Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich
November 30, 2025
The Bayerisches Staatsballett’s performance of La Sylphide on November 30 was special. Violetta Keller, who joined the company this season as a principal, made her debut as the Sylph, while at her side as James was António Casalinho, returning for a guest performance having left the company at the end of last season for Vienna.
The Staatsballet premiered Pierre Lacotte’s La Sylphide last year. Created in 1973 to music by Jean-Madelaine Schneitzhoeffer, it’s based on the 1832 original by Filippo Taglioni.
Keller not only looks like an incarnation of the sylphs in the engravings of the ballet from the Romantic era, she also fills her creature with life. She is very musical, her petite batterie makes her fly, she is weightless in the lifts, and in the second act in the woods she and the other sylphs are like floating vapors. She was truly an otherworldly creature.
Photo Emma Kauldhar
Her Sylphide is self-contained and when she first finds James, she sees him as an object of interest; someone to play with. When he does not give in to her wishes, she cries, checks his reaction, sees that her ploy works, so continues. She snatches his ring, just because she wants to have it. It is the same with the nest with eggs that she tries to give him in the second act in exchange for the scarf.
Generously and carefree, she shares her world of magic with him. But the moment the material from the scarf touches her waist, she is doomed and she feels it in her whole body. He does not even have to wrap it around her. When she picked up one of her little wings, which the scarf made fall off and briefly stroked it as if taking leave of her existence, it brought a lump to my throat. In an interview, Keller stated that for her it is very important to feel and live the part she is dancing. This she did in full in this performance.
Casalinho is an excellent dancer. He soars in his jumps. After a double tour en l’air he landed perfectly on one knee. His pirouettes continuing into jumps were effortless. And he is an attentive partner, always making his Sylphide stand out. It all looks natural and easy, as if everybody could do it. Unfortunately, during this performance, he was emotionally on standby, contrary to when he made his debut in the ballet a year ago.
Photo Katja Lotter
Casalinho’s dancing, in terms of the steps, was at the highest level, but it could have been so much more. He was at his best when he vehemently rejected La Sylphide’s approaches in the first act and in the slow duet in the second act, when they seemed to melt together. It was breathtakingly beautiful. But when she took his ring, he seemed not overly upset, just running after her. Later in the woods when he tries to catch her, it was visible that he just lifted his arm and she ran under it, which took all the magic away, but this may be due to too little rehearsal time together.
At the moment the Sattasballett has a strong roster of woman, among them Zhanna Gubanova, who danced Effie. She presented a woman of the real world, grounded in her group of friends, seeking solace with her mother each time James behaved in an unexpected way. She was adorable with her beautifully arched insteps and precise footwork. Séverine Ferrolier was the sweet, gentle but authoritative mother.
Madge, the witch, is traditionally danced by a man. Sergio Navarro was enchanting. He managed the difficult act of making her almost lovable. She was just a little scary in the first act when she tells fortunes, as she transformed into a powerful sorcerer dancing around a fire in the woods with her long, pointed fingers, turning her six helpers into the cauldron in which the scarf gets soaked in poison.
The corps was excellent. In the second act, the Sylphs floated like white clouds in the woods, creating a playful atmosphere. In Act One, the Scottish friends in their blue and red tartans swept joyfully across the stage. At times their lines were somewhat messy, but you easily forgave them, because they so lovingly engaged themselves in the fates of their friends. The Scottish couple, Lizi Avsajanishvili and Viktor Shinichiro Prokofiev, who entertained in Act One, somehow stood out from this homogeneous group not least because they used different accents in their port de bras, which made them look out of sync.
The renowned ballet conductor David Garforth guided the Bayerisches Staatsorchestra through the music with compassion. Between the horns and dance music, you heard the flickering sound of the Sylphs’ wings. It was a wonderful performance full of magic.