The emergence of ballet. The history of classical ballet

It is rightly considered the highest level of choreographic art, where dance turns into a musical stage performance. This type of art arose in the 15th-16th centuries, much later than dance. Initially, it was a courtly aristocratic art. Dance is the main means of expression in ballet, but the dramatic basis, scenography, and the work of costume and lighting designers are of no small importance.

Classical ballet is a narrative dance, where dancers always tell a story through dance. The classical multi-act ballet is traditionally dedicated to myths, fairy tales, historical topics. Genre productions can be heroic, comic, folklore.

The origin of the name is either the Latin ballo - “dancing”, or the French balleto, which has the same meaning.

Ballet refers to both a dance performance and a type of theatrical and musical art in which expressive artistic images are created with the help of plasticity and choreography.

The theatricalization of dance began in Italy in the 15th century, when dance masters began to create court and ballroom dances based on folk dances.

First ballet

The first ballet production, which combined dance, music, pantomime and speech, was staged in France at the court of Catherine de Medici at the end of the 16th century. It was called “Circe and the Nymphs” and was staged by Baltazarini di Belgioioso, a wonderful choreographer and violinist who arrived from Italy with his orchestra of violinists.

It was a production with an ancient plot, which marked the beginning of the development of French court ballet. Interludes, pastorals, masquerades and dance divertissements quickly became the highlight of court festivities.

The main canons of ballet, compiled by Pierre Beauchamp

Every dance basically has certain rules, and dance turned into ballet when choreographer Pierre Beauchamp described the canons of a noble dance manner.

Beauchamp divided the dancer's movements into groups - jumps, squats, various body positions and rotations. This type of dance art was based on the principle of eversion of the legs, thanks to which the body could move in different directions. The above movements were performed based on three arm positions and five leg positions.

Development of ballet

From this moment the development of ballet began, which became an independent art in the 18th century.

The development of ballet schools begins throughout Europe, reaching Russia, where the Russian Imperial Ballet was founded in 1738 in St. Petersburg.

The early dancers had a hard time - they wore very complex costumes, and heavy skirts made their movements difficult. But gradually the costume changed - the ballet shoes lost their heels, the ballerinas’ clothes became light and airy.

Choreographers taught dancers to express emotions with gestures and facial expressions; mythological plots were replaced by stories about distant countries, love stories and fairy tales. In this form, classical ballet has survived to this day as one of the beautiful forms of dance art.

Submitted by copypaster on Wed, 15/08/2007 - 01:11

Ballet is a fairly young art. It is a little over four hundred years old, although dance has been decorating human life since ancient times.

Ballet was born in Northern Italy during the Renaissance. Italian princes loved lavish palace festivities, in which dance occupied an important place. Rural dances were not suitable for court ladies and gentlemen. Their attire, like the halls where they danced, did not allow for unorganized movement. Special teachers - dance masters - tried to restore order in court dances. They rehearsed individual figures and dance movements with the nobles in advance and led groups of dancers. Gradually the dance became more and more theatrical.

The term “ballet” appeared at the end of the 16th century (from the Italian balletto - to dance). But then it did not mean a performance, but only a dance episode conveying a certain mood. Such “ballets” usually consisted of slightly interconnected “outputs” of characters - most often heroes of Greek myths. After such “exits” the general dance began - the “grand ballet”.

The first ballet performance was the Queen's Comedy Ballet, staged in 1581 in France by the Italian choreographer Baltazarini di Belgioioso. It was in France that the further development of ballet took place. At first these were masquerade ballets, and then pompous melodramatic ballets with chivalric and fantastic plots, where dance episodes were replaced by vocal arias and recitation of poetry. Don't be surprised, at that time ballet was not just a dance performance.

During the reign of Louis XIV, court ballet performances reached special splendor. Louis himself loved to participate in ballets, and received his famous nickname “The Sun King” after performing the role of the Sun in “Ballet of the Night.”

In 1661 he created the Royal Academy of Music and Dance, which included 13 leading dance masters. Their responsibility was to preserve dance traditions. The director of the academy, royal dance teacher Pierre Beauchamp, identified five main positions of classical dance.

Soon the Paris Opera was opened, and the same Beauchamp was appointed choreographer. A ballet troupe was formed under his leadership. At first, it consisted of only men. Women appeared on the stage of the Paris Opera only in 1681.

The theater staged operas and ballets by composer Lully and comedies and ballets by playwright Moliere. At first, courtiers took part in them, and the performances were almost no different from palace performances. The already mentioned slow minuets, gavottes and pavanes were danced. Masks, heavy dresses and high heels prevented women from performing complex movements. Therefore, men's dances were then distinguished by greater grace and elegance.

By the middle of the 18th century, ballet gained great popularity in Europe. All the aristocratic courts of Europe sought to imitate the luxury of the French royal court. Opera houses opened in cities. Numerous dancers and dance teachers easily found work.

Soon, under the influence of fashion, women's ballet costumes became much lighter and freer, and the lines of the body could be seen underneath. The dancers abandoned high-heeled shoes, replacing them with light heelless shoes. Became less cumbersome men's suit: tight trousers down to the knees and stockings made it possible to see the dancer’s figure.

Each innovation made dancing more meaningful and dance technique higher. Gradually, ballet separated from opera and became an independent art.

Although the French ballet school was famous for its grace and plasticity, it was characterized by a certain coldness and formality of performance. Therefore, choreographers and artists looked for other means of expression.

At the end of the 18th century, a new direction in art was born - romanticism, which had a strong influence on ballet. In a romantic ballet, the dancer stood on pointe shoes. Maria Taglioni was the first to do this, completely changing previous ideas about ballet. In the ballet La Sylphide, she appeared as a fragile creature from the other world. The success was stunning.

At this time, many wonderful ballets appeared, but, unfortunately, romantic ballet became the last period of heyday of dance art in the West. From the second half of the 19th century, ballet, having lost its former significance, turned into an appendage to opera. Only in the 30s of the 20th century, under the influence of Russian ballet, the revival of this art form in Europe began.

In Russia, the first ballet performance - “The Ballet of Orpheus and Eurydice” - was staged on February 8, 1673 at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Ceremonial and slow dances consisted of a change of graceful poses, bows and moves, alternating with singing and speech. He did not play any significant role in the development of stage dance. It was just another royal “fun” that attracted people with its unusualness and novelty.

Only a quarter of a century later, thanks to the reforms of Peter I, music and dance entered the everyday life of Russian society. To the nobility educational establishments compulsory dance training was introduced. Musicians, opera artists and ballet troupes imported from abroad began to perform at the court.

In 1738, the first ballet school in Russia opened, and three years later, 12 boys and 12 girls from the palace servants became the first professional dancers in Russia. At first they performed in the ballets of foreign masters as figures (as the corps de ballet dancers were called), and later in the main roles. Timofey Bublikov, a wonderful dancer of that time, shone not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Vienna.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russian ballet art reached creative maturity. Russian dancers brought expressiveness and spirituality to the dance. Feeling this very accurately, A.S. Pushkin called the dance of his contemporary Avdotya Istomina “soul-filled flight.”

Ballet at this time occupied a privileged position among other types theatrical arts. The authorities paid great attention to it and provided government subsidies. Moscow and St. Petersburg ballet troupes performed in well-equipped theaters, and graduates of theater schools annually joined the staff of dancers, musicians and decorators.

Arthur Saint-Leon

In the history of our ballet theater, the names of foreign masters who played a significant role in the development of Russian ballet are often found. First of all, these are Charles Didelot, Arthur Saint-Leon and Marius Petipa. They helped create the Russian ballet school. But talented Russian artists also gave the opportunity to reveal the talents of their teachers. This invariably attracted the largest choreographers of Europe to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nowhere in the world could they meet such a large, talented and well-trained troupe as in Russia.

In the middle of the 19th century, realism came to Russian literature and art. Choreographers feverishly, but to no avail, tried to create realistic performances. They did not take into account that ballet is a conventional art and realism in ballet differs significantly from realism in painting and literature. The crisis of ballet art began.

A new stage in the history of Russian ballet began when the great Russian composer P. Tchaikovsky first composed music for ballet. It was Swan Lake. Before this, ballet music was not taken seriously. It was considered a lower type of musical creativity, just an accompaniment to dancing.

Thanks to Tchaikovsky, ballet music became a serious art along with opera and symphonic music. Previously, music was completely dependent on dance, now dance had to submit to music. New means of expression and a new approach to creating a performance were required.

The further development of Russian ballet is associated with the name of the Moscow choreographer A. Gorsky, who, having abandoned the outdated techniques of pantomime, used modern directing techniques in the ballet performance. Attaching great importance to the picturesque design of the performance, he attracted the best artists to work.

But the true reformer of ballet art is Mikhail Fokin, who rebelled against the traditional construction of a ballet performance. He argued that the theme of the play, its music, and the era in which the action takes place require different dance movements and a different dance pattern each time. When staging the ballet “Egyptian Nights,” Fokine was inspired by the poetry of V. Bryusov and ancient Egyptian drawings, and the images of the ballet “Petrushka” were inspired by the poetry of A. Blok. In the ballet Daphnis and Chloe, he abandoned dancing on pointe shoes and revived the ancient frescoes with free, flexible movements. His Chopiniana revived the atmosphere of romantic ballet. Fokin wrote that “he dreams of creating a ballet-drama out of ballet-fun, and out of dance into an understandable, speaking language.” And he succeeded.

Anna Pavlova

In 1908, annual performances of Russian ballet dancers began in Paris, organized by theater figure S. P. Diaghilev. The names of dancers from Russia - Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Adolf Bolm - became known throughout the world. But first in this row is the name of the incomparable Anna Pavlova.

Pavlova - lyrical, fragile, with elongated body lines, huge eyes - evoked engravings depicting romantic ballerinas. Her heroines conveyed a purely Russian dream of a harmonious, spiritualized life or melancholy and sadness about something unfulfilled. “The Dying Swan”, created by the great ballerina Pavlova, is a poetic symbol of Russian ballet at the beginning of the 20th century.

It was then, under the influence of the skill of Russian artists, that Western ballet shook itself up and found a second wind.

After the October Revolution of 1917, many ballet theater figures left Russia, but despite this, the school of Russian ballet survived. The pathos of movement towards a new life, revolutionary themes, and most importantly the scope for creative experimentation inspired the ballet masters. They were faced with a task: to bring choreographic art closer to the people, to make it more vital and accessible.

This is how the genre of dramatic ballet arose. These were performances, usually based on the plots of famous literary works, which were built according to the laws of dramatic performance. The content was presented through pantomime and figurative dance. In the middle of the 20th century, dramatic ballet was in crisis. Choreographers made attempts to preserve this genre of ballet, enhancing the entertainment value of performances with the help of stage effects, but, alas, in vain.

At the end of the 1950s, a turning point came. Choreographers and dancers of the new generation have revived forgotten genres - one-act ballet, ballet symphony, choreographic miniature. And since the 1970s, independent ballet troupes have emerged, independent of opera and ballet theaters. Their number is constantly increasing, and free dance and modern dance studios are appearing among them.

Publications in the Theaters section

Famous Russian ballets. Top 5

Classical ballet is an amazing art form that was born in Italy during the mature Renaissance and “moved” to France, where the credit for its development, including the founding of the Academy of Dance and the codification of many movements, belonged to King Louis XIV. France exported the art of theatrical dance to all European countries, including Russia. In the middle of the 19th century, the capital of European ballet was no longer Paris, which gave the world the masterpieces of romanticism La Sylphide and Giselle, but St. Petersburg. Exactly at Northern capital For almost 60 years, the great choreographer Marius Petipa, the creator of the classical dance system and the author of masterpieces that still do not leave the stage, worked. After the October Revolution, they wanted to “throw the ballet off the ship of modernity,” but they managed to defend it. Soviet time was marked by the creation of a considerable number of masterpieces. We present five Russian top ballets - in chronological order.

"Don Quixote"

Scene from the ballet Don Quixote. One of the first productions by Marius Petipa

Premiere of the ballet by L.F. Minkus "Don Quixote" at the Bolshoi Theater. 1869 From the album of architect Albert Kavos

Scenes from the ballet Don Quixote. Kitri - Lyubov Roslavleva (center). Staged by A.A. Gorsky. Moscow, Bolshoi Theater. 1900

Music by L. Minkus, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theater, 1869, choreography by M. Petipa. Subsequent productions: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1871, choreography by M. Petipa; Moscow, Bolshoi Theater, 1900, St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theater, 1902, Moscow, Bolshoi Theater, 1906, all - choreography by A. Gorsky.

The Don Quixote ballet is a theatrical performance full of life and joy, an eternal celebration of dance that never tires adults and to which parents are happy to take their children. Although it is named after the hero of the famous novel by Cervantes, it is based on one of his episodes, “The Wedding of Quiteria and Basilio,” and tells about the adventures of young heroes, whose love ultimately wins, despite the opposition of the heroine’s stubborn father, who wanted to marry her to rich Gamache.

So Don Quixote has almost nothing to do with it. Throughout the entire performance, a tall, thin artist, accompanied by a short, pot-bellied colleague portraying Sancho Panza, walks around the stage, sometimes making it difficult to watch the beautiful dances composed by Petipa and Gorsky. Ballet, in essence, is a concert in costume, a celebration of classical and character dance, where all the dancers of any ballet company have a job.

The first production of the ballet took place in Moscow, where Petipa visited from time to time in order to raise the level of the local troupe, which could not be compared with the brilliant troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. But in Moscow there was more freedom to breathe, so the choreographer, in essence, staged a ballet-memory of the wonderful years of his youth spent in a sunny country.

