Historical dances in ballet performances. The history of the emergence of classical ballet

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Ballet is a rather young art. It is a little over four hundred years old, although dance has been decorating human life since ancient times.

Ballet was born in Northern Italy during the Renaissance. The Italian princes loved magnificent palace festivities, in which dance occupied an important place. Rural dances were not suitable for court ladies and gentlemen. Their robes, like the halls where they danced, did not allow for unorganized movement. Special teachers - dance masters - tried to put things in order in court dances. They rehearsed individual figures and movements of the dance with the nobles in advance and led groups of dancers. Gradually the dance became more and more theatrical.

The term "ballet" appeared in late XVI century (from the Italian balletto - to dance). But then it did not mean a performance, but only a dance episode that conveys a certain mood. Such "ballets" usually consisted of little-connected "outputs" of characters - most often heroes Greek myths. After such "outputs" a common dance began - the "big ballet".

The first ballet performance was the Queen's Comedy Ballet, staged in France in 1581 by the Italian choreographer Baltazarini di Belgiojoso. It was in France that the further development of ballet took place. At first, these were masquerade ballets, and then pompous melodramatic ballets on chivalrous and fantastic plots, where dance episodes were replaced by vocal arias and recitation of poems. Do not be surprised, at that time the ballet was not only a dance performance.

During the reign of Louis XIV, the performances of the court ballet reached a special splendor. Louis himself loved to participate in ballets, and received his famous nickname "The Sun King" after playing the role of the Sun in the "Ballet of the Night".

In 1661 he created the Royal Academy of Music and Dance, which included 13 leading dancing masters. Their duty was to preserve dance traditions. The director of the academy, the royal dance teacher Pierre Beauchamp, identified five main positions classical dance.

Soon the Paris Opera was opened, the choreographer of which was the same Beauchamp. Under his leadership, a ballet troupe. At first, it consisted of only men. Women appeared on the stage of the Paris Opera only in 1681.

The theater staged opera-ballets by the composer Lully and comedies-ballets by the playwright Molière. At first, courtiers took part in them, and the performances almost did not differ from palace performances. The already mentioned slow minuets, gavottes and pavanes were danced. Masks, heavy dresses, and high-heeled shoes made it difficult for women to perform complex movements. Therefore, men's dances were distinguished then by greater grace and grace.

TO mid-eighteenth century ballet gained great popularity in Europe. All the aristocratic courts of Europe sought to imitate the luxury of the French royal court. opened in the cities opera houses. Numerous dancers and dance teachers easily found work.

Soon, under the influence of fashion, the women's ballet costume became much lighter and freer, the lines of the body were guessed under it. Dancers abandoned shoes with heels, replacing them with light heelless shoes. The men's costume also became less cumbersome: tight-fitting pantaloons to the knees and stockings made it possible to see the figure of the dancer.

Each innovation made dances more meaningful, and dance technique higher. Gradually, ballet separated from opera and turned into an independent art.

Although the French ballet school was famous for its grace and plasticity, it was characterized by a certain coldness and formality of performance. Therefore, choreographers and artists were looking for other means of expression.

IN late XVIII century, a new trend in art was born - romanticism, which had a strong influence on ballet. In a romantic ballet, the dancer stood on pointe shoes. Maria Taglioni was the first to do this, completely changing the previous ideas about ballet. In the ballet "La Sylphide" she appeared as a fragile creature from underworld. The success was stunning.

At this time, many wonderful ballets appeared, but, unfortunately, romantic ballet became last period heyday dance art in the West. From the second half of the 19th century, ballet, having lost its former meaning, turned into an appendage to opera. Only in the 1930s, under the influence of Russian ballet, did the revival of this art form begin in Europe.

In Russia, the first ballet performance - "The Ballet of Orpheus and Eurydice" - was staged on February 8, 1673 at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Ceremonial and slow dances consisted of a change of graceful postures, bows and moves, alternating with singing and speech. No significant role he did not play in the development of stage dance. It was just another royal "fun", which attracted with its unusualness and novelty.

Only a quarter of a century later, thanks to the reforms of Peter I, music and dance entered the life of Russian society. Compulsory dance training was introduced into noble schools. Musicians discharged from abroad, opera artists and ballet troupes began to perform at the court.

