The themes are dark, and the music haunting. The journey of a student turns into a nightmare when it is discovered the man she loves is a heroin addict. They unwittingly fall into the hands of Russian sex traffickers, and Maria realises they have only one brief chance of escape. But it comes at the price of her own freedom.
The music featured in my novel inspired me into thinking it would also make a dramatic ballet. The music of Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Bach, South American rhythms and 20th century masters such as Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten along with a mixture of jazz, I thought would prove to be irresistible when set to both classical and modern dance styles.
The story itself is both musical and dramatic. Two young people who start out with high ambitions and hope, are suddenly thrust into a world that destabilises both their lives.
I have taken the most relevant parts of the story that I feel keep the integrity of the novel, but add the drama of music to scenes that could come alive with the benefit of dance that a description of events cannot achieve. I have broken down the story into two acts and sixteen scenes, together with an epilogue, although this is a suggestion on paper to more easily absorb how I see the action unfolding.
I have also occasionally suggested possible music for the scenes. But this choice is a suggestion only, and can be varied according to the choreography and setting. As the subject suggests, it contains ingredients of great classical music. The second piano concerto of Rachmaninoff demands the interpretation of dance to reflect its romanticism, just as Chopin and Liszt, Shostakovich and variations including tangos, the more contemporary burlesque that represents the girls enslaved into prostitution, and the less harmonic sounds that accompany the intervention of war. I see the music as reflecting a wide selection of compositions that all embrace a triumph of the spirit, or the mood of the setting.
Maria herself represents the constant desire to be independent, and rejects control by an ambitious Svengali, who presents Yevgeny as an example of his superior direction, but whose real aim is to control his very existence. Likewise, the seduction of a lover, who ultimately proves unreliable. At the end Maria is left on stage alone to represent defiance, declaring that you cannot kill the ideal of freedom. Yevgeny’s instincts are not to forego music, but to replace personal ambition for the greater good of Ukraine.
The themes of trafficking, prostitution, slavery and the fight for freedom are all relevant to the invasion of Ukraine, and act as a parody of the invasion itself. Whether a country or individual, this is a war against humanity and it’s everywhere — from Epstein and millionaire paedophiles, to the back streets of Bangkok and Soho or for that matter Rotherham. This isn’t Swan Lake. Maria is both self-willed and resourceful. But what it does demonstrate is that both ugliness and beauty can exist side by side.
Contact the author for a full scene breakdown.
For directors, producers and companies
Staging Maria Novotna — The Ballet
Step one
Development Edition
The full script with the author’s notes, cast breakdown and staging guidance. Supplied personally on request.
