject of paintings by the great Impressionist painters, especially Of Impressionist Painters. The Teatre Nacional wants to contribute to her definitive popularization with a multidisciplinary show, The daughter of the air, which opens at the Sala Tallers from October 2 to 19, directed by Raimon Molins.
It is Molins who has been stretching the thread of Mauri's life, beyond the story of "perfect" overcoming that, for example, appears in the animated film. Ballerina (2016) and in some biographies. The director wanted to portray the effort and sacrifice involved in achieving stardom, the light and the edges: "Roseta Mauri transcends what was intended for her. to protect. She was very well-known and ended up being very rich. She didn't want to have a husband or children. Milord and Milady, why he turned his father into a manager and trainer, why he takes the whole family to live in Paris." The origin of this approach was an article in the New York Times where the Catalan dancer was discussed, as well as the French Minister of Culture Antonin Proust, with whom she had an affair. The figure of Roseta Mauri brings together universal and currently conflicting themes such as Europe, family, art, beauty, the body, and sacrifice.
Virtuous and with character
Roseta Mauri was the daughter of a family of Majorcan origin, although she considered herself to be from Reus (she is well-known in the capital of Baix Camp: she gives her name to a high school and an international dance award). Her father was a dance enthusiast and a key dancer at the Liceu. His daughter performed in her first shows at the age of ten. Before she was of age, she was already a star at the Teatro Principal and soon aspired to conquer Paris, where she passed through the hands of the teacher madam Dominique, although she returned in haste due to the Franco-Prussian War. In 1873 she was the principal dancer at the Liceu, and debuted at the Principal The daughter of the air and was so successful in Europe, where she was in high demand, that she never performed again in Barcelona. On the recommendation of composer Charles Gounod, the Paris Opera House steal the artist at La Scala in Milan thanks to a direct contract from primma ballerina In 1878, she performed for twenty years and had a lifetime contract as a teacher and mentor for young dancers. "She was a virtuoso and had a very strong character. It was the period in which pointe dance began, and she brought a passionate and expressive style that had never been seen before," says Molins. Mauri blended the classical school with the gestures of the bolero school, a powerful character, and a racial aspect highly appreciated at the time.
The Teatro Nacional show is presented as a lecture given by a physicist, played by Cristina Plazas, and weaves together the life of Roseta Mauri from childhood to maturity, embodied by the dancer Anna Casasola, Plazas herself, Lluïsa Mallol, and, virtually, Ainet Zaragoza. The male roles are played by Moïse Taxé, in a stage space that represents a dance studio. The show plays with a strong visual component by Joan Rodón, as Molins usually does in the audiovisual shows at the Atrium Hall. The play is a co-production with his theater, which will be in charge of the tour. Each actress sees herself reflected in the his Roseta. For Casasola, who puts on her lace slippers to dance three choreographies created by Catherine Allard, it portrays the hardships of a career as a dancer. For Plazas, "the work speaks of life's journey and the transcendence of what we want to do but can't." "And of the lesson of growing up, which can also be a very beautiful experience," adds Mallol. Finally, the "dragonfly," "the girl with the golden feet," as she was known in Paris, returns on her own merits in Barcelona, nailing her pointe shoes at the Teatre Nacional.