Who's the Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty?

One of the fun things about the Sleeping Beauty ballet for fairy tale fans is the fact that the finale incorporates several fairy tale characters-Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Cinderella, even Bluebeard (I personally wouldn't want him at my wedding...but I guess the characters have learned their lesson about leaving evil people out of celebrations after Carabosse cursed Aurora?). (Although after I wrote that, my source says Bluebeard makes an appearance, but I can't find any other evidence that he's a character in this ballet.)

But one of the most famous dance variations is the Bluebird, above (starts at aobut 3:30). The dance has captivated audiences for generations, as the male dancer leaps and jumps so effortlessly it appears he really can flutter about like a bird. But who is the Bluebird?

Jack Anderson provides an answer in his nytimes article Who's That Bluebird? And Who's That White Cat? (You know you write about fairy tale characters too often when your fingers keep wanting to type "Bluebeard" over "Bluebird"...). Although the ballet was originally created in Russia, the choreographer, Marius Petipa, was French, hence the usage of all the French fairy tales. Many were Charles Perrault's famous stories, including "Sleeping Beauty" itself, but Blue Bird and the White Cat are characters from Madame Catherine d'Aulnoy's tales. Anderson summarizes the Blue Bird tale for us (read the full text here):

In "The Bluebird," a king marries a malicious woman after his wife dies. The new queen persecutes Florine, the king's kindhearted daughter, and promotes her own wicked daughter, Truitonne, whose face resembles that of a trout and whose conduct is decidedly fishy. The queen wishes the young King Charmant, who loves Florine, to marry Truitonne. Because he refuses to do so, Truitonne's wicked fairy godmother condemns him to be a bluebird. Florine is locked in a tower, where she is discovered by Charmant, who visits her nightly. The Bluebird pas de deux presumably shows Charmant happily fluttering in the presence of Florine. 

 When a spy sees the bird caressing Florine with his claw and kissing her with his bill, the queen places sharp swords on every resting place near the tower so Charmant can no longer easily alight. Fortunately, the people of the kingdom rebel against the queen. Florine, released from the tower, searches for her beloved bird and, after terrible hardships, finds him. He regains human form, but the fish-faced Truitonne becomes a pig -- a linguistically appropriate metamorphosis, for her name derives from the French words "truite" (trout) and "truie" (sow).

Also for fun, here's some more fairy tale variations: Red Riding Hood and Wolf, Puss in Boots and White Cat, Cinderella and Prince:
Illustration
Bluebird clip-Bolshoi Ballet, 2011
Fairy Tale clip

Once Upon a Grind by Cleo Coyle

Spotted this book in the mystery section of my library, Once Upon a Grind by Cleo Coyle. Book description:

"When coffeehouse manager turned amateur sleuth Clare Cosi serves "magic" beans for a Fairy Tale Fall event, she brews up a vision that leads to a sleeping beauty in Central Park; a big, bad wolf of Wall Street; and an East Side enclave with storybook secrets... 

 Fairy tale fever has descended on New York City. Broadway fans are flocking to Red Riding Hood: The Musical; museums are exhibiting art inspired by the Brothers Grimm; and Clare Cosi and her merry band of baristas give their coffee truck a "Jack and the Beanstalk" makeover for a Central Park festival. Clare's coffee hunter ex-husband contributes a bag of African beans with alleged magical properties. His octogenarian mother entertains customers with readings of the grinds, but Clare remains skeptical--until she receives a vision that helps her find a young model's body in the park's woods. 

 The police dismiss "sleeping beauty" as the victim of a drug overdose. Then Clare uncovers evidence that points to a list of suspects--from a New York Giant to quite a few wicked witches--and a cold case murder that reaches back to the Cold War. Now Clare is really in the woods with a dangerous predator on her heels and an investigation that leads from a secret Prince Charming Club right back to her own NYPD detective boyfriend. If she doesn't solve this mystery, those magic beans predict an unhappy ending." 

I'll be honest, it's not the best writing ever (although pretty typical for most current mystery novels), but for a book that features three of my favorite things-murder mysteries, coffee, and fairy tales, I was willing to give it a chance. The book begins with the main character serving coffee at a Fairy Tale Festival, and the fairy tale references don't end there. In fact I was pretty impressed at how the author was able to incorporate so many fairy tale characters and motifs into the story. It was a fun, easy read. And, as the cover promises, there are recipes in the back, although I can't say whether or not they're "wicked good" as claimed, since I didn't try any. But some are fairy tale themed! Snow White Chocolate Mocha, Cinderella's Pumpkin Cake, Poisoned Apple Cake, etc.

Also on the subject-this sign is on the coffee maker at my office. I love those fairy tale connections that help to show how enchanted real life is too-coffee is pretty magical, when you think about it!