In 1738, the first ballet school in Russia was opened, and three years later 12 boys and 12 girls from the palace servants became the first professional dancers in Russia. At first, they performed in the ballets of foreign masters as figurants (as the corps de ballet dancers were called), and later in the main parts. The remarkable dancer of that time, Timofey Bublikov, shone not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Vienna.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russian ballet art reached creative maturity. Russian dancers brought expressiveness and spirituality to the dance. Feeling this very accurately, A. S. Pushkin called the dance of his contemporary Avdotya Istomina "a flight filled with soul."

Ballet at this time occupied a privileged position among other types theatrical art. The authorities paid great attention to him, provided government subsidies. Moscow and St. Petersburg ballet troupes performed in well-equipped theaters, and graduates of theater schools annually replenished the staff of dancers, musicians and decorators.

Arthur St. Leon

In the history of our ballet theatre, there are often the names of foreign masters who played a significant role in the development of Russian ballet. First of all, these are Charles Didelot, Arthur Saint-Leon and Marius Petipa. They helped create the Russian ballet school. But talented Russian artists also made it possible to reveal the talents of their teachers. This invariably attracted the largest choreographers of Europe to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nowhere in the world could they meet such a large, talented and well-trained troupe as in Russia.

IN mid-nineteenth century, realism came to Russian literature and art. Choreographers feverishly, but to no avail, tried to create realistic performances. They did not take into account that ballet is a conditional art and realism in ballet differs significantly from realism in painting and literature. The crisis of ballet art began.

A new stage in the history of Russian ballet began when the great Russian composer P. Tchaikovsky first composed music for the ballet. It was " Swan Lake". Prior to that, ballet music was not taken seriously. She was considered inferior musical creativity, just an accompaniment to dancing.

Thanks to Tchaikovsky ballet music became a serious art along with opera and symphonic music. Previously, music was completely dependent on dance, now dance had to obey music. New means of expression and a new approach to creating a performance were required.

The further development of Russian ballet is connected with the name of the Moscow choreographer A. Gorsky, who, having abandoned the outdated techniques of pantomime, used the techniques of modern directing in a ballet performance. Attaching great importance to the pictorial design of the performance, he attracted the best artists to work.

But the true reformer of ballet art is Mikhail Fokin, who rebelled against the traditional construction of a ballet performance. He argued that the theme of the performance, its music, the era in which the action takes place, each time require different dance movements, a different dance pattern. When staging the ballet "Egyptian Nights" Fokine was inspired by the poetry of V. Bryusov and ancient Egyptian drawings, and the images of the ballet "Petrushka" were inspired by the poetry of A. Blok. In the ballet Daphnis and Chloe, he abandoned pointe dancing and, in free, plastic movements, revived antique frescoes. His "Chopiniana" revived the atmosphere of romantic ballet. Fokin wrote that he "dreams of creating a ballet-drama from ballet-fun, from dance - an understandable, speaking language." And he succeeded.

Anna Pavlova

In 1908, the annual performances of Russian ballet dancers in Paris began, organized by the theater figure S. P. Diaghilev. The names of dancers from Russia - Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Adolf Bolm - became known all over the world. But the first in this row is the name of the incomparable Anna Pavlova.

Pavlova - lyrical, fragile, with elongated body lines, huge eyes - evoked engravings depicting romantic ballerinas. Her heroines conveyed a purely Russian dream of a harmonious, spiritualized life or longing and sadness for an unfulfilled one. The Dying Swan, created by the great ballerina Pavlova, is a poetic symbol of Russian ballet at the beginning of the 20th century.

It was then, under the influence of the skill of Russian artists, that Western ballet shook itself and gained a second wind.

After October revolution In 1917, many figures of the ballet theater left Russia, but despite this, the school of Russian ballet survived. The pathos of the movement towards a new life, revolutionary themes, and most importantly the scope for creative experiment inspired the ballet masters. Their task was to bring choreographic art closer to the people, to make it more vital and accessible.

This is how the genre of dramatic ballet arose. These were performances, usually based on the plots of famous literary works, which were built according to the laws of a dramatic performance. The content in them was presented with the help of pantomime and pictorial dance. In the middle of the 20th century, dramatic ballet was in crisis. The choreographers made attempts to preserve this genre of ballet, enhancing the spectacle of the performances with the help of stage effects, but, alas, in vain.

In the late 1950s, a turning point came. Choreographers and dancers of a new generation have revived forgotten genres - one-act ballet, ballet symphony, choreographic miniature. And since the 1970s, independent ballet troupes have arisen, independent of opera and ballet theaters. Their number is constantly increasing, among them there are studios of free dance and modern dance.

