Urgent!!! Seeking Essay: Main Features and Representatives of Russian Ballet

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, as a major ballet country, can Russia nowadays continue to maintain its dominant position, and can the major dance companies maintain their daily creative activities and carry forward the glorious tradition of the Russian school of dance? The author conducted a one-month field trip in December last year, and the following are some initial impressions.

New troupes, good and bad

The Kirov Dance Company and the Yakobson Foundation have joined forces to build a new troupe, the Kirov Theater Balletlets, which recently toured to Moscow. According to the company's artistic directors, Vinogradov and Irina Jakobsson, the purpose of the company is to "revive Jakobsson's choreographic masterpieces and introduce the audience to the best domestic and foreign works." On this occasion they presented to the Moscow audience Yakobson's masterpieces Sculpture of Rodin, Triptych (to Mozart's music), and Wedding Procession, but it was clear that they were not sufficiently rehearsed, and that their performances were not as good as they had been during Yakobson's lifetime. The company also staged "The Clown Festival" (composed by Drigo), written and directed by Petipa, and again the limitations of the Pushkin Theater's smaller sized theater and the caliber of the cast prevented this masterpiece from shining as brightly as it should have.

Another small company, the Seven Dancers, led by Veronika Smirnova, gave a dull five-act performance of "The Beginning of the Road".

The Civic Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Lu Chukang, invited Mikhail Lavrovsky to stage a new dance drama, "Revelations. It is a dance drama with biblical themes and music composed by Valery Kikta. The role of the devil, Satan, was played by a special guest, the dance star Kirillov, who was favored with a distinctive image. And throughout the piece, critics felt that Lavrovsky was a bit too big for his creative potential here.

The rise of small dance companies is typical of the current Russian dance scene, a result of the State Opera and Dance Theater's shortage of funds and the search for financial resources. In addition to the above, Moscow, there are more than a dozen, their members and artistic direction often change, but there is a **** the same characteristics: self-financing, smaller establishment, and therefore can not perform large-scale dance drama, generally to perform one-act dance drama and classical ballet excerpts. These small dance troupes on the one hand, the creative atmosphere of the dance world, the introduction of a competitive mechanism, breaking the original "National Model Theater" of the "pot meal" system, on the other hand, but also in the material conditions of the creative staff to increase the burden, and now they have to use a lot of time to find sponsors, rent a room. Now they have to spend a lot of time to pull sponsorship, rent a theater, sell tickets ...... and so on. All this can not help but affect the artistic quality of the performance, many dance companies rehearsal time is very little, especially group dance lost the former harmony and beauty.

Smaller companies have also provided some famous dancers with a base for practice and experimentation, breaking the former dominance of a particular choreographer's creative style. Gurdjieff, Smirnov Golovanov, Radchenko and other former stars of the Bolshoi Theatre have organized their own companies, some of which are based on classical masterpieces, some on modern ballet, and some, such as the "Festival Ballet", which is mainly aimed at earning foreign exchange by touring abroad. The Bolshoi Ballet, itself, is divided into three main groups: the Bolshoi Youth Ballet*** with Grigorovich as its artistic director, the Kremlin Congress Theater Ballet with Petrov as its artistic director (where Vasiliev and Maksimova also work as guest choreographers and guest stars), and the middle-aged and older performers (weaker), who can only perform some of the most famous works like The Swan, but also some of the most famous works of art. The other two large dance companies - Swan Lake and Giselle - are the largest in the world and the most important in the world.) Two other major dance companies, the Moscow Musical Theater and the Moscow Ballet Theater, have also entered a creative slump due to the mass exodus of their leading actors, with few new productions and a decline in the quality of performances of their traditional repertoire.