The ballet was a success, and two years later Petipa moved it to St. Petersburg, which necessitated alterations. There they were much less interested in characteristic dances than in pure classics. Petipa expanded “Don Quixote” to five acts, composed the “white act”, the so-called “Don Quixote’s Dream”, a real paradise for lovers of ballerinas in tutus and owners of pretty legs. The number of cupids in the “Dream” reached fifty-two...

“Don Quixote” came to us in a reworking by the Moscow choreographer Alexander Gorsky, who was keen on the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavsky and wanted to make the old ballet more logical and dramatically convincing. Gorsky destroyed Petipa's symmetrical compositions, abolished tutus in the "Dream" scene and insisted on the use of dark makeup for dancers portraying Spanish women. Petipa called him a “pig,” but already in the first adaptation of Gorsky the ballet was performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater 225 times.

"Swan Lake"

Scenery for the first performance. Big theater. Moscow. 1877

Scene from the ballet “Swan Lake” by P.I. Tchaikovsky (choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov). 1895

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by V. Begichev and V. Geltser. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theater, 1877, choreography by V. Reisinger. Subsequent production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theater, 1895, choreography by M. Petipa, L. Ivanov.

The beloved ballet, the classic version of which was staged in 1895, was actually born eighteen years earlier at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. The score by Tchaikovsky, whose world fame was yet to come, was a kind of collection of “songs without words” and seemed too complex for that time. The ballet was performed about 40 times and sank into oblivion.

After Tchaikovsky's death, Swan Lake was staged at the Mariinsky Theater, and all subsequent productions of the ballet were based on this version, which became a classic. The action was given greater clarity and logic: the ballet told about the fate of the beautiful princess Odette, who was turned into a swan by the will of the evil genius Rothbart, about how Rothbart deceived Prince Siegfried, who fell in love with her, by resorting to the charms of his daughter Odile, and about the death of the heroes. Tchaikovsky's score was cut by approximately a third by conductor Riccardo Drigo and re-orchestrated. Petipa created the choreography for the first and third acts, Lev Ivanov - for the second and fourth. This division ideally answered the calling of both brilliant choreographers, the second of whom had to live and die in the shadow of the first. Petipa is the father of classical ballet, the creator of impeccably harmonious compositions and the singer of the fairy woman, the toy woman. Ivanov is an innovative choreographer with an unusually sensitive feel for music. The role of Odette-Odile was performed by Pierina Legnani, “the queen of Milanese ballerinas”, she is also the first Raymonda and the inventor of the 32nd fouette, the most difficult type of spin on pointe shoes.

You may not know anything about ballet, but everyone knows Swan Lake. IN last years existence of the Soviet Union, when elderly leaders quite often replaced one another, the soulful melody of the “white” duet of the main characters of the ballet and the splashes of the hands-wings from the TV screen announced a sad event. The Japanese love “Swan Lake” so much that they are ready to watch it morning and evening, performed by any troupe. Not a single touring troupe, of which there are many in Russia and especially in Moscow, can do without “Swan”.

"Nutcracker"

Scene from the ballet "The Nutcracker". First production. Marianna - Lydia Rubtsova, Klara - Stanislava Belinskaya, Fritz - Vasily Stukolkin. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Scene from the ballet "The Nutcracker". First production. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theater, 1892, choreography by L. Ivanov.

There is still erroneous information floating around in books and websites that “The Nutcracker” was staged by the father of classical ballet, Marius Petipa. In fact, Petipa only wrote the script, and the first production of the ballet was carried out by his subordinate, Lev Ivanov. Ivanov was faced with an impossible task: the script, created in the style of the then fashionable extravaganza ballet with the indispensable participation of an Italian guest performer, was in obvious contradiction with Tchaikovsky’s music, which, although it was written in strict accordance with Petipa’s instructions, was distinguished by great feeling and dramatic richness and complex symphonic development. In addition, the heroine of the ballet was a teenage girl, and the star ballerina was destined for only the final pas de deux (a duet with a partner, consisting of an adagio - a slow part, variations - solo dances and a coda (virtuoso finale)). The first production of The Nutcracker, where the first act was predominantly a pantomime act, differed sharply from the second act, a divertissement act, was not a great success; critics noted only the Waltz of the Snowflakes (64 dancers took part in it) and the Pas de deux of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince of Whooping Cough , the source of inspiration for which was Ivanov's Adagio with a Rose from The Sleeping Beauty, where Aurora dances with four gentlemen.

But in the twentieth century, which was able to penetrate the depths of Tchaikovsky’s music, “The Nutcracker” was destined for a truly fantastic future. There are countless ballet productions in the Soviet Union, European countries and the USA. In Russia, productions by Vasily Vainonen at the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg) and Yuri Grigorovich at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater are especially popular.

"Romeo and Juliet"

Ballet "Romeo and Juliet". Juliet - Galina Ulanova, Romeo - Konstantin Sergeev. 1939

Mrs Patrick Campbell as Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 1895

Finale of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet". 1940

Music by S. Prokofiev, libretto by S. Radlov, A. Piotrovsky, L. Lavrovsky. First production: Brno, Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1938, choreography by V. Psota. Subsequent production: Leningrad, State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after. S. Kirov, 1940, choreography by L. Lavrovsky.

If a Shakespearean phrase in a famous Russian translation reads “There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet”, then they said about the ballet written by the great Sergei Prokofiev on this plot: “There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev’s music in ballet”. Truly amazing in its beauty, richness of colors and expressiveness, the score of “Romeo and Juliet” at the time of its appearance seemed too complex and unsuitable for ballet. Ballet dancers simply refused to dance to it.

Prokofiev wrote the score in 1934, and it was originally intended not for the theater, but for the famous Leningrad Academic Choreographic School to celebrate its 200th anniversary. The project was not implemented due to the murder of Sergei Kirov in Leningrad in 1934, changes occurred in the leading musical theater of the second capital. The plan to stage “Romeo and Juliet” at the Moscow Bolshoi did not come true either. In 1938, the premiere was shown by the theater in Brno, and only two years later Prokofiev’s ballet was finally staged in the author’s homeland, at the then Kirov Theater.

Choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky, within the framework of the genre of “drama ballet” (a form of choreographic drama characteristic of ballet of the 1930s-50s), which was highly welcomed by the Soviet authorities, created an impressive, exciting spectacle with carefully sculpted crowd scenes and finely outlined psychological characteristics characters. At his disposal was Galina Ulanova, the most sophisticated ballerina-actress, who remained unsurpassed in the role of Juliet.

Prokofiev's score was quickly appreciated by Western choreographers. The first versions of the ballet appeared already in the 40s of the 20th century. Their creators were Birgit Kullberg (Stockholm, 1944) and Margarita Froman (Zagreb, 1949). Famous productions of “Romeo and Juliet” belong to Frederick Ashton (Copenhagen, 1955), John Cranko (Milan, 1958), Kenneth MacMillan (London, 1965), John Neumeier (Frankfurt, 1971, Hamburg, 1973).I. Moiseeva, 1958, choreography by Yu. Grigorovich, 1968.

Without Spartak, the concept of “Soviet ballet” is unthinkable. This is a real hit, a symbol of the era. Soviet period developed other themes and images, deeply different from the traditional classical ballet inherited from Marius Petipa and the Imperial Theaters of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Fairy tales with happy endings were archived and were replaced by heroic stories.

Already in 1941, one of the leading Soviet composers, Aram Khachaturian, spoke of his intention to write music for a monumental, heroic performance, which was to be staged on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. The theme for it was an episode from ancient Roman history, a slave uprising led by Spartacus. Khachaturian created a colorful score, using Armenian, Georgian, Russian motifs and full of beautiful melodies and fiery rhythms. The production was to be carried out by Igor Moiseev.

It took many years for his work to reach the audience, and it appeared not at the Bolshoi Theater, but at the Theatre. Kirov. Choreographer Leonid Yakobson created a stunning innovative performance, abandoning the traditional attributes of classical ballet, including dancing on pointe shoes, using free plasticity and the ballerinas wearing sandals.

But the ballet “Spartacus” became a hit and a symbol of the era in the hands of choreographer Yuri Grigorovich in 1968. Grigorovich amazed the viewer with his perfectly constructed dramaturgy, subtle portrayal of the characters of the main characters, skillful staging of crowd scenes, and the purity and beauty of the lyrical adagios. He called his work “a performance for four soloists with a corps de ballet” (corps de ballet are artists involved in mass dance episodes). The role of Spartacus was played by Vladimir Vasiliev, Crassus - Maris Liepa, Phrygia - Ekaterina Maksimova and Aegina - Nina Timofeeva. The ballet was predominantly male, which makes the ballet “Spartacus” one of a kind.

In addition to the famous readings of Spartacus by Jacobson and Grigorovich, there are about 20 more productions of the ballet. Among them are the version by Jiří Blazek for the Prague Ballet, László Szeregi for the Budapest Ballet (1968), Jüri Vamos for the Arena di Verona (1999), Renato Zanella for the Vienna State Opera Ballet (2002), Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasiliev for the State Academic Theater directed by them classical ballet in Moscow (2002).

The history of ballet begins during the Renaissance in Italy. It grew out of the ceremonial performances staged for aristocrats by their servants: musicians and dancers at court. At that time, ballet was like an inexperienced young man of eighteen: awkward, but with fire in his eyes. It developed extremely quickly. Like the same young man who was first allowed into the workshop and called an apprentice.

At that time, ballet fashion was completely different: costumes corresponded to the times, tutus and pointe shoes simply did not exist, and the audience had the opportunity to participate in it at the end of the performance.

This is interesting! At the time of the birth of ballet in Italy, there were hardly more than five choreographers. The notes of only three specialists have survived to this day, one of whom became the “godfather of ballet”: in his notes, Domenico da Piacenza called the dances ballo. Having strengthened, the word was transformed into balli and balletto, began to be used by other dance lovers and was finally assigned to ballet as an art.

Catherine de Medici becomes a significant figure in the history of the development of ballet. From Italy she brings this art to France and arranges a spectacle for invited guests. For example, ambassadors from Poland were able to see a grand production called Le Ballet des Polonais.

It is believed that the truly closest thing to modern ballet was the masterpiece Ballet Comique de la Reine, which kept the audience in suspense for more than five hours. It was installed in 1581.

17th century

The 17th century is a new stage in the development of ballet. Separated from simple dance, it became an independent art, which was passionately supported by Louis XIV. For him, Mazarin ordered a choreographer from Italy who staged ballets with the participation of the king.

In 1661, Louis created the First Academy of Dance, which taught ballet art. The first choreographer of Louis XIV, Monsieur Lully, took the reins of the first ballet school into his own hands. Under his leadership, the Dance Academy improved and set the tone for the entire ballet world. He did everything possible to transform ballet from a young and inexperienced youth with fire in his eyes into a stately handsome man who is known and respected everywhere. In 1672, with his support, a dance academy was founded, which to this day is known throughout the world as the Paris Opera Ballet. Another court choreographer of Louis XIV, Pierre Beauchamp, worked on the terminology of dance.

1681 was another significant year in the history of ballet. For the first time, girls participated in Mr. Lully’s production. 4 beauties burst into the world of dance and paved the way for others. From this memorable moment, girls began to be involved in the ballet.

XVIII century

In the 18th century, ballet continued to win the hearts of lovers of graceful dance around the world. A huge number of productions, new forms of expressing one’s “I” on stage, fame is no longer in narrow court circles. The art of ballet came to Russia. In 1738, the Imperial Ballet School opened in St. Petersburg.

The closer the middle of the century came, the brighter the art of ballet became. Europe was fascinated by him, most high-ranking people were interested in ballet. Ballet schools opened everywhere. Ballet fashion also developed. The girls took off their masks, the styles of their clothes changed. Now the dancers wore light clothes, which allowed them to perform steps that had been impossible until that time.

19th century

At the beginning of the 19th century, ballet theory was actively developing. In 1820, Carlo Blasis wrote “An Elementary Treatise on the Theory and Practice of the Art of Dance.” The transition from quantity to quality begins, more and more attention is paid to details.

And the main thing that the beginning of the 19th century brings to ballet is dancing on your fingertips. The innovation was received with a bang and was taken up by the majority of choreographers.

In general, these hundred years have given a lot, a lot to the art of ballet. The ballet has turned into an unusually light and airy dance, like the summer wind that arises in the rays of the rising sun. Theory and practice moved hand in hand: many were published scientific works, which are still used in ballet training.

XX century

The twentieth century passed under the sign of Russian ballet. In Europe and America, by the beginning of the century, interest in ballet was fading, but after the arrival of masters from Russia, love for the art of ballet flared up there again. Russian actors organized long tours, giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy their skills.

The revolution of 1917 could not prevent the development of ballet. By the way, the ballet tutu we are used to appeared around the same time, and the performances became more profound.

In the 20th century, ballet is an art not only for aristocrats and noble houses. Ballet becomes available to the general public.

XXI Century

In our time, ballet remains the same magical art, in which, with the help of dance, they can talk about all human emotions. It continues to develop and grow, changing along with the world and without losing its relevance.

Ballet, the highest level of choreography (from the Greek choreia - dancing and grapho - writing), in which the art of dance rises to the level of musical stage performance, arose as a courtly aristocratic art much later than dance, in the 15th–16th centuries. The term "ballet" appeared in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century. and meant not a performance, but a dance episode. Ballet is a synthetic art in which dance, the main expressive means of ballet, is closely connected with music, with a dramatic basis - libretto, with scenography, with the work of a costume designer, lighting designer, etc. The ballet is diverse: plot - classic narrative multi-act ballet, drama ballet; plotless – symphony ballet, mood ballet, miniature. By genre, ballet can be comic, heroic, folklore. 20th century brought new forms to ballet: jazz ballet, modern ballet.