Publications section Theaters

Famous Russian ballets. Top 5

Classical ballet is an amazing art form that was born in Italy during the mature Renaissance, "moved" to France, where the merit of its development, including the founding of the Academy of Dance and the codification of many movements, belonged to King Louis XIV. France exported the art of theatrical dance to all European countries, including Russia. In the middle of the 19th century, the capital of European ballet was no longer Paris, which gave the world the masterpieces of romanticism La Sylphide and Giselle, but Petersburg. It was in the Northern capital that the great choreographer Marius Petipa worked for almost 60 years, the creator of the system of classical dance and the author of masterpieces that still do not leave the stage. After the October Revolution, they wanted to throw the ballet off the ship of modernity, but they managed to defend it. Soviet time was marked by the creation of a considerable number of masterpieces. We present five domestic top ballets - in chronological order.

"Don Quixote"

Scene from the ballet Don Quixote. One of the first productions by Marius Petipa

Premiere of the ballet by L.F. Minkus "Don Quixote" Bolshoi Theater. 1869 From the album of the architect Albert Kavos

Scenes from the ballet Don Quixote. Kitri - Lyubov Roslavleva (center). Staging by A.A. Gorsky. Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre. 1900

Music by L. Minkus, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1869, choreography by M. Petipa. Subsequent productions: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1871, choreography by M. Petipa; Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1900, St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1902, Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1906, all - choreography by A. Gorsky.

Ballet "Don Quixote" - full of life and jubilation theatrical performance, an eternal celebration of dance, which never tires adults and to which parents gladly lead their children. Although it is called the name of the hero of the famous novel Cervantes, it is based on one of its episodes, “The Wedding of Quiteria and Basilio”, and tells about the adventures of young heroes, whose love eventually wins, despite the opposition of the heroine’s stubborn father, who wanted to marry her to rich Gamache.

So Don Quixote has almost nothing to do with it. Throughout the performance, a tall, thin artist, accompanied by a short, pot-bellied colleague, portraying Sancho Panza, paces around the stage, sometimes making it difficult to watch the compositions of Petipa and Gorsky beautiful dances. Ballet, in essence, is a concert in costumes, a celebration of classical and characteristic dance, where all the artists of any ballet troupe have something to do.

The first production of the ballet took place in Moscow, where Petipa traveled from time to time to raise the level of the local troupe, which could not be compared with the brilliant troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. But in Moscow it was easier to breathe, so the choreographer, in essence, staged a ballet reminiscence of wonderful years youth spent in a sunny country.

The ballet was a success, and two years later Petipa moved it to St. Petersburg, which necessitated reworking. in the northern capital characteristic dances much less interested than pure classics. Petipa expanded "Don Quixote" to five acts, composed a "white act", the so-called "Dream of Don Quixote", a real paradise for lovers of ballerinas in tutus, owners of pretty legs. The number of cupids in the "Dream" reached fifty-two...

Don Quixote came to us in a reworking by the Moscow choreographer Alexander Gorsky, who was fond of the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavsky and wanted to make the old ballet more logical and dramatically convincing. Gorsky destroyed Petipa's symmetrical compositions, canceled the tutus in the "Dream" scene and insisted on the use of swarthy make-up for the Spanish dancers. Petipa called him a "pig", but already in the first alteration of Gorsky, the ballet was performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater 225 times.

"Swan Lake"

Scenery for the first performance. Big theater. Moscow. 1877

Scene from the ballet "Swan Lake" by P.I. Tchaikovsky (choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov). 1895

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by V. Begichev and V. Geltser. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1877, choreography by V. Reisinger. Subsequent production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1895, choreography by M. Petipa, L. Ivanov.

Everyone's favorite ballet, the classical version of which was staged in 1895, was actually born eighteen years earlier at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. Tchaikovsky score, world fame which was yet to come, was a kind of collection of "songs without words" and seemed too complicated for that time. The ballet took place about 40 times and sunk into oblivion.

After Tchaikovsky's death, Swan Lake was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, and all subsequent productions of the ballet were based on this version, which became a classic. The action was given greater clarity and logic: the ballet told about the fate of the beautiful Princess Odette, evil genius Rothbart turned into a swan, about how Rothbart deceived Prince Siegfried, who fell in love with her, resorting to the charms of his daughter Odile, and about the death of the heroes. Tchaikovsky's score was reduced by about a third by the conductor Ricardo Drigo and reorchestrated. Petipa created the choreography for the first and third acts, Lev Ivanov for the second and fourth. This division perfect way responded to the vocation of both brilliant choreographers, the second of whom had to live and die in the shadow of the first. Petipa - father classical ballet, the creator of impeccably harmonious compositions and the singer of a woman-fairy, a woman-toy. Ivanov is an innovative choreographer with an unusually sensitive feel for music. The role of Odette-Odile was played by Pierina Legnani, “Queen of Milanese ballerinas”, she is also the first Raymonda and the inventor of 32 fouettes, the most difficult type of rotation on pointe shoes.