Traditional repertoire still popular

The whole ballet art is facing a crisis at present, losing a lot of audience, however, the traditional ballet masterpieces are still loved. Swan Lake", "Giselle", "Pirates", "Don Quixote" ...... and many others, classical ballets still lead the statistics of the number of performances in various theaters. The new ballet Cinderella (choreographed by Vasiliev and performed by the Kremlin Dance Company), staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Prokofiev's birth, was a big hit, with the audience marveling at the glittering costumes and innovative choreography. The "Afternoon of the Shepherd", "Petrushka" and "The Rite of Spring", performed in commemoration of the centenary of Nijinsky's birth (1989), were also very popular. Not long ago the Moscow Dance Theater (director Usmanov), choreographed "German Dance in the Moonlight" (using the music of the serenade in D major), Eifman for the Petersburg Contemporary Dance Theater choreographed "Requiem," have caused a large response. The Petersburg Conservatory-affiliated ballet company (artistic director: Dolgushin) revived Fedor Lopukhov's groundbreaking symphonic ballet, "Great is the Vault," as well as "The Marriage of Avella" (restaged according to the Gadgiev Company's version), which also drew large crowds.

Transitioning from relying on the state for a potpourri to securing ducal sponsorship

This year marks the 80th anniversary of Russia's Piatnitsky Folk Choir, whose celebratory performance at Tchaikovsky Hall was warmly received. Tatiana Ustinova, a representative of the first generation of the company's performers and its permanent artistic director, created dozens of wonderful dances for this famous company, the most famous of which are: the Voronish Wheel Dance, the Saratov Competition Dance, and the Boryansk Frolic Dance. These dances are lively, skillful and rich in Russian national characteristics. In these performances, the audience saw the spirit of the Russian nation, which is "always enterprising and optimistic". Similarly, they believe that the whole Russian dance culture, including the Russian ballet school has a strong vitality, and will be able to overcome the difficulties and get revitalized.

To this end, a number of companies have generously supported dance groups, allowing them to survive and develop. This year's Gagilev Festival, which celebrates the 120th anniversary of Gagilev's birth (and which has been running for three years), is supported by the cultural foundation of the city of Perm, his hometown. Many of the city's major corporations and joint ventures have also entered into partnerships with famous dance companies, sponsoring performances, while the companies participate in advertising campaigns to increase their visibility.

In line with the commodity economy, many dance colleges have decided to abolish the free education system of the past and enroll self-financed students instead, while granting scholarships. At present, a foreign dance students have to pay an annual tuition fee ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 U.S. dollars, but due to the urgency of admiration for the Russian school of thought, the enrollment is quite large. In Tokyo, the Moscow Dance Academy has established a branch school, the Ballet Academy of Russia, and regularly sends out groups of teachers to lead the teaching. During the Moscow Chamber Dance Competition, a ten-day workshop on modern dance was held, and in contrast to the usual practice, a fee of 25 rubles per hour was charged for enrollment. These revenues will be used to improve the conditions of operation of the institution, increase the income of teachers, and the organization of dance-related activities.

The Quadrennial International Ballet Competition to be held in Moscow in September this year, due to financial constraints, the competition almost could not be held as scheduled. After much negotiation, it has been decided that the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture to host, several large enterprises and international organizations to finance the necessary funds, thus getting out of the crisis. The competition has limited the finalists' programs to the legacy of Petipa (Tchaikovsky's three great dances, Raimonda, Don Quixote, Dancing Girl, Clown Festival, etc.), thus commemorating the 130th anniversary of the birth of the ballet master. In order to ensure fairness, the organizing committee of the competition decided to add a press jury and a "press award", inviting famous theorists and critics from various countries to serve as judges.

Some observations

Taking this opportunity, I visited each of the three experts who have worked in our country. Expert Irina, who just returned from Beijing in October with fresh impressions, was very grateful to the Chinese leaders concerned and her own students for their warm reception. After her return to China, she took up the post of ballet teacher at a school of recreational arts and played her spare time. Rumyantseva (Mrs. Gusev) still teaches at the Dance School (now renamed "Petersburg Ballet Academy"), instructing foreign students. Serebrennikov is in his late 70s, and his health is failing, but he is still teaching, and he teaches pas de deux twice a week.