Origins of dance.

Dance appeared as a way of expressing feelings through movement, gesture, plasticity and facial expressions and accompanied various aspects of life ancient man(harvest festival, wedding ceremony, religious worship). The ancient theater grew out of the ancient Greek Dionysian cult, of which stage dance and its muse Terpsichore became a part. . During the Hellenistic era The art of pantomime arose, developing both in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance (in the commedia dell'arte, harlequinades).

Ballet in the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism.

The process of theatricalization of dance took place especially intensively in Italy, where already in the 14th–15th centuries. The first dance masters appeared and on the basis of folk dance, ballroom and court dance was formed. In Spain, the plot dance scene was called a sea dance (Moorish dance), in England - a mask . In the mid-16th – early 17th centuries. arose figurative, figurative a dance organized according to the type of composition of geometric figures (ballo-figurato). Famous Ballet of Turkish women, performed in 1615 at the court of the Medici Dukes in Florence. Mythological and allegorical characters take part in the visual dance. From the beginning of the 16th century. equestrian ballets are known, in which riders pranced on horses to music, singing and recitation ( Tournament of Winds, 1608,Beauty battle, 1616, Florence). The origins of equestrian ballet lead to the knightly tournaments of the Middle Ages.

The first ballet performance that combined music, words, dance and pantomime, Circe, or the Queen's Comedy Ballet, was staged at the court of Catherine de Medici (Paris) by the Italian choreographer Baltazarini di Belgioioso in 1581. Since then, the genre of court ballet (masquerades, pastorals, dance divertissements and interludes) began to develop in France. Ballet 16th century was a magnificent spectacle in the Baroque style with the performance of ceremonial Spanish dances - pavane, sarabande. During the time of Louis XIV, court ballet performances reached their highest splendor and included stage effects that gave the spectacle the character of an extravaganza. Louis XIV himself was no stranger to the muse of dance; in 1653 he acted as the Sun in Ballet of the night from then on he was called the "Sun King". The composer J.B. Lully, who began his career as a dancer, danced in the same ballet.

The dance began to turn into ballet when it began to be performed according to certain rules. They were first formulated by the choreographer Pierre Beauchamp (1637–1705), who worked with Lully and headed the French Academy of Dance (the future Paris Opera House) in 1661. He wrote down the canons of a noble style of dance, which was based on the principle of eversion of the legs (en dehors). This position gave the human body the opportunity to move freely in different directions. He divided all the dancer’s movements into groups: squats (plie), jumps (skips, entrechat, cabriole, jeté , ability to hover while jumping – elevation), rotations (pirouettes, fouettés), body positions (attitudes, arabesques). The execution of these movements was carried out on the basis of five positions of the legs and three positions of the arms (port de bras). All classical dance steps are derived from these positions of the legs and arms. Thus began the formation of ballet, which developed by the 18th century. from interludes and divertissements into independent art.

At the Paris Opera in the 17th century. a special genre of theatrical and musical spectacle was performed - operas and ballets by composers J.B. Lully, A. Campra, J.F. Rameau. Initially, the ballet troupe included only men. French dancers were famous for their grace and grace (nobility) of their manner of performance. Italian dancers brought a new style of dance to the stage of the Paris Opera - a virtuosic style, a technically complex, jumping style of dance. One of the founders of male stage dance was Louis Dupre (1697–1774). He was the first to combine both styles of performance in dance. The increasing complexity of the dance technique required changes to the women's costume. In the first third of the 18th century. Marie Camargo and Marie Salle were the first of the ballerinas to begin performing jumps (entrechat), previously subject only to men, so they abolished the heavy hoops and paniers, and then shortened their skirts and switched to shoes with lower heels. In the second half of the 18th century. Brilliant dancers Gaetan Vestris (1729–1808), Pierre Gardel (1758–1840), and Auguste Vestris appeared. Light clothing in the antique style, which came into fashion on the eve of the French Revolution, contributed to the development of ballet technique. However, the content of the ballet numbers was loosely connected with the plot of the opera and had the character of an entrée, an entrance in a minuet, gavotte and other dances during the opera performance. The genre of the plot-driven ballet performance has not yet developed.

Ballet in the Age of Enlightenment.

The Age of Enlightenment is one of the milestones in the development of ballet. Enlightenmentists called for a rejection of the conventions of classicism, for democratization and reform of the ballet theater. J. Weaver (1673–1760) and D. Rich (1691–1761) in London, F. Hilferding (1710–1768) and G. Angiolini (1731–1803) in Vienna together with the composer and opera reformer W. K. Gluck they tried to turn the ballet into a plot performance, similar to a dramatic one. This movement expressed itself most fully in the reform of L. Dupre's student Jean Georges Noverre. He introduced the concept of pas d'action (effective ballet). Noverre likened ballet to classicist drama and promoted a new attitude towards it as an independent performance. Attaching great importance to pantomime, At the same time, he impoverished the vocabulary of dance. However, his merit was the development of forms of solo and ensemble dance, the introduction of the form of multi-act ballet, the separation of ballet from opera, the differentiation of ballet into high and low genres - comic and tragic. He outlined his innovative ideas in Letters about dance and ballets(1760). The most famous are Noverre's ballets on mythological subjects: Admet and Alceste,Rinaldo and Armida,Psyche and Cupid,Death of Hercules– all to the music of J. J. Rodolphe; Medea and Jason, 1780,Chinese ballet, 1778, Iphigenia in Aulis- all to the music of E. Miller, 1793. Noverre's legacy includes 80 ballets, 24 opera ballets, 11 divertissements. Under him, the formation of ballet as an independent genre of theatrical art was completed.

Ballet sentimentalism.

In the second half of the 18th century. The era of sentimentalism has arrived. Unlike the Enlightenmentists, the sentimentalists made a character in their works ordinary person, and not an ancient god or hero. The ballet theater became a public spectacle for the townspeople, and its own type of performance appeared - comedy and melodrama. In the foreground was pantomime, which, pushing dance into the shadows, turned ballet into choreodrama, in connection with which interest in the literary basis of action has increased. The first ballet librettos appeared.

The heroines of the ballets were sylphs and forest spirits, Willis, characters from Celtic and German folklore. The image of a dancer in a white tunic, embodying an unearthly creature with a wreath on her head and wings behind her back, was invented by French costume designers I. Lecomte, E. Lamy, P. Lormier. Later, the term “white”, “white tunic” ballet arose. White color– the color of the absolute, “white ballet” expressed a romantic longing for the ideal, the ballerina in an arabesque became its graphic formula. The role of corps de ballet dance has risen, dance and pantomime, solo, corps de ballet and ensemble dance have merged into a single whole. Thanks to the development of finger technique, aerial movements became a new dance style.

Romantic ballet relied more on literary sources ( Esmeralda, 1844, after V. Hugo, Corsair, 1856 by J. G. Byron), Katarina, daughter of a robber, Ts.Puni, 1846). The role of music has increased, and it has become author's music; before, ballet music was often a collective piece, it served as the background and rhythmic accompaniment of the dance, and created the mood of the performance. The ballet music of romanticism itself created drama and gave imaginative musical characteristics to the characters.

The pinnacle of romantic ballet was Giselle(1841), staged at the Paris Opera by J. Coralli and J. Perrot based on a libretto by T. Gautier to music by A. Adam. IN Giselle the unity of music, pantomime and dance has been achieved. In addition to pantomime, the action of the performance was developed by musical and choreographic leitmotifs, and the intonation expressiveness of the melody gave the characters musical characteristics. Adam began the process of symphonizing ballet music, enriching it with an arsenal of expressive means inherent in symphonic music.

M. Taglioni and F. Elsler are the largest representatives and rivals of romantic ballet. Their individuality corresponds to two branches of romanticism: irrational (fantastic) and heroic-exotic. Italian Maria Taglioni represented the first direction, her Sylphide became a symbol of romantic ballet, her dance had grace, flight and poetry. The dance of the Austrian ballerina Fanny Elsler was characterized by temperament, swiftness, and virtuosity; she represented the heroic-exotic direction of romantic ballet. Being a character dancer, she performed the Spanish dance cachacha, the Polish Krakowiak, and the Italian tarantella. Other outstanding romantic dancers: Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito (1817–1909), Lucile Gran (1819–1907). Grisi, the first performer of the role of Giselle, also became famous for her performance of the main role in the ballet by Ts. Puni Esmeralda. In 1845 Perrault composed the famous divertissement Pas de quadre(music by Ts. Puni), where Taglioni, Elsler, Grisi, Cerrito performed simultaneously.

Its Danish branch stands apart in the history of ballet romanticism, especially in the work of August Bournonville. In 1836 he created his own version Sylphs to music by H.S. Lowenskiöld. Danish romantic ballet (Biedermeier style against the backdrop of romanticism) is a more earthly and chamber style with folklore motifs, where pantomime plays a large role and more attention is paid to male dance, less use of finger technique, and female roles are secondary. These features are also characteristic of the Danish ballet of the present time. In 1830, Bournoville headed the troupe of the Royal Copenhagen Theater and created many ballets over the course of 50 years. His male dance technique remains one of the leading in Europe.

It is believed that the short period of romanticism became best period the entire history of European ballet. If previously the symbol of ballet was Terpsichore, then from the era of romanticism it became the sylph, the jeep. Ballet romanticism existed for the longest time in Russia (swan scenes in Swan Lake and the dance of snow flakes in The Nutcracker L. Ivanova, act of shadows in La Bayadère,Pharaoh's Daughters And Raymond M. Petipa). At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Romanticism received a new birth in Chopinians M.M. Fokina. This was the romanticism of another era - the era of impressionism. The genre of romantic ballet continued into the second half of the 20th century. ( The leaves are withering E. Tudor to the music of A. Dvorak, Dancing at parties J. Robbins to the music of F. Chopin).

Ballet in the second half of the 19th century. (academicism, impressionism, modernism).

When realism came to other forms of art, European ballet found itself in a state of crisis and decline. It lost its content and integrity and was supplanted by the extravaganza (Italy), music hall (England). In France, he moved into the phase of conservation of proven schemes and techniques. Only in Russia has ballet retained the character of creativity, where the aesthetics of grand ballet and academic ballet have developed - a monumental performance with complex dance compositions and virtuosic ensemble and solo parts. The creator of the aesthetics of academic ballet is Marius Petipa, a French dancer who came to Russia in 1847. Ballets created by him in collaboration with L.I. Ivanov (1834–1901) and composers P.I. Tchaikovsky and A.K. Glazunov sleeping Beauty(1890), Nutcracker (1892), Swan Lake (1895) Raymonda (1898), Seasons(1900) became the pinnacle of classical symphonic ballet and moved the center of choreographic culture to Russia.

At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. movements of impressionism and free dance (modern, Duncanism, rhythmic dance) penetrated into the choreography. Modern dance originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. in the USA and Germany. Modern choreography rejected traditional ballet forms and replaced them with free dance, rhythmic plasticity, and intuitive interpretation of music. If the classical school of ballet is built on turning out (en dehors), then modern allows for the position of the toe inwards (en dedans). Modern does not use finger techniques, jumps and skids, but actively develops the bends of the body, the mobility of the shoulders and hips, and the expression of the hands. The ideologists of modernity were the French theorist F. Delsarte (1811–1871), the American dancer Isadora Duncan with her updated antiquity, and E. J. Dalcroze (1865–1914) with the system of eurhythmics and rhythmic dance. They declared the undivided dominance of music over dance. Duncanism, in turn, influenced ballet impressionism, represented by the work of the Russian choreographer M. M. Fokin. The turn to a new ballet aesthetics was the activity of S.P. Diaghilev. The Russian Seasons (1909–1911) and the Russian Ballet troupe (1911–1929) organized by him had a huge influence on the development of world ballet.

WORLD BALLET OF THE 20TH CENTURY

History of ballet of the 20th century. characterized by the processes of assimilation of the traditions of Russian classical ballet with European ballet companies. The leading trends are metaphorical, plotless, symphonic, free rhythmic, modern dance, elements of folk, everyday, sports, and jazz vocabulary. In the second half of the 20th century. Postmodernism is developing, the arsenal of expressive means of which includes the use of cinema and photo projections, lighting and sound effects, electronic music, happenings (participation of spectators in ballet), etc. A genre of contact choreography has emerged, when the dancer “contacts” with objects on the stage and the stage itself. The one-act miniature ballet (short story, mood ballet) dominates. The countries with the most developed choreographic culture were Great Britain, the USA, France, and the USSR. A major role in the development of world ballet was played by dancers of the second wave of Russian emigration (R. Nureyev, N. Makarova, M. Baryshnikov) and dancers of the Russian school who worked in the West under contract (M. Plisetskaya, A. Asylmuratova (b. 1961), N. Ananiashvili (b. 1963), V. Malakhov (b. 1968), A. Ratmansky (b. 1968) Expressionist and then postmodern ballet developed in Germany, Holland, and Sweden.

Ballet competitions began to be held in 1964.

France.

In the 1920s and 1930s, France became the center of European ballet art, where Diaghilev’s Russian Ballet troupe and the groups that grew out of it worked until 1929. Fokine's traditions were developed by L.F. Myasine, B.F. Nizhinskaya, S.M. Lifar, who headed the troupes of Monte Carlo and Paris. In the second half of the 20th century. France gave the ballet such original choreographers as Maurice Béjart and Roland Petit.