You may not know anything about ballet, but Swan Lake is known to everyone. IN last years existence Soviet Union, when the aged leaders replaced one another quite often, the heartfelt melody of the “white” duet of the main characters of the ballet and the bursts of wing-arms from the TV screen heralded the sad event. The Japanese love Swan Lake so much that they are ready to watch it in the morning and in the evening, performed by any troupe. Not a single touring troupe, of which there are many in Russia, and especially in Moscow, can do without Lebedinoy.

"Nutcracker"

Scene from the ballet The Nutcracker. First staging. Marianna - Lydia Rubtsova, Clara - Stanislava Belinskaya, Fritz - Vasily Stukolkin. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Scene from the ballet The Nutcracker. First staging. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1892, choreography by L. Ivanov.

From books and websites, erroneous information still roams that The Nutcracker was staged by the father of classical ballet Marius Petipa. In fact, Petipa wrote only the script, and the first production of the ballet was carried out by his subordinate, Lev Ivanov. An impossible task fell to Ivanov's lot: the script, created in the style of the then fashionable ballet extravaganza with the indispensable participation of an Italian guest performer, was in obvious contradiction with Tchaikovsky's music, which, although written in strict accordance with Petipa's instructions, was distinguished by great feeling, dramatic richness and complex symphonic development. In addition, the heroine of the ballet was a teenage girl, and the ballerina-star was prepared only for the final pas de deux (a duet with a partner, consisting of an adagio - a slow part, variations - solo dances and a coda (virtuoso finale)). The first production of The Nutcracker, where the first, predominantly a pantomime act, differed sharply from the second, a divertissement act, was not very successful, critics noted only the Waltz of the Snowflakes (64 dancers participated in it) and the Pas de deux of the Dragee Fairy and the Prince of Whooping Cough , which was inspired by Ivanov's Adagio with a Rose from Sleeping Beauty, where Aurora dances with four gentlemen.

But in the 20th century, which was able to penetrate into the depths of Tchaikovsky's music, The Nutcracker was destined for a truly fantastic future. There are countless ballet performances in the Soviet Union, European countries and the USA. In Russia, the productions of Vasily Vainonen at the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg) and Yuri Grigorovich at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater are especially popular.

"Romeo and Juliet"

Ballet Romeo and Juliet. Juliet - Galina Ulanova, Romeo - Konstantin Sergeev. 1939

Mrs. Patrick Campbeple as Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 1895

Finale of Romeo and Juliet. 1940

Music by S. Prokofiev, libretto by S. Radlov, A. Piotrovsky, L. Lavrovsky. First production: Brno, Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1938, choreography by V. Psota. Subsequent production: Leningrad, State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. S. Kirov, 1940, choreography by L. Lavrovsky.

If Shakespeare's phrase in a well-known Russian translation reads "There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet", then they said about the ballet of the great Sergei Prokofiev written on this plot: "There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev's music in ballet". Truly amazing in beauty, richness of colors and expressiveness, the score of "Romeo and Juliet" at the time of its appearance seemed too complicated and unsuitable for ballet. Ballet dancers simply refused to dance to her.

Prokofiev wrote the score in 1934, and originally it was intended not for the theater, but for the famous Leningrad Academic Choreographic School to celebrate its 200th anniversary. The project was not implemented due to the murder of Sergei Kirov in Leningrad in 1934, and changes broke out in the leading musical theater of the second capital. Nor did the plan to stage Romeo and Juliet at the Moscow Bolshoi come to fruition. In 1938, the premiere was shown by a theater in Brno, and only two years later, Prokofiev's ballet was finally staged in the author's homeland, at the then Kirov Theater.

Choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky as part of a highly acclaimed Soviet power genre of "drambalet" (a form of choreographic drama characteristic of the ballet of the 1930s-50s) created an impressive, exciting spectacle with carefully sculpted mass scenes and finely defined psychological characteristics of the characters. At his disposal was Galina Ulanova, the most sophisticated ballerina-actress, who remained unsurpassed in the role of Juliet.

