Ballets Russes Research Articles

СТАНОВЛЕНИЕ И РАЗВИТИЕ ШАНХАЙСКОЙ ТРУППЫ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО БАЛЕТА КИТАЯ

The national ballet of China was formed under the influence of the Western European and Russian ballet. The first ballet schools in China were opened in Beijing and Shanghai. The authors examine the formation of the Shanghai ballet troupe in the second half of the XX century; reveal the role of foreign choreographers in the work over the performances of classical and modern works for the Shanghai Troupe, as well as analyze the features of the national repertoire. The authors pay special attention to the activities of the Shanghai ballet troupe at present.

The Art of Dance in a Digital World / Arta dansului într-o eră digitală

In the last decades, the influence of digital technology has affected almost all aspects of our lives, including the enchanting world of dance. Nowadays, due to Internet resources, dance is broadcast faster than ever. As for instance, more rapidly than in the late 16th century, when Italian ballet masters gained access to the French Court, or when the Russian ballet was dispersed after Diaghilev’s death in 1929. Moreover, with a single click, everyone has the possibility to access more than 900.000 dance videos, being able to view a performance or dance tutorial whenever it is desired. Art renews itself when it manages to integrate in the present, and digital technology has embraced the art of dance, giving birth to new interdisciplinary approaches. This paper surveys the use of technology regarding dance education and performance on the screen and analyses in what manner the development of digital machineries is supporting innovation in dace.

Fashioning fairy fellows: Androgynous performativity in the Savoy Shakespeare Productions 1912–14

For a few seasons in London theatres before the outbreak of the First World War, modernizations of historical costume embodied androgyny in both Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and Harley Granville Barker’s Savoy Shakespeare Productions. In Twelfth Night of 1912 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream of 1914, cross-dressing, folkloric and magical characterization through costume performed a gender fluidity at the heart of both scenarios. In Prefaces to Shakespeare (1927–46), Barker positions Oberon’s intersex hybridity as ‘travesty’. The Savoy Productions reimagined the androgyny of the fairy characters supplanting the feminization and infantilization favoured in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century productions with the casting and costuming of Dennis Neilson Terry as Oberon and Donald Calthrop as Puck. Neglected archival evidence of Norman Wilkinson’s drawings originally bequeathed to the Courtauld Institute and now in the V & A London reveal how his historical and ‘Post-Impressionist’ costume designs enrich understandings of these productions glimpsed in publicity photographs and reviews. These traces capture how the embodied interpretation of Barker’s players performed a folkloric androgyny through gesture, movement and costume. Cross-dressing in modernized Elizabethan ‘menswear’ in Twelfth Night and the exotic golden and sylvan ‘fairies’ of The Dream reveal how costume amplified the performance of complexly fluid and androgynous gender on the Edwardian stage.

Russian ballet on the pages of the magazine “Zhar-ptitsa” (1921–1926)

INTRODUCTION. Monthly literary and artistic illustrated magazine “Zhar-ptitsa”, published from 1921 to 1925. in Berlin, in 1926 – in Paris, is a successor to the traditions of such magazines of the early twentieth century as “World of Art”, “Golden Fleece”, and is of scientific value as an additional source of information on the study of the theatrical life of the Russian Abroad. The purpose of the study is to conduct a detailed analysis of the magazine’s articles related to the creative activities of representatives of Russian ballet in exile.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The basis is taken from digitized versions of the magazine, posted in the public domain on the website “Presidential Library named after B.N. Yeltsin”. All 14 “Zhar-ptitsa” magazines were analyzed. Both articles related to the activities of representatives of Russian ballet in emigration, as well as various types of illustrations: photographs, drawings, reproductions, etc., were studied in detail.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. It was revealed that in many issues of the magazine there are no articles devoted to Russian ballet, but there are photographs of ballet dancers in stage costumes and images, drawings related to ballet art, reproductions of sketches for ballet performances, which are also of scientific value in the reconstruction of ballet scenography, the study of this period of history. Four issues of the magazine “Zhar-ptitsa”, no. 1, no. 2, no. 10, no. 11, contain articles dedicated to the art of ballet: the work of M.M. Fokina, A.M. Pavlova, E.P. Eduardova, as well as B.G. Romanov and his choreographic group “Russian Romantic Ballet”.CONCLUSION. Despite the abundance of scientific articles devoted to the periodicals of the first wave of Russian emigration, information related to the history of Russian ballet remains poorly studied. The co nducted research introduces into scientific circulation materials dedicated to Russian ballet, and placed on the pages of the periodical of Russian emigration – “Zhar-ptitsa”. It seems promising to further study the journals of Russian emigration for the analysis of articles related to the history of Russian ballet.