Three experts are very concerned about the Chinese ballet teaching and creation, they said to me at length, "It seems that the Russian school of ballet may be inherited by the Chinese counterparts to carry forward, I hope that you take advantage of the existing good conditions to innovate, while maintaining their own national characteristics." They unanimously expressed concern about the current crisis in the Russian ballet, but told me that the teaching activities of the major dance schools is still normal, few dance teachers abroad.

Summary, the Russian ballet in the collapse of the Soviet Union after a major injury, lack of funds, the brain drain, basically no new masterpieces staged, can be said to have come to the "end of the mountain" of the desperate situation, however, they in fact have hundreds of years of tradition in the ballet country, still retains a sizable number of teachers, performers and choreographers. However, they are a great ballet country with hundreds of years of tradition, and still retain a considerable number of teachers, actors and choreographers. Once the right policy is adopted to solve the problem of funding, the prospect of a "bright future" is not far away. At the present stage, the use of this opportunity (many Russian ballet masters have no use for their heroes, and very much hope to come to China to work for a short period of time), for the development of China's ballet art is really extremely favorable. Can organize more talent exchanges and performances, but also can send our teachers and choreographers to go to Petersburg and Moscow relevant institutions for further study, at the same time can be a joint school, the use of both sides of the favorable conditions to achieve greater social and economic benefits, all of these ways are worth exploring, respectively, to be achieved.

Representatives:

Only Fyodor Fogelman

And

Vladimir Andropov. Andropov

Conductor

Russian People's Performer

Born in Khomelnitskiy, Ukraine. graduated from the orchestra department of the Lviv State Resenko Conservatory in 1968. taught at the Belarusian State Rounacharskiy Conservatory from 1968 to 1971. served as a refresher course at the Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra from 1974 to 1976. conductor and conductor of the Opera Composition Studio of the Conservatory.

In 1977, he graduated with honors from the postgraduate program of the Belarusian Conservatory of Music, where he conducted a performance of Tchaikovsky's opera Yolanta at the State (now National) Model Theater in Minsk, and from 1976 to 1978 he worked as a music editor at Belarusian film studios.

In 1978 he was hired as a conductor of the Bolshoi Theater and artistic director of the stage orchestra. With great professionalism and organizational skills, he created and rehearsed many works for wind orchestra, including works of classical and modern composers, of all eras and styles. In recent years the orchestra has given many successful concerts at the Bolshoi Theater, as well as in Russia and abroad.

From 2000 to 2002 Vladimir Andropov was a member of the Bolshoi Theater Opera Company. From 2000 to 2002, Vladimir Andropov was the Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Opera Company.

He has conducted many opera and ballet productions, including Tchaikovsky's "The Praetorian Guard", "Evgeny Onegin", "Yolande", and "The Lost Soldier". Onegin, Yolanta, Dalgomirsky's The Mermaid, Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart and Salieri, The Tsar's Fiancée, Mussorgsky's Boris Godonov, Pavel Paikov's The Mermaid. Godonov," Paichello's "The Pretty Milliner," Verdi's "Nabucco" and "The Power of Fate," Puccini's "Tosca," Prokofiev's "Love for Three Oranges;" and has conducted ballets such as Scheindlin's "The Little Humpbacked Horse," and Hachaturyan's "Chipolino.

At the Bolshoi Theater, he has rehearsed the opera "The Pretty Milliner" and several ballets, such as Zhukov's "Insomnia," "The Queen of Spades" by Tchaikovsky, and "Passacaglia" by Vibernon.

In 1988 he made the world's first recording of Fomin's opera "The Americans" (libretto by Krylov)

Since 2003 he has been the Artistic Director of the Astrakhan State Music Theater.

In 2001 he was awarded the Order of Friendship.