Shortsummary
This issue opens
with Yelena Presniakova's article One Hundred Years and
One Life dedicated to the centennial
of the great Igor Aleksandrovich Moiseev. «... all things
are unique here - be it the spiritual atmosphere, or the time reckon¬
ing, or the global indeed embrace of the folk life, or the Maestro's
jubilee itself – a centennial, of which more than eight
decades have been dedicated to dance.» Igor Moiseev is a living
legend, whose art makes any day a high day. The article
covers the festivities held at the State Kremlin Palace.
The SOUL OF DANCE column continues to present award winners:
Nina Zhilenko relates of
Zaituna Nasretdinova, the first professional ballerina of the Republic
of Bashkiria, who
graduated cum laude from the Vaganova Choreography School and had
for 23 years danced on stage of the Bashkir
Opera and Ballet Theater in Ufa. She is still with the theater,
now as repetiteur, and her pupils dance all over the world.
Time flies, but Zaituna Nasretdinova can not imagine
her life without creative activities. For 40 years, day in and day
out, she has entered the ballet classes of the Ufa's Theater. "Zaituna
Nasretdinova never conceals her age. But, looking at
her, who might ever realize she is over 80? She is shapely, well-groomed,
with that characteristic bearing of a ballerina
which no age can alter.» She does not like to expatiate upon her
awards or titles. However, there is one she is proud of. After the famous
10-day Bashkir festival in Moscow, she became the third Soviet ballerina
- after Galina Ulanova and Olga Lepeshinskaya - to be awarded the hon¬orary
title of the People's Artist of the U.S.S.R.
Tatiana Chernova presents the legendary dance teacher from
Perm', Natalia Danilovna Silvanovich. Her uneasy life voyage has been bound
up with Leningrad, Yakutsk, and Perm'. In 1952, after having successfully
graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory and received degree in "Teaching
Methodology of Classical, Folk-Character and Historical-Domestic Dance»,
N. Silvanovich moved to Perm' - as it turned out, for good. For almost
half a century, she has worked at the local Choreography School, and she
has spent all her life in ballet class. She likes to say repeatedly, as
she has for many years, «0ne must not dance with one's body alone. The
main thing in dance is one's soul... And, please, never forget your arms.
It's your wings, my girls...» She's seen off twenty two graduation classes,
and among her alumni there are wonderful ballerinas, of whom many have
become pride and beauty of leading ballet troupes in Russia and all over
the world.
During the anniversary's year of the School, Natalia Silvanovich
has twice given demonstration classes - in spring, at the time of exams,
and in the fall, at a practical training conference. All her colleagues
and guests from many Russian cities, some of them experts of world reputation,
anonymously judged those classes as brilliant.
Lira Gabysheva's article deals with Gennadi Baishev, a choreographer
from Yakutsk, who "possessed a precious gift to sense the breath of his
native land... The vast expanse of green oases surrounding the dark blew
ponds, the placid flow of the majestic Lena River, the motley grass of
the vernal tundra sounds and colors and rhythms and poetry of the
ancient Olonkho land all turn into visual imagery in the art of this master."
It has been a quarter century that Baishev is contemplating, exploring
and embodying in his choreography the dance traditions, folklore, and culture
of the Northern peo¬ples. He is creator and artistic director of the National
Dance Theater of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). This autheuris-mic theater's
repertoire includes about 30 exciting and original spectacles, com¬positions,
and suites, as well as numerous concert numbers. Lira Gabysheva's sketch
relates the story of the artistic life of a Novosibirsk Choreography School
alumnus who has become an idol for the Yakut audiences, and of the unforget¬table
characters he has impersonated in his ballet performances. Baishev is preoccupied
with the grand idea - to embody on stage the pearl of the ethnic culture,
Olonkho. "Gennadi Baishev's talent gives people the joy of discovering
the inimitable beauty of the Northern land and of its ancient culture,
the vibrant and heady breath of this severe country. That's where lies
the uniqueness of the Sakha Dance Theater, which has become part of the
cultural inheritance of the whole multiethnic cul¬ture of Russian Federation."
Vladimir Gorshkov presents the article Vladimir Yakovlev:
an Architect of Theater. Vladimir Yakovlev graduated from the Leningrad
Choreography School in 1969, and has served the Tartar ballet theater ever
since. First, his talent as a ballet dancer had forcefully manifested itself
in grotesque parts of the classical repertoire. Later on, when in the late
1980's Raufal Mukhametzianov, director of the Musa Djalil Tartar Opera
and Ballet Theater, initiated dramatic reforms in the ballet troupe, Vladimir
Yakovlev became troupe's artistic director. Immediately he encountered
numerous problems, some of which demanded fast solutions, others, not so
fast, and others yet, perennial. In September 2005, the Musa
Djalil
Theater opened a new season in a newly rebuilt and renovated building.
Its main feature is the stage. It is built up according to the state-of-the-art
technologies. The ballet troupe was given two magnificent halls, and the
Chome comfort' facilities have not been forgotten either. «The word Cprovincial'
for the Tartar ballet has long came to bear, not cultural, but merely geographical
connotation. As we all know, there is no limit to perfection."