Prokofiev's score was quickly appreciated by Western choreographers. The first versions of the ballet appeared already in the 1940s. Their creators were Birgit Kuhlberg (Stockholm, 1944) and Margarita Froman (Zagreb, 1949). Notable productions"Romeo and Juliet" belongs to Frederick Ashton (Copenhagen, 1955), John Cranko (Milan, 1958), Kenneth MacMillan (London, 1965), John Neumeier (Frankfurt, 1971, Hamburg, 1973).I. Moiseev, 1958, choreography by Y. Grigorovich, 1968.

Without "Spartacus" the concept of "Soviet ballet" is unthinkable. This is a real hit, a symbol of the era. The Soviet period developed other themes and images, deeply different from the traditional classical ballet inherited from Marius Petipa and Imperial theaters Moscow and Petersburg. Fairy tales with a happy ending were archived, and they were replaced by heroic stories.

Already in 1941, one of the leading Soviet composers Aram Khachaturian spoke about his intention to write music for a monumental, heroic performance to be staged at the Bolshoi Theatre. The theme for it was an episode from ancient Roman history, an uprising of slaves led by Spartacus. Khachaturian created a colorful score using Armenian, Georgian, Russian motifs and full of beautiful melodies and fiery rhythms. The production was to be staged by Igor Moiseev.

It took many years for his work to come out to the audience, and it appeared not at the Bolshoi Theater, but at the Theater. Kirov. Choreographer Leonid Yakobson created a stunning and innovative performance, abandoning the traditional attributes of classical ballet, including pointe dancing, using free plastique and ballerinas wearing sandals.

But the ballet "Spartacus" became a hit and a symbol of the era in the hands of choreographer Yuri Grigorovich in 1968. Grigorovich impressed the viewer with a completely built dramaturgy, subtle portrayal of the characters of the main characters, skillful staging of crowd scenes, purity and beauty of lyrical adagios. He called his work "a performance for four soloists with a corps de ballet" (corps de ballet - artists involved in mass dance episodes). Vladimir Vasiliev played the role of Spartacus, Crassus - Maris Liepa, Phrygia - Ekaterina Maksimova and Aegina - Nina Timofeeva. Card de ballet was predominantly male, which makes the ballet "Spartacus" one of a kind.

In addition to the well-known readings of Spartacus by Yakobson and Grigorovich, there are about 20 more productions of the ballet. Among them is the version by Jiri Blazek for the Prague Ballet, Laszlo Seregi for the Budapest Ballet (1968), Jüri Vamos for the Arena di Verona (1999), Renato Zanella for the Vienna Ballet State Opera(2002), Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vassilev for the State Academic Theater of Classical Ballet in Moscow (2002) they direct.

Ballet is a poetic art. He is characterized by sublime, heroic, lyrical themes. fabulous wonderful world dance images deeply excites and awakens noble aspirations.

In ballet performances, a fascinating plot created by a writer, music composed by a composer, a dance invented by a choreographer and performed by artists, picturesque scenery and costumes made according to the artist's idea merge together.

This complex art developed quite late. Ballet is a little over four hundred years old, although the art of dance has existed for several millennia (see the article “Folk Dance”).

Ballet originated in Italy in the 15th century. From folk dances, the name "balletti" (Italian "ballare" - to dance, and "balletti" - dances) moved to more complex dances performed at court balls. At the courts of the rulers, costumed performances with dances, singing and recitation were often arranged, in which the courtiers themselves participated. These first ballets consisted of sparsely connected "exits" of characters, most often taken from Greek mythology. One richly and magnificently dressed couple was replaced by another. After all the “exits”, a general dance, or “big ballet”, began.

Such a performance was arranged in Italy at a grand feast in the city of Tortona (1489). The ancient gods and heroes, dancing, brought food to the guests. Sea deities carried fish dishes, fertility goddesses served fruits and sweets. This gastronomic ballet ended with a magnificent exit of Bacchus - the god of wine. The same ideas appeared in many European courts.

Gradually, in court ballets, mythological heroes are being replaced by comic masks depicting people from the people - laundresses, innkeepers, shoemakers, etc. All roles in the ballet were performed only by men.

The robes and masks of the participants in the court ballet were bulky and uncomfortable. For example, a shoemaker had to dance in a huge shoe covering his head, and a violinist's costume consisted of a large violin. The heroes of antiquity were also dressed in a heavy suit, reminiscent of a court dress. It was very difficult to dance in such costumes, so all ballet movements were limited to smooth walking, graceful bows and graceful poses. In addition, if women participated in court balls along with men, then on stage female roles performed by boys in masks and wigs.