The Features of Vyacheslav Samodurov’s Staging Style

Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Samodurov is one of the brightest choreographer-directors in contemporary Russian ballet. Despite the fact that at present V.V. Samodurov is a free artist who has entered a new stage of his creative biography an important milestone on the way of the master is his staging activity, carried out in 2011—2023, the period of his work at the Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (“Ural Opera Ballet”). The productions of the Yekaterinburg period allow us to draw a conclusion about the features of V.V. Samodurov’s style, which determine the creative image of the master. At the same time his creative heritage of the period of his work with the “Ural Opera Ballet” company has not been subjected to a comprehensive art history analysis. This fact reveals the relevance of the topic of the article.The aim of the research is to identify the features of V.V. Samodurov’s production style, manifested during his activity as a choreographer of the “Ural Opera Ballet” company. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time in the research of scientific character the features of V.V. Samodurov’s staging style are generalized and systematized. On the basis of the comparative analysis of his productions performed during the Yekaterinburg period of the master’s creative biography, generalizations were made, which testify to the combination of traditional and individual innovative features in the master’s staging style, defining the creative image of the choreographer.

К проблеме сохранения традиций русского танца в сценических формах хореографического искусства

The paper examines the issue of preserving the traditions of Russian folk dance in choreographic art. It addresses the directions of choreographic art, in which Russian dance is used in various interpretations: characteristic dance, ballet, folk-stage dance, folk-modern and post-folk. Basing on historical aspects, the authors reveal the sequence of development of the emergence of various types of dances in Russia. The study analyzes Russian ballet in detail focusing on the period of the “Soviet” and then the Russian ballet, when many choreographers turned to the Russian theme, not always using the vocabulary of folk dance, but embodying the idea with the artistic techniques of classical ballet, preserved the Russian flavor and character of the images. The authors look at the historical facts of the emergence of folk stage dance and conclude that the direction was created artificially, thanks to the cultural policy of the Soviet leadership. The paper highlights the actual problem of the terminological apparatus of research in this field.

Popularization of the School of Russian Ballet abroad by the Messerer-Plisetsky Dynasty

The problem of preserving and popularizing ballet is one of the urgent problems of our time. Specific works and personalities primarily determine the significance and popularity of Russian ballet in the history of world choreography, while the history of Russian ballet’s development is determined by the talent and experience of performers, choreographers and teachers. 20th century was marked by a significant number of outstanding performers, among which a special place is taken by representatives of the Messerer — Plisetsky dynasty: Asaf, Shulamith and Mikhail Messerers, Maya, Alexander, Azariy and Anna Plisetsky. While representing and popularizing the Russian ballet school with their performances, staging and teaching activities, they created a special choreographic space that went beyond political boundaries. The study, based on autobiographical materials, considers the contribution to the popularization of Russian ballet by Sulamith Messerer, Maya and Azaria Plisetsky.

Book-album “Choreography” by Vladimir Stepanov in the Formation of Classical Dance Method in Russia

The article focuses on the unveiling of Vladimir Stepanov’s “Choreography”, which is preserved in the Cabinet of History of Russian Ballet, named after M. Frangopulo at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. However, this book has not been previously discussed in scholarly literature and memoiristics. It serves as a manual and photographic guide to Stepanov’s dance notation. The research revealed that at the age of 15, while he was still a student at the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School, he began assisting in the rehearsal process, which was the starting point in developing his dance notation. It hypothesizes that Jean-Martin Charcot and his photographic method of recording movements influenced Stepanov’s “Choreography”. Through biographical and historical analysis, the article attempts to establish the date of its creation. During the research, the biography of E. A. Kuzmina, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School, posing in the photographs of the book-album, was reconstructed. The illustrations in “Choreography” also provide valuable supplementary material for interpreting V. Stepanov’s 1895 classical dance curriculum, as demonstrated through a stylistic analysis of the seven arm positions and arabesques that reveal the distinct characteristics of the late 19th-century classical dance aesthetics. The pictures presented in “Choreography” are of particular value, forming a unique systematized illustrated classical dance manual.

