Why is Fairy the first work in the history of ballet?

The two-act dance drama Fairy is based on the short story Trierby, but it has undergone great adaptation. It is a landmark work in the romantic ballet period. Dance drama has made bold innovations on the basis of inheriting the tradition, with the theme of expressing the contradiction between ideal and reality, full of fiery ideals and criticism.

The fairy story is a legend in ancient Scotland. The background is the living room of a Scottish farmhouse. The time is 1830.

First act

James, a young Scottish farmer, dreamed of a beautiful fairy when he was resting by the fire on the eve of his wedding. When he woke up, he loved his bride and thought he dreamed of another woman. Not only was he embarrassed, but Effie also noticed James' slouches, and their friend Gunn always loved Effie deeply.

When everyone congratulated him, James stared at the stove alone. Suddenly, where the fairy disappeared, James felt someone there. However, in the corner of out of the dark, it is not his fairy, but the village witch Maggie. The girls asked Maggie to tell her fortune, and Effie also asked Maggie, "Does James love himself?" But the witch said "no", so James drove the witch out of the room.

Effie and her girl friends went to freshen up, leaving James alone in the room. Suddenly, the fairy in my dream appeared at the window with a sweet and sad expression. The fairy told James that she had fallen in love with him. James reminded the fairy that she was getting married, and the fairy was sadly ready to leave. James could no longer restrain his feelings and kissed the fairy.

Guests attending the wedding were present, and the fairy went back. Only James can see her. James is holding Effie, flying around, chasing the fairy crazily. At the moment when the groom put the ring on the bride, the ring was suddenly lost, and the groom followed the fairy and disappeared in front of everyone. Effie was heartbroken and Gunn knelt beside her.

Act ii

James chased the fairy into the Woods, and the fairy's flickering made James suspect that this love was an illusion. In order to keep the fairy, James turned to the witch Maggie for help. Maggie gave him a shawl and taught him to wrap the fairy's wings with it. The fairy will belong to him and become his wife.

James wrapped the shawl around the fairy's shoulder according to law, but the fairy felt a terrible pain. Her wings fell to the ground and died in front of James.

Just as James was heartbroken, a row of wedding equipment was passing by outside the Woods in the distance. Gunn and Effie walked arm in arm in front of the crowd. Seeing this, James fainted to the ground with regret.

The emergence of romanticism was accompanied by the disappointing reality in the early stage of the development of capitalist society at that time. Therefore, the ideal world in "Fairy" is in sharp contrast with the real world, which changes the reunion, carnival and gorgeous ending in the previous dance drama, and the whole drama ends in a sad and melancholy scene. Although the ideal world is beautiful, it is foggy and can't be grasped, leaving room for aftertaste. This treatment is both poetic and realistic, revealing dissatisfaction with real life. The work reveals the sigh of missing happiness, and it is filled with a kind of sentimental mood that the ideal is out of reach and the reality and ideal are irreconcilable.

The success of Fairy owes much to director Philip? Tarioni made constructive creations in choreography, performance, costumes and techniques. According to his daughter's figure and ability, he specially designed the role of Syl Fei Da (Fairy), highlighting the big jump, tiptoe skills and elegant modeling, and successfully created a light and elegant fairy image that conforms to the romantic ideal. Mary is not very talented. Tarioni stood on tiptoe to create an elegant and agile image of the fairy, and initiated the tiptoe technique of later generations of women, becoming a generation of stars.

The translucent white tulle dance skirt designed by fashion designer Lamy and the little wings decorated on her back have become the symbols of romantic ballet, which is not only elegant and exquisite, but also further liberates the actress' limbs and promotes the development of dance technology to a great extent. White tulle ballet has also become a unique style in Europe, and it is called "white skirt ballet".

Fairy is the foundation work of romantic ballet, which has achieved "the change of romantic ballet in literature, poetics and drama structure".