The courtiers danced in discord, since the rules for the performance of dance movements did not yet exist.

By decree of the French king Louis XIV, the Royal Academy of Dance was founded in 1661 to develop the rules and system of dances. It included thirteen dance teachers appointed by the king. In 1669 was founded Musical Theatre(Royal Academy of Music), where at first only courtiers danced in opera-ballets. Initially, ballet performances almost did not differ from court performances. Music, dance and singing were weakly connected with each other and did not produce an integral artistic impression. The dances were the same as at the court - slow minuets, gavottes, far from their folk source. Women were allowed to appear on stage only in 1681. They had to dance in heavy long dresses and high heeled shoes. Such costumes prevented dancers from performing complex virtuoso dances, and therefore the skill of male dances exceeded women's dances grace, grace, fluidity and technique.

In Italy, the fashion for court ballet passed much earlier, and the dance art became completely professional. Italian dancers were famous for their virtuosity dance technique. But many other things prevented the ballet from becoming a real art - the texts accompanying the dance, and the bulky costumes, and the mask that hid the entire face of the artist.

Only in 1773 did the dancer Maximilian Gardel throw off traditional mask. A little later, the ballerina Marie Camargo achieved some freedom of movement by shortening her skirt just above the ankle and refusing heels, and Marie Salle began to dance in loose, light clothes resembling a Greek tunic. The dances gradually became more meaningful.

An especially great contribution to the development of Western European ballet was made by the French choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810). In his "Letters on Dance" (1760), he called for the creation of an "effective", i.e., meaningful and expressive dance, in which feelings, thoughts and events would be revealed in pantomime and dance movements. These advanced ideas Noverre was only partially realized in ballet performances staged at the ducal court in Stuttgart and on other stages.

The views of Noverre had a huge impact on the further development of the ballet. From traditional costume and the masks are gone. Ballet dancers began to dance in a free, light

clothes. Their dance movements became more natural, expressive and varied. The students and followers of Noverre created the first ballet performances in the history of choreography, where music, costume, scenery and meaningful, spiritual dance merged. Staged by Dauberval more than a hundred and fifty years ago, the ballet "Vain Precaution" continues to live on the stages of ballet theaters to this day.

During the years of the French bourgeois revolution, ballet art was enriched with elements of folk dance, previously unacceptable for court artists. The art of the revolutionary era turned to the heroic images of antiquity.

One of the wonderful choreographic productions At that time, "Offering to Freedom" was created by choreographer Pierre Gardel. A dance was introduced into it, performed to the music of the Marseillaise.

In the XVIII century. the choreography was enriched with expressive means. Ballet dancers, dressed in light tunics and sandals, could already dance on high half-toes. Hand movements became free and plastic; in facial expressions, movements, gestures, the actors sought to convey the feelings of their characters.

Around 1800, the leotard was invented (a flesh-colored knitted suit that tightly fits the legs and body), and the movements of the dancers were given complete freedom. The level of dance skills has significantly increased. However male dance still continued to be more virtuoso than the female.

Based on the achievements of ballet art, the Italian dancer and teacher Carlo Blasis (1803-1878) developed a dance teaching system based on five starting positions of the legs. Blazis used an "arsenal" of movements borrowed by generations of artists and choreographers from folk and court dance, from ancient art. This system was later called "classical".

In the first half of the XIX century. the Italian and French schools of classical ballet were finally formed.

The Italian ballet theater was characterized by virtuoso technique, complex jumps, sharp, rigid hand movements. Sometimes, for the sake of external brilliance and virtuosity, the performers sacrificed the meaningfulness and expressiveness of the dance. Choreographer S. Vigano, who successfully staged serious and complex ballets to the music of Beethoven, to the plots of Shakespeare's tragedies, remained alone at the La Scala theater in Milan.

Unlike the Italian, the French ballet school was famous for its gracefulness, plasticity, softness of lines, but at the same time, it was characterized by cold performance. Ballet performance in 18th century France usually put on an ancient or mythological plot.

Artists royal theater they did not even strive to faithfully reproduce historical or national features, but imitated court manners and costumes. Ancient Greek shepherds went on stage in shoes with red heels, modeled on court dandies, in powdered wigs with boucles. All this gave rise to disappointment in classicism among many choreographers and artists, pushed them to search for new means that could more fully convey the truth of life.

