Ballet sad image – Kommersant

Resuming ballet

Most of the Moscow classical ballets – “Don Quixote “Alexander Gorsky (1900) and another half-dozen Soviet authors – moved to New on the scene solemn historical, and along with a change of scenery and costumes. On the consequences of relocation and decoration tells Tatyana Kuznetsova.

“Don Quixote” – the most tenacious in the world of ballet. It allows you to do with them all: to insert new dances, rearrange the order of scenes, move variations from other ballets, compose new ones. Since 1900 (when Petersburger Alexander Gorsky set to a libretto by Marius Petipa own, the Moscow version of that – exceptional case – later moved to St. Petersburg) only at the Bolshoi Theatre, “Don Quixote” has gone through a dozen productions, including two soldiers, 1942, in an evacuation Kuibyshev and Moscow frontline. The score Minkus safely grow into rooms Soloviev-Gray and Zhelobinskogo, choreography Gorsky complement Rostislav Zakharov, Kasyan Goleyzovsky Anatoly Simachev, as well as many dancers – from the best Espada 1940s Sergey Koren to unsurpassed Vladimir Vasiliev, who was taken part of Basil to the heights of today’s virtuosity . The editors that existed in the Great until last year, was naitraditsionneyshey: in 1999 the then ballet artistic director Alexei Fadeechev returned to the stage performance of his childhood, by removing the stillborn version by Yuri Grigorovich. At the premiere, the joy was universal. Cheerful decoration Sergei Barkhin, historical costumes, referring to the statement of 1906, revive the troupe, a scattering of well-performed roles – all forced to speak about the revival of the Bolshoi after the dramatic upheavals of the last decade of the twentieth century.

Since then, the play is loose: retired participants premiere, lost sense of mise en scène, rein in the acting dancers gag, distorting or adapting choreographic text. Moreover, it demanded the performance needed to move to a small New Stage on the main, historical – there are more seats for spectators, and ballet crowded. Clean the “Don Quixote” invited its author Alexey Fadeyechev. Duty Ballet migration from the scene on the stage is not something that first night, even the resumption of hard to call: he was in the last season, dance were the same people. In short, there were no signs of trouble.

Although, of course, the decision to order a new scenery Valery Leventhal seemed controversial: the artist designed not one of “Don Quixote” and invariably unsuccessful – stage design of the play, going still on stage Muzteatra Stanislavsky well as well as the scenery version Grigorovich came mincing, dull, conceptually vague. Fate decreed that the new order is more was the last work of the artist: Valery Leventhal died almost completed work on the sketches. Not wanting to discuss his work, except to say that in velaskesovski detailed historical costumes Elena Zaitseva is not always combined with decorations, which painted “under realism” backs placed in the conditional – gold or black – a frame of naked scenes and a grate davyasche- low sag lush drapery fabrics. However, the desire to get away from the age-old traditions is not alien to the artist and costume designer. Traditions cruel revenge: one balerinskaya pack of the third act (red with black trim and a wide gold border around the rim – spilled khokhloma) is able to cross the rich delights of the court dresses, which flaunts Mimamsa.

However, the strangeness of registration could be put to rest as secondary if directorial and choreographic cleansing “Don Quixote” ballet made its former shine with freshness. Alas, garbage only grind in the corners, making ruinirovannye fragments of the play appeared in all ugliness. The first character dances (also known as the People’s scenic), which is in the “Don Quixote” more than in any ballet. Alex Fadeechev former classic prime, there is little understanding of the genre (to the end of 1960 in each great company of the USSR for the performance of these dances were held special characteristic of artists), but because the entire heel “ispanschinu” and “gypsy” left to the tutor Big Julian Malkhasyants.

Former typical soloist with the young age dancing is not that delivered, but that she could compensate mutilated choreography killer temperament, aggressive and vulgar manner of filing and some know-how among which stand out particularly effective bridge to a specific deflection in the sacrum, allowing dancers to sweep the hair scene. Now all the “Spanish flu” Big bend it like this: busily arranging her legs wide and purposefully pulling his head to the floor. Between these gymnastic deflections academic choreographic text simply does not exist or is transformed beyond recognition. And since the current, first performance will be considered as the reference, the typical dance of Moscow can be considered definitively buried. The only survivor dancing (or rather, its last part as a dramatic middle was filled with ecstatic unintelligible) appeared solo “Gypsy” by Anna Antropova dancers mature enough to remember how the game played before the era of Juliana Malkhasyants. Foul stantsovannaya “Jig” – delivered in 1940, the Irish dance drunken sailors – coloring new performance is not added, but disappeared without a trace in the third act of dancing cupids-made children feel sorry about yourself.

Why are there character dance, when the classic games of “Don Quixote” performed as if the scene is not one of the best companies in the world (in which the correspondent of “b” was sure to last pm), and the provincial company undereducated newcomers. Immaculately he danced except that Olga Smirnova, whose Queen of the Dryads confidently opposed illiterate environment. Subordinate corps de ballet Dryads jumped in entrechat-quatre rough wall, “four” jete jump his piecemeal, anemic smiling Cupid – Julia Lunkina sluggish sticky fingered feet, keeping bureaucratic immobility of the body. In the first variation of the third act of hopping actress Elizabeth chorus Kruteleva lap large jete with confidence any Kshesinskaia demonstratively break into a gallop across the music, making it clear maestro Klinichevu the pace it is inconvenient. In the second variation Daria Bochkova and is not separated from the ground.

Against the background of this mass destruction Kitri and Basil looked quite decent. Maria Alexandrova danced Kitri game and a half decades, and although ten years ago it was given it much easier experience allowed ballerina stay afloat. Maria Alexandrova, dividing the traffic on the main and optional, to focus the viewer’s attention to the jumps and spins, without doing violence to the body in the adagio and not distracted by small pa. Self-control and undisguised pleasure that this Kitri received from the host on stage, distinguishes it from meaningless smiling colleagues dancing as if at random. Her partner Vladislav Lantratov not seized the opportunity to compete with the lady: staying in the shade of Kitri, his character was an elegant cavalier, gentleman rather than a barber. However, in this partner Basil was genuinely in love, and the variation of the third act performed flawlessly.

The main characters will be pulling this ballet in the future: in the booklet given nine Kitri and Basilio eight, including guest stars Natalia Osipova and Sergei Polunin. But the planned cleaning of the main ballet proved fatal Bolshoi Theatre. The same statement, which 17 years ago revived the troupe after the disastrous 1990s, is now buried the illusory prosperity of today’s Bolshoi Ballet. At the premiere was attended by just three ballet artistic director: the former – Alex Fadeechev, current – Sergei Filin and future – Maharbek Vaziev, the only one who has not shone with pleasure. Still: it’s the unexpected is necessary to disentangle the effects of general cleaning.