Who is the choreographer? Summary of the training session "Ballet performance: composer, choreographer, artist, artist" The director of the ballet performance is called

Abstract

"Ballet performance:

Composer, choreographer, artist, artist»

Lesson topic: “Ballet performance: composer, choreographer, artist, artist. Watching a ballet performance (fragment)"

Age: 8-10 years (second year of study).

Target: to form students’ idea of a ballet performance.
Tasks:
Educational: introducing students to the professions involved in creating the performance.
Developmental : formation of cognitive interest, ability to generalize, analyze, compare.
Educational : education of aesthetic taste, musical and general culture.

Methodological purpose of the lesson: activation of students’ mental activity, formation of the concept of “ballet performance”, students’ awareness of the uniqueness of choreographic art.

Type of activity : theoretical with elements of practice, mastering new knowledge

Lesson form: group

Organizational and pedagogical support for the lesson:

1. Technical means and equipment: piano, stereo, computer, TV.

2. Methods of conducting: verbal - the teacher’s story with elements of conversation, visual - computer presentation; practical – repetition, elements of improvisation

Lesson structure:

1st part – preparatory or organizational

(entrance to the hall, greeting, message of the topic of the lesson)

2nd part – main

(teacher's story, repetition of positions, exercises in the middle of the hall in a turn by points, dance improvisation, viewing slides)

Part 3 – final

(summarizing and consolidating new material, mini-quiz, summing up, watching the ballet “The Nutcracker” or fragments from it)

PROGRESS OF THE CLASS:

Preparatory partincludes: entering the hall, getting ready for class, bowing, walking around the hall at a calm pace, lightly running in a circle and returning to your seats, announcing the theme of the class “Ballet performance, its creators”
Main part:

Teacher: Today we will talk about a ballet performance. French word"ballet" comes from the Italian "balletto", which means to dance.

For three centuries now, this word has been used to describe a performance that combines music and dance, dramatic and fine arts.

The French name and its Italian roots are not accidental. Ballet originated during the Renaissance in Italy. They have long loved the funny dance scenes performed at the carnival. Gradually they turned into independent dance performances. 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, who 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 sides. He divided all the dancer’s movements into groups: squats (plie), jumps, rotations (pirouettes, fouettés), body positions (attitudes, arabesques).

Let's do the moves from different groups, which Pierre Beauchamp formed: squats, jumps, turns (our preparation for rotations). The teachers perform. (MUSIC. FRAGMENTS). 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). Do you and I know these positions or not? Let's repeat them (MUSIC FRAGMENTS). Fine.

All classical dance steps are derived from these positions of the legs and arms. Canons were also developed that regulated the theme and form of a ballet performance, and types of theatrical dance were developed. Thus began the formation of ballet, which developed to XVIII century from interludes and divertissements into independent art.

Ballet in Russia, as in Europe, arose as a court art. This happened under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, in the 17th century. The first Russian ballet is considered "Ballet about Orpheus and Eurydice"(music by G. Schutz) It was performed in 1673 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, Moscow. The performance combined singing, recitation and dancing.It was prepared by a foreigner, Nicola Lima. It is not known exactly who his origin was - most likely, a Scot who emigrated to France and then came to Russia as an officer in the engineering forces. However, it is a completely reliable fact that his knowledge of ballet was very great. He became the leader of the nascent ballet troupe, its teacher, choreographer and first dancer. Ten “philistine children” were sent to study in Lima, and a year later their number doubled. This was the first professional ballet performance staged on the Russian stage.. According to the description of historians, the ballet began with an aria - a speech by the main character praising the valor of the king. As the action progressed, “Orpheus’s singing made the rocks and trees move,” and in the finale, two “pyramid rocks” danced in honor of Alexei Mikhailovich. But much later, after the assemblies under Peter I, at the turn of the 30s and 40s of the 18th century, a professional ballet theater was born in Russia. Ballet performances began to be created.

Who do you think did this? Students' response.

In order to create a ballet performance, the joint efforts, talent and experience of people of various professions are required.

First of all, the authors of a ballet work are the composer, who creates the musical dramaturgy of the ballet, and the choreographer, who creates the choreographic dramaturgy - its scenes and dances - based on the plot proposed by the playwright.