Балеты Валерия Кикты: эволюция жанра

The article is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the creative activity of the composer Valery Grigorievich Kikta, Honored Art Worker of Russia and Ukraine, professor at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music. The main objective is to introduce the problematics of the composer's ballet work. The article considers the role of ballet in the author's style, establishes the probable reasons for the commitment to this genre and provides meaningful primary images that inspired the master. The research methodology combines musicological and general humanitarian approaches, including hermeneutic and comparative approaches; the "word of the composer" is essential. A number of questions are raised: the development of the Russian ballet tradition, the "plan of content" and "plan of expression", the specifics of genre processes, the synthesis of genres in various ballet works, the genre features of ballets with chorus. The special significance of the ballet "Andrei Rublev" (2016) as a conceptual work of synthetic genre, which reveals the cross-cutting symbolic leittems of creativity, is shown. The conclusion is made about Kikta’s ballets as an important component of the cultural and historical process of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The Influence of André Levinson and Arnold Haskell in the Attempts to Develop a Ballet Culture in Catalonia during the First Half of the Twentieth Century

This article examines a largely neglected chapter of Spanish and Catalan dance history: the attempts to create and develop a dance culture in Catalonia during the first half of the twentieth century, following the visits of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Spain. Two Catalan writers and promoters, Sebastià Gasch and Alfons Puig i Claramunt, were the key figures who sought to position Barcelona alongside other European dance capitals, like London or Paris. Sebastià Gasch was an important art critic and friend of many avant-garde artists, including Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Federico García Lorca. His proximity to Paris and its artistic milieu drew him to the writings of André Levinson and Serge Lifar when he started writing about dance. Alfons Puig i Claramunt, an art critic and promoter, noticed how England was developing a thriving dance culture and identified the importance of the writings and active role of Arnold Haskell, who became his model. Gasch and Puig championed their friend Joan Magrinyà, enlisting him in their creative and artistic enterprise. However, unlike what happened in Paris or London, their attempts failed. The emerging narrative shows how the different social and cultural contexts and lack of a serious understanding of ballet as art form prevented their enterprise from overcoming the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of their efforts.

RUSSIAN EMIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN CHINESE BALLET ART

Starting from the first acquaintance of the Chinese diplomatic envoys with the ballet at the end of the Qing Dynasty and ending with the arrival of the Rus-sian emigrants in the first half of the XX century, the ballet art has developed in China. On the basis of modern review of the relevant historical material the article considers the process of development of the traditions of the Russian ballet in three Chinese cities and also reveals the features of the ballet art in the Chinese society under the influence of the Russian emigrants.

Historiography, Iconography and Semiotics of Russian Ballet Seasons: On the Issues of World Touring Practice

This article addresses the challenges of iconography and historiography related to the "Ballets Russes" by Sergei Diaghilev. The modern understanding of the role of material sources is quite important, as sometimes these sources are the only available information about Diaghilev's ballets.

BALLET DANCERS OF THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY IN THE PLASTIC INTERPRETATION OF B. FREDMAN-KLUZEL

The article is devoted to notable events in the theatrical life of the turn of the 20th century, when ballet dancers often became models for artistic works. The author refers only to one sculptor B. O. Fredman-Kluzel (1878-1959), whose name is little known in art history, despite the fact that some of his works are in large museum collections. They partly served as a source for the research, as well as old printed publications in which reproductions of the sculptor’s works are found and Sotheby’s catalogues, because his works were auctioned during S. Diaghilev’s “Russian Ballet Seasons” and most of them are abroad. The methodology of this study is based on a systematic, interdisciplinary and stylistic approach. The author comes to the conclusion that the signifi cance of the artistic heritage of B. O. Fredman-Kluzel is determined by the achievements of the ballet theatre itself, the staging principles of M. Fokin, outstanding personalities, as well as the genre, content and aesthetic side of choreographic works created at the turn of the 20th century.

