A look into Victoria Stocki-Kim's restaging of the "Paquita Grand Pas Classique"

Imagine a story that could never be written down, only passed on from person to person. This is one way of understanding classical ballets: they are passed on through the embodied knowledge of dancers who have previously performed them, so most productions, such as Paquita, mutate rapidly.

This October, Fall Utah Ballet dancers have the unique opportunity to perform Paquita almost exactly as it was originally choreographed; guest artist Victoria Stocki-Kim will present her restaging of the Paquita Grand Pas Classique.

Stocki-Kim danced professionally with Dayton Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, and Universal Ballet Company in Seoul, Korea. In 1978, Oleg Vinogradov restaged Petipa’s Grand Pas Classique, a portion of the original ballet, for the Kirov Ballet. Stocki-Kim learned and performed Vinogradov’s choreography when he became the artistic director of Universal Ballet. She performed the lead role alongside her husband Jay Kim, a professor in the ballet program. The perfect outlet for her Russian training, this ballet was one of Stocki-Kim’s favorites and she loved performing the choreography. “I love the Spanish style…I love the strength, the stylization of it,” she says. “It’s just in myself. It’s in my body, it’s in my being.”

Paquita was originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1846 by Joseph Mazilier. It told the story of Spanish gypsy girl who saves the life of a French officer sentenced to death by the Spanish government. By discovering a medallion, Paquita realizes she was abducted by gypsies as a baby and is actually of noble birth, so she marries the officer. Although the original choreography has been lost, Marius Petipa’s 1881 restaging for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg (later the Mariinsky Theatre, and then the Kirov Ballet) survives to this day, thanks to the Russian tradition of careful preservation. Petipa added new sections to the ballet, including a pas de trois, grand pas classique, and mazurka des enfants. His choreography weaves highly stylized and accented movements through Ludwig Minkus’s score in a way that inextricably ties the dancing to the music.

Stocki-Kim says she hopes “to pass this knowledge that my masters gave me on to the next generation. I think it’s essential.” When Stocki-Kim is not working with dancers at the U, she teaches for Salt Lake City Ballet. In addition to her staging of Paquita, Fall Utah Ballet will include an array of classical and contemporary works.

Fall Utah Ballet will be presented in the Hayes Christiansen Theater on October 4 and 18 at 5:30, October 5 and 19 at 7:30, and October 6 and 20 at 2:00 and 7:30. Tickets are free with a valid University of Utah student/staff ID through ArtsPass. General admission is $12. Students, faculty, and seniors can purchase discounted tickets for $8. Tickets are available at tickets.utah.edu

By School of Dance Ballet Program undergraduate student Amelie Bennett