Choreographer (from German - Balletmeister ) is the director of a ballet performance, he develops the overall dramaturgy of the performance, thinks through the “drawing” of the dance, gestures and plastic solutions for the images. It is impossible to say with certainty how the idea of a ballet performance is born from a choreographer – choreographer. Probably, it was, is and will be similar to how a melody or a poem arises. Here personal attachments, habits, tastes, and sometimes just random events made themselves felt. Mikhail Fokine created his ballets, drawing inspiration from the paintings of the World of Art artists; Marius Petipa was inspired by the music of Tchaikovsky for “The Sleeping Beauty” (MUSIC. FRAGMENTS). Kasyan Goleizovsky composed his ingenious miniatures, inspired by communication with nature. Moonlight reflections on the floor prompted the choreographer’s inexhaustible imagination to compose the famous “Mazurka” for Ekaterina Maximova. And a light handkerchief that fell from the window, spinning in the air, was embodied in the famous “Russian” (MUSIC. FRAGMENTS). Which choreographers do you know? Name it. Students' response.

I'll tell you some famous names Russian choreographers: Marius Petipa, Mikhail Fokin, Yuri Grigorovich. Marius Petipa prepared for production rehearsals at home, in his office. On a special table there was a board similar to a chess board, with many small ballet figures. Moving them across the field, the choreographer came up with his own grandiose dance ensembles. And only then did he demand pen and paper. On clean, white sheets, using simple icons - circles, arrows, crosses, he sketched dance scenes designed for a hundred artists.

The main task when composing a ballet is to create dramaturgy in music and choreography. No one except the composer and choreographer can do this.

In order for everyone to understand what the ballet is about, there is... who knows what? Right! The libretto is the basis of a ballet performance. It outlines the main events, defines the idea and the conflict. The plot of ballet performances is often based on fairy-tale, magical stories. For example, the plot of the ballet “The Nutcracker” is written based on Hoffmann’s fairy tale: “On the eve of Christmas, the little girl Masha is given the Nutcracker - a doll that can crack nuts. At night the Nutcracker turns into a handsome prince. He fearlessly fights an army of rats and mice. Masha throws her shoe at Mouse King, and then the prince takes her to the palace of sweets. There Masha goes to a ball and sees how they dance in different countries peace. There, the Sugar Plum Fairy dances the pas-de-deux with the prince. At the end, Masha wakes up and realizes that it was a dream.” The libretto is very often based on a literary work, but the author can be a composer, a choreographer, a painter, or an entertainer.

It happens that a composer writes ballet music based on a libretto (script), or maybe the music itself will tell the creator (choreographer) the content of the future dance work.

A ballet performance is divided into acts, scenes and individual numbers. The role of music in a play is incredibly great; so are the characters; it reflects all the events occurring in the plot and enriches it with content musical images. As a result of the embodiment of the content of the script and music, a musical dramaturgy ballet - the basis for creating choreography.

Do you know composers who wrote music for ballets? Name it! Students' response. (Gliere, Asafiev, Minkus, Puni, Tchaikovsky, etc.)

Since the 19th century, no country can compare with Russia in the art of ballet. The whole world knows the ballets of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev (“Romeo and Juliet”, “Cinderella”, “The Tale of the Stone Flower”), Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin (“Anna Karenina”, “Carmen Suite”, “The Seagull”, “ The Little Humpbacked Horse" and "The Lady with the Dog") and other composers.

A real revolution in ballet music was made by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who introduced into it continuous symphonic development, deep figurative content, dramatic expressiveness. Music of his ballets " Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker" acquired, along with the symphonic, the ability to reveal the internal flow of the action, to create the characters of the heroes in their interaction, development, struggle.

And who will realize what the choreographer has planned? Students' response.

Of course there are artists, there are many of them - soloists and the corps de ballet. Russian ballet has been famous for several centuries and the names of Russian ballerinas and dancers are known all over the world: Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Vaslav Nijinsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Maris Liepa, Vladimir Vasiliev and others. A teacher-tutor works with them.It is with him that dancers learn the movements of their parts, practice them and repeat them many times, rehearsing.

