''Broken Wings'' is a one-act ballet about Mexican painter

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

, choreographed by

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (born 30 April 1973) is a Belgian-born international choreographer based out of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dance background Ochoa, who is half-Colombian and half-Belgian, completed her dance training at the Royal Ballet Acad ...

, dramaturged by

Nancy Meckler Nancy Meckler is an American theatre and film director, known for her work in the United Kingdom with Shared Experience, where she was a joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale. Life and career Nancy Meckler was born and educated in the ...

and designed by Dieuweke van Reij. The music was composed by Peter Salem, and featured Mexican folk song "

La Llorona ''La Llorona'' (; "The Weeping Woman" or "The Wailer") is a Hispanic-American mythical vengeful ghost who is said to roam near bodies of water mourning her children whom she drowned. Origins Early colonial times provided evidence that the lore ...

" sung by

Chavela Vargas Isabel Vargas Lizano (17 April 1919 – 5 August 2012), better known as Chavela Vargas (), was a Mexican singer. She was especially known for her rendition of Mexican rancheras, but she is also recognized for her contribution to other genres of ...

. The ballet premiered on 13 April 2016 at the

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

, danced by the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

, with

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She ...

as Kahlo and

Irek Mukhamedov Irek Dzhavdatovich Mukhamedov OBE (russian: Ирек Джавдатович Мухамедов: tt-Cyrl, Ирек Җәүдәт улы Мөхәммәтев; born 8 March 1960), is a Soviet-born British ballet dancer of Tatar origin who has danced ...

as Kahlo's husband,

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

. Lopez Ochoa then created a three-act version titled ''

Frida ''Frida'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Starring Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as Kahl ...

'' for the

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

, premiered in 2020.

Production

was commissioned by

to create a ballet as a part of ''She Said'', an all-female choreographer triple bill, which was planned by artistic director

, as she had never danced in piece by a woman. Lopez Ochoa said she was already interested in creating a ballet about

prior to the invitation, and decided to use this opportunity to do so, but noted she intended the ballet to "tell the basic facts of Kahlo's life before letting her choreography loose into a more abstract, surreal treatment". She also brought in dramaturg

, who had worked with Lopez Ochoa on another project. Rojo, who is also a lead principal dancer, was asked to dance Kahlo, as she is a "petite, Hispanic dancer".

, then 56, was cast as

at Rojo's suggestion, as he was "old enough" but "fit enough". Kahlo's main costume in the ballet is inspired by her 1944 self-portrait, ''

The Broken Column ''The Broken Column'' (''La Columna Rota'' in Spanish) is an oil on masonite painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, painted in 1944 shortly after she had spinal surgery to correct on-going problems which had resulted from a serious traffic ac ...

'', and the dancer portraying Rivera wears a

fat suit A fatsuit, also known as a fat suit or a fat-suit, is a bodysuit-like undergarment used to thicken the appearance of an actress or actor of light to medium build into an overweight or obese character, in conjunction with prosthetic makeup. Fatsui ...

Revivals

In 2019, ''Broken Wings'' was revived for another all-female choreographer mixed bill, ''She Persisted'', with Katja Khaniukova taking over as Kahlo, and Mukhamedov reprising his role. Later that year, an excerpt of the ballet was performed at a gala in Guadalajara, Mexico, danced by Rojo and Yuri Possokhov. "La Llorona" was sung live by Geo Meneses. In 2020, in response to the

impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impact ...

, the English National Ballet streamed the performance online. It was filmed during the show's original run, danced by Rojo and Mukhamedov.

''Frida''

's artistic director Ted Brandsen, who watched the original run of ''Broken Wings'', said that he believed that ''Broken Wings'' "needed more space to breathe" but nevertheless was "impressed". Following the success of another piece by Lopez Ochoa in Amsterdam, Brandsen invited her to create a full-length version. The ballet premiered on 6 February 2020, with principal dancers

Maia Makhateli Maia Makhateli (born ca. 1986) is a Georgian ballet dancer. After terms with the Colorado Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, she joined the Dutch National Ballet in 2006, where she now is a principal dancer. Early life Makhateli was born i ...

and James Stout as Kahlo and Rivera respectively. This ballet kept 25 minutes from ''Broken Wings'', revised 13 minutes, and the rest of the piece was filled by new choreography. This version also used original music by Peter Salem, and two other songs, "Que te vaya bonito" and "Noches de Ahuatepec" were also used in addition to "La Llorona". Dramaturg Nancy Meckler and designer Dieuweke van Reij, both of whom had worked on ''Broken Wings'', were also brought back for ''Frida''.

Awards and nominations

References

External links