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Russian Ballet history and traditions

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More than a dance. Spring in Moscow is unhurried and gradual, it gently spreads its wings, torments us for a long with the expectation of warmth, but when it comes, it granted the happiest days full of harmony. As soon as the gardens blossom, and the city will be filled with the colors of love, white swans will appear in the parks in old, but well-groomed ponds. 

 

We will admire beautiful,graceful and strong birds.Somewhere out there, underneath the clothes of an adult or a child, spring will music begin to play, and pleasant memories and associations will be born.

Of course, at this moment everyone has different thoughts. But for some reason I am sure that the flight of fantasy is often accompanied by a suite from the Swan Lake of Tchaikovsky, known to everyone from small to large. And graceful white birds remind ballet dancers. I will allow myself to continue this chain of phenomena and associations and add that the ballet is invariably associated with Russia. With her great past and present.

It is well known, that tours of the troupe of the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky Theater always cause excitement and tickets are sold in record time

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Russian ballet is a sign of high quality, magnificent craftsmanship. Russian ballet is a marvel of the art.

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One should note here that this phenomena did not become such a bright dimond itself. Russian ballet was sung and glorified by Sergei Diaghilev. Nowadays he would be called a great PR manager and due to his talent russian ballet merged into a force that was far greater than the sum of all projects ever. But how did this happen? The forerunner of the "Russian Seasons" was an exhibition of Russian artists in the Parisian Autumn Salon, brought by Diaghilev in 1906. This was the first step of a 20-year path of powerful and elegant propaganda of Russian art in Europe. In a few years, the famous European dancers will take Russian pseudonyms, just to dance in "Russian Seasons" by Sergei Dyagiyev.

In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev begins preparations for the next "Russian season", intending to focus on the performance of Russian ballet. Allied with artists A. Benois and L. Bakst, composer N. Cherepnin Diaghilev and his team sought to achieve harmony of artistic design and execution. The ballet troupe was formed from the best soloists of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters: Mikhail Fokin, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Ida Rubinstein, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Vaclav Nijinsky and others. But the preparation of the first ballet seasons was almost thwarted because of the spontaneous refusal of the Russian government to support the "Russian Seasons" financially. The situation was saved by Diaghilev's influential friends.

The debut of the "Russian Seasons" in 1909 consisted of five ballets: "Pavilion of Artemis", "Polovtsian Dances", "Feast", "Sylphide" and "Cleopatra". And it was pure triumph!

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During the First World War Diaghilev's Russian Seasons go with varying success, touring Europe, the USA and even South America. Many choreographic and musical innovations of his choreographers and composers were frightened off by the public, but it happenst: the spectator perceives the same performance much better several years after the premiere.

Thus, "Russian Seasons" exist until 1929 year. At different times, such artists as Andre Derain, Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Max Ernst and other artists, composers Jean Cocteau, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, dancers Serge Lifar, Anton Dolin and Olga Spesivtseva . And even Coco Chanel created costumes for the ballet "Apollo Musaget", where Serge Lifar sang.

For 20 years of hard work "Russian Seasons" and personally Diaghilev made the Russian art extremely popular in Europe. Russian ballet remained almost the only custodian of the heritage of the past and a bearer of high performing culture and skill.

Furthermore, one should not forget that Diaghilev introduced the great Russian ballet dancers to the world. Let me introduce them:

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Anna Pavlova

Anna was born in St. Petersburg, her father was a railway contractor, and her mother worked as a simple laundress. However, the girl was able to enter the theater school. Having graduated from it, in 1899 she entered the Mariinsky Theater. There she received lots in classical productions - "La Bayadère", "Giselle", "The Nutcracker". Pavlova had excellent natural data, and she constantly honed her skills. In 1906 she is already the leading ballerina of the theater, but the real glory came to Anna in 1907, when she shined in miniature "The Dying Swan". Pavlova was supposed to perform at a charity concert, but her partner fell ill. Literally during the night the choreographer Mikhail Fokin put a new miniature to the ballerina for the music of San-Saens. Since 1910 Pavlova begins to tour. The ballerina acquires worldwide fame after participating in the Russian seasons in Paris. In 1913, she appeared for the last time in the walls of the Mariinsky Theater. Pavlova collects her own troupe and moves to London. Together with her wards, Anna toured the world with classical ballets of Glazunov and Tchaikovsky. The dancer became a legend during her lifetime, dying on tour in The Hague.

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Matilda Kshesinskaya

Despite his Polish name, a ballerina was born near St. Petersburg and always was a Russian dancer. From the early childhood She declared her desire to dance, but no one of their relatives thought of hindering her in this desire. Matilda brilliantly graduated from the Imperial Theater School, hitting the ballet troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. There she became famous for the brilliant performances of the parties "The Nutcracker", "Mlada", other performances. Kshesinskaya distinguished branded Russian plastic, which wedged the notes of the Italian school. It was Matilda who became the favorite of the choreographer Fokine, who used it in his works "Butterflies", "Eros", "Evnika". The role of Esmeralda in the eponymous ballet in 1899 lit a new star on the stage. Since 1904, Kshessinskaya has been touring Europe. She is called the first ballerina of Russia, she is honored with the "Generalissimo of Russian Ballet". They say that Kshesinskaya was the favorite of Emperor Nicholas II himself. Historians argue that, in addition to talent, the ballerina possessed an iron character, a firm position. It is she who is credited with dismissing the director of the Imperial Theaters, Prince Volkonsky. The revolution seriously affected the ballerina, in 1920 she left the exhausted country. Kshesinskaya moved to Venice, but continued to do her favorite thing. At 64, she still performed in London's Covent Garden. And the legendary ballerin is buried in Paris.

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Vaslav Nijinsky

His figure is closely connected with Diaghilev. Born in Kiev in 1890, Vaslav Nijinsky was the second son of Thomas Laurentiyevich Nijinsky and Eleonora Bereda; both his parents were celebrated dancers, and his father in particular was famous for his virtuosity and enormous leaps. The Nijinskys had their own dance company and performed throughout the Russian Empire. Nijinsky’s childhood was mostly spent in the Caucasus, where he danced as a small child with his brother Stanislav and his little sister Bronislawa.

His first appearance was in the ballet La Source with the Russian ballerina Julia Sedova as his partner; the public and the ballet critics burst out immediately in wild enthusiasm. As danseur noble, he danced all of the leading parts at the Mariinsky Theatre and at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where he was a guest performer. His success was phenomenal.

In 1909 Sergey Diaghilev, former assistant to the administrator of the Imperial Theatres, was commissioned by the grand duke Vladimir to organize a ballet company of the members of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres. Diaghilev decided to take the company to Paris in the spring and asked Nijinsky to join as principal dancer. Its first performance was on May 17, 1909, at the Theatre du Chatelet. Nijinsky took Paris by storm. The expression and beauty of his body, his featherweight lightness and steel-like strength, his great elevation and incredible gift of rising and seeming to remain in the air, and his extraordinary virtuosity and dramatic acting made him a genius of the ballet.

In 1912 he began his career as a choreographer. He created for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes the ballets Afternoon of a Faun, Jeux, and The rite of Spring. Till Eulenspiegel was produced in the United States without Diaghilev’s personal supervision. His work in the field of choreography was generally considered daringly original.

In 1919, at the age of 29, Nijinsky retired from the stage, owing to a nervous breakdown, which was diagnosed as schizophrenia. He lived from 1919 until 1950 in Switzerland, France, and England, and died in London in 1950. Nijinsky is buried next to Auguste Vestris in the cemetery of Montmartre in Paris.

I can praise Russian ballet as much as you like, but just buy a ticket to Bolshoi or Mariinsky. I promise that this will be one of the most memorable moments of your Russian life. Enjoy it!

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By Ksenya Karpova