In a ballet performance great value has artistic design of the actionand the stage design of the costumes, which is the embodiment of the idea. Decorative artists work here. Here are some famous names:Alexander Benois,Alexander Golovin, Leon Bakst. Costumes show the characteristics of the characters and emphasize historical era. The performance must achieve unity of costumes, scenery and lighting. The sketches for the scenes of the play always accurately convey this.

Immediately before going on stage, make-up artists work with the performers, creating the desired image.Some images require “special makeup”, for example, the image of the Mouse King from the ballet “The Nutcracker”, the evil wizard Rothbard from the ballet “Swan Lake”, the characters from the ballet “Cippolino”.

An important role in a ballet performance is assigned to the conductor. His job lies in the ability to embody the composer’s plan, the ideas of the choreographer-producer, to emphasize the individuality of the soloists and the skill of the corps de ballet in performing crowd scenes.

Ballet has unlimited possibilities for figuratively reflecting the surrounding reality, it is able to embody philosophical thoughts, feelings, reveal life conflicts. Ballet always glorifies the beautiful in a person, cultivates good and noble feelings, affirming the ideas of humanism. By composing music for a ballet, the composer creates an independent piece of music art; the choreographer, inspired by the music, creates a choreographic work based on it - the ballet itself. The unity of music and dance, the synthesis of composer and choreographer’s creativity lies in the success of the future ballet performance, and determines the nature of the future choreography.

“Helping the course of history, awakening conscience and honor,

There are heroic oratorios and symphonies in the world.

But between them, protecting and pardoning, selflessly loving people,

There is a sweet smile, a dance of little swans.

On hopeless spring days and deep frost,

After a terrible shock, evil insults and black threats

Suddenly you feel that you can breathe easier and suddenly in your soul

Out of the blue you can hear the dance of little swans.

Unexpected salvation, the white splash of swan wings.

The spring springs of precious spiritual strength rustled.

A good deed will not be forgotten, and the evildoer will be punished

Until the time when the heart imagines the dance of little swans.”

What musical fragment is discussed in this poem by Margarita Aliger? Students' response.

Who wrote this ballet? Students' response.

This ballet is about a beautiful princess and her friends, who were turned into swans by an evil wizard. The brave Prince Siegfried broke their spell.

How do you imagine little swans? Students' answer (inept, clumsy). Let's try to portray them, improvise. (MUSIC. FRAGMENTS)

3. Final part:

So, guys, we figured out what a ballet performance is. Now questions and tasks:

Guys, who is a choreographer?
Who writes music for ballet?
What is a libretto?
Who creates the images of heroes? (make-up artists, artists, costume designers)
Who graces the stage? (decorators)
What ballets do you know?
Find the odd one out: Khachaturian, Petipa, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky
List the names of composers who worked in this direction.
What are the names of ballet dancers you know?
Find the odd one out: “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Snow Maiden”, “Nutcracker”.
Who are the main characters in the ballet? (Artists)

pas de deux
pas de trois
grand pas
adagio

Connect with an arrow the desired definition of dance.

dance together
threesome dance
big dance
slow dance of the main characters

Where can we see the ballet? Students' response. Well done! You were attentive and active in class, which helped you deal with my questions so well.

Where do you think the knowledge gained in this lesson can be useful to you? Who can you tell about your impressions of what you heard?
If you are invited to the ballet, in what mood will you go to this performance?

Now let's look at scenes from the ballet "The Nutcracker".

Well done! You were very attentive. We will share our impressions at the next lesson, think about everything, remember! All the best to you! The curtain is closing!

P.S. or explanation: the musical fragments indicated in the text - (MUSIC. FRAGMENTS) are performed by the accompanist.

References

Degen A.B., Stupnikov I.V.Dance masters. /Leningrad: Music, 1974

Demidov A.P. Yuri Grigorovich. / M.: Planeta, 1987.
Zakharov R.V. Essay on dance. Pages of teaching experience. /M.: Art, 1989.

Moiseev I.A. ABOUT folk character dance: materials of the seminar//Bulletin of the Choreographic School of the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, 1957-58.