Victoria Terioshkina, a young principal at the Mariinsky Theater,
has been with the troupe for five seasons now. First she appeared in «twos»
and «threes», then in solo variations of the classical repertoire. In her
second year at the Theater, she, under repetiteur Lyubov Kunakova, prepared
the part of Odette-Odile and performed in Swan Lake. 
Thanks to her technical unconstraint, Victoria is able to danqe
successfully not only within the framework of classical repertoire but
also of the Balanchine and Forsythe choreography. According to her peers,
she has better than others mastered a most difficult part in the Etudes
by Lander. She is especially good in the Classical Pas de Deux by Auber,
which she had dreamed of since her school days. These days the ballerina
has yet another premiere - the part of Mehmene Banu in A Legend of Love.
«The part of the proud-hearted oriental queen is replete with complex choreography.
There are also multidimensional problems of acting the dramatis persona
which demand of the performer varying plastiques - some¬times painfully
tense, sometimes elegant and refined, but always emotionally charged",
opines Irina Pushkina who wrote the article.
THE BALLET THEME column presents an interview given to Larisa Abyzova
by the People's Artist of the U.S.S.R., professor Nikita Aleksandrovich
Dolgushin. He talks about the classical heritage and its meaning; about
the ways the classical ballet language is being developed not necessarily
according to rules and canons; about the roles ballet competitions play;
about reasons and influences that make dance faceless; about what exactly
duet is, what distance the partners should keep, and how profitable imitation
in dance is.
Dolgushin the crowd puller recalls his childhood, his first years
on stage, his instructors, his ballet impressions, his cooperation with
various choreographers such as Goleizovsky, Yakobson, Grigorovich, Belsky,
Aleksidze, Lebedev,
Murdmaa, and Vinogradov; he also reflects upon the problems of contemporary
choreography.
Yet another subject of the conversation was restoration of old productions
at the St. Petersburg Conservatory's Musical Theater, and also the role
of the repe titeur. Towards the end, the grand artist revealed the secret
of his youthfulness: «ln our theater, I see a kindred spirit in everyone
and try to inspire in them self-confidence, even if their abilities are
less than great. I try to charge everyone with outer energy, and then draw
that energy from them.»
The column A NAME IN BALLET presents an essay by Galina Beliaeva-Tchelombitko
about the Bolshoy Theater's prima ballerina of 1960's through 1980's, the
People's Artist of the U.S.S.R. Svetlana Adyrkhaeva. As a little girl,
she was sent from a faraway village in Ossetia to the Vaganova Choreography
School, where she had spent a long nine years. Then, having worked for
a few years at various theaters, she finally ended up at the Bolshoy, where
she had remained one of the most faithful disciples of Galina Ulanova.
During her almost 30-year performing tenure at the Bolshoy she had never
quit rehearsing underthe guidance of the great ballerina. Yet another mentor
of hers was the great Marina Semyonova, who was her permanent repetiteur
at the Theater. Such constancy is very characteristic of Svetlana Adyrkhaeva.
She is utterly devoted to the art of ballet, whose sublime symbols Ulanova
and Semyonova are.
Svetlana Adyrkhaeva had to wrest the status of ballerina at the
Bolshoy while dancing side by side with such greats as M. Plisetskaya,
R. Struchkova, M. Kondratieva, N. Timofeeva, N. Sorokina, N. Bessmertnova
and Ye. Maksimova, as well as the next generation dancers such as N. Pavlova,
L Semeniaka, N. Simizorova, and N. Ananiashvili. This list of outstanding
ballerinas is far from complete, and each one of them might have been looked
at as a potential rival. Yet, in the Bolshoy repertoire, there were productions
associated with none other but Adyrkhaeva alone. Such were Spartacus where
she danced Egina, A Legend of Love with her Mahmene Banu, and The Flower
of Stone's Mistress of the Mount Copper. But most manifestly had there
«flowed» through her entire artistic life her Odette-Odile. There was something
ineffably personal in her rendering of those parts. Perhaps it was
a certain
savor of oriental plastique, of subtle delicacy. The so-called «open
temperament-was alien to the ballerina; she gave herself to the epic tenor
of dance... These days S. Adyrkhaeva trains many young and talented dancers.
The BALLET-PARADE column presents Olga Bavdilovich's article A School
of the 'Thinking' Body dedicated to Tsekh-05, the fifth
Summer Dance School
Workshop, which is one of the activities of the
Moscow agency Tsekh (or Workshop).
The agency was created in 2000 with the goal of furthering various trends
in contemporary dance. The Summer school of 2005 had attracted, along with
Russian teachers, trainers from the USA, France, Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands,
Estonia, Tanzania, and Slovenia. Their training sessions and master classes
were very popular with the students. The article briefly describes different
techniques and methods used by both Russian and foreign instructors. «0ne
feels a sincere urge to thank everyone for their enthusiasm, for their
love of the art of contemporary dance, and for readiness to share their
skills with the young generation of performers, choreographers, and instructors.
It seems a sure sign that a time is near when we could talk not only about
the American, French or German dance nouveau but also about the Russian
one.»
