Madame Bovary, a dramatic ballet by Valentina Turcu, captivated audiences and critics at the 70th Split Summer Festival. Ahead of its first performance on the grand stage of the Croatian National Theatre in Split, we spoke with the renowned ballet artist Valentina Turcu about the most significant challenges in creating this extraordinary production—from selecting the music and shaping its visual identity to conveying emotions through movement.
What were the biggest challenges in adapting Flaubert's novel into the form of a dramatic ballet?
Creating an original contemporary ballet production is an exceptionally complex, demanding, rare, and valuable form of theatrical aesthetics. The musical concept is my imperative—I always explore the full context of the composer and the writer, considering their biographical, social, and historical dimensions, and then reshape the entire form. One of the most significant challenges for any choreographer and director is creating a musical concept for a ballet without an existing score. The challenge was composing a musical structure that precisely aligned Flaubert’s words, dance movements, atmosphere, and music while crafting a clear dramaturgy and ensuring every movement, detail, and scene had a purpose.
While working on Madame Bovary, the biggest challenge was creating a raw, unconventional, and unembellished production that speaks to the moment a contemporary Emma and the characters around her exist—realism—without pretense, without theatrical exaggeration. I aimed to structure a ballet of intense sensual and visual energy without excessive romanticism to transcend Emma into today’s world. The story of Emma Bovary is profoundly relevant to our time. It addresses bovarysm, dissatisfaction, emptiness, unfulfilled ambitions, Emma’s expectations, passion, broken emotions, addictions, and depression. A precise "laparoscopy" of the material was necessary to arrive at clear dramaturgical and directorial decisions. I work in many ways. A meticulous, methodical, and highly organized approach is essential to harness the richness of ideas and the worlds of imagination from conception to realization. Choreography emerges through my body only after I have envisioned every character, every scene, established relationships, musical phrasing, and structured the performance narrative down to the finest details.
You selected the music for the ballet. How did that process unfold, and do you have a favorite piece among the compositions? If so, why?
The process of selecting music for my ballets always takes a long time. For months, I listened and explored the possibilities of expressing movement and gesture within musical compositions. The performance itself often decides whether we think we like or dislike a particular piece of music. I was never a fan of Chopin, but his music perfectly inspires subtle stage forms and relationships that require that kind of melancholy and passion. My favorite is always MUSE. I adore that band and know that Chopin’s music strongly inspires some of their piano-driven compositions. So, I immediately felt this would create a universal dialogue between the 19th and 21st centuries in many shades.
How did the cinematic tempo influence the choreography and visual identity of the ballet? Would you say that your approach is somewhat cinematic?
Theater audiences love tempo, and over the past decade, national and international critics have increasingly written about my cinematic approach—highlighting its boldness, breathtaking pace, radical choices, virtuosic choreography, artistic integrity, and the contemporary aesthetics of 21st-century ballet. My approach is absolutely cinematic. I am drawn to theater that speaks directly and without embellishment to the audience. In theater, the right balance is crucial. Sometimes, my closest collaborators—exceptional artists and creators such as Marko Japelj, Alan Hranitelj, Anton Bogov, Aleksandar Čavlek, and Gorazd Vever—brilliantly help me refine my vision down to its essential minimalism.
It is also well known that I was a student of Maurice Béjart. Like him, I respect both dancers and audiences. With Béjart, everything was always well-founded and deeply considered, and he valued our individuality. Our communication was consistently honest, profound, and sincere. He loved film and was inspired by great literature, philosophy, religion, and metaphysics. Béjart’s legendary words resonate deeply with me: “Theater is a sanctuary; when you enter it, bow and devote yourself to prayer. The problem arises when someone enters the theater thinking they are God.”
How does the performance experience differ on an open summer stage and now, in a closed theater space, on our main stage?
The performance experience in a dark theater is undoubtedly more intimate and perhaps even emotionally sensitive, sincere, and pure. Performances on an open stage in the middle of summer are often accompanied by sensory euphoria, a different kind of interaction, and a more personal presence from the audience, who are exposed in front of everyone. This creates a sort of gladiatorial arena, whereas, within the walls of a theater, there is a safer space.
How does the audience react to this interpretation of the classic novel, and have you received any feedback that surprised you?
Great! They said the performance was like a nuclear bomb, a very feminine performance, erotic, electrified, unpredictable, vulnerable, and daring. The brutal realism with which Flaubert seamlessly cut into the world of his time, which led him to be tried in court, also marked my vision. What was scandalous in the 19th century is now wholly devalued. We have devalued everything that could be devalued. We have dehumanized ourselves, especially in the last few years. So, what can still shock us today? With absolute honesty on stage, precision, discipline, and virtuosity of movement. I believe we can touch human hearts with love, beauty, and emotions—things we are still so afraid of because we live in a mental and emotional anesthesia world.
Art today, as you say, must fulfill its highest mission. What kind of reaction do you hope for from the audience, and what would you like viewers to take with them after the performance?
What I value and love most is when people tell me that they’ve been thinking about the scenes and emotions they experienced for days, ones that opened their hearts and that they’ve never seen anything like it before—that it was an unforgettable, beautiful, and unique life experience. What truly means the most to me is when the dancers I work with and create alongside for months feel fulfilled in their souls, enriched with new knowledge, a different quality, and an artistic level into which they’ve invested a significant part. In Zagreb, we had an audience ranging from 12 to 92 years old. We were concerned about their reactions, but the theater's victory was complete. After all, that has always been the vital mission of theater—to hold the torch, communicate, and open both inner and outer worlds.
For people in art and culture to recognize what is essential for their existence and personal development, we artists must move forward with innovative ideas and decisive actions, thereby fulfilling our highest mission—because what is art if no one is watching it from the other side of the stage?
Madame Bovary will be on stage for Valentine's Day (February 14th) and on February 15th, 17th, and 18th.