J. Balanchine worked in France before leaving for the USA in 1933. In 1932–1933 he organized the troupe “Balle Rus de Monte Carlo” ( Tradesman in the nobility R.Strauss, Mozartiana P. Tchaikovsky). After Balanchine’s departure, the troupe was headed by V.G. Voskresensky (de Basil), the troupe began to be called “Balle Russe de Monte Carlo Colonel de Basil” (from 1939 to 1962 it worked in the USA, in 1938–1948 Massine served as the troupe’s choreographer, who set his task preservation of Diaghilev's ballets). Lifar in 1944–1947 headed the “New Russian Ballet of Monte Carlo”, since 1947 it became known as “Nouveau Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo of the Marquis de Cuevas”.

In 1930–1959, with a break for the war of 1944–1947, the Paris Opera troupe was headed by Serge Lifar, who staged 50 ballets there in the neoclassical style, modernizing classical dance and combining it with elements of free, folk, and everyday dance. The most famous ballerinas of that time: Claude Bessy (b. 1932), a student of Lifar, who began her career with Balanchine, and in 1972 had great success in Bolero M. Bejara, from the same year - director of the ballet school at the opera house, as well as lyrical dancer Yvette Chauvire ( b.1917), famous for her performance of the role of Giselle. Choreographic innovations developed outside the walls of the Opera, although since the 1970s ballets by Balanchine, D. Robbins, G. Tetley, P. Taylor, M. Cunningham, and Yu. N. Grigorovich have been staged there. In 1983–1989, the head of the ballet troupe of the Paris Opera again became a native of Russia, the Soviet dancer R.H. Nureyev. He staged a number of classical ballets there, and also invited one of the largest choreographers of our time, W. Forsyth, to collaborate, which brought a fresh spirit to life dance troupe of the theater, which by that time had turned into a ballet museum. Among the opera dancers, Sylvie Guillem (b. 1965) and Isabelle Guerin (b. 1961) became famous. The distinguished classical dancer Patrick Dupont (b. 1957) directed the company from 1990–1995.

Maurice Béjart began working in the 1950s with the Ballet Etoile. Since 1960 he has headed the “Ballet of the 20th Century”, since 1987 - the “Béjart Ballet” in Lausanne. He creates his own plastic language and decides in ballets philosophical problems, hence his interest in eastern world and dancing: Bakti, 1968 on Indian music, Our Faust to national music, 1975, Nijinsky, God's clown to music by P. Henri and P. Tchaikovsky, 1971. Bejart’s leading dancer was the Argentinean Jorge Donn (1947–1992), who died early. Bejart dedicated ballets to his memory Rectory,Ballet for life,Tango, or a rose for Jorge Donna. Created in 1972 Songs of the Wandering Apprentice for Nureyev. Bejart's choreography is characterized by plastic metaphor, rapid rhythm, and the priority of mass male dance. The most famous original editions of ballets Sacred spring(1959) and Firebird I. Stravinsky (1970), Bolero M. Ravel (1961). He organized the Mudra school, in which ballet training is based on the study of psychology and modern philosophy.

In 1945–1951, Roland Petit founded the Ballet des Champs-Élysées, and in 1949–1967, the Ballet of Paris. Among the best works: Youth and Death J.S.Bach, 1946, Carmen J.Bizet , 1949, Notre Dame Cathedral, 1965. Petit works in the genre of dramatic ballet, gravitates towards a dynamic plot, vivid imagery and theatricality, masterfully stages crowd scenes, and uses a combination of classical and jazz dance in his vocabulary. Of his dancers, the following became famous: Zizi Zhanmer (b. 1924, performer Carmen in the ballet of the same name), Jean Babile (b. 1923, performer of the main role in the cult ballet of the 1950s Youth and Death). In 1972 Petit organized the Marseille Ballet ( Light up the stars, 1972, Sick Rose G. Mahler, staged in 1973 for Plisetskaya, Pink Floyd, 1973, In memory of an angel A. Berg, 1977, own versions of classical ballets Coppelia, 1975 and Nutcracker, 1976). Staged symphonic ballets at the Paris Opera Fantastic Symphony G. Berlioz, 1974, Enlightened night A. Schoenberg, 1976.

Pierre Lacotte (b. 1932) was the director of the Eiffel Tower Ballet in 1955–1956 and 1959–1962. In 1963–1968, he was the director of the National Ballet of the French Musical Youth, then the Monte Carlo Ballet troupe, until 2001 he headed the National Ballet of Nancy, is an expert in the classical heritage of French ballet, masters the subtle art of stylization, reconstruction of the spirit of romantic ballet (films- ballets for television Gallant Europe A. Campra, restoration of the ballet Sylphide J. Schneitzhoffer, Lady with camellias G.Verdi, 1977). He is called a “ballet archaeologist.”

The Art Nouveau movement is represented « Modern Ballet Theater "J. Roussillo (b. 1941), organized in 1972. Among the postmodern troupes, the troupe of A. Preljocaj (b. 1957, troupe - since 1984), a student of M. Cunningham ( White tears, 1985, In memory of our heroes, 1986, I'm soaring to music W.A. Mozart, 1994).

Great Britain.

English ballet of the 20th century. traces its lineage to the school of A. Pavlova and Marie Rambert (1888–1982) and Ninette de Valois, who worked for Diaghilev. In 1920, the School of Marie Rambert, a follower of the rhythmic dance system of E. J. Dalcroze, opened. From her school came F. Ashton and E. Tudor, who created the Rambert Ballet troupe in 1930. In 1926, Valois opened the Academy of Choreographic Arts in London, from which the Sadler's Wells Ballet troupe emerged in 1942, and from 1957 the Royal Ballet of Great Britain. Valois was its director until 1983. Since 1935, its leading choreographer of the Royal Ballet is Frederick Ashton, who created the style of English classical dance - strict, restrained and poetic. It is based on the school of E. Cecchetti, who taught at the Imperial St. Petersburg Ballet School and educated such individuals as Pavlova, T. Karsavina, M. Fokine, V. Nijinsky. For a long time, Ashton's leading ballerina was Margot Fonteyn, whose career unexpectedly received a rebirth in the legendary duet with Nureyev; together they danced a number of classical ballets, as well as a ballet specially choreographed by Ashton Margarita and Arman based on Ladies with camellias A. Dumas to the music of F. Liszt, 1963. Ashton’s productions include: Facade, 1931 W. Walton, A futile precaution, 1960 F. Herold, Undine, 1958 H.W. Henze, A month in the village, 1976 F. Chopin, plotless ballets Symphonic Variations, 1946 S. Frank, Monotony, 1965–1966 E. Satie, multi-act Cinderella S. Prokofiev, 1948, with M. Fontaine – Dream, 1964 F. Mendelssohn. In 1970, Ashton created at the theater " New group"for avant-garde productions. Anthony Tudor (1908–1987), creator of psychological drama in ballet, worked in the theater until his departure to the USA (1939), where he staged Lilac Garden to music by E. Chausson, 1936, Gloomy Elegies to music Songs about dead children G. Malera, 1937.

From 1970–1977 the troupe was led by Kenneth MacMillan. The emergence of the genre of dramatic ballet is associated with his name. His style is a combination of the Cecchetti school with acrobatics and complex lifts; he is characterized by the sophistication of his choreography. His ballet Romeo and Juliet(music by Prokofiev, 1965, also created for Fontaine and Nureyev) became a cult classic. Ballets Manon(1974, to music by J. Massenet), Concert dances Stravinsky 1955, Nora,or Diary of A. Frank, 1958, Anastasia A. Sullivan, 1971, Mayerling F. Lista, 1978, Isadora R. Bennett, 1981; Prince of the Pagodas B. Britten, 1989 were created for MacMillan's leading ballerina, Lynn Seymour (b. 1939), who danced in a duet with Christopher Gable (1940–1998), who later made a career in cinema. In MacMillan's ballets the virtuoso Anthony Dowell danced alongside Antoniet Sibley, Alexandra Ferri (b. 1967). For his contribution to national culture, Macmillan received the title of Sir. During the same years, John Cranko, who is known as a director of hours-long narrative ballets, worked in the troupe ( The Lady and the Jester Verdi, 1954). Since the 1960s, Cranko worked in Germany, heading the Stuttgart Ballet, the oldest in Europe. After MacMillan left, the ideas of free dance became a priority in the theater. Former dancers of the troupe Norman Morris (b. 1931), Anthony Dowell (led the troupe since 1986), David Bintley (b. 1957) introduced productions by Balanchine, Robbins, and Forsythe into the repertoire. The theater's leading dancers also included Beryl Gray (b. 1927), Robert Helpman (1909–1986), and Moira Shearer (b. 1926).

Other UK companies include: Birmingham Royal Ballet, London Ballet Festival, which grew out of a company founded in 1949 by former Diaghilev dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin (1904–1983). The Balle Rambert troupe continues to work. At first, its repertoire retained the originals of classical ballets, and since 1966, priority has been given to works in the style of modern dance. In 1987, Richard Alston (b. 1948) became the head of the troupe, developing the ideas of the American modernist choreographer Merce Cunningham. In 1967, R. Cohen, a student of M. Graham, created the London Contemporary Dance Theater, where he staged many of Graham's ballets. The theater is part of the London Center for the Study of Modern Dance.

USA.

The main achievement of American ballet is the work of George Balanchine, a native of Russia, a graduate of the Petrograd Theater School. He created a new direction in choreography - a symphonic plotless ballet of the neoclassical style, a self-sufficient choreographic performance (sometimes without a libretto, scenography and costumes). On the work of Balanchine big influence The Danish school of choreography also contributed, striving for subtlety, lively light footwork (the so-called Bournonville lifts), rapid changes of directions and increasing rhythms of movements. The largest dance theaters in the USA - New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater - were born as a result of the interaction of Russian classical and American (modern dance, acrobatic, jazz, everyday vocabulary) traditions. The leading tendency of American ballet remains plotless and metaphorical, chamber one-act ballet.

When Balanchine came to the USA in 1933, the leading direction in American choreography was modern dance, which had a folk coloring and included motifs of Negro and Indian dances (body bends, rotational movements hips, priority of ensemble dance over solo). Modern dance was developed by choreographers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn (1891–1972), who founded the Denishawn School of Dance in Los Angeles in 1915. Many American choreographers studied there, including the most prominent ballerina and choreographer Martha Graham, who in 1926 created her own troupe and developed a special dance technique. Choreographers D. Humphrey, H. Limon, A. de Mille, R. Page created genre ballets using black and Indian folklore. On the other hand, thanks to Russian emigrant artists, the American public became acquainted with classical ballet: studios of Russian dancers M. Fokin, A. Bolm, M. Mordkin worked in the USA; B. G. Romanov (1891–1957) headed the ballet troupe of the Metropolitan Opera Theater (1938–1942, 1945–1950), in 1939 the Balle Russe de Monte Carlo troupe (V. G. Voskresensky’s troupe) came to the USA -de Basil), led in 1938–1948 by L.F. Myasin. The fusion of modernity with national and classical tradition formed Balanchine's style. In 1934, together with philanthropist Leonard Kernstein (1907–1996), Balanchine founded the School of American Ballet and, on its basis, the New York City Ballet Theater. In 2004, the theater celebrated the centenary of the birth of its founder and its 70th anniversary. The first ballets were based on American themes ( Gas station, 1938 by L. Christensen to the music of W. Thomson, Billy guy Yu. Loringa, Spring in Apalachee, Rodeo A. de Mille, music. A. Copland), but soon the theater turned into the Balanchine House, where he staged 50 ballets for the troupe. These are mostly plotless ballets: Four Temperaments P. Hindemith, 1946, Serenade, 1934, Concerto Baroque J.S.Bach, 1940, Symphony in C major or Crystal Palace J. Bizet, 1947, Songs of love– waltzes to music by J. Brahms, 1960, III suite P. Tchaikovsky, 1970, including American music: Symphonies of the Far West H.Key, 1954, Does it matter J. Gershwin, 1970. The basis of Balanchine's neoclassical aesthetics is dance expressiveness, born of the expressiveness of the musical image. Balanchine, like Bejart, was a master of staging mass dance, but he gave priority to women’s dance and said: “Ballet is a woman.” His favorite composer was Stravinsky, with whom he collaborated since working with Diaghilev. During the period 1925–1972, Balanchine staged 27 ballets by Stravinsky, among them: Agon, 1957, Firebird, 1949, Pulcinella, 1972, Jewelry (Rubies), 1967. An analogue of such a fruitful collaboration between a choreographer and a composer can be found in the union of Petipa with Tchaikovsky. Balanchine's leading dancers: André Eglevsky (1917–1977), Edouard Villela, Melicia Hayden (b. 1923), Maria Tallchief, Diana Adams, Tanaquil Le Claire (b. 1929), Violet Verdi, Allegra Kent (b. 1938), Karin von Aroldingen (b. 1941), Patricia McBride, Susan Farrell, Merrill Ashley. Balanchine's student Jerome Robbins (1918–1998) is known as the creator of jazz dance with elements of folklore and everyday vocabulary. Staged ballets: Sailors on the shore L. Bernstein, 1944, Facsimile, 1946, Cell to music Basel Concerto for Strings Stravinsky, 1951, new edition Afternoon Rest of a Faun (1953), Concert to music by Chopin, 1956, romantic ballet Dancing at the party to music by Chopin, choreographic version Goldberg Variations Bach, 1971, Water Mill to music by T. Ito. His musicals are widely known: funny girl, Fiddler on the Roof 1964, West Side Story, 1957. Robbins worked extensively on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s. After Balanchine's death in 1983, he headed the troupe together with P. Martins. Balanchine's successor, the Danish dancer Peter Martins, became famous in a duet with S. Farrell; how the choreographer staged the ballets: Night under stage lighting Charles Ives, 1978, Ecstatic orange, 1987, Black and white, 1986, Echo, 1989, Ash, 1991 M. Thorpe. In 1991, Martins staged for the first time a ballet completely without cuts accepted in the West Sleeping beauty.