In Russia, professional ballet art appeared in the 18th century. Although at first foreigners were teachers and directors, Russian dancers creatively accepted from them what met the requirements of a closely related folk dance Russian dance culture, which enriched and ennobled it. They sought to fill the borrowed elements with the national spirit.

This is how the Russian school of classical dance was formed. The most important stage its development is associated with the stay in Russia of the French choreographer Charles Didelot (1767 -1837) - one of the founders of romanticism in ballet art. live human feelings, poetic loftiness of content art paintings, free and bold manner of performance - this is what especially attracted in his ballets and was a new word in art. He helped the artists to create historically true images, reinterpreted the content of old myths, staging the ballets Acis and Galatea, Zephyr and Flora, Cupid and Psyche on their basis.

Didlo introduced as a means artistic expressiveness"flying ballet", i.e., flights of artists over the stage, carried out with the help of mechanical devices.

While still on the English stage, Didlo began staging genre realistic ballets. But the most outstanding creations of Didlo were the dramatic ballets staged by him in Russia " Prisoner of the Caucasus"(according to A.S. Pushkin)," Hungarian Hut "," Raulda Kreki ". Didlo, whom his contemporaries called "the Shakespeare and Byron of the ballet stage", skillfully alternating cheerful and dramatic episodes, forced the viewer to follow the fate of the characters with deep sympathy. True, in Didelot's ballets there was still a lot of pantomime, and the dance was of an auxiliary nature, since the characters danced mainly at feasts and all sorts of celebrations.

In Russia, Didlo brought up such famous ballerinas like Avdotya Istomina and Maria Danilova. After Didelot, with each new generation, Russian ballet became more distinctive.

Russian choreographers Valberkh, Glushkovsky introduced national themes to ballet.

No ballet performance can be created without a choreographer. He reveals the content of the music written by the composer in dance images, thinks over the composition and combination of dances, develops all the roles. In the artistic form of dance images, complex emotional experiences, powerful ups and downs are conveyed. human spirit. Sometimes in the dance the choreographer manages to express not less thoughts and feelings than it can be done with words.

Didlo's creative imagination gave rise to a romantic ballet, expressing the desire for the sublime, poeticizing a dream and a fairy tale. All sorts of fantastic creatures - elves, sylphs, ghosts and shadows - became the heroes of the romantic ballet proper. Ballerina Maria Taglioni and her father, choreographer Philippe Taglioni, were in the 30s. 19th century the most typical representatives of this new ballet.

The best ballet of the romantic era, Giselle, was staged in 1841 in Paris. It depicts the tragedy of a pure, trusting peasant girl, deeply shocked by the infidelity of her beloved. Giselle dies of grief and turns into a forest fairy-wilis. This eternally young ballet speaks the language of dance about big feelings and is still included in the repertoire of the Soviet and foreign theater.

No less exciting creation of the era of romanticism is the ballet "Esmeralda", staged by the outstanding French choreographer J. Perrot (1810-1892) based on the novel "Notre Dame Cathedral" by V. Hugo (see the article "Victor Hugo"). There was not a single fantastic creature here. Perrault strove to directly express the dramatic action in the dance. The talent of this choreographer was not recognized at home and really flourished in England and especially in Russia.

The history of Russian ballet is closely connected with the development of Russian classical music. Before the advent of ballet music by P. I. Tchaikovsky, music served only as an accompaniment to dances: only a certain tempo, rhythm and catchy melody were required from it. Tchaikovsky's symphonic ballet music, deep, colorful, expressive, helped the viewer to think about what could not be expressed in dance. In the ballet The Nutcracker, the composer revealed the bright, joyful world of children's dreams, in Swan Lake he spoke about love that destroys evil spells, in The Sleeping Beauty he showed the triumph of good over evil. Beauty and purity inner world human, sung by Tchaikovsky, has forever become the main content of Russian ballet art.

While working on The Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky repeatedly turned to the wonderful choreographer Marius Petipa (1822-1910) for advice. A Frenchman by birth, he devoted almost sixty years to Russian ballet. Petipa, a great connoisseur of classical dance, especially succeeded in the ballets Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, in which the dances seemed to merge with the music.

Another outstanding director of Tchaikovsky's ballets, Lev Ivanov (1834-1901), created amazing lyrical swan dances in Swan Lake (acts 2 and 4 of the ballet). Ivanov strove to express in dance all the richness of the content of music.