Fairy Tales for Runners

I typically read fairy tale blogs first thing in the morning, sipping my coffee to help me wake up, and then once I'm feeling semi-human I go for a run. I'm not a super hardcore, long distance runner-no marathons for me (although I've considered the Disney Princess half marathon...the only thing that could ever motivate me to run 13 miles would be the Disney Parks). For me, running has become a time when I often mull over the fairy tale issues I've just read about, and sometimes come up with ideas for new posts. It helps that I usually run through forest preserves, which are as close to nature as Chicago suburbanites like myself ever really get. I know it's not at all the same, but it helps give me a slightly better idea of what it may have been like for the tellers and listeners of stories generations ago. As Sara Maitland's book From the Forest reminds us, just being in that setting can influence how we read and think about fairy tales.

I've shared before how running through somewhat isolated forest preserves can make me feel unnervingly similar to Red Riding Hood (especially when wearing my red hoodie)-hidden paths tend to be places where predators lurk, and there are all too many stories of lone women who were attacked or threatened on trails in this area. Sometimes there's a rustle of an animal nearby, and although it's most likely a deer or squirrel or something completely safe, my heart races and I can only imagine what it would feel like to see a wolf or other dangerous animal there.

Red Riding Hood in the pilot of "Grimm"

But not all connections between running and fairy tales are so somber! The Gingerbread Man is often used as a motivational character for racing:

London Marathon 2010

Shop Fitness (no longer available)

I recently heard of an obstacle race for women called Mudderella. I couldn't find anywhere that directly linked it to the fairy tale Cinderella, which is interesting because the title itself is clearly referencing the story. The motto is "own your strong", and the purpose is to encourage women to celebrate their strength in all forms. It seems to be a very positive way of having modern women relate to Cinderella-being covered in ashes/mud, but out of strength and not victimization. One of the charity sponsors is "Futures Without Violence," which aims to end domestic abuse.

I've shared these workout clothes from WorkItWear before, but they go along perfectly with the theme. I love that they challenge the idea that girls who love fairy tales/Disney Princesses can't also be athletic!

If you like the idea of wearing workout clothes inspired by Disney characters, there's also the fitness looks on Disneybound!

Colleen Hill's Fairy Tale Fashion

A little while back I shared some images from the Fashion Institute of Technology's Fairy Tale Fashion exhibit, and the accompanying book the curator put together. I immediately put it on my amazon wishlist, and lo and behold, once again the birthday fairies were very generous!

I am absolutely LOVING this book. Of course I also have an interest in fashion/the history of fashion, but even if you don't consider yourself a fan of runway shows and the high fashion world, it's really worth it just to look at the significance of clothing in fairy tales. It's such a significant factor in many tales, and as the author shares, it's really surprising that the connection hasn't been addressed more before. Clothing and attire shows fairy tale characters' identity, status/wealth, transformations, and also provide fairy tale authors with opportunities to satirize the culture around them. 

Images (and a review) from here

Most fairy tale books are written by folklorists, so it's nice to read from a different perspective-Colleen Hill comes from the fashion world. Her amount of research for the book is very thorough and impressive, there are maybe a couple things she missed here and there (for example, she says that we have no written description of the Beast's appearance, even though Villeneuve's version, which she references, does describe him), but overall her summaries of the fairy tales and discussion of their main themes are accurate and insightful.

I love all the images (and wish there were more! So many runway looks or historical styles she references but don't make it on the pages!), it's so fascinating to see how fashion ideals can influence the text of the fairy tales (especially Perrault), but also how fairy tales themselves have influenced fashion. For example, Leon Bakst's costumes for the Ballet Russes' Scheheazade ended up being highly influential in the twentieth century:

Ballet Russes' Scheherazade-1909

Also, I'm sure you've all heard someone at some point (or maybe yourself!) lament the phenomenon of people paying for intentionally distressed jeans. This could have connections to Giorgio di Sant'Angelo's 1971 collection, The Summer of Jane and Cinderella. The collection featured frayed and shredded clothes, with natural and simple makeup. Later, deconstructed clothes became a trend, which is still popular today. The next time you hear someone wondering why people want to look sloppy, it's worth considering that Cinderella in rags is an iconic image! Of course, the world of fashion is complex and there are many factors that influence current trends, so Hill isn't suggesting that Cinderella alone started the grunge phase of the 90s, but fairy tales have been influences on major designers for years, and fairy tale illustrators have contributed to our idea of the fairy tale aesthetic, which is often cited as an inspiration behind many modern runway collections.

Giorgio di Sant'Angelo's Cinderella inspired garments

I'll be sharing more insights and images from this book in the weeks to come! I highly recommend it!

