My first choice was a ballet piece called La Sylphide. La Sylphide tells the story of a young Scottish man named James who is soon to get married. He falls asleep and has a complex dream about a beautiful sylph, who is a spirit. In his dream, they dance and he soon falls in love with the sylph. When he wakes up, he quickly forgets the sylph and concentrates on his fiancée. A witch soon arrives in the castle who reads palms and tells James that he would betray his bride on their wedding day. He doesn't listen and the marriage continues. As he is about to put the ring on her finger, the sylph appears and snatches the ring from him. She soon flees into the forest and James pursues her, leaving his bride at the altar. The witch appears to him again but this time to offer him a magic scarf. She tells him that the scarf will capture her and she will belong to him forever. James takes the scarf and wraps it around the sylph, killing her. James soon finds himself alone, without anyone and all alone. His fiancée ended up marrying his best friend. The original choreographer of this piece was Philippe Taglioni, an Italian dancer. La Sylphide was performed by his daughter Marie Taglioni, who was also a very important ballerina during the Romantic era, at the Oera in Paris in 1832. She played the sylph in her father's play and wore a costume that had real flowers. on her dress which was different from that of the other dancers. She also danced for August Bournonville who was part of the Royal Danish Ballet Company. August soon took over the piece in Copenhagen in 1836. August created over 50 ballet pieces for the Royal Danish Ballet. He wanted more of a French and English romantic side to the play,...... middle of paper ......iece, it was just her and there was no male presence on stage. Costumes differ from representing a culture to representing how someone feels about the era around them. Martha also choreographed her own show and La Sylphide had two choreographers. In Lamentation, Martha showed a looser body flow and only used a bench as a prop. In La Sylphide, there were many different settings such as a forest, a living room and a church scene. In a way, both pieces were based on sadness. In La Sylphide, James finds himself alone and heartbroken. In Graham's work, she represents grief and sadness. James lost his fiancée and the sylph. Graham lost his son and danced his heart out for him. Both pieces have a message that people who enjoy mourning dances should explore further. Personally I prefer happier pieces but these two caught my attention before the others.