5 choreographers who ensured the triumph of Russian ballet abroad

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The beginning of the twentieth century was truly triumphant for Russian ballet abroad. Foreign dance masters stood at the origins of our ballet, but when abroad this kind of art seemed to have outlived its usefulness, the arrival of Diaghilev's Russian Seasons in Paris became akin to a sensation. Later, Russian choreographers made a real revolution in the art of ballet abroad. Many of the productions of that time really went down in the history of world ballet.

Boris Romanov

After graduating from the Imperial Theater School in St. Petersburg, Boris Romanov became a real star of the Mariinsky Theater. He performed characteristic parts in productions, surprising the audience with his technique. His Jester in The Nutcracker, The Archer in Polovtsian Dances, Satire in The Seasons, Pierrot in Carnival and Butterflies and many other roles, the audience responded with constant delight.

At the same time, Boris Romanov dreamed of being a choreographer. In various theaters he staged miniatures and one-act ballets, including in Diaghilev's enterprise. The choreographer was greatly influenced by the performances of Mikhail Fokine. True, the first steps on this path were perceived by critics very controversially.

After emigration, Boris Romanov founded and headed the Russian Romantic Theater in Berlin. The theater's repertoire consisted of chamber works and one-act ballets, but the financial success of this venture turned out to be highly doubtful. The theater's income was very small, and the actors began to leave the troupe. After a tour in Italy, out of 50 people, only 30 remained in the theater.

The ballet Trapeze to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, which premiered in Thuringia in 1925, was very successful. It was a truly revolutionary production, where for the first time a choreographer used circus acts and acrobatic elements in ballet scenes. True, the performance could no longer save the troupe from financial ruin. After the closure of the Russian Romantic Theater in 1926, Boris Romanov worked with troupes of Buenos Aires, Paris, Milan, was the chief choreographer of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, served at the Chicago Opera and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Leonid Myasin

He was not only a ballet dancer, in his youth he even served at the Maly Theater, but later the dance completely took over the life of Leonid Massin. Diaghilev's offer to work in an enterprise took Massine by surprise, but he agreed. He made his debut with Diaghilev right away with the title role in The Legend of Joseph, and soon he staged his first performance on his own.

At the age of 21, Leonid Myasin released the first ever surrealist ballet "Parade" to the music of Eric Satie, the costumes for which were designed and made of cardboard by Pablo Picasso himself. It was a kind of satire on the entire world art: angular, somewhat awkward movements of dancers, unusual music, in which one could hear not only instruments, but also everyday sounds like breaking glass or chirping of a typewriter. The reaction to such a bold production was very ambiguous, however, amidst the barrage of critics, there were also those who could understand and appreciate the revolutionary production.

After parting with Diaghilev, Leonid Myasin founded his own studio, and after the death of the latter he headed the Russian Ballet in Monte Carlo.

Mikhail Mordkin

He served at the Bolshoi Theater and, at the age of 19, already performed leading roles in classical productions. He performed together with the famous Anna Pavlova, conquering the hearts of not only Russian, but also foreign audiences in England and America. In the United States, he became the founder and director of his own troupe, All Star Imperial Russian Ballet, which toured the whole country in 1910-1912. After Mikhail Mordkin returned to Moscow, and in 1917 became the director of the Bolshoi Theater.

In 1923 he moved to the United States for good, where he founded a school of Russian ballet and assembled his own troupe, the Mordkin Ballet, which 15 years later was transformed into a large professional troupe - the American Ballet Theater.

His uniqueness, as a dancer and choreographer, was in his ability to work with props inimitable: Mikhail Mordkin loved to dance with props, playing with it and enhancing the effect of the entire stage performance.

George Balanchine

At the age of nine, Georgy Balanchivadze entered the Imperial Theater School, and at 17 he was enrolled in the troupe of the State Opera and Ballet Theater in Leningrad, at the same time entering the Conservatory. Soon, together with his colleagues, he organized an experimental group "Young Ballet", where he not only danced, but also acted as a choreographer.

From a tour in Germany in 1924, the young dancer decided not to return. First he became a participant in Diaghilev's Russian Seasons, staging the world's first neoclassical ballets Apollo Musaget and Prodigal Son with unique broken movements in the entreprise. George Balanchine. In the United States, he founded the School of American Ballet, changing the idea of dancers as ephemeral creatures. His students were flexible and energetic, they looked more like gymnasts on stage than ballerinas.

Balanchine's performances were distinguished by a serious study of the composition and a sensual embodiment of emotions in dance. He used music that was not originally intended for dancing, skillfully played it, showing the skill of dancers who performed not in exquisite outfits, but in simple tight-fitting costumes. The choreographer sometimes preferred the play of light and shadows to complex decorations, using the most complex stage lighting.

In the United States, George Balanchine founded two troupes: the Ballet Society in 1946 and the New York City Ballet after that in 1948. The choreographer passed away in 1983, but today there is a Foundation named after him, which monitors the purity of Balanchine's ballets. In Russia, only three theaters received licenses for his performances: Perm, Mariinsky and Bolshoi.

Olga Preobrazhenskaya

The curvature of the spine and the foot deformed from birth, it seemed, should have forced the girl to give up ballet. However, the best teachers who saw the talent of the young dancer studied with her. Ekaterina Vazem and Nikolai Legat taught her to work with her body and compensate for physical problems. Already at the age of 21, Olga Preobrazhenskaya became a soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, which she remained for 18 years. At 43, she began teaching, but left the stage at almost 50 years.

Having emigrated from Russia in 1921, Olga Preobrazhenskaya first lived in Berlin. After she headed the Ballet School at La Scala in Milan, she later moved to Paris, opening her own Studio Wacker. Dancers from all over the world came here, not paying attention to the rather rigid methods of teaching the teacher. For 37 years she gave lessons and master classes, attended by Serge Golovin, the premier of the Parisian Grand Opera, the prima of the same theater Nina Vyrubalova, the prima of the English Royal Ballet Margot Fontaine and the founder of the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Cuba, Alberto Alonso.

Ballet is called an integral part of the art of our country. Russian ballet is considered the most authoritative and standard in the world. We invite you to remember success stories of five great Russian ballerinas, which are still equal.