Studying the male role in Jerome Robbins’s “Afternoon of a Faun” with Robbins: Afshin Mofid remembers
Afshin Mofid writes on Jerome Robbins “Afternoon of a Faun” 2017.viii.18-20
In 2017-2018, I spent time researching both Vaslav Nijinsky’s L’Après-midi d’un faune (1912) and Jerome Robbins’s Afternoon of a Faun (1953) for the Dance Division of the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts. The most substantial achievements of this research were two one-day symposia at the Library, one (May 2017) on the Nijinsky Faune, the other (August 2017) on the Robbins Faun, each attended by a wide range of experts, and each filmed for the Library by François Bernadi.
The film of the Robbins Faun symposium should be of lasting interest to scholars and dancers: as we watched successive films of this 1953 ballet, comments were made by the Robbins dancers assembled: Ib Andersen, Jeffrey Edwards, Jean-Pierre Frohlich, Sterling Hyltin, Robert LaFosse, Kay Mazzo. Those films included:
a silent live one (Torino, 1953) of the original 1953 cast (Francisco Moncion, Tanaquil Le Clercq);
the now famous Montréal televised one with Jacques D’Amboise and Le Clercq (the 2017 Robbins experts believed that Robbins never sanctioned this film and that it departs furthest from the style he wanted);
a British TV 1961 one of John Jones and Kay Mazzo (Ballets USA) dancing it;
a 1968 one of Edward Villella and Kay Mazzo dancing it in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, Lincoln Center;
a 1978 TV documentary of Peter Martins and Suzanne Farrell rehearsing it with Robbins;
a 1980 American TV one of Ib Andersen and Patricia McBride dancing it;
a 1985 one of Afshin Mofid dancing it with Maria Calegari at New York City Ballet.
The symposium also included the musicologist speaking on Debussy’s music and the scholar Mindy Aloff speaking on Jean Rosenthal’s lighting. One of the many fascinating points that emerged was that there is no single fixed text for the male role: Robbins, when coaching a new dancer, would allow the dancer to offer his idea of the character (one man specifically saw the role as a wannabe-choreographer) and would reaccentuate the role accordingly. This is why significant details vary from one Robbins-trained male dancer to another. Another point is that, though Robbins almost certainly started with some knowledge of the Nijinsky Faune, he was not familiar with all its details in 1953; but once Rudolf Nureyev danced and filmed the Nijinsky version in 1979, Robbins reaccentuated the orgasmic ending after the woman dancer has left the studio.
But Afshin Mofid, an Iranian dancer who often danced the male role of the Robbins Faun in the 1980s for New York City Ballet, was unable to attend our symposium. Robbins had coached and supervised him in Faun; at one period, he was the sole dancer cast by Robbins in Faun. He also may be unique in that Robbins invited the ballet’s two original dancers, Francisco Moncion and Tanaquil Le Clercq, to coach him. He, Mofid, then partnered Maria Calegari, Suzanne Farrell, Darci Kistler, Kyra Nichols in Faun; his dancing with them is recorded in multiple 1980s films in the archives of the New York Public Library Dance Division. Our mutual friend Paul Boos suggested to me that I should interview Mofid by telephone and email about his memories; I record my thanks to both. I shared this script with those who attended the 2017 symposium.
Mofid now has both American and Iranian passports; he has lived for many years in Boise, Idaho, working as a chiropractor. Because Robbins worked at length with him on this ballet, covering various of its layers over the years, what he has to say remains of particular interest. The following is taken from successive email conversations with Mofid.
Prior to dancing Faun myself, I had seen both Nijinsky's Faune with Nureyev and Jerry's at City Ballet with Helgi Tomasson. I had a fascination with Nijinsky then, so I loved both versions – but, at age 17, I didn't know how the two related, other than sharing the same score.
I joined New York City Ballet in 1980 - but could not perform for a year due to the Iranian hostage crisis, which slowed my working visa process down. But, even though I could not go on stage and had just joined the company, Jerry had me learn several principal roles in his ballets. In G major and In the Night were two that I can recall.
Around 1982, I was called to learn Faun. I was taught this ballet by Jerry Robbins himself, which was unusual at the time and a privilege. I spent two whole weeks, for two hours each day with Jerry on Faun, where he broke it down for me phrase by phrase.
He would go back to Nijinsky sometimes, but then would fast-forward to present time and the three-way relationship of Faun, the girl, and the mirror. It was at times like method acting, where you have to have a motivation behind each line of the dialogue.
Since there were no ballet steps for the boy in his version, each move had to have a purpose and a thought behind it or it would be totally void of meaning and intention. No, Jerry never told me why the boy has no ballet steps (other than the relevé fifth).
He began by telling me that he got the idea for this ballet when he was standing at the bar next to Eddie Villella when he was a teenager. Eddie was stretching on the floor next to Jerry and that's how he got the idea for the opening of the ballet.
The setting was a studio on a hot and humid summer day. He didn't mention if the two knew each other or not. (He once had the idea that I should drape a white T-shirt over the barre, to heighten the illusion of practice and rehearsal; and I did this in one performance. But other dancers reacted as if I’d left the T-shirt onstage by mistake – they thought I should have left it in the wings – and Jerry himself came straight back to tell me he thought we shouldn’t do that again.)