A complete fusion of music, dance and painting in a ballet performance was achieved at the beginning of the 20th century. choreographers M. Fokin and A. Gorsky. They succeeded not only in faithfully reproducing life on the ballet stage, but also in finding unique expressive means for each ballet that corresponded to the content. Collaborating with the best artists, Gorsky and Fokin raised high level the art of staging.

in the West in the second half of the nineteenth century. ballet fell into decay, lost its independent significance and turned into an appendage to opera, while Russian ballet art continued to develop the best features of classical ballet.

Classical ballet is distinguished by a strict pattern of movement, noble purity and spirituality of performance.

All means of expression in classical ballet serve to reveal the deep content, complex experiences of the characters.

Tours of the Russian ballet in Paris and London (at the beginning of the 20th century) made a stunning impression on Western audiences. Outstanding Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova was recognized as one of the greatest dancers classical school. In the dance "The Dying Swan" (music by Saint-Saens, staged by M. Fokine), which lasted only three minutes, Pavlova revealed a whole range of experiences. The brilliant skill of Russian choreographers and artists, the inspired art of Anna Pavlova had a huge impact on the revival of European ballet. Pavlova, and after her other teachers opened schools of classical dance in England. The talented artists trained by them formed professional troupes that still exist today (Ballet Marie Rambert, The Royal Ballet - the former Sadler's Wells). Their repertoire includes not only ballets by Russian composers, but also wonderful works by Tchaikovsky.

In the 30s. 20th century the national ballet was revived in France, Italy and other countries. He borrowed a lot from the Russian and Soviet school of classical dance, which is extremely popular in the West.

Best of classical heritage Russian school was further developed in the Soviet ballet. It can rightfully be considered a new, higher stage of choreographic art. Classical dance in Soviet ballet is constantly developing, improving and enriching itself in accordance with the requirements of our era, absorbing the best features of the dance art of our country.

On the Soviet stage "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty", "Giselle" live new life. Having retained everything valuable from past performances, they are imbued with a different perception of music, a new idea of the grandeur and beauty of life, filled with special dramatic tension. Soviet ballet art seeks to reveal the best in a person, all the richness of his inner world. It not only pleases the eye, but also awakens noble aspirations, high feelings and thoughts in the audience.

The merit of creating large realistic ballets dedicated to folk heroes and freedom fighters of different countries and eras belongs to Soviet choreographic art. This is the “Red Poppy” by Glier (see the article “R. M. Glier”), staged by V. Tikhomirov and L. Lashchilin; “The Flames of Paris” by B. Asafiev, choreographer Vainonen; “Spartacus” by Khachaturian (see article “Aram Khachaturian”); "Laurencia" by A. Crane, choreographer V. Chabukiani; "The Path of Thunder" by Kara Karaeva, choreographer K. Sergeev; " Stone Flower» S. Prokofiev, choreographer Y. Grigorovich.

To the gold fund Soviet ballet included such wonderful works as " Bakhchisarai fountain" B. Asafiev and "Romeo and Juliet" by S. Prokofiev (see article "S. S. Prokofiev"), the directors of these ballets, choreographers R. Zakharov and L. Lavrovsky, managed to translate into the language of dance the poetic content of the great works of Pushkin and Shakespeare .

The Soviet people are proud of such outstanding performers, like Ulanova (see the article “G.S. Ulanova”), M. Plisetskaya, O. Lepeshinskaya, R. Struchkova, K. Sergeev, V. Chabukiani, and many other glorious pupils of the Soviet ballet school.

The general admiration of foreign spectators was caused by the tour Soviet artists, who, together with the directors, managed to turn the ballet into "a tense dramatic staging, full of liveliness, choreographic inventions ... stage effects and emotionality" - as she wrote foreign press. The performances of the Soviet ballet in a number of European countries and America were regarded as "events of historical significance."

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The history of ballet for children will tell you how and where ballet appeared.

When did ballet appear?

The term "ballet" appeared at the end of the 16th century (from the Italian balletto - to dance). But then it did not mean a performance, but only a dance episode that conveys a certain mood.

Ballet as an art form is quite young. The dance that adorns our lives has already come to an end 400 years. The place where ballet originated is Northern Italy, But it happened during the Renaissance. Local princes loved magnificent palace festivities and hired dance masters who rehearsed dance movements and individual figures with noble people.

It is believed that who invented ballet italian choreographer Baltazarini di Belgiojoso. He staged the first ballet performance called The Queen's Comedