An ornery witch pounded her burled staff, men in kilts brawled, sylphs wafted through the air and a long scarf lay strewn across the floor of the midcentury library that had been converted into a bright and airy rehearsal space. I had been invited to a rehearsal of American Repertory Ballet’s upcoming world premiere of Spirit of the Highlands and I was instantly enchanted. “It’s bohemian,” choreographer Ethan Stiefel noted of the space, with a twinkling eye and grin and wearing a black “Keep Calm and Wear a Kilt” t-shirt.
Many remember Stiefel as both the bad-boy ballet star Cooper Nielson in the 2000 movie Center Stage and one of the world’s leading male dancers. After a distinguished career onstage with New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre and stints as artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and ARB, he has most recently been making work for Princeton-based ARB where he is the artist in residence. I met with the refreshingly down-to-earth Stiefel after rehearsal, a week before Spirit of the Highlands premieres at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in New Jersey.
This revamp of the ballet classic La Sylphide preserves the essence of the original with its aura of the supernatural, overlaid with imaginative modern and personal touches, including some magnificent Scottish highland dancing.
The original dates back to the 19th century, the surviving version created by Danish choreographer August Bournonville whose renowned style emphasized lightness, speed and the illusion of effortlessness. He was influenced by Italian ballerina Marie Taglioni who showed off her prowess as the original sylph with her innovations on pointe, shortening her skirts to ensure that her pointe shoes were clearly visible. These new dance techniques served to express the Romantic era’s preoccupation with the dual nature of humans, with the conflict between reality and the realm of ideals, and the perceived dangers of the erotic.
In La Sylphide, James, a young Scottish farmer, is torn between his fiancée Effie and a mysterious winged sprite, ultimately falling victim to demonic forces.
In approaching this story ballet, Stiefel says, “A lot of what I do is influenced by Jerome Robbins, not necessarily his personality but his approach. I always found that he struck such a wonderful balance of ballet sophistication and technique, but using an American sensibility… I was a little guy growing up in a town of 3000 people in Portage, Wisconsin. If I walked into this theater, could I understand at least a good percentage of it? Because it’s being presented in a way that would make sense, that’s attractive and that’s accessible?”
Changing the name of the production was also an accessibility point. “One of my absolute favorite ballets is La Fille mal gardé [Frederick Ashton, 1960.] It can barely sell a ticket, because of the title. So to me then, it’s a play on words – “spirit” because she’s a spirit or sylph. And let’s also promote the positive essence of ballet, in a way that can be translatable as well as relatable to today’s audiences.”
Watching the company rehearse it was clear that Stiefel has remained true to the iconic Bournonville choreography and aesthetic, with its sustained emphasis on buoyancy, quick footwork, use of shoulders and rounded, lowered carriage of the arms and hands. And the use of mime has carried over but is more naturalized than arcane.
The Sylphs were still polishing some details of act 2, like the angles of the arms and head as they caught and carried the lead Sylph (Lily Krisko,) and timing their soft descents from pointe to the tricky counts of the vibrant score by Herman Løvenskiold.
The company’s 22 dancers hail from near and far, many international. “I thought it [La Sylphide] would suit this company very well as I’ve gotten to know them and work with them in developing this culture of dancer-actor. They’ve embraced it.”
Company dancer Erikka Reenstierna-Cates brought masterful acting skills to create the evil witch Madge, empowered and dangerous. Stiefel has created a backstory to add further substance to the sinister plot, linking the witch to James’ rival Gurn.
“She isn’t all bad. She isn’t just a crazy old witch. She’s a Celtic priestess, or a druid, very much of nature. It’s not to play her as a Halloween character. She should have that supernatural, mystical quality that druids would have, which scared people and is why they were persecuted in certain cultures, because they thought differently. But in Celtic culture they were revered as healers, like shamans. She’ll be weathered and scarred, not just crotchety… edgier,” adding “I didn’t know how to end it. They play it in different ways in different productions. I thought I would just keep it simple and really strong.” Madge plays a heightened role in Stiefel’s version, and the powerful ending makes us question who the real enemy was.
Stiefel has added twists to his endings before, as in his 2023 Giselle, which traced the faithless Albrecht after Giselle saved him from the murderous Wilis then perished forever. “He actually did love her, and everyday after her death he lived the moment over and over, and ultimately returned and gave himself over (to the Wilis) because life wasn’t worth living without his true love.”
This project has not just been another story ballet for Stiefel to put his creative stamp on, but also a way to honor his own Scottish roots. His mother’s ancestry goes back to Clan Munro which supplies the new setting for the ballet and the tartan designs. The Scottish dance elements in Bournonville’s production were theatrical and ballet-styled but for his production, Stiefel has insisted on authenticity in the Scottish dance technique.
Years ago, he and his wife, Gillian Murphy – who is assisting with rehearsals while also preparing for her final series of performances onstage with American Ballet Theatre – took a highland dance class together at Carnegie Hall. They became friends with the teacher, highland dance competitor Kendra Monroe, who was invited to work with the ARB dancers on traditional highland technique. Although it predates ballet by a few hundred years, originating in the 13th century as a traditional military test of warriors’ strength and agility, highland dance bears surprising technical similarities to classical ballet.
“There’s so many elements that cross over between highland technique and ballet technique. But what’s really cool to me,” said Stiefel, “is that highland dance speaks to that lightness and buoyancy of Bournonville technique.”
There will be men in kilts. Andrea Marini (as James) and Aldeir Monteiro (as Gurn) rehearsed in two of the tartan designs by Janessa Cornell Urwin, demonstrating the agility of the heavier material and their striking athleticism in leaps and beaten jumps.
The costumes for the witches and Sylphs pull inspiration from Celtic lore while keeping the long Romantic tutu and the small, delicate wings. “Another difference is that I set this in the early 1900’s, whereas the other renditions tend to stay in a much more Romantic period. The sylphs are the sylphs. I adore the Bournonville production so I wanted to keep it familiar but also make it fresh.” Here, the men will wear waistcoats, vests and ties rather than the original tunics.
Scenic designer Howard C. Jones has created enchanting sets, the many striking details of which include references to Scottish traditions as well as 20th century touches that will be easily viewed in the theater at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, a perfectly sized space for these works and where ARB is the resident dance company. “You can feel the fullness of a big story ballet there, it has an intimacy that makes things feel palpable, like you’re really in it. It’s an ideal theater for dance.” Pre-show, ballet-goers will also be greeted with a Scottish bagpiper, to evoke the spirit of the highlands. Expect bewitchment, a deeply satisfying story and high-octane dancing.
New Brunswick Performing Arts Center | New Brunswick, NJ
Friday, March 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Running time is approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes with one intermission.