I remember him being extremely specific about each gesture and movement. For example, he explained to me the contractions you mentioned as being an erection. Then I was to walk over to her and reach out toward her hair and almost touching it as if I was touching an electric wire, very cautiously. Or I was to lift her up to the sky and bring her down as if she was coming down a flight of stairs.
He also used a lot of images. I remember him saying Faun pushes through tall grass in the solo. This is a direct reference to Mallarmé's poem which inspired Debussy and maybe Nijinsky. Jerry never mentioned Mallarmé to me; but it may be important - and he must have read the poem.
There is a section where the boy carries the girl on his arms horizontally before setting her down to kiss her. As she is getting carried, there is a "ping" in the music and she bends her one knee and drops her wrists downward. Jerry told me that that – her bend of knee and wrists - was added there by Balanchine during a rehearsal. A little mark in the painting of the student by the master!
After Jerry had finished teaching me he then called on Francisco Moncion, who was the original Faun in 1953, to come in and polish what he had taught me. I then spent a few days with him to work on Faun. What was interesting about Francisco was his frustration with Jerry and his changing of some of the movements, which I found amusing.
After I had already performed it a few times, Tanaquil Le Clercq came to see the performance and had some comments about some of the movements that she had remembered being done differently. She remembered the Faun doing a step up to relevé fifth going backwards - instead of what I had been taught by Jerry, which was going forward and step up to fifth relevé. Jerry then rushed back stage after my next performance and said " Baby you are changing my choreography!!!" I wanted to say “You taught it to me that way” - but then again I was young and he was Jerry.
After that relevé fifth, facing the mirror, there is a series of descending gestures with alternating hands. I believe Jerry here told me he was thinking of Nijinsky choreographing in the studio – a thought going through his mind.
I danced this ballet with all the ballerinas you mentioned <Maria Calegari, Suzanne Farrell, Darci Kistler, Kyra Nichols> and I can't think of anyone else. As long as I was in the company, 1981 to ‘87, I was often only one who danced this ballet. After me, there were a few other people; but he only wanted me to dance it. And I am told he wanted my version to be shown to whoever danced it after me and I think they still use it to teach that ballet.
He used no counts for this ballet so one had to be extra sensitive to the music to be able to weave the phrases together. Thinking back, I can say it was a very intense experience on stage for me. He made me aware of the space, music, and movement all woven together in one long sentence. As if singing an aria in an opera where you have to maintain a single note for a long time. The whole ballet was a continuous note which had to be carefully sustained until the very end where the Faun ejaculates (Nijinsky version) and arches back and slides his body down. Strangely, every time I finished dancing it I felt I was waking up from, or coming out of, a trance. (I don’t think it was Robbins who made me think about ejaculation in the Nijinsky – but I do think something like that is what the boy feels in the Robbins: “Oh my God, she was so beautiful.”)
About the set: It was a great feeling just standing in that beautiful fish bowl. It felt like being inside a cloud.
About conductors: Hugo Fiorato and Robert Irving both conducted this score. Irving was great but Hugo would go much faster than what we had agreed on the tempo.
I liked dancing it with Darci Kistler the most. We were named the Darci and Farsi team! She was happy and joyous but focused. She was perfect for the part. I was very nervous with Suzanne, since she was the queen of the company. She was twenty years my senior, but it didn't seem to matter on stage. I did have to ask her once to take off her nylon sweats worn over her pale blue unitards. She was very nice to me.
(I do remember Jerry running back stage after Darci had missed her musical cue just when she realizes there is a boy sleeping under the bar. He said to her "You ruined my ballet." She then went crying backstage. Balanchine was watching in the wings and consoled her by saying "Dear, don't worry. He just wants to see the man in that ballet anyways!!")
I don't remember Mr B. ever giving correction to anyone dancing a Robbins ballet - but one night, after he watched Darci and me from the wings, he took us aside and worked on a section with me where I grab her hand quickly and she goes into an attitude, right after the caressing of her hair. He wanted it done a certain way and, after a few tries, we got it the way he wanted it. Not sure why he was motivated to do so, but I thought I should tell you this, since I had never seen Mr B. do that with a Robbins ballet.
The kiss had to be approached very slowly as if she is going to run away if not cautious.
One thing Jerry emphasized to me is to not try to "Act like Faun". He wanted it fresh and not acted out: which comes across fake and meaningless. And that is what my biggest complaint is about the Fauns I have seen after mine. They are just “Acting " like what they think Faun should be danced and they are not Being it. That's an oxymoron but true. One has to lose the self and become this man/animal to make it work and Jerry was able to guide you through to that path.
What type of dancers should dance this? The type that is willing to treat it as respectfully and give it the same attention as to other more technical ballets. It takes a certain sensitivity and approach to do this ballet justice. I’d love to be able to contribute by passing on what I know to other dancers. I know other memories will keep coming to the surface for me now.
@Afshin Mofid 2021 @Alastair Macaulay 2021
1: Afshin Mofid in the Jerome Robbins “Afternoon of a Faun”
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3. Darci Kistler and Afshin Mofid in the Robbins “Afternoon of a Faun”.