1. Ballet

Russia has always been in the avant-guard of the world classical ballet.

“Classical ballet is a fortress of beauty”,- wrote Joseph Brodsky. To see what he was getting at, go to the Bolshoi and watch its performances.

In Russia the first regular ballet performances started to be staged from the middle of the 1730-s.

A famous ballet master Petipa staged ,,Sleeping Beauty’’ by P.I.Tchaikovsky in 1890, and ,,Raimonda’’ by Glazunov in 1898. In cooperation with another famous ballet master L.I.Ivanov two more ballets by Tchaikovsky were staged : ,,The Nutcracker’’ in 1892 and ,,Swan Lake’’ in 1895.These glorious ballets became classical in the history of Ballet.

In the 20-th century Michael Fokin made some reforms in Russian Ballet, led new theatre directing experiments. His experiments reflected ideas and images of that time, characteristic for Art of the beginning of the century, deeply connected with modern poetry, aesthetic principles of ,,Mir Iskusstva’’ (,,The World of Art’’) - an art movement, organised by artists, by friends of Fokin.

Such ballets as ,,Armida’s Pavilion’’ (1907) by Cherepnin, ,,Chopeniana’’ (1908), ,,Carnival’’ (1910) to Schuman, “Tsar-Ptitsa” (1910), ,,Petrushka’’(1911) to Stravinsky were staged.

So, new choreography came with Fokin, who used dynamic dance pantomyme. In his experiments T.Karsavina and V.Nizhinsky took an active part. Nizhinsky even tried to stage himself, using motifs of expressionism - ,,Vesna Svyatczhennaya’’ by Stravinsky (1913).

But at the same period academic ballet was presented by M.Kshesinskaya, O.Preobrazhenskaya, E.V.Geltser and of course, A.Pavlova, a classical ballerina.

It was due to Russian Ballet, that in the 20-th century Ballet became so popular in other countries.

From 1909 a glorious ballet company, called ,,Russian Seasons’’ toured in Paris and London. A very enthusiastic person S.P.Dyagilev directed this ballet group.

The Revolution of 1917 broke many traditions and raised the new ones. Many talented ballet dancers, frightened by 1917, left Russia. For example, M.Kshesinskaya went to Paris and danced there, and later organised the Ballet School, and taught many talented ballerinas.

And in Russia there was so-called Soviet repertoire. In 1918 the ballet, ,,Stenka Razin’’ by A.K.Glazunov was staged, in 1927 ,,Red Poppy’’ by Glier, in 1933 - ,,Paris Fire’’ by B.V.Asafiev. Before the Revolution there were only two Ballet schools and after it - 16 Ballet Colleges.

Russia has always been famous for its ballerinas and ballet-dancers.

Galina Ulanova came into the history of the world ballet. She is considered to be the best ballerina of our century and as the finest classical dancer with her special individual style. Her Juliet in the ballet ,,Romeo and Juliet’’ by S.Prokofiev is really unforgettable. She was also a great, splendid teacher. When we see films, showing Ulanova’s class, we notice, that any rehearsal with Ulanova is a great university of artistic language of dance. She truly tried to develop traditions of Russian classical ballet.

She had her special ability to inspire young dancers to find their own means of depicting of the image, they were to create. She explained the method of working on artistic expression. She was really happy when her students were able to find right means to express the character they were performing. Galina Ulanova’s whole life had been connected with the Bolshoi and she had trained many talented dancers for it.

Another great ballerina of Russia is Maya Plisetskaya, who had celebrated her 75-th anniversary on the 20-th of November, 2000. Once, at the Nervy International Ballet Festival, dedicated to the 100-th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya took part in the concerts given in the open air. Once she was dancing ,,The Dying Swan’’ to the music by Saint-Saens when it suddenly began to rain. She continued to dance in the rain and the audience started to applaud covering the stage with flowers. Today she continues to work with her pupils in Russia, but mainly abroad.

She organised an annual Ballet Festival in Russia. And even if there are many ballet competitions in the world today, ours- is very prestigious. Moscow Ballet Festivals always attract many talented ballet dancers from all over the world. Russian contestants demonstrate brilliant Russian ballet school following the traditions of Russian classical ballet.

Russian ballet dancers are applauded everywhere in the world. In the 1950-s – K.Sergeev, N.Dudinskaya, O.Lepeshinskaya, in the1960-s V.Vasilyev, N.Bessmertnova, Makarova, Lavrovsky, M.Liepa. Famous ballet masters L.Jackobson, I.Belsky, V.Grigorovich worked in the Bolshoi Theatre.

The performances of the Bolshoi Ballet Company as usual attract the largest audiences. ,,Swan Lake’’, ,,Sleeping Beauty’’, and other classical ballets are still danced there. And many people call the Bolshoi’s productions ,,museum pieces’’.

In 2000 ,,La Fille du Pharaon’’ is called the best ballet premiere of the season. A meticulous piece of archeological reconstruction of Petipa’s first experiment in choreography. Cesare Pugni’s 1862 classic piece of Egyptian exoticism. The original 19-th century costumes and sets were reconstructed. A similar archeological job was performed by the musical editor and conductor of the project, Pavel Sotnikov. The Russian maestro spent long hours composing a full orchestral piece from a few extracts of the piano score and an incomplete score for the first violin.

Today when classical ballet has fallen on hard times and delicacy and grace have been stomped all over by athleticism and gymnastics, the Bolshoi is almost alone in defending its treasures and goodness; it’s a job that needs to be done.

TASK:

1. Answer the questions:

1. Do you agree with J.Brodsky, who said “Classical ballet is a fortress of beauty”?

2. When were the first regular ballet performances started to be staged?

3. Who was the famous Russian ballet reformer ?

4. What do you know about a famous ballet company, called «Russian Seasons»?

5. What is Galina Ulanova famous for?

6. What do you know about annual Ballet Festivals in Russia?

7. Can you give some information about the Bolshoi theatre?

II. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following expressions:

• балетные спектакли

• известный балетмейстер

• эстетические принципы

• новая хореография

• академический балет

• по-настоящему незабываемый

• великий педагог

• развивать традиции

• вдохновлять молодых танцовщиков

• лучшая премьера сезона

III. Match the adjectives and nouns.

classical expression

regular style

glorious principles

modern performances

aesthetic festival

active premiere

individual part

artistic poetry

annual ballet

ballet ballets

IV. Choose the topic for discussion and get ready to talk about it.

1. Great art – teachers.

2. Teachers and students of art.

3. Galina Ulanova.

4. A great ballet – dancer.

5. A glorious ballet company “Russian Seasons”.