Dalí's first paranoid ballet

As part of the centenary of Surrealism, the Fernando de Rojas Theater of the Círculo de Bellas Artes is showing for the first time in Spain the original curtains designed by Salvador Dalí for the ballet Bacchanale.

In 1939, Dalí wrote the libretto, designed the sets and created the costumes for this ballet, intended to be a trilogy that included the ballets Labyrinth and Sacrifice. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York under the direction of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and although Dalí was unable to attend the premiere, as he was in France due to the outbreak of World War II, the reception of Bacchanale was overwhelming. The work remained in the repertoire until 1941, was re-premiered in 1945 and was last performed in Monaco in 1967. The curtains of Bacchanale were donated to Butler University after the closure of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1968, and were preserved until they were acquired by the gallery owner Jorge Alcolea .

Teatre Fernando de Rojas del Círculo de Bellas Artes.

The curtains that Dalí designed for this work are a composition of shapes, textures and colors that reflect his surrealist and paranoid-critical vision, with references to Freud's psychoanalysis. It consists of a main curtain and four large canvases where life, death, sensuality and phantasmagoric elements are mixed, all within a representation that Dalí conceived as a romantic chaos. The Mount of Venus, the central symbol of the set design, refers to the myth of Leda and feminine sin. The Renaissance influences and 15th-century Flemish painting are mixed with the artist's own dreamlike image, which had the collaboration of Prince Alexandre Schervachidze in the decoration, Léonide Massine in the choreography and prominent figures such as Coco Chanel and Barbara Karinska, who were responsible for designing and making part of the costumes.

Now, its arrival at the Fernando de Rojas Theater, where it will be on view until January 6, is an opportunity to discover the scenography that Dalí imagined for this work. To contextualize it, the Jorge Alcolea Gallery, the Círculo de Bellas Artes and IQOS have organized a scenic proposal that will reinterpret some of the most emblematic parts of the ballet. The direction of Jaime Vallaure and the choreography of Tania Arias will offer a new vision of the Bacchanale, combining contemporary dance with Dalí's surrealism.

Representació de la Bacchanale al Teatre Fernando de Rojas del Círculo de Bellas Artes.