American Ballet Theater was created in 1939 by Lucia Chase, philanthropist and ballerina, student of M. Mordkin. Chase directed the theater until 1980. If the New York City Ballet is an author's theater, then the American Ballet Theater is an international creation of several choreographers. The foundation of the theater was laid by the English choreographer Anthony Tudor, who worked in the theater since its foundation as artistic director (1939–1950 and since 1974). The founder of the so-called psychological ballet (he was called the “choreographer of human sorrow”), Tudor was interested in the world of the subconscious, and when addressing the inner world of man he used the vocabulary of modernity ( Pillar of Fire to music by A. Schoenberg, 1942 with Nora Kay, Undercurrent R. Schumann , 1945, Romeo and Juliet F. Dilius, 1943 with Hugh Lang). In 1975, he staged a plotless romantic ballet for Gelsey Kirkland (b. 1952), recognized as the best performer of the role of Giselle in the USA. The leaves are withering to the music of A. Dvorak. Tudor's leading dancers were Nora Kay (1920–1989) and Hugh Lang (1911–1988). K. MacMillan, D. Robbins, and modern choreographers Glen Tetley (b. 1926), Birgit Kullberg (b. 1908), and Tuayla Tharp (b. 1942) also worked at the theater. The leading dancers of the theater over the years were: Alicia Alonso, John Kriza (1919–1975), Igor Yuskevich (1912–1994) and Alicia Markova; Tony Lander (1931–1985) , Sally Wilson (b. 1932), Bruce Marks (b. 1937), Roy Fernandez (1929–1980), Lupe Serrano (b. 1930 ) ,Scott Douglas (1927–1996), Cynthia Gregory, Martine Van Hamel (b. 1945), Fernando Bujones, Natalya Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev, Dane Eric Brun, Carla Fracci (b. 1936), Ivan Nagy (b. 1943), V.A.Malakhov.

In 1980–1989, the artistic director of the troupe was Mikhail Baryshnikov, his deputy was K. McMillan. During that period, the famous production of M. Morris (b. 1955), a choreographer who won the fame of “Mozart of modern dance”, was carried out, Drink to me only with your eyes to music by W. Thomson. Macmillan resumed Romeo and Juliet, N. Makarova carried out her editing Bayadères Minkus (1980). At the invitation of Baryshnikov, in 1989 the ballerina of the Kirov Theater I. Kolpakova (b. 1933) worked as a teacher of the troupe.

If in the 19th century. American ballet was just emerging, then in the second half of the 20th century. The country was experiencing a ballet boom in the 20th century. and turned into a country of highly developed choreographic culture. In 1945, there were 25 troupes, but soon this number grew to 250. Several troupes operate in New York alone (modern theaters of Tuyla Tharp, Joffrey Ballet by Robert Joffrey (b. 1930), African-American Harlem Dance Theater by Arthur Mitchell , « Balle Feld" by Eliot Feld, b. 1942, etc.). Large cities have their own ballet troupes: Chicago Ballet, founded by Maria Tallchief, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Miami Ballet, Littlefield Ballet of Philadelphia, etc.

Germany.

Unlike the ballet of other European countries, the influence of the Russian dance school is less pronounced in German. At the beginning of the 20th century. In Germany and Austria, expressionism developed in all types of art. Based on the techniques of modern dance, expressionist ballet developed, represented by the work of choreographers R. Laban (1879–1958), K. Joss ( 1901–1979), M. Wigman and her students H. Holm (1898–1992), G. Palucchi (1902–1992). They abandoned beautiful movements, replacing them with broken lines and coarse forms. The most famous work of this style was the anti-war ballet by K. Joss Green table, 1932. In the 1920–1930s, the ideas of the Bauhaus school, which promoted constructivism, were also popular in Germany and viewed dance as a precisely calculated construction and an acrobatic exercise devoid of emotional coloring. This direction found its expression in the work of V. Scoronel.

In the second half of the 20th century. interest in modernity grew in Germany into postmodern experiments. A distinctive feature of modern German ballet is the use of choreographic ideas of American, Dutch and Czech choreographers. In 1961, the Stuttgart Ballet was headed by J. Cranko. The style of his ballets was reminiscent of Soviet choreodrama of the 1930s and 1940s; these are multi-act narrative works: Romeo and Juliet (1962) to music by Prokofiev, Onegin(1965) to music by Tchaikovsky, arranged by K.H. Stolze, The Taming of the Shrew(1969) to the music of A. Scarlatti in the same arrangement with the participation of the outstanding duet Marcia Heide (b. 1939) - Richard Cragan (b. 1944). Cranko created an experimental creative workshop from which William Forsyth (b. 1949), John Neumeier (b. 1942), Jiri Kylian grew. After Cranko's death, the troupe was headed by modern choreographer Glen Tetley (b. 1926), a student of Holm, known for staging a ballet dedicated to Cranko Voluntary(1973) F. Poulenc and own edition Rite of Spring Stravinsky. Neumeier, an American choreographer, worked at the Stuttgart Ballet in the 1960s and 1970s and directed the Hamburg and Frankfurt theaters. Committed to religious and philosophical themes, which he implements in many-hour ballets (a four-hour ballet St. Matthew Passion, 1981). Other productions include: Separate travels Barbera (1968), Rondo (1970), Romeo and Juliet (1971), Nutcracker (1972), Twilight A. Scriabin (1972), sleeping Beauty, Elegy Tchaikovsky (1978), Ariel Mozart, Fourth Symphony Mahler (1977). Forsythe is an ideologist of ballet postmodernism, the director of the Frankfurt Ballet, he is often called the Balanchine of the 21st century. His choreography is based on associations; the dance often includes texts, cinema and photo projections. That's how ballets are Love songs(1979) folk music and In the middle, at some elevation to the music of L. Stuck and T. Willems, which he staged at the invitation of Nureyev at the Paris Opera in 1988. Forsyth was one of the first to use electronic music by Willems. Modern choreography cannot be imagined without the work of Pina Bausch (b. 1940), with her “Dance Theater” (Wuppertal, since 1971), a student of K. Joss, P. Taylor, E. Tudor, developing simultaneously the expressionist tradition of German ballet and the psychological school of American ( Fragments, 1967; Arias, 1979; Palermo, Palermo, 1989; window washer, 1997; In the land of meadows, 2000; For the children of yesterday, today and tomorrow, 2002). The Berlin Opera Ballet was headed by K. McMillan in 1966–1969, and currently (since 2002) its artistic director and leading soloist is V. A. Malakhov, who develops the classical direction of ballet.

Netherlands.

Before World War II, the influence of German free dance was most powerful, and in the second half of the 20th century. The Netherlands became the birthplace of postmodern dance. After the war, the Dutch National Ballet troupe was created in Amsterdam, in 1967 under the direction of Rudi van Danzig (b. 1933). In his outstanding ballets Monument to the deceased young man(1965) and Threads of time(1970) Nureyev danced to the music of Ya. Burman, who recalled that in these productions he performed the dance for the first time, lying on the floor of the stage. Van Danzig, like Forsyth, uses the edgy sound of electronic music and the futuristic settings of Tour van Schyck. From other works: Night Island J.C.Debussy (1965), Family circle B. Bartok (1958). In 1959, the Dutch Dance Theater troupe was founded in The Hague under the direction of Hans van Manen (b. 1932). The theater devoted itself exclusively to modern choreography. Since 1973, Manen has been choreographer of the Dutch National Ballet. Productions: Symphony in 3 movements Messiaen (1965), Metaphors Lesyura (1965), Five Pieces to the music of Hindemith (1966), Mutations K. Stockhausen (1970) , Sacred spring(1974). In 1978, Jiri Kylian became the director of the Dutch Dance Theater, who, like Tudor, developed the style of psychological ballet. Kilian uses movements performed while lying on the floor, achieves sculptural poses, composes high lifts and rotations ( Returning to a foreign country, 1974–1975, Sinfonietta L. Janacek, 1987; Frequently visited place K. Chavez; Time to sleep Takemitsu. Other troupes in the country: the Dutch “Theater 3”, the Dutch ballet “Scapino” under the direction of N. Christe (Rotterdam).

Sweden.

Alternative forms of ballet to classical ballet have also developed in Sweden, with Swedish choreographers at the forefront of dance thought. The first Swedish ballet company operated in Paris from 1920–1925 under the leadership of the bold experimentalist Jean Berlin (1893–1930). In 1949–1950 and 1963–1964 he also directed the Royal Swedish Ballet; in 1951–1952 and 1960–1963 this post was held by E. Tudor ( Echo of pipes to music B. Martin, 1963). In 1946–1947, the troupe was led by Birgit Kullberg (b. 1908, student of K. Jooss and M. Graham). In 1967 she created the Kuhlberg Balle troupe, where she staged famous ballet Freken Julia on music by T. Rangström, as well as ballets Medea Bartok (1950), Romeo and Juliet Prokofiev (1969). Her style is a combination of classical dance and modern, grotesque and pantomime. Mats Ek (b. 1945), Kullberg's son, took over the company in 1990, producing unconventional postmodern ballets Giselle And Swan Lake. Ek is one of the creators of postmodern aesthetics (theory of allusions, coding, polystylistics). His style is an ironic play with classical plots, quotes, and dance canons, which creates the effect of clearing away the cliché and giving a fresh look at the classics.

Denmark.

The Danish Royal Ballet is one of the oldest in Europe. The main task of Danish choreographers was to preserve the Bournonville school, and thanks to Hans Beck (1861–1952) ( Coppelia, 1896) it was completed, but, on the other hand, further development ceased. In 1932–1951, during the directorship of Harald Lander (1905–1971), Vera Volkova (1904–1975), the largest expert in the Vaganova system in the West, worked at the theater. During this period, the Danish school came out of isolation and produced famous dancers P. Martins and E. Brun. Eric Brun (1928–1986), was distinguished by a restrained, refined and at the same time courageous style of dance. He danced leading roles in classical ballets in theaters in the USA, Canada and Europe. In 1967–1971 he directed the Royal Swedish Ballet, and in the 1980s, the National Ballet of Canada. Staged classical romantic ballets Little concert G. G. Gulda (1953), own editions Giselle(1959), Sylphs(1964), Coppelia (1975).

Canada.

The leading company is the National Ballet of Canada, founded in Toronto in 1951 by Celia Franca (b. 1921), a ballerina of the English troupes Balle Rambert and Sadler's Wells Ballet. She created a school of classical dance based on English principles. She directed the troupe until 1974, with Brun and Baryshnikov dancing in the theater. In 1996, James Kudelka (b. 1955), one of the most interesting choreographers, became the director of the theater. There is a tradition in the theater to invite Russian dancers. Since 1994, V. Malakhov has been working at the National Ballet, A. Ratmansky danced in the troupe of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, founded in 1938. In 1957, the Great Canadian Ballet was created in Montreal.

Other countries.

The ballet of countries with a rich choreographic past (Austria, Italy) is currently on the periphery of ballet ideas. The musical theaters of Vienna and Milan give priority to opera. Although there is a centuries-old school of virtuoso dance in Italy, talented ballerinas realize themselves, as a rule, abroad (Carla Fracci, b. 1936), Alessandra Ferrucci, b. 1963), and Italian ballet is on the brink of survival.

In the second half of the 20th century. ballet penetrated into countries where folk dance traditions are strong. The Ballet Lirico Nacional appeared in Spain under the leadership of the former artist of the Dutch Dance Theater Nacho Duato (b. 1957), and in Latin America « National Ballet of Cuba" (1948), created by American Ballet ballerina Alicia Alonso, "Argentine Ballet", founded by a dancer of the same theater, Julio Bocca (b. 1967). Ballet troupes have appeared in Japan, where both classical ballet and modern dance are popular: Tokyo Ballet (1964), the KARAS group of Saburo Teshidawa (1985) are open to all directions, from classics to performance.

Russian ballet.

Ballet in Russia, as in Europe, arose as a court art under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The first Russian ballet is considered Ballet about Orpheus and Eurydice(1673, music by G. Schutz, choreographer N. Lim, Comedy Khoromina in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, Moscow). In 1738, the St. Petersburg Ballet School opened (now the Vaganova Academy of Choreography). The choreographers of the school J.B. Lande and A. Rinaldi staged a ballet divertissement in the opera at the court of Anna Ioannovna at the Hermitage Theater The power of love and hate(1736). Later both served as court choreographers. Since the 1760s, Russian ballet has developed in the pan-European mainstream of the theater of classicism. Austrians and Italians served as choreographers, composers and set designers.