The second article within the same column is that by Yelena
Presniakova covering the Classical Choreography of India Festival held
in Moscow towards the end of 2005. It has revealed a serious interest on
the part of dance lovers to one of the most exciting and original choreographic
cultures. This time the Festival was dedicated solely to Bharata Natyam,
one of the oldest dance styles of India. «The groups that presented their
programs were exciting in that, while dancing within the framework of the
same style, each one had found their own individual hues in it. All their
leaders had studied Indian dance not only in Russia but also in its homeland".
? The article From the Rose Dance to the Aurora's Wedding by Marina llyichova
acquaints the readers with the first Nutcracker International Christmas
Ballet Festival held at the Opera and Ballet Theater of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov
Conservatory of St. Petersburg and dedicated to the 165th anniversary of
Peter llyich Tchaikovsky.
The Festival organizers, artistic leaders and officers of the Theater
presented a full-blown development
of the
Nutcracker's theme. Not only did they show four totally different
renderings of the ballet (those staged by the St. Petersburg Children's
Ballet Theater, by the ballet troupe of Vanemuyne Theater of Tartu, by
the Opera and Ballet Theater of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and the
Opera and Ballet Theater of Samara), but also accordingly decorated the
Conservatory's building within and without. In the foyer, expositions were
held of competitive paintings by the St. Petersburg student artists and
of sketches of costumes, props and stage sets for The Nutcracker
by Mikhail Chemiakine. The Festival closed with a gala-concert to the music
of P. I. Tchaikovsky, where a Russia pre¬miere was presented the
ballet A Reminiscence of Childhood to the music of the Children's Album
and A Theme with Variations.
The BALLET WORLD column's first article, that by Igor Zapravdin,
deals with an unusual romantic ball - the Festival of Romantic Ballets
held in the Austrian capital city in honor of Vienna State Opera's 50th
anniversary. The Festival's program included eight performing versions
of the major parts in perhaps the most famous ballet of the romantic repertoire,
Giselle to the music of Adam. The column's second article is The Victory
Symphony by Roman Volodchenkov. "Honoring the 60th anniversary of the Great
Victory over Nazism, the special artistic council of the Shanghai Opera
Theater had decided to stage a ballet to the music of the Seventh ('Leningrad')
Symphony of Dmitry Shostakovich and to that end engaged the famous Russian
choreographer Andrei Petrov.» The article deals with that large-scale,
dramatically tense choreographic pageant built up according to the best
traditions of classical choreography.
The INFORM-BALLET column adheres to its traditional form while
relating of thenews in dance.
Professor Tofick Bakikhanov acquaints the readers with
the history and premieres of the Chamber Ballet of Baku
Terpsichore that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season.
Aleksandr Maksov writes about new parts
performed by the
Bolshoy Theater's principals Svetlana Lun'kina,
Maria Aleksandrova, Marianna Ryzhkina, Natalia
Osipova, Nelly Kobakhidze, Anastasia
Goriacheva, Dmitri Gudanov,
Andrei Bolotin, and Yegor Khromushkin.
Yelena Presniakova's sketch relates of the closing gala-concert
performed by the Soul of Dance Award winners held at
the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.
Svetlana Terentieva presents the premiere performance of the
ballet The Ugly Duckling staged by the Musical Theater
of Omsk after the story by H. C. Andersen for the bicentennial of
the great Danish storyteller.
 Principal
dancer of the Glinka Opera and Ballet Theater of Cheliabinsk, Tatiana
Predeina, received the honorary title of the People's Artist of the Russian
Federation.
Julia Strizhekurova shares her impresssions of the Symphonic Dances
of the 20th Century night within the framework
of the Vladimir Spivakov Invites musicalfestival.
Shining out was Uliana Lopatkina,
who just received the honorary title of the People's Artist of the Russian
Federation.
The sketch A Journey from Petersburg to Moscow is a narrative
about the guest performances of the K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko
Musical Theater of Moscow on stage of the Mariinsky Theater.
The Choreographic
Miniatures Theater currently under Yuri Petukhov has recently acquired
the status of a St.
Petersburg's state cultural institution and is
now called Leonid Yakobson State Academic Ballet Theater of St.
Petersburg.
The Young Ones Taking a CVoice' Trial is a sketch about the
Bolshoy Theater's project Workshop of New Choreography.
G. Victorova presents a review of One Act Ballets Night of the Russian
Ballet Theater.
Towards the «curtain fall» of the issue, the Magazine's editor-in-chief
Valeria Uralskaya expresses her opinion concerning the losses that «we
witness in the life of ballet theater day in and day out». Among them are
«the ballet productions where the magic of a gentle fairy tale is leaving
our frail world. Along with them, we see passing away into oblivion the
imagery of modesty, purity, soft femininity, naivety, the inartificial
ways characteristic of lightsome and beautiful fairy tale heroines, for
whose sake valiant youths and full-aged men performed heroic deeds. As
we know, not only fairy tales, but also the entire world literature has
since day one been acknowledging the values eternal. So, is it an end of
them?»
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