Connections and Missed Connections: Russian Emigrés Bring Ballet to An American City (Chicago, 1924)

At the turn of the twentieth century, many Russian dancers cast aside careers in the highly regarded Imperial Ballet for unknown futures in the West. Emigrating for a variety of personal and artistic reasons, some decided to remain abroad during the revolution and after the Tsar’s assassination. This microhistory explores one moment in the Russian exile movement when former Imperial Ballet dancers Adolph Bolm, Anna Pavlova, and Tamara Karsavina connected, or just missed connecting, in 1924 Chicago. Their reasons for being there diverged but all believed they had a mission to spread the gifts of Russian ballet.

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Spain and its Legacy

This article considers the reasons that Spain was not successful in establishing a national ballet company or in developing a choreographic tradition, even though the Ballets Russes spent long periods of time in the country; returned to it on several occasions; had King Alfonso XIII's patronage; and nurtured fruitful artistic collaborations. Contemporary reviews, academic articles and the accounts of company artists are consulted to ascertain whether Diaghilev's legacy was obscured due to the country's subsequent history or whether Spain was simply unable to assimilate Diaghilev's artistic beliefs.

Ballet by Pavel Goncharov and Modernism: at the Intersection of Two Methods of One Style

The article explores the creativity work of Pavel Goncharov (1886–1941) – a ballet artist and a painter who is not as well-known among masters of Russian modernism, but is an interesting author of the late 19th to early 20th century, who created a unique series of graphic works dedicated to Russian ballet. By focusing on the artistic characteristics of the modernist style, the author notes that it began its development in architecture, decorative and applied arts, graphics, and extended to choreography, including classical dance. The interaction of related arts (graphics and ballet) led to the formation of synthetic visual images, which are analyzed in the article in morphological, stylistic, and compositional contexts. Using primarily historical and cultural and typological research methods, the author identifies a number of directions in Pavel Goncharov’s visual creativity: character actor images, sketches for the Firebird ballet, autolithographs for Fyodor Lopukhov’s The Greatness of the Universe dance symphony, and book graphics for ballet publications. Analogies are drawn with the aesthetics of the painters of the World of Art movement, whose graphic works included a theatrical concept, manifested in the drawn silhouette imagery, striking poses and gestures, actorly sensibility, and theatricality of costumes. The conclusion is drawn that the dance plasticity of modernism, borrowing many elements of graphic language at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, created versatile artistic and stylistic techniques, one example of which is the figurative format of Pavel Goncharov’s works, possessing an individual system of expressive means.

Karsavina, Mallarmé, and Mauclair

Abstract The early twentieth century saw a renewed critical interest in the expressive potential of dance, sparked by the overwhelming success of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Taking Camille Mauclair's 1912 review “Karsavina et Mallarmé” as a point of departure, this article explores contemporary attitudes toward the dancing woman, the sexual potential of her body, and the desire to transcend (or erase) her corporeality. For Mauclair, Mallarmé's writings provided an intellectual lens through which dance could be detached from the physicality of the danseuse and recast as a serious artistic and intellectual pursuit. This article argues that Mauclair and other critics who sought to abstract dance from the dancer collectively articulated a cohesive alternative to the supposed “physical imperative” of this period.

THE IMAGE OF A RUSSIAN BALLERINA IN GERMAN PORCELAIN

The article analyses the characteristics of the Russian ballerina image on the products of German small porcelain sculpture. The main stylistic and artistic sources of images of dancers and ballet dancers are considered. The cultural context of small sculpture art dedicated to ballet is given. Performances and ballet images are compared with porcelain items produced on their basis. The main similarities and differences are considered. The reasons for these differences are analysed. The article considers the influence of the Russian Seasons on German porcelain in the context of European culture as well as a particular manifestation of it. Also, the works of P.Scheurich, H.Meisel and H.Lederer are taken into account. In the case of Scheurich, the main stages of creativity associated with images inspired by ballet are highlighted. In the case of Meisel and Lederer, the key series related to dance are studied. The artistic features of small porcelain sculpture series, including Carnival, and the series created by Meisel and Lederer in collaboration with Anna Pavlova are analysed. While the works of Scheurich bore the imprint of the rocaille tendencies characteristic of German porcelain, the work of two other artists, Meisel and Lederer, embodied the influences of modernity. The main trends in the design of porcelain figurines are shown: the addition of decorative elements and colours to the original is one of them, monochromaticism and an emphasis on movement is the other. The main stylistic variations within the framework of individual artists’ work are traced. The primary features of the material of small porcelain sculpture and the artistic limitations imposed by them are analysed. The key methods of artistic adaptation of costumes and poses to the material, porcelain, and the tastes of the era are considered. The influence of the Commedia dell'Arte on the Russian ballets and on Scheurich’s work, and works created by Anna Pavlova on Meisel and Lederer’s work is demonstrated. The main visual features of the masters’ most famous products are considered. The interpretation of the key motifs found on the products of German small porcelain sculpture of the first half of the 20th century is presented. Thus, a multilateral assessment is given to the work of Scheurich, Meisel and Lederer.