In 1759–1764, the famous choreographers F. Hilferding (1710–1768) and G. Angiolini (1731–1803) worked in Russia, who staged ballets based on mythological subjects ( Semira based on the tragedy of A.P. Sumarokov, 1772). In 1773, a ballet school was opened and in Moscow - a ballet department at the Moscow Educational House, the basis of the future Moscow Academy of Choreography. The Moscow troupe, created as a public troupe, enjoyed greater independence than the state-owned St. Petersburg one. The art of the St. Petersburg troupe was more courtly, strict and academic, while the Moscow ballet was more democratic and poetic, committed to comedy and genre ballets ( Fun about Christmas time, G. Angiolini, 1767). The differences persisted later: the Leningrad ballet is still distinguished by classical rigor, academicism, and cantilever dance, while the Moscow ballet is distinguished by bravura, powerful jumps, and athleticism. The playwright Sumarokov sought the right to create his own state theater in Moscow, but Catherine II in the same year gave the monopoly on the organization of the theater to Prince P.V. Urusov and his companion, the Englishman M.G. Maddox. The Moscow Bolshoi Theater traces its ancestry back to the Meddox and Urusov enterprise (Petrovsky Theatre) organized in 1776. Meddox's troupe was created on the basis of the previously existing troupe of N.S. Titov (1766–1769), the theater of Moscow University. On the opening day of the Petrovsky Theater on December 30, 1780, the Austrian choreographer L. Paradise, who came to Russia with Hilferding’s troupe, staged a pantomime ballet Magic shop. In the 1780s, choreographers F. Morelli, P. Pinyuchi, J. Solomoni arrived from Italy to Russia, and at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. They staged luxurious divertissements at the Petrovsky Theater, as well as in the serf troupes of N.P. Sheremetyev and N.B. Yusupov, performed as an addition to opera or drama. Ballets on national themes were popular: Rustic simplicity, Village painting,Gypsy ballet,Capture of Ochakov(all – 1 third of the 19th century). Among the productions of Solomonini, the most famous choreographer who worked in Vienna with Noverre, is the ballet of the latter Medea and Jason, 1800, Petrovsky Theater, American Ballet or the Defeated Cannibals, 1790, Kuskovo, then Petrovsky Theater. From 1800, Solomonini served as the chief choreographer of the Petrovsky Theater. In 1800 he set A futile precaution in choreography by J. Doberval called The deceived old woman.

In St. Petersburg, the first public Bolshoi Theater (Kamenny), in the future the Imperial Mariinsky Theater, opened in 1783. In 1803, its ballet troupe separated from the opera, occupying a privileged position among other theater genres. Ballet enjoyed government subsidies and was subordinate to the directorate of the imperial theaters.

At the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. The time has come for the approval of Russian ballet. Domestic composers A.N. Titov, S.I. Davydov, K.A. Kavos, F.E. Scholz appeared, as well as the first Russian choreographer I.I. Valberkh (1766–1819). He combined the traditions of Russian folk dance with dramatic pantomime and the virtuoso technique of Italian ballet. Working in line with sentimentalism, Walberch staged the first ballet on a national theme - melodrama New Werther Titov, 1799. During the war of 1812, popular patriotic divertissements spread, and Walberch staged a ballet in St. Petersburg Love for the Fatherland Kavos, which was based on Russian folk dance. In 1812, the divertissement genre experienced a rise, thanks to which dancers A.I. Kolosova (1780–1869), T.I. Glushkovskaya (1800–1857), and A.I. Voronina (1806–1850) gained fame.

The most important event for Russian ballet was the arrival to Russia of the prominent choreographer of the pre-Romantic era, S. L. Didlo (worked in St. Petersburg in 1800–1809, 1816–1829). He staged Anacreontic ballets Zephyr and Flora (1808), Cupid and Psyche (1809), Acis and Galatea(1816), as well as ballets based on historical, comedy, household topics: Young thrush (1817),Return from India or wooden leg(1821). Didelot became the founder of the Anacreontic ballet genre, named after the ancient poet Anacreon, creator of the genre of love lyrics. M.I. Danilova (1793–1810), E.A. Teleshova (1804–1857), and A.S. Novitskaya (1790–1822) became famous in Didelot’s ballets. Under his leadership, the Russian ballet school began to take shape; he staged more than 40 ballets, gradually making the transition from mythological themes to modern literary subjects. In 1823 he set Prisoner of the Caucasus based on the poem by A.S. Pushkin, collaborated with the composer Kavos. A.I. Istomina (1799–1848) shone in his performances, whose dance Pushkin praised, describing it as “a flight filled with the soul.” Istomina’s art heralded the beginning of Russian romantic ballet and embodied the originality of the Russian school, focused on emotional expressiveness.

After the expulsion of the French in 1812, the Russian ballet school was headed by A.P. Glushkovsky (1793–1870), a follower of Walberg and Didelot. His activities constituted an era in the history of Russian ballet. During the War of 1812, he staged 18 ballets and a large number of divertissements (melodramas, Anacreontic ballets, Scholz ballets Ruslan and Ludmila based on Pushkin's poem, 1812, and Three belts, or Russian Cendrillon, 1826 based on the ballad of V.A. Zhukovsky). He successfully combined the possibilities of pantomime and dance, became the first theorist and historian of Russian ballet, trained a galaxy of students: D.S. Lopukhina (1806–1855), I.K. Lobanov (1797–1840) and others. Of great importance for Moscow ballet was the activities of the choreographer and teacher F. Gyullen-Sor (Richard) (1805–1860), a French ballerina who came to Moscow in 1823 ( Zephyr and Flora, 1815,Cendrillon F. Sora, 1825, Triumph of the Muses, 1825). She had a great influence on the formation of the personalities of E.A. Sankovskaya (1816–1878), T.S. Karpakova (1812–1842).

First third of the 19th century. - the time when the national ballet school was taking shape. At the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the lavish extravaganzas of A. Blanc and A. Tityus dominated on a well-equipped stage. The performance of ballet scenes in M.I. Glinka’s operas prepared Russian ballet for the symphonic development of characters. The tours of M. Taglioni in 1834–1842 and F. Elsler in 1848–1851 were of great importance. 1830–1840s – the time of romanticism in Russian ballet. In St. Petersburg, the best romantic dancer was E. A. Andreyanova (1819–1857), in Moscow - E. Sankovskaya, who is considered the first in the line of great Russian ballerinas. She took drama lessons from M.S. Shchepkin, her best roles: La Sylphide, Esmeralda, Ondine (Virgin of the Danube), Elena Vardek (Katarina, daughter of a robber). Contemporaries called her the soul of Moscow ballet. The St. Petersburg ballet in 1848–1859 was headed by the leader of romanticism, J. Perrot. Romanticism in Russia lasted longer than in the West, because... Russian ballet enjoyed the patronage of the court for many years and remained a court art. When realism came to other forms of art in the 1860s, Russian ballet retained its already conservative romantic orientation. Petipa began in the style of romanticism (the act of shadows in La Bayadère A. Minkus, 1877, ballets King Kandaules Ts.Puni, 1868, Don Quixote Minkusa, 1869, Pharaoh's Daughter Ts.Puni, Magic mirror A. Koreshchenko), in which he continued the process of symphonization of dance. The largest choreographer of that period was A. Saint-Leon (1821–1870). In 1859–1869 he served in St. Petersburg ( Coppelia L.Delibas, The Little Humpbacked Horse Ts.Puni). These were the years of the dominance of divertissement and staging effects, but at the same time K. Blazis worked in St. Petersburg, improving the technique and vocabulary of Russian ballet. Under him, dance was finally divided into classical and characteristic. Among the ballerinas who danced in those years, M.N. Muravyova (1838–1879) and dancer V.F. Geltser (1840–1908) stand out.

In 1882, the monopoly of the imperial theaters was abolished, as a result, virtuoso Italian ballerinas came to Russian ballet - Virginia Zucchi (1847–1930), Pierina Legnani (1863–1923), Carlotta Brianza (1867–1930), Antonietta Del Era. They played a big role in establishing academic ballet and performed the main roles in ballets staged by Petipa. Having arrived in 1847 from France and becoming the chief choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater in 1862, Petipa created classical dance ensembles, established its canonical forms (adagio, pas de deux, dance suites, grand pas, final coda), developed the principle of symmetry in the construction of the corps de ballet, contrasting comparisons of mass and solo dance. Petipa continued the process of symphonization of dance and came to collaborate with symphonist composers Tchaikovsky and Glazunov (previously the choreographers worked with full-time court composers invited from abroad - the Czech L. Minkusomi and the Italian Ts. Puni , who still thought in terms of divertissement ballet). The result of fruitful cooperation were masterpieces of choreographic art, which to this day form the basis of the repertoire of any ballet theater: sleeping Beauty (1890),Nutcracker(1892),Swan Lake(1895) by Tchaikovsky, Raymonda(1898), Seasons And Maid-mistress Glazunov, 1900. All these are the pinnacles of ballet symphonism. First production Swan Lake by Czech choreographer V. Reisinger in 1877 was unsuccessful. In the process of preparing these multi-act ballets, a type of grand (academic) ballet emerged. L. Ivanov, the second choreographer of the Mariinsky stage, went even further, already beyond the boundaries of academicism, composing poetic scenes of swans (second and fourth acts Swan Lake, 1895) and the dance of snowflakes in The Nutcracker, 1892). Having developed the corps de ballet dance, Ivanov turned the fairy tale ballet into a philosophical parable. His choreography continued the traditions of the “white” romantic ballet of the early 19th century. and foreshadowed the style of ballet of the 20th century, its impressionistic and metaphorical imagery. Under Petipa and Ivanov, the performing talent of E.O. Vazem (1848–1937), brothers N.G. and S.G. Legat (1869–1937), (1875–1905), M. Kshesinskaya, O.I. Preobrazhenskaya (1870–1962), who destroyed the monopoly of visiting Italian ballerinas and mastered the Italian virtuoso technique. The Spanish choreographer teacher J. Mendes (1843–1905) worked at the Moscow school, who raised the level of the troupe and nurtured the individuality of L.A. Roslavleva (1874–1904), the Italian A.A. Giuri (1872–1963), E.V. Geltser and her constant partner V.D. Tikhomirov (1876–1956).

By the beginning of the 20th century. the Russian school of dance established itself, absorbing elements French school Didelot, Italian Blasis, Cecchetti and the Danish school of H. Johanson. As a result, the Russian ballet school became the best in the world, and proof of this was the success of the Russian Seasons and Diaghilev's Russian Ballet troupe.

At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. The modern era reigned in Russian art, and director's theater appeared. The type of spectacular multi-act performance with pantomime scenes and canonical forms of classical dance is outdated. In order to correspond to the aesthetic concept of the Silver Age, the ballet needed reforms, which were started by the Bolshoi Theater choreographer A. A. Gorsky, who worked at the theater in 1902–1924. In contrast to outdated academicism, he put forward a choreographic drama in which the stage action was expressed by dance ( Gudula's daughter A.Yu.Simona, 1902, Salammbo A.F.Arends, 1910). In the spirit of choreodrama, Gorsky repeatedly reworked Swan Lake, Giselle. Under Gorsky, the personalities of V.A. Karalli (at the same time a silent film star, 1886–1972), S.V. Fedorova (1879–1963), A.M. Balashova (1887–1979), O.V. Fedorova (1882) developed –1942), M.M. Mordkin (1880–1944).

The experiments of M.M. Fokin were even more important. He fought against outdated academicism by introducing elements of free and folk vocabulary into classical dance. He composed a new type of performance - a one-act ballet with continuous action, stylistic unity of music, choreography and scenography, and focused on capturing the moment using choreographic methods. The monumental performance was replaced by a one-act miniature ballet. Fokine created ballets for the Mariinsky stage Eunica, Egyptian nights stage Polovtsian dances in the opera by A. Borodin Prince Igor, ballet Armida Pavilion N.N. Cherepnina (1907); Chopininana (Sylphs) F. Chopin (1908), later for “Russian Seasons” - Carnival(1910) and Butterflies, (1912) to the music of R. Schumann, symphonic poem by M. N. Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade(1910), Vision of a Rose K.M.Weber (1911), Daphnis and Chloe M. Ravel (1912). Fokin attached great importance to scenography. The artists of the World of Art association (L. S. Bakst, A. N. Benois, N. K. Roerich, K. A. Korovin, A. Ya. Golovin), who designed Fokin’s productions, became their full co-authors. The success of his ballets was facilitated by the creativity of dancers: A. Pavlova, T. Karsavina, Nijinsky, Mordkin, A. R. Bolm (1884–1951). The concert number became a symbol of impressionist choreography Swan C. Saint-Saens (1907), composed by Fokine for Pavlova. Despite its enormous success, ballet impressionism turned out to be historically limited style: trying to convey the subtlest shades of mood in movement, he lost content. Fokin’s collaboration with Pavlova and Karsavina was short-lived. In 1909, Pavlova created her own troupe, “Queen Columbine” Karsavina returned to classical ballet.

Diaghilev's ballet seasons.

Since 1909, the talented entrepreneur S.P. Diaghilev has been organizing annual tours of the Russian ballet in Paris, called the “Russian Seasons”. For Russian Seasons, Fokine moved his productions at the Mariinsky Theater to Paris ( Chopininana in the Parisian version it is called Sylphs,Egyptian Nights – Cleopatra) and staged Stravinsky's ballets Firebird(1910) and Parsley(1911), which was a resounding success. After Fokine left Diaghilev, Nijinsky staged two more ballets by Stravinsky, ( Afternoon of a Faun, 1912; Sacred spring). As a choreographer, Nijinsky first turned to expressionist forms ( Sacred spring) and plotless ( Games K. Debussy; 1913) ballet. Possessing a phenomenal jump, he returned priority to men's dance ( Vision of a Rose K. Weber). In 1911–1929, Diaghilev founded his own troupe, Diaghilev's Russian Ballet, which toured in Europe and the USA. L. Myasine worked as choreographers for Diaghilev (staged a cubist ballet Parade(1917) with decorations by P. Picasso and music by E. Satie to a libretto by J. Cocteau, Tricorne hat(1919) M. de Falla, plotless ballet Oh yeah to music by N. Nabokov (1928), Women in a good mood D. Scarlatti, Russian tales A. Lyadova); Bronislava Nijinska (staged Stravinsky's ballets Tale about Fox (1922); Wedding(1923); Pulcinella(1920); Mercury E . Satie (1924), Lani F . Poulenc, (1924), Steel Leap S. Prokofiev, (1927). In 1924, Balanchine joined the troupe and again turned to Stravinsky’s music, composing ballets Fireworks, Song of the Nightingale And Apollo Musagete, 1928, and Ball IN . Rieti, 1925, Cat A.Soge, 1927, expressionist ballet by Prokofiev Prodigal son, 1929. Stravinsky’s music for the ballets was a resounding success Rite of Spring, painting pictures of pagan Rus' with its daring harmonies and rhythms. Nijinsky guessed the musical theme Spring, translating it into plastic en dedans (“closed” position of the legs: toes and knees are brought together). Dodecaphony Stravinsky opened a new stage in world music. In 1916 he continued the theme of Parsley in A story about a Fox, a Rooster, a Cat and a Ram. From the early 1920s Stravinsky returned to neoclassicism ( Pulcinella, 1919 to the music of G. Pergolesi), from 1950 dodecaphony again prevailed in his music ( Agon, 1957). Diaghilev expanded the range of musical works performed as ballet music, including Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and the music of the French avant-garde (composers of the so-called “Six”: Satie, Fauré, Sauguet, Auric, Orff, Poulenc).

