Chagall at LACMA
If you are in Los Angeles, and are a lover of Ballet, Opera, Costume or Classical Music, put Marc Chagall's exhibition at LACMA on the top of your list.
Chagall: Fantasies for the Stage runs from July 31, 2017 to January 7, 2018
This exhibition is a collection of Chagall’s creations from his work with stage performances. Focused on four productions — Aleko by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1942), The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky (1945), Daphnis and Chloé by Maurice Ravel (1958), and The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1967). The pieces were organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from their recently completed and very successful exhibition on Chagall called Colour and Music.
The space at LACMA allows you to be up close to these costumes so you can examine all the unique hand craftsmanship that went into every square inch of fabric. With the composers music rejoicing in the background as you scale over the stage backdrops. Screens showing loops of footage from 1945 runs of The Firebird and the 2016 productions in Paris. Sketches of the costumes before they were created with his hand written notes to better the final outcome.
Henri Matisse once said about Chagall, “When you look into his paintings, you don’t know if he was awake or dreaming while he painted them.” That translates perfectly for his work created to be on stage. The backdrops make you feel like you’re staring into a dream, as the dancers costumes create swirls of graceful colors on the stage. As a dancer, something I appreciated greatly was how exclusive each piece was to match my theory of every dancer being their own unique artist. You could almost imagine the individual dancer’s style and performance character based solely on the costume draped over the mannequin.
There are dozens of paintings unrelated to the stage work accompanying the exhibition. I spent close to two hours in the one space and circulated three times. After all that and I am already excited to go back.
Click HERE to be redirected to buy tickets.