Pikaso i pozorište - od Arlekina do Pegaza - modernistički likovni i teatarski obrt

Following the method of interdisciplinary studies, this paper analyzes Pablo Picasso's relation to theater through his paintings, theater work, and the influence of theater not only on the themes of his paintings but also on the affirmation of the Avant-garde, the Cubist experiments and practices, the breakthrough of Cubist ideas across the medium of theater. The entire Picasso's art is presented in the light of several major artistic Avantgardes of which he was the founder and ideologist (the "father" of Cubism, inventor of Collage, the first Ready-mades and Constructivist sculptures, initiator of so-called Primitive Art, early Surrealism, etc.). However, it seems that the most significant field of his work, the "Cubist Revolution", has entered a new dimension through the presentation-performance-on the theater stage and in high culture circles. The influence of the stage and the early "Total Design" concept on his art and the perception of space/ object within Cubism and beyond are exceptional, as is the performative act and the presentation of his ideas through the language of the stage. In this case, one medium, by its nature the more communicative one (theater), takes the role of presenting the other, more hermetic one (fine art). That influenced, in multiple ways, the affirmation and acceptance of Pablo Picasso's art. Starting with the early fascination with characters such as Harlequin, Pierrot, circus horse riders, dancers, and jugglers, present in his paintings ("Blue Phase" 1901-1904, "Pink Phase" 1905-1907, and beyond), this paper focuses on his collaboration with Serge Diaghilev and the "Russian Ballet" ("Ballets Russes", 1917-1924), the elite troupe of Russian dancers who settled in Paris as the epicenter of modern art and started their productions there. Picasso was chosen to design the stage, the Cubist costumes, and the monumental theater curtains. Among other ballets, an outstanding piece, "Parade" by Erik Satie (1917), is seen today as a borderline performance, a turning point in ballet art, the start of its revolutionizing process towards contemporary ballet. By creating costumes resembling totems and the stage design based on Cubist division and perception of space, made from geometric shapes and particles ("facettes"), Picasso has taken the theater back to its primordial origins, its shamanic character. The paper elaborates on the relation of the ballet "Parade" with the ideas and theater theories of the theatrologist and sociologist Richard Schechner. Additionally, it addresses the question of a slow, postponed social reception and the (un)acceptance of Picasso's work and his comrades, a theme elaborated by the philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard in the field of aesthetics and post-aesthetics.

AESTHETIC AND STYLISTIC FEATURES OF MUSICAL MODERN STYLE IN THE OPERA THE NIGHTINGALE BY I. F. STRAVINSKY

The article reveals the signs of musical modern manifested in Igor Stravinsky's opera The Nightingale . The modern style declared itself in the works of Russian composers of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, including Stravinsky. The aesthetic principles of the modern style, such as the cult of beauty, the tendency to synthesize the arts, conventions, interest in orientalism, fairy-tale plots, originated in painting, found the expression in music. It is shown that the opera Nightingale becomes one of the samples of the modern style in Russian music, which is manifested in the structure of the work, its thematic invention, rhythm and texture. The composer's appeal to an exotic theme allows him to create a bright coloristic musical picture in which the visual component is of great importance. The fairy-tale plot puts an imprint of conventionality on the performance. The composition is dominated by three-part structures, which demonstrates the desire for concentricity. The decorative nature of the modern style is manifested in the appearance of ornamental features in the melodic line of the vocal part of the Nightingale, which is a combination of flexible, plastic lines. It is shown that the style of the opera changes due to a long break between the creation of the first and subsequent actions. The composer's words confirm the fact that the experience of creating his ballets, which participated in S. P. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes , influenced the formation of the musical canvas of The Nightingale . The stylistic heterogeneity of the opera does not contradict the aesthetic attitudes of the modern style. The opera symbolizes the transition from the composer's style, based on the experience of his predecessors, to the search for updated means of expression.