Despite the emigration of many outstanding artists, the difficulties of the revolution and Civil War, ballet troupes of Moscow and St. Petersburg retained their repertoire and continued to work (E.V. Geltser, V.V. Kriger (1893–1978), E.P. Gerdt (1891–1975), E.M. Lyuk (1891–1968) Ballet schools also functioned.In the 1920s, the famous system of teaching classical dance by Vaganova (1879–1951) began to take shape, which reworked various techniques that influenced the Russian school in the book Basics classical dance, revered as the ballet Bible. Vaganova’s method, based on the study of natural reactions of the body, requires harmony and coordination of movements; her students were distinguished by their amplitude of movements, soaring jump and strong back, which gave them the opportunity to control the body even in flight, prolonged elevation, and expressive flexible arms. Although Vaganova herself studied with Johanson, a representative of the Danish school of choreography, she did not include the Bournonville school in her system. However, the Soviet school, along with the Danish one, is considered the best in training male dancers, which is characterized by a powerful soaring jump, dynamic rotations, athleticism, and the ability to perform upper supports. In 1920, the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theaters received the status of academic theaters and were renamed GATOB and SABT.

The 1920s were the time of the Russian avant-garde, experiments and searches in all areas of art. A new generation of choreographers has declared itself. Gorsky continued to work at the Bolshoi Theater ( Swan Lake, 1920;Stenka Razin, 1918;Giselle, 1922;Forever living flowers B. Asafieva, 1922). K.Ya. Goleizovsky, who created the Moscow Chamber Ballet, began his experiments ( Faun K.Debussy, 1922). In 1925 he staged a ballet at the Bolshoi Theater Joseph the Beautiful S.N.Vasilenko in avant-garde costumes by B.R.Erdman.

In Petrograd, the troupe of the Mariinsky Theater was headed by F.V. Lopukhov. He put on a dance symphony The Greatness of the Universe to the music of Beethoven (1922), allegorical revolutionary ballet red vortex V.M. Deshevoy (1924), ballets by Stravinsky Pulcinella (1926), A story about a Fox, a Rooster, a Cat and a Ram (1927), Nutcracker Tchaikovsky in the constructivist scenery of V.V. Dmitriev (1929). Lopukhov was an outstanding experimenter and boldly introduced new vocabulary: elements of acrobatics and sports, folk rituals and games. He introduced the upper support of the ballerina on one hand in men's dance. This element became one of distinctive features Soviet style in ballet.

In democratic Moscow, under the influence of modern dance, Duncan, numerous studios of free plastic and rhythmic dance of L.I. Lukin, V.V. Maya, I.S. Chernetskaya, N.S. Gremina and N.N. Rakhmanov, L.N. Alekseeva arose. IN « Mastfore" by N. Foregger experimented with "dancing machines", the studios "Heptakhor", "Young Ballet" by G.M. Balanchivadze (Balanchine) worked in Petrograd. A choreological laboratory was created at the State Academy of Artistic Sciences (SAKhN), which dealt with the theoretical problems of free dance.

A.N. Ermolaev, V.M. Chabukiani, A.F. Messerer became famous in men's dance . In the women's dance, the leaders were M.T. Semenova, O.V. Lepeshinskaya, T.M. Vecheslova (1910–1991), N.M. Dudinskaya. G.S. Ulanova, K.M. were conquered by their lyricism and ability to create the psychological complexity of characters .Sergeev, M.M.Gabovich (1905–1965).

Since 1932, the style of socialist realism became the only possible one in all types of art. The multi-act plot performance has returned to the ballet ( Red poppy R.M. Gliere, staged by V.D. Tikhomirov and L.A. Lashilin, 1927). The Bolshoi Theater became the first ballet theater in the country, the personification of the Soviet ballet style (heroics, cantilence, emotionality of dance). The Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater (since 1935 - named after S.M. Kirov) preserved the academic traditions of classical ballet. The demand for realism in ballet and the tendency toward literary centrism led in the 1930s to the revival of choreodrama or drama ballet, where psychologized or danced pantomime dominated dance. Soviet choreodrama of the 1930s–1940s is a plot-based performance with a predominance of character dance, characterized by staging pomp. Everything that goes beyond the scope of realism is declared formalism ( Light stream Lopukhov – Shostakovich, 1935). Choreographers V.I. Vainonen, R.V. Zakharov, L.M. Lavrovsky worked in the drama ballet genre. The most famous ballets Bakhchisarai fountain, 1934; Lost illusions, 1935; Bronze Horseman , 1949, staged by Zakharov (the apotheosis of the style was the flood scene, when the Bolshoi stage turned into a lake); Prisoner of the Caucasus, 1938; Romeo and Juliet, 1940; Cinderella, 1949 by S. Prokofiev, staged by Lavrovsky; Flame of Paris, 1932 Vainonen; Laurencia, 1939 Chabukiani. Drama ballet choreographers abandoned large classical ensembles. Composers-symphonists worked in the field of choreodrama: B. Asafiev, R. Gliere, A. Crane, A. Khachaturian. In connection with the increasing role of pantomime, in the 1930s a new school of performance took shape, which was characterized by acting talent and psychological depth, which reached its apogee in Ulanova’s work.

In the 1930–1940s, new ballet theaters arose: the troupe of the Musical Theater named after K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko based on the troupe of V. Krieger “Moscow Art Ballet”; Maly Opera Theater (MALEGOT) in Leningrad. New choreographers appeared: N.S. Kholfin (1903–1979), V.P. Burmeister (1904–1971), Moscow, B.A. Fenster (1916–1960), Leningrad. An outstanding choreographer was Burmeister, who worked in 1941–1960, 1963–1970 at the Moscow Musical Theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko ( Tatiana A . Crane, 1947; Coast of Happiness A. Spadavecchia, 1948; original edition Swan Lake, 1953; Esmeralda Puni, 1950; Straussian, 1941; Snow Maiden Tchaikovsky, 1963). Fenster's element was comedy ballet and ballet for children ( The Imaginary Groom and Youth M.I.Chulaki; 1949, Dr. Aibolit, I. Morozova, 1948, MALEGOT). A new galaxy of dancers appeared: V.T.Bovt (1927–1995), M.M.Plisetskaya, R.S.Struchkova (1925–2005), N.B.Fadeechev (b. 1933), A.Ya.Shelest (1919 –1998) etc.

Since the 1920s, musical theaters also operated in Sverdlovsk, Perm, Saratov, Gorky, Kuibyshev, as well as in the capitals of the union republics. Since the mid-1950s, ballet schools have emerged at the Perm and Sverdlovsk theaters.

By the early 1950s, there was a need for ballet reforms. In 1956, the first foreign tour of the Bolshoi Theater ballet troupe took place in London, which was a huge success, but at the same time revealed the lag of Soviet choreography from Western.

Leningrad choreographers were the first to embark on the path of reform: Yu.N. Grigorovich ( Stone Flower S.S. Prokofiev, 1957; Legend of love A. Melikov, 1961 at the State Theater Theater named after. Kirov), I.D. Belsky (b. 1925) staged ballets Shore of Hope A.P. Petrova, 1959; Leningrad Symphony D.D. Shostakovich, 1961; The Little Humpbacked Horse R.K. Shchedrin, 1963), L.V. Yakobson in 1969 created the ensemble “Choreographic Miniatures”. They returned danceability to ballet, enriched the dance vocabulary with acrobatic elements, revived mass dance, previously forgotten genres of one-act and symphonic ballet, and expanded the themes of ballets.

F. Lopukhov and K. Goleizovsky returned to their work. O.M. Vinogradov (b. 1937) worked in the new aesthetics ( Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, 1964–1965; Asel V.A. Vlasova, 1967, Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater; Goryanka music by M.M. Kazhlaev, 1968; Yaroslavna music by B.I. Tishchenko, 1974, MALEGOT), N.D. Kasatkina (b. 1934) and V.Yu. Vasilev (b. 1934), who created the Moscow Classical Ballet ensemble in 1977, and since 1992 - the State Theater classical ballet" ( Gayane Khachaturyan, 1977; world creation Petrova, 1978; Romeo and Juliet Prokofieva, 1998, etc.); G.D. Aleksidze (b. 1941), developing the genre of dance symphonies ( Oresteia, 1968; Scythian Suite Prokofieva, 1969; Theme with variations Brahms; Concerto in F major Vivaldi; in 1966–1968 for the Leningrad Chamber Ballet Theater in 1966–1967 created ballet programs Aphorisms to music Shostakovich; Metamorphoses Britten, and then revived Rameau's ballet Gallant India; Pulcinella Stravinsky and Prodigal son Prokofiev, both – 1978); B.Ya. Eifman (b. 1946), experimented at the Kirov and Maly Opera Theaters ( Firebird Stravinsky, 1975, Idiot to music 6 symphonies by Tchaikovsky, 1980; Master and Margarita Petrova, 1987; in 1977 he created the St. Petersburg Ballet Theater. Leningrad choreographer D.A. Bryantsev (b. 1947), who began his career at the Kirov Theater, in 1985 headed the ballet troupe of the musical theater named after. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko ( Optimistic tragedy M.Bronner, 1985; Corsair Adana, 1989; Othello A. Machavariani, 1991). In 1966 in Moscow, I.A. Moiseev organized the “Young Ballet” (since 1971 – “Classical Ballet”), the first choreographic concert ensemble in the USSR.

The leader of the new wave was Grigorovich, a master of dance metaphor in narrative ballet. With his arrival at the Bolshoi Theater in 1964, the theater experienced a rise, the pinnacle of which were its productions: Nutcracker, 1966 and Spartacus Khachaturian, 1968. For the Bolshoi Theater he composed the original version Swan Lake(1968), several editions Sleeping beauty, (1963, 1973), in 1975 staged a ballet Ivan groznyj, V 1979 – Romeo and Juliet both on music . Prokofiev, Hangar A. Eshpaya, in 1982 – Golden age Shostakovich. In Grigorovich’s ballets, the duets of N.I. Bessmertnov - L.M. Lavrovsky (b. 1941), E.S. Maksimova - V.V. Vasiliev became famous, the talent of M.E. Liepa (1936–1989), N.I. Sorokina (b. 1942), N.V. Timofeeva (b. 1935). However, by the early 1980s, new performances by Grigorovich appeared less and less frequently, while ballets by other directors (Plisetskaya, Kasatkina and Vasilyev, Vasiliev, Vinogradov, A. Alonso ) made it onto the stage with difficulty. In fact, the Bolshoi Theater found itself in a crisis due to the monopoly of one choreographer, while all the ballet theaters in the country were equal to the Bolshoi. Innovative techniques, having turned into immutable canons, have become a cliché. If foreign choreography did not penetrate into the Bolshoi Theater, the Kirov Theater, with the advent of O. Vinogradov to the leadership (1977), became more open to world trends. Under him, ballets by Balanchine, Robbins and Tudor, MacMillan, Neumeier, Bournonville appeared in the repertoire, and an Evening of ancient choreography by P. Lacotte was held from previously unknown fragments of ballets by Perro, Taglioni, Saint-Leon, Petipa.

In 1960–1970, a new wave of talented dancers appeared: Yu.V. Vladimirov (b. 1942), M.V. Kondratieva (b. 1934), L.I. Semenyaka (b. 1952), A.A. Asylmuratova ( b. 1961), I.A. Kolpakova (b. 1933), N.A. Dolgushin, (b. 1938), A.E. Osipenko, (b. 1932), F.S. Ruzimatov (b. 1963) , A.I. Sizova (b. 1939), Yu.V. Solovyov (1940–1977). M. Plisetskaya continued to work. For her A. Alonso created Carmen Suite, R. Petit – Death of the Rose Mahler, Bejart – Isadora And Bolero. As a choreographer, she staged ballets by R. Shchedrin: Anna Karenina, 1972; Gull, 1980;Lady with a dog, 1984. V. Vasiliev acted as a choreographer: Anyuta, V. Gavrilina, 1986; Romeo and Juliet, 1990; Macbeth K.Molchanova, 1980; Giselle, Swan Lake, 1999.