Pasyutinskaya V.M. . Magic world dance. /M.: Education, 1985.

Smirnov I.V. The Art of the Choreographer / M.: Education, 1986.

Smirnova E.S.

http://www.artcontext.info

That is ballet performance, having a plot, plot and active (named) characters. Created according to the laws of theatrical action, such a performance synthesizes different types dramaturgy - script, music, choreography, scenography, each of which takes on a “ballet” coloring, due to “work for dance” and specific existence in the conditions offered by dance. Here is knowledge and understanding of ballet specifics - that is, the rules and patterns that are beneficial to dance and can provide a ballet performance successful life- necessary both for practical work choreographers planning the production plot work, and for professional ballet analysis of existing ballet performances.

Creating a theatrical ballet implies that the director in the creative process follows the laws of directing as the art of staging a performance and creating an original stage text. The issues of the director's concept taken as the content, the construction of the performance in its procedural integrity, the techniques of ballet directing used to implement the plot, are among those basic concepts that cannot be avoided in the process of preparing students to analyze the staging principles of ballet performances. But what is important here is the combination of the universal directorial principle with the specifics of the plot, action, structures and language of ballet.

The internal sections and subsections of the first part constitute the supporting themes of theatrical aesthetics and the stages of the creative process in realizing the concept of the performance. This also includes plot choreographic miniatures with their special requirements for dramaturgy.

Topic 1. Ballet as a form of theatrical art.

Lecture 1. Theater arts as interaction and synthesis of arts

Specifics of the synthesis of arts in the theater. The components of the theater: playwright - actor - spectator. Stage space. Theater and life: convention and unconditionality. The nature of theatrical action. Conflict as the basis of theatrical dramaturgy.

Lecture 2. Theater directing as the art of staging a performance

The otherness of dramaturgy in a performance. Staging performances in the pre-director's theater. The appearance of the director. The director as an interpreter of the original source. The director as the author of the play. Director as creator of stage text. Criteria for a director's performance.

Lecture 3. Theatrical and directorial nature ballet theater -

The complex nature of a ballet performance. Choreographer as playwright. Choreographer as director. Choreographic text as the basis of the stage text of a ballet performance. Composing a choreographic text as a staging of a ballet performance. General and specific laws of ballet directing.

Topic 2. Director's concept of the play

Lecture 1. Literary source as the basis for the concept of the performance

Interaction between the director and the author's work. Contents of the original source. Concepts of theme, idea, plot, plot, genre, style, images and characters. Analysis methodology literary work. Objective characteristics of the text.

Homework: carefully read the proposed literary text (at the teacher’s choice) and identify its literary components.

Seminar: Analysis of the theme, plot and problems of a literary work - 2 hours.

Theme of the work. Composition and arrangement of active forces. Characteristics of heroes. Logic of plot development. Author's position. The quintessence of the work.

Interpretation literary plot as his "second authorship". The vision of the original source from the author’s “I”. The first indicators of the author's interpretation: title, list characters, the idea of the ending. A modern view of the problems of the primary source. The author's selection of the main and secondary, the author's view of the hierarchy of characters. Director's concept as a sum of ideas in the interpretation of the original source.

Homework: familiarization with the proposed literary text (at the teacher’s choice) and free interpretation of its plot.

Seminar on the topic: Director's interpretation of a literary work

Selected angle of view on the plot. Director's emphasis on events and character relationships. The ideological orientation of the concept.

Lecture 3. Director's concepts for ballets

Multiple interpretations of one plot . Director's twists on the theme. The ideological and content basis of performances connected by one primary source or score (using video display).

"Giselle" - classical, Eka, Marcia Heide

“Faust” - Perrault, based on the script by Heine and Boyarchikov.

“Swan Lake” - classic, Burmeister, Grigorovich, Vasiliev, Neumayer, Eck, etc.

“The Nutcracker” - Lev Ivanov, Vainonen, Grigorovich, Belsky, Chernyshev, Boyarchikov, Petit, Neumayer and others.

“Esmeralda” - classic, Burmeister, Petit (“Notre Dame de Paris”)

“Sleeping Beauty” - classic, Petit, Neumayer, Eka.