Diary of a Teenage Fairy Godmother + Other Godmother Books

This book looks like a fun read if you're into teenage romance and fairy tales; reviewers all say it's light and enjoyable, sounds like it would be perfect summer reading: Kathleen Baldwin's and Andrea Sisco's Diary of a Teenage Fairy Godmother.

Description:
Diary of a Teenage Fairy Godmother 
"A Fairy Godmother is not some overgrown pixie in a pink tutu. She’s a guardian and a warrior specially trained to protect Cinderella’s descendants. Lilliana Skye is undercover at a Texas high school on her first assignment to save one of Cinderella’s troubled great-granddaughters. But everything goes terribly wrong. 

Her Cinderella, Jess, hates her. Then there’s Jess’s brother, he’s, well, he’s dangerous. Falling in love with a human is strictly forbidden, not to mention . . . deadly. 

Jessica Harrison doesn’t believe in fairytale magic or happily-ever-afters. The death of her oldest brother nuked her world and ripped her family apart. Grief sucks. Jess is tough, angry, and so intelligent it’s scary. If she ever did see a mythical fairy she would probably stomp it into oblivion with her army boots. 
Emotions, magic, and all that supernatural, unquantifiable, nonsense are a waste of her time. She tossed them out of her life after her brother died. Science and math –she can depend on those things. 
However, there is still someone Jess cares deeply about and that’s her other brother, Jake. He’s the only family member she really has left and she’s fiercely protective. When Jake meets Lilliana, the new girl, he falls hard. Code red alarms go off in Jess’s head. She can’t let her brother fall in love with a lunatic who claims to be her Fairy Godmother. 
Lilliana tries to stay away from him. Falling in love with a human is against the rules. Maybe if she didn’t have to protect Jake and Jess she might be able to keep her wayward heart in check. But someone from the fairy realm is trying to kill all three of them and Lilliana has to find out why before it’s too late. "

There really are quite a few books out now that feature the Fairy Godmother:

Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon
Fairy Godmother Dilemma series by Danyelle Leafty
Fairy Godmother Academy series by Jan Bozarth
The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Fairy Godmothers, Inc by Jenniffer Wardell
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Illustrations by Ruth Ives, 1954

Any more? Have you read any/what did you think?

Joffrey's Cinderella

Joffrey's 2006 Cinderella

I thought this review in the Chicago Tribune on the Joffrey Ballet doing Sir Frederick Ashton's adaptation of the ballet "Cinderella" was interesting. Ballet and Cinderella fans alike might enjoy reading about the challenges of the dancers playing the stepsister roles, and attempting to make them more than just comic relief.

Rory Hohenstein and David Gombert rehearsing their stepsister roles

An excerpt: (emphasis mine)

"Male roles inspired by British pantos, the Stepsisters epitomize the ballet's gentle, hopeful vision. Quarrelsome, jealous, deliciously foolish, they must go beyond comic relief. "At the end of the ballet," says Wheater, "we have to have some feeling for them, empathy for them."

Dancing the bossy older Stepsister for the first time, paired with returning Joffrey member David Gombert as the younger one, Rory Hohenstein says that at first he was intimidated by the part: He'd heard "legendary stories of some of my friends' really funny performances." Plus he knew how important it was to get these character roles, so crucial to the story, right.

However, it's "harder to get your point across when you're covered in ridiculous clothing," he says. Despite being men in dresses, the Stepsisters are coached not to be too over-the-top. That can be "a hard line to walk — literally in heels," Hohenstein says. "You're jumping around in them so much, at the end of the day your feet hurt. But sometimes it's easier in the heels because you naturally walk a different way."

Punchkin: An Indian Rapunzel Tale

This story from India is found in Surlalune's Rapunzel Tales From Around the World Collection, although it reads like an epic mashup of Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, with some fun twists!

**************************************************************************

Once there was a Raja with seven daughters,but the youngest, Balna, was more clever than the rest. Their mother had died, so the sisters cooked the dinner.

Every evening, a widow and her daughter would come begging for some of their food. Balna warned her sisters not to help the widow, but her sisters insisted on being generous. Only, when no one was looking, the widow would ruin the meal by putting mud in the bowls.

The Raja noticed the food was ruined, but knew his daughters wouldn't spoil it on purpose, so he hid to watch what happened. When he saw the widow, he called her to him, and she claimed that she had only done it to get an audience with him, and her words pleased him, so he married her.

The new Ranee (Queen) hated the Princesses, and wanted to get rid of them. She gave them only a little bread to eat, and none of the nice things they were used to. The sisters used to go to their mother's tomb and weep. As they did that, a pomelo (citrus fruit) tree grew up and gave them food, so they didn't even want any of the bad food their stepmother offered them.