A new generation of composers has appeared: R.K.Shchedrin, Petrov, M.M.Kazhlaev, N.N.N.N.Karetnikov, K.S.Khachaturyan, A.B.Zhurbin, V.V.Besedina, M.B .Bronner, Eshpai. In the geography of ballet, the leading places are occupied by Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Ural region (Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk). A strong ballet school has developed in Perm. A graduate of the Perm Choreographic School N.V. Pavlova (b. 1956) in 1973, who received the Grand Prix of the Moscow Ballet Competition, became one of the leading lyrical ballerinas of the Bolshoi Theater; in post-Soviet times, original modern dance troupes appeared in Perm and Chelyabinsk.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent economic crisis brought enormous difficulties to ballet companies, which had previously been generously subsidized by the state. Many dancers and teachers left the country to settle in the USA, England, Germany and other Western countries.

With the end of the Grigorovich era in 1995, the Bolshoi Theater experienced a crisis associated with ill-conceived personnel and economic policy theater Russian ballet has missed several generations of the evolution of European choreography and is currently experiencing a shortage of dance ideas. At the same time, the level of the performing school has been maintained. Bright personalities have emerged such as N.G.Ananiashvili, M.A.Alexandrova, A.A.Antonicheva, D.V.Belogolovtsev, A.Yu.Bogatyrev, A.N.Vetrova, N.A.Gracheva, D.K. .Gudanov, S.Yu.Zakharova, Yu.V.Klevtsov, Ilze and Maris Liepa, N.M.Tsiskaridze (Bolshoi Theater); D.V. Vishnevaya, U.V. Lopatkina, I.A. Nioradze (Mariinsky Theatre); M.S. Drozdova, N.V. Ledovskaya, T.A. Chernobrovkina, V. Kirillov, A. Domashev, G. Smilevski, V. Dick (Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre).

After 1991, the domestic ballet began to master the experience of Western ballet in the field of modernity, jazz, and free movement. The Bolshoi Theater actively stages ballets by Western choreographers ( Sylphide edited by E-M. von Rosen, Denmark, 1994; Symphony in C major,Agon,Mozartiana Balanchine, 1998–1999; Queen of Spades to the music of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Passacaglia Webern, 1998; Notre Dame Cathedral Petit, 2003; Pharaoh's daughter Lacotta, 2000; A futile precaution F. Ashton, 2002; A dream in a summer night Neumayer, 2004). Even earlier, the Mariinsky Theater turned to Balanchine’s ballets. For staging the ballet Prodigal son S. Prokofiev's theater received the Golden Mask award in 2003. In the same year, the theater presented three famous Forsythe ballets for the first time: Steptext to the music of Bach, A dizzying rapture of precision to the music of Schubert and Where the golden cherries hang to music by T. Willems and L. Stuck. Reconstructions of ancient productions are popular: sleeping Beauty Tchaikovsky, La Bayadère Minkus, 1991 at the Bolshoi Theater, Swan Lake in Mariinsky, Coppelia L. Delib in Novosibirsk, A. M. Liepa’s experience in restoring Fokine’s ballets, 1999 ( Parsley, scene Polovtsian dances,Scheherazade). On the other hand, Russian and Soviet classics are not only restored, but are subject to modern interpretations ( Don Quixote edited by Fadeechev, 1999, Light stream And Bolt Shostakovich, revised by A. Ratmansky, respectively, 2003 and 2005, Romeo and Juliet R. Poliktaru, 2004, all – Bolshoi Theater, Nutcracker K.A. Simonova, 2002, (director and ballet designer M.M. Shemyakin), Cinderella Ratmansky, 2003, both – Mariinsky Theatre, Romeo and Juliet, 1997 And Nutcracker, 2000, at the Perm Theater “Ballet of E. Panfilov”.

The practice of working abroad for dancers and choreographers was legalized. Many dancers have done international career(I. Mukhamedov, A. Asylmuratova, Ananiashvili, D. Vishneva, Malakhov, V. Derevianko, A. V. Fedotov, Yu. M. Posokhov, I. A. Zelensky, Ratmansky). V. Malakhov, a graduate of the Moscow Academy of Choreography, a laureate of ballet competitions, was named the best dancer in the world in 1997, works simultaneously in several foreign ballet troupes, since 2002 - director of the Berlin “Staatstheater Unter den Linden”, and also realizes himself as a choreographer. D. Bryantsev continues to work( The Taming of the Shrew M.Bronner, 1996; one-act ballets Bravo,Figaro 1985; Scythians And Cowboys D. Gershwin, 1988; Lonely voice of a man Vivaldi, N. Paganini and O. Kitaro, 1990; Phantom Ball F. Chopin, 1995; Biblical legends, Shulamith V.Besedina and Salome P. Gabriel, 1997–1998, Lady with camellias Verdi, 2001), since 1994 Bryantsev has simultaneously worked as the chief choreographer of the St. Petersburg Chamber Ballet troupe; The St. Petersburg Ballet Theater of B.Ya. Eifman acquired the status of a state academic ( Russian Hamlet Beethoven-Mahler, 1999; Requiem Mozart 1998; Karamazovs, 1995 to the music of Rachmaninov, Wagner, Mussorgsky and gypsy songs, Chaikovsky, 1995 (“Golden Mask”), Teresa Raquin Bach-Schnittke, Don Quixote by Minkus,Red Giselle to music Tchaikovsky, My Jerusalem, 1998, musical Who is who, 2004.

One of the leading choreographers in Russia was Ratmansky (b. 1968), who was “discovered” by Ananiashvili when he was a dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet. He composed ballets for her: The delights of mannerism to the music of R. Strauss and Dreams about Japan who received the Golden Mask. Currently, while continuing to live in Denmark, he works as artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater Ballet ( Light stream Shostakovich, 2002). Staged at the Mariinsky Theater Cinderella, at the Fadeechev Dance Theater - ballet by L. Bernstein Lea(“Golden Mask” - 2003). Ananiashvili herself headed her own enterprise; in 2004 she became the artistic director of the Georgian National Ballet and the director of the Tbilisi Choreographic School. V. Chabukiani. Moldovan choreographer Radu Polictaru, who graduated from the Minsk Choreographic School and received first prize at the ballet competition named after. Serge Lifar in Kyiv, 2003, staged a postmodern version at the Bolshoi Theater Romeo and Juliet Prokofiev (2004).

Independent private troupes and schools of different directions appeared: “Dance Theater” under the leadership of Fadeechev (another name is “A. Ratmansky’s Ballet Theatre”), “Imperial Ballet” by G. Taranda, a number of postmodern dance theaters (E.A. Panfilova, G.M. Abramova, A.Yu. Pepelyaev). The first private ballet theater was the “Experiment” theater of E. Panfilov in Perm (1987), in 2000 it received the status of a state and modern name: “E. Panfilov’s Perm Theater.” Panfilov (1956–2002) created a unique style, combining classical, modern, jazz, and folklore. He staged 49 ballets and 70 miniatures ( Run to music A.G. Schnittke, 1988; Mistral on the music of K. Orff, 1993; Man in black, woman in green, to music Tchaikovsky, 1994; Dead island to music Rachmaninova, 1991; Fantasies in black and fiery colors to music I.V. Mashukova, Enigma and M. Ravel groups, 1991; Vision of a Rose Weber, 1994; Parrot cage to ballet music Carmen Bizet-Shchedrin, Romeo and Juliet, Prokofiev, 1996; Vision of a Rose Weber, Parrot cage to the music of Bizet's opera Carmen, Habakkuk...Mystery Dance music by V. Martynov, 1998; Various trams, 2001, Blockade to the music of the siege symphony by D. Shostakovich, 2003). Panfilov's theater was a completely original performance; he composed not only the choreography, but also the decoration, costumes, and lighting. In addition to the main troupe, the theater has created a number of auxiliary ones, consisting not only of professional dancers (“Tolstoy’s Ballet”, since 1994, “Fight Club”, since 2000, “Bel Corps de Ballet”, since 2004). For a play about the war Women, year 1945, carried out by the Tolstoy Ballet, the theater was awarded the Golden Mask award in the category “Best Innovation” - 2000. Panfilov, who died early, a daring experimenter, was called the second Diaghilev and choreographer of the 21st century. Since 2002, the artistic director of the theater has been S.A. Raynik, one of the leading dancers of the troupe.

Among other contemporary dance theaters (Contemporary Dance) - twice winner of the Golden Mask award "Theater of Contemporary Dance" under the direction of V. and O. Pon, (Chelyabinsk, since 1992; Cinema mania or is there life on Mars, 2001; Does the Queen of England know life?, 2004), laureate of the international dance competition in Paris, group “Provincial Dances” under the direction of T. Baganova, (Ekaterinburg, since 1990, Wedding Stravinsky, 1999), Moscow Theater “Class of Experimental Plastics” by G. Abramov, choreographer of the theater A. A. Vasilyev, since 1990, “Dance Theater A. Kukin” , since 1991, the group “Nota Bene” by V. Arkhipov, choreographer of the Satyricon Theater, since 1999. One of the most intellectual dance theaters in Russia is the Moscow group “PO.V.S. Dances” (ballet on the floor Leaves of bodies on electronic music, 2003).

CLASSICAL DANCE TECHNIQUES

In classical dance, there are five leg positions, performed in such a way that the legs seem to be turned outward (hence the term “turnout”). We are not talking about turning only the feet with their toes in different directions; the entire leg should be turned, starting from the hip joint. Since this is only possible with sufficient flexibility, the dancer must practice daily and for a long time in order to learn to assume the required position without effort.

Why do you need eversion?

First, eversion allows you to perform all lateral movements with ease and grace. The dancer can move from side to side while remaining facing the viewer. Secondly, when the necessary turnout has been developed, the legs move more easily, and you can lift your leg into the air much higher without disturbing the balance of the body. When the leg is extended in an inverted position, the hips remain at the same horizontal level. If the dancer does not have turnout, then he has to raise one hip to give the leg the opportunity to move upward, and in this case the balance is disrupted. Thus, eversion gives maximum freedom of movement with maximum balance. Thirdly, thanks to the eversion, the lines of the body and the general appearance of the dancer become more attractive.

Classical dance positions.

First position: Feet with heels touching and toes turned outward, forming a straight line on the floor.

Second position similar to the first, but the heels of the everted legs are spaced from one another by the length of the foot (i.e., approximately 33 cm).

Third position: The feet are adjacent to each other in such a way that the heel of one foot touches the middle of the other foot (i.e., one foot half covers the other). This position is rarely used nowadays.

Fourth position: Turnout feet stand parallel to each other approximately one foot apart (33 cm). The heel of one foot should be directly in front of the toe of the other; this way the weight is distributed evenly.

Fifth position similar to the fourth with the difference that the feet fit tightly one to the other.

All classical dance steps are derived from these positions. Initially, the positions are performed with both feet on the floor and knees straight. Next, various options arise: you can bend one or both knees (pliés), lift one or both heels (when standing on your toes), lift one leg into the air (the knee can be straight or bent), lift it off the ground, taking one of the positions in air.

Conclusion.

By the end of the 20th century. The problems facing ballet art became increasingly clearer. In the 1980s, when Balanchine, Ashton and Tudor died (in the 1980s) and Robbins retired from active work, a creative vacuum arose. Most of the young choreographers working in the late 20th century were not very interested in developing the resources of classical dance. They preferred a mixture of different dance systems, with classical dance appearing impoverished, and modern dance devoid of originality in identifying bodily capabilities. In an effort to convey what constitutes the essence of modern life, choreographers use finger techniques as if to emphasize thoughts, but ignore traditional hand movements (port de bras). The art of support has been reduced to a kind of interaction between partners, when a woman is dragged along the floor, thrown, twirled, but almost never supported or danced with her.

Most troupes build their repertoire to include 19th-century classics. ( Sylphide, Giselle, Swan Lake, sleeping Beauty), the most famous ballets of the masters of the 20th century. (Fokine, Balanchine, Robbins, Tudor and Ashton), popular productions by MacMillan, Cranko, Tetley and Kilian and the work of a new generation of choreographers such as Forsyth, Duato, Koudelki. At the same time, dancers receive better training because... There are more knowledgeable teachers. The relatively new field of dance medicine has given dancers access to techniques for preventing injury.

There is a problem of introducing dancers to music. Widespread popular music does not know the diversity of styles, in many countries teaching musical literacy is at a low level, when choreographing dances, phonograms are constantly used - all this interferes with the development of musicality among dancers.

Ballet competitions have become a new phenomenon in recent decades, the first of which was held in Varna (Bulgaria) in 1964. They attract not only prizes, but also the opportunity to appear before judges representing the most prestigious organizations. Gradually, there were more competitions, at least ten in different countries; some offer scholarships instead of money. Due to the need for choreographers, choreography competitions also emerged.

The most famous ballet competitions: Moscow International, Benois de la Dance, Grand Pas, European Festival of Contemporary Dance EDF, (Moscow); Maya, Vaganova prix, Mariinsky, Stars of the White Nights, Exercise-Modern (St. Petersburg), Serge Lifar Choreographers' Competition in Kyiv. International ballet competitions are also held in Varna (Bulgaria), Paris (France), Lausanne (Switzerland), Osaka (Japan), Rieti (Italy), Jackson (USA). Numerous contemporary dance competitions (Biennale of Contemporary Dance, Lyon, Pina Bausch Contemporary Dance Festival (Wuppertal)) cause great public resonance.

Elena Yaroshevich

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Krasovskaya V. Russian ballet theater of the early twentieth century, part 2. Dancers. L., 1972
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Gaevsky V. Divertissement. The fate of classical ballet. M., 1981
Krasovskaya V. Western European ballet theater from its origins to the mid-18th century. L., 1983
Krasovskaya V. Western European ballet theater. Noverre era. L., 1983
Krasovskaya V. Western European ballet theater. Pre-romanticism. L., 1983
Krasovskaya V. Western European ballet theater. Romanticism. L., 1996
Solway D. Rudolf Nureyev on stage and in life. M., 2000