Philosophical and spiritual foundations of ballet art. Ballet as a form of introduction to the sublime. Genre range of ballet plots. Attitude to reality. Estrangement from reality: poetic fantasies of ballet, flight into illusion. Emotional background of ballet plots. Composition of characters. Types of ballet plot (according to the primacy of the characters): “monologue”, “pair”, “mixed”. Characteristics of ballet characters. The hero and the idea of a hero. Arrangement of heroes in the “camps” of the conflict.

Lecture 2. Specifics of ballet “worlds”

Heroes and environment. “Worlds” as a way of organizing the ballet environment. Contrast and conflict of “worlds”. Polystylistics of “worlds”. Contents of ballet “worlds”. The hero and the “world” are “wanderings” and belonging. Objectivity and subjectivity, reality and ideality of ballet “worlds”.

Lecture 3. Specifics of ballet situations

Direct display life situations. The ballet situation is like a trap for feelings. Dream states. Transformation of a literary plot into a ballet one: selection of advantageous dance situations.

Seminar on the topic: analysis of famous ballet plots and scripts according to their specific plot moves(Based on the book by Yu.I. Slonimsky “Dramaturgy of the Ballet Theater of the 19th Century”)

A turn of the original source towards ballet imagery. Searching for plot outlets in dance spaces.

Topic 4. Scenario dramaturgy of ballet

Lecture 1. The nature of action in drama and ballet

The essence of drama. Conflict as driving force dramatic action. Composition and stages of action: exposition, beginning, development, climax, denouement. The dynamic nature of dramatic action. The expositional nature of the ballet action. Collision situations in drama and ballet. External and internal ballet action. Number structure of ballet action.

Lecture 2. Script for a multi-act plot ballet

Script functions. The script as a unity of literary and effective theatrical principles. Scenario guidelines for means of expression ballet performance - dance and pantomime. The law of visualization of a ballet plot. Outlines of the future dramatic structure of the ballet in the script. Hints for choreographer's moves and decisions in the script.

Seminar: analysis of ballet scripts Instructions for written work.

(based on the book by Yu.I. Slonimsky “Dramaturgy of the Ballet Theater”, scripts by Mikhail Fokin, Leonid Yakobson, etc.).

Topic 5. Directing and choreographic construction of the ballet.

CHOICE MASTER-DIRECTOR

Director of ballet performances:

Ensuring a high artistic level of those assigned to him

productions;

Organizing the preparation and production of performances,

Planning rehearsal process.

The choreographer supervises the work of the production designer and

controls the work of the artistic and production department.

Ballet Dictionary. 2012

Choreographer's profession

It involves the creation and staging of choreographic numbers, theatrical and ballet performances. That is, the choreographer brings to life his ideas and vision of stage images through choreographic instruments.

The profession of a choreographer is very multifaceted; it is not enough just to know choreography; you must understand related disciplines, such as music, drama, literature, sculpture. To create a truly worthwhile work, you need to combine your talent, knowledge and ability to skillfully work with a team.

Four branches of a choreographer’s activity can be distinguished:

Choreographer-composer, which is directly involved in the creation of new performances and dances. His main task is to create a dance and pantomime score for the ballet.

Choreographer, who stages already composed works. At rehearsals, the choreographer himself shows the performer how he should dance, and the more expressively and accurately he does this, the easier it is for the dancer to repeat the movements and get used to the character. Often the writer and director are the same person.

Choreographer-tutor, who draws up a rehearsal plan, plans classes and learns choreographic parts with the artists. He is the closest assistant to the choreographer. To achieve high results, the choreographer must know each member of the group well and their capabilities. The main goal is to perfect the image of the hero and performing skills.
Dancemaster, which stages individual numbers in the genre of small forms.

A choreographer must undoubtedly have great talent; to develop it, one must study and train over many years. Develop, in addition to choreographic skills, ear for music, visual memory and sense of rhythm, must be able to reproduce gestures and movements of various characters.

One of the most important tasks is staging a world classic or restoring a performance after a long break.

