The Goblin (0)

The Goblin
Last month , I attended an Eduard Tubin’s modern ballet performance „The Goblin“ in two acts at the Estonian National opera . The choreographer and stage director was Marina Kesler. The conductors were Vello Pähn, Kaspar Mänd and Lauri Sirp. “The Goblin” is the first Estonian ballet, which premiered in 1943 at the Vanemuine Theatre.
„The Goblin“ is based on a mythical character from Estonian folclore. His master, the Farmer , was very greedy and he dreamed of being wealthy. To create the Goblin, the Farmer had to give him 3 drops of his blood and to sell him his soul . The Goblin’s purpose was to serve his master in obtaining riches. The Farmer also had a Daughter , who was in love with a Peasant. The Peasant was quite poor and because of that the Farmer disliked him. The Farmer had never enough of money and he made everything to develop his bussiness . He had so much money that he decided to go to the casino and as a result he lost it. The Goblin strangles his master and sets his farm on fire. In the end, the Goblin dies, too. But the positive thing is that the love story of two young people stays alive and they are happy together.
“The Goblin” was an outstanding performance. All the dancers had excellent dancing skills and emotionally strong influence , the decorations and costumes were great. Moreover, the breathtaking music was based completely on the Estonian folclore and helped to imagine all the dancers’ emotions . It was a contemporary ballet, that included elements of classical ballet and modern dance . It does not have fixed rules and because of that it is easier to show real feelings and emotions. It was also quite extraordinary and interesting , that in one scene there took part the National female chorus .
„The Goblin“ makes you think what is really inmportant in life and what makes people happy. The story teaches, that having more money than you need is unlikely to increase your level of happiness . In the ballet there were two types of people. To the first type belonged the Farmer, whose most important life goal was to get more money. It can’t be said that he was happy, because the process of gaining money hindered his relationships with others . He had no positive emotions or feelings and even his daughter did not love him because of his greediness. The second type of people were the peasants. In spite of they poverty, they were caring and cheerful. They sang and danced a lot and enjoyed their life without huge amounts of money. They could take the Farmers’ money, but they did not, because it was not earned fairly. Compering to the Farmer, the peasants had right life morals and principies.
In conclusion , I would like to say that it was one of the most powerful and interesting performances that I have seen in my life. The Estonian folclore was succesfully combined with contemporary dance, lighting effects and symphonic music.