Two (Evil?) Queens: What We Assume and What We Don’t Know

So... It’s been quite a while.  Honestly I’ve had this post written for quite a while now but I guess I have never got around to actually posting it. I was going through some of my documents and thought I would share this one. I wrote it last season when I was preparing for my debut as Myrtha in Giselle and the Queen of the Bugs in Jerome Robbin’s “The Cage”. 

The two ballets are often compared to one another besides their vast distinction in styles. They both depict a story of strong army-like female “tribes” (I like to think of them as amazons) with a duty to kill any man who dares to invade their territory.  Besides the obvious, I wanted to look a little deeper into how these characters compare to one another.  The Cage in a nutshell is a tribe of female insects initiating a newborn Novice who they teach to attack male intruders.  The Novice encounters two intruders, the first she successfully mates and kills, she falls in love with the second and becomes hesitant to perform the ritual. Eventually, the Queen forces the Novice to kill the male despite her love towards him.  After comparing and contrasting the two, I have a much deeper understanding and appreciation for these characters that are often overseen and misunderstood. 

I feel a common misconception about Myrtha is that she is a stone-cold, two-dimensional ghost and there’s not much else to her character...Wrong!  While rehearsing for Myrtha, I had to remind myself that no one can be born with such resentment and hate. There had to be a reason, a background, pain she suffered through in her mortal life that caused her to be so non merciful.  Although the story does not include any background on her character, I created my own idea of her pre-Willi existence. The biggest difference between these two alpha-females is Myrtha is spiritual and has quite a depth to her character, whereas the bug Queen has very animal-like mannerisms and movement.  Myrtha kills men who enter her forest because it is a constant duty and obligation that comes from a very deep place within. The insects kill males because it is a means of their survival and nature. Their killing method is very physical with stomping, eating, and choking (gruesome I know). Myrtha uses her own spiritual powers as well as the help of her Willis and her septor-like branches to almost compel men to dance to their deaths.  Although Myrtha’s man-killing ritual is typically effective (we assume) she is still defeated by the power of Giselle’s forgiveness that eventually saves Albrecht’s life.  The bug’s ritual is fool-proof, nothing can or will hold them back from performing their routine, including the Novice’s sudden feeling of attachment toward her mate.  Myrtha’s movements are very feminine yet have a certain power through her soaring grand jetes and entre chat seis. The bug’s movement is all quite aggressive, her commands are sharp and abrupt: they are very grounded vs. Myrtha’s ghostly lightness and buoyancy, her power is reserved and comes from within. 

Reading through this post and choosing some photos for the slideshow is very emotional for me. I performed both of these roles a year ago, it took me back to the emotions I felt dancing these ballets. Given the situation with all of the performance and rehearsal cancellations of companies all around the world, including mine is even more heartbreaking. I know every artist out there will never take what we do for granted ever again for I will be reborn when I set foot onstage again.