This made her suspicious, so she sent her daughter to see how her stepdaughters could be so healthy, and her daughter discovered the pomelo tree. Balma noticed her, and told her sisters they should send her away, but the sisters saw no harm. So the Ranee's daughter told her about the tree. The Ranee feigned sickness, and told the Raja that only the tree that grew on his wife's grave could cure her, so he had to cut it down.

The sisters wept at this, but by the grave they saw a white cream that hardened into cakes, and they ate this instead. Once again, the Ranee sent her daughter to discover how the seven sisters could be happy and healthy, and despite Balma's warnings, the sisters didn't send her away, and she discovered the truth.

The Ranee pretended to be sick again, and this time demanded that the daughters be killed, because only their blood on her forehead and palms would make her better. But the Raja could not bring himself to kill his daughters, so he brought them out to the jungle and left them there. When they woke up alone, they started crying, but seven Princes found them, who each married a Princess.

They all went to live in the Princes' land, and were very happy. The only one to have a child was Balma, who had a son, and all the royal couples loved the son and raised him together.

They were all happy for a time, but one day, Balma's husband went out hunting, and never came back. Each of the brothers went out looking for him, and also never returned. The Princesses were very grieved.

One night a stranger entered the castle, claiming to be a holy man; he was really an evil sorcerer named Punchkin. He saw Balma and thought her the most beautiful, and offered her to come home with him as his wife. She refused, saying that after raising her son she would go in search of her husband. He was angry at this, and dragged her away, and locked her in a tall tower.

Balma's sisters discovered she was missing, and the committed to raising their nephew. When he turned 14, they told him the truth about his missing parents and uncle, and he was determined to go out and find them. Despite his aunts' protests, he journeyed until he came to a land with a tall tower.

He was befriended by a kind woman who told him that the country belonged to a great enchanter who turned anyone who displeased him into a tree or a stone, and had trapped a Princess in the tower who refused to marry him. The boy realized this must be his family. He disguised himself as the woman's daughter and the sorcerer had him deliver things to his mother in the tower. The son had a ring that had been given to him by his mother at birth; when he showed this to her, she realized who he was.

Balna's son told his mother to pretend to have accepted the sorcerer's proposal, but first to demand to know the secret of his power. She did this, and learned that in a far away jungle there was a parrot, and if the parrot died, so would the sorcerer; only, the parrot was guarded by thousands of genii who would kill anyone who approached.

So Balna's son left again, for the remote jungle. On his way, he saw a serpent about to attack an eagle's nest. He slew the serpent, and the eagles were so grateful they were willing to fly him above the genii while they slept and steal the parrot.

The boy used the parrot to get the sorcerer to undo all of his spells, before dismembering the parrot and wringing its neck, killing the sorcerer. His parents and uncles were free from their enchantment, and they returned to their families and lived happily
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Some of my favorite things about this tale:

-Positive sister relationships. Even though Balma is cleverer than her sisters, there is no ill will between them, even after her sisters' foolish choices made a lot of trouble for them! In turn, her sisters weren't jealous or spiteful that Balma was the only one to have a child, but lovingly raised him together in her disappearance.
-Kindness-but not gullibility. At first I was a little bothered that Balma was rewarded for not being willing to share a little food and fire with a widow and her daughter, as if it's clever to never risk anything to give to those who have little. Yet, it's true that there are times to be cautious and not overly nice-we teach children about stranger danger, and people need to be aware of cyber crime scams that prey on people's good intentions to get their money. This is where knowing folklore as a whole can be beneficial-overall, kindness is rewarded, but that doesn't mean every situation is the same! (Plus, we do see Balma's son being kind and going out of his way to save the eaglets, and he is clearly rewarded for that, so even in the same tale we see a balance)
-Balma is saved not by her Prince, but by her son. I don't have anything against lovers rescuing each other, per se, other than the fact that it's become a bit of a cliche in fairy tales. Having the son do the rescuing is a refreshing change, especially since this tale shows:
-A clever and resourceful heroine. True, she is temporarily rendered helpless when trapped in a tower by a sorcerer, but she was the only one to spot the danger from her stepmother and stepsister earlier, and was able to lead the sorcerer into thinking she would marry him, and give up his secret. Again, I love the balance in this tale-I don't like the argument that showing females as victims for part of the story is unfeminist, because there are times where we might all be rendered helpless, and we should never blame the victim. I like tales where the characters work together.

Also, the Tower images in this post (taken by Rebecca Stice, found here) are from Helen's Tower. If anyone is able to vacation in Northern Ireland, you can live out a Rapunzel fantasy by renting this tower out on airbnb!

Gordon Laite Fairy Tale Illustrations

Some eye candy for your Thursday, courtesy of illustrator Gordon Laite (1925-1978)


Rapunzel




Beauty and the Beast












Wild Swans

Snow White and Rose Red