In order to correctly convey to the viewer the idea and plot of the work, the choreographer must be passionate about his work and approach it creatively. Most often, the choice of costumes is also his responsibility.

Choreographer

How strong emotional impact will have a dance number, a choreographic scene in the musical and drama theater or the entire ballet performance depends on how beautifully and accurately the movements and interactions of dancers and male dancers are organized, on the expressiveness and originality of their movements, on how their dances are combined with musical material, with stage lighting, with costumes and makeup - all this together creates a single image of the entire action. And the choreographer is precisely the person who is its creator. He must know all the rules and subtleties of the art of ballet, its history, in order to create dances that will be interesting for spectators to watch and dancers to perform. The director must have knowledge, experience and the ability to organize, have a rich imagination, fantasy, be original in his ideas, have talent, be musical, understand music, have a sense of rhythm, be able to express emotions with the help of plasticity - these are the components that make up art choreographer. If the director has all this in his arsenal, then his production will be a success with the public and critics.

The word “choreographer” translated into Russian means “master of dance.” This profession is difficult, and it requires a lot of work and effort, both physical and moral. The director must show all the performers their parts, explain what emotions they should express in plasticity and facial expressions. The difficulty of such work is also that the dance script cannot be written down on paper; the choreographer must keep it in his head and show it to the artists so that they learn their part. Dancers become familiar with the role directly at rehearsals, while actors in drama and musical theater have the opportunity to receive text and sheet music material in advance. The choreographer must reveal to the performer the content of his role, showing him what needs to be danced and how. And the more expressively the director demonstrates his idea to the artist, the faster and easier his idea will be understood and assimilated.

The choreographer’s task is also to structure the dance or the entire performance in such a way as to maintain and increase audience interest. On our own dance moves- these are just mechanical exercises, a set of poses that will not say anything to the viewer, they will only demonstrate the flexibility of the performer’s body, and they will speak only if the director fills them with thought and feeling and helps the artist to put his soul into them. The success of the performance and the duration of its “life” on stage will largely depend on this. The very first performer of all dances is the choreographer himself, because he must first demonstrate their parts to the performers.

Choreographers past and present

Famous choreographers of Russia and the world of the 19th and 20th centuries:

Marius Petipa, who made a huge and invaluable contribution to Russian ballet;
Jose Mendez- was a director in many famous theaters world, including at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow;
Filippo Taglioni;
Jules Joseph Perrault– one of the brightest representatives of “romantic ballet”;
Gaetano Gioia– representative of Italian choreodrama;
George Balanchine– laid the foundation for American ballet, as well as modern ballet neoclassics, believed that the plot should be expressed exclusively with the help of the dancers’ bodies, and that scenery and lush costumes were superfluous;
Mikhail Baryshnikov– made a great contribution to world ballet art;
Maurice Bejart– one of the most brilliant choreographers of the 20th century;
Maris Liepa ;
Pierre Lacotte– was involved in the restoration of ancient choreography;
Igor Moiseev– creator of Russia’s first professional folk ensemble;
Vaslav Nijinsky– was an innovator in the art of choreography;
Rudolf Nureyev ;
Alexey Ratmansky.

Modern choreographers of the world:

Jerome Bel– representative of the school of modern ballet;
Nacho Duato;
Jiri Kylian ;
Angelin Preljocaj – bright representative new French dance.

Russian choreographers of the 21st century:

Boris Eifman– creator of his own theater;
Alla Sigalova;
Lyudmila Semenyaka;
Maya Plisetskaya ;
Gedeminas Taranda;
Evgeny Panfilov- founder of his own ballet troupe, enthusiast in the genre of free dance.

All these Russian choreographers are very famous not only in our country, but also abroad.

Marius Petipa

French and Russian choreographer who left a huge legacy. In 1847 he entered the service as a choreographer in Mariinsky Theater St. Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theater of Moscow, by invitation Russian Emperor. In 1894 he became a subject Russian Empire. Was a stage director huge amount ballets such as “Giselle”, “Esmeralda”, “Corsair”, “Pharaoh’s Daughter”, “Don Quixote”, “La Bayadère”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Daughter of the Snows”, “Robert the Devil” and many others. etc.

Roland Petit

There are famous choreographers who are considered classics of 20th century ballet. Among them, one of the brightest figures is Roland Petit. In 1945 he created his own ballet troupe in Paris, which was called "Ballet of the Champs-Elysees". A year later, he staged the famous play “Young Man and Death” to the music of I.S. Bach, who became one of the classics of world art. In 1948, Roland Petit founded a new ballet company called the Ballet of Paris. In the 50s he was a dance director for several films. In 1965, he staged the legendary ballet “Notre Dame de Paris” in Paris, in which he himself played the role of the hunchback Quasimodo; in 2003, he staged this production in Russia - at the Bolshoi Theater, where Nikolai Tsiskaridze danced the part of the ugly bell ringer.

Gedeminas Taranda

Another world-famous choreographer is Gedeminas Taranda. After graduating from the choreographic school in Voronezh, he was a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. In 1994 he founded his own “Imperial Russian Ballet”, which gave him world fame. Since 2012, he has been the leader and co-founder of the Assistance Foundation creative education", President of the Grand Pas Ballet Festival. Gedeminas Taranda has the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Boris Eifman

A bright, modern, original choreographer is B. Eifman. He is the founder of his own ballet theater. He has various titles and awards in the field of art. His first productions in 1960 were: “Towards Life” to the music of composer D.B. Kabalevsky, as well as “Icarus” to the music of V. Arzumanov and A. Chernov. Boris Eifman's fame as a choreographer was brought to him by the ballet “The Firebird” to the music of composer I.F. Stravinsky. He has been running his own theater since 1977. Boris Eifman's productions are always original, they are innovative, they combine academic, pointeless, and modern rock choreography. Every year the troupe goes on tour to America. In the theater's repertoire classical ballets, children's, and rock ballets.

What is ballet, history of ballet

“We want not just to dance, but to speak through dance”
G. Ulanova

The amazing, beautiful and multifaceted world of ballet will not leave anyone indifferent. This word was first heard in Italy, the genre itself arose in France, in addition, ballet is the real pride of Russia, moreover, in the 19th century it was the Russian performance created P.I. Tchaikovsky , became a genuine example.

Read about the history and significance of this genre in the cultural enrichment of a person on our page.

What is ballet?

This is a musical and theatrical genre in which several types of arts are closely intertwined. Thus, music, dance, painting, dramatic and visual arts are combined with each other, building a coherent performance that unfolds before the public on theater stage. Translated from Italian, the word “ballet” means “dancing”.

When did ballet originate?

The first mention of ballet dates back to the 15th century; there is information that the court dance teacher Domenico da Piacenza proposed combining several dances for the next ball, writing a solemn finale for them and labeling them as ballet.

However, the genre itself arose a little later in Italy. The starting point is 1581; it was at this time in Paris that Balthazarini staged his performance based on dance and music.In the 17th century, mixed performances (opera and ballet) became popular. At the same time, greater importance in such productions is given to music rather than dance. Only thanks to the reformative work of the French choreographer Jean Georges Novera, the genre acquires classical outlines with its own “choreographic language”.

The formation of the genre in Russia

There is information that the first performance of “The Ballet of Orpheus and Eurydice” was presented in February 1673 at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The most talented choreographer Charles-Louis Didelot made a great contribution to the formation of the genre. However, a real reformer is considered to be famous composer P.I. Tchaikovsky . It is in his work that the formation of romantic ballet takes place. P.I. Tchaikovsky paid special attention to music, turning it from an accompanying element into a powerful instrument that helps dance subtly capture and reveal emotions and feelings. The composer transformed the form of ballet music, and also built a unified symphonic development.The work of A. Glazunov also played a significant role in the development of ballet (“ Raymonda "), I. Stravinsky (" Firebird ", "The Rite of Spring", " Parsley "), as well as the work of choreographers M. Petipa , L. Ivanova, M. Fokina. Creativity stands out in the new century S. Prokofiev , D. Shostakovich, R. Gliera , A. Khachaturyan.
In the 20th century, composers began searching to overcome stereotypes and established rules.

Who is a ballerina?

Not everyone who dances in ballet was previously called a ballerina. This is the highest title that dancers received upon achieving a certain amount of artistic merit, as well as several years after working in the theater. Initially, everyone who graduated from the Theater School was accepted as corps de ballet dancers, with rare exceptions as soloists. Some of them managed to achieve the title of ballerina after two or three years of work, some only before retirement.

Main Components

The main components of ballet are classical dance, character dance and pantomime.Classical dance originates in France. It is incredibly flexible and elegant. Solo dances are called variations and adagios. For example, the well-known Adagio from the ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky. Moreover, these numbers can also be used in ensemble dances.

In addition to the soloists, the corps de ballet takes part in the action, creating crowd scenes.
Often the dances of the corps de ballet are characteristic. For example, “Spanish Dance” from “Swan Lake”. This term means folk dances introduced into the performance.

Films about ballet

Ballet is a very popular art form, which is also reflected in cinema. There are many beautiful paintings about ballet, which can be divided into three broad categories:

Documentary films are documentaries of a ballet performance, through which you can get acquainted with the work of great dancers.
Film-ballet - such films also show the performance itself, but the action no longer takes place on stage. For example, the film “Romeo and Juliet” (1982), directed by Paul Zinner, where the main roles were played by the famous R. Nureyev and C. Fracci; "The Tale of the Little Humpbacked Horse" (1961), where main role performed by Maya Plisetskaya.
Feature films, the action of which is related to ballet. Such films allow you to immerse yourself in the world of this art and sometimes the events in them unfold against the backdrop of a production, or they tell about everything that happens in the theater. Among similar paintings, “Proscenium” deserves special attention - american film directed by Nicholas Hytner, which the public saw in 2000.
Special mention should be made of the biographical films: “Margot Fonteyn” (2005), “Anna Pavlova” and many others.

One cannot ignore the 1948 film “The Red Shoes” directed by M. Powell and E. Pressburger. The film introduces viewers to the performance based on famous fairy tale Andersen and immerses the audience in the world of ballet.

Director Stephen Daldry presented the film “Billy Elliot” to the public in 2001. It tells the story of an 11-year-old boy from a mining family who decides to become a dancer. He gets a unique chance and enters the Royal Ballet School.

The film “Giselle Mania” (1995), directed by Alexei Uchitel, will introduce viewers to the life of the legendary Russian dancer Olga Spesivtseva, whom her contemporaries nicknamed Red Giselle.

In 2011, the acclaimed film “Black Swan” by Darren Aronofsky was released on television, which shows the life of the ballet theater from the inside.

Modern ballet and its future

Contemporary ballet is very different from classical ballet with more daring costumes and free dance interpretation. The classics included very strict movements, in contrast to the modern, which is most appropriately called acrobatic. A lot in this case depends on the chosen topic and idea of the performance. Based on it, the director already selects a set of choreographic movements. In modern performances, movements can be borrowed from national dances, new directions of plastic arts, and ultra-modern dance movements. Interpretation is also carried out in a new way, for example, Matthew Byrne's acclaimed production of Swan Lake, in which girls were replaced by men. The works of choreographer B. Eifman are a real philosophy in dance, since each of his ballets contains deep meaning. Another trend in modern performance is the blurring of genre boundaries, and it would be more correct to call it multi-genre. It is more symbolic compared to the classic one, and uses many quotes and references. Some performances use the montage principle of construction, and the production consists of disparate fragments (frames), which all together make up the overall text.

Moreover, throughout modern culture There is a huge interest in various remakes, and ballet is no exception. Therefore, many directors try to force the audience to look at classic version on the other side. New readings are welcome, and the more original they are, the greater success awaits them.

Pantomime is an expressive game using gestures and facial expressions.

In modern productions, choreographers expand established framework and borders, in addition to classical components, gymnastic and acrobatic numbers are added, as well as modern dancing (modern, free dance). This trend emerged in the 20th century and has not lost its relevance.

Ballet– a complex and multifaceted genre in which several types of art are closely intertwined. No one can be indifferent to the graceful movements of the dancers, their expressive play and enchanting sounds. classical music. Just imagine how ballet will decorate a holiday; it will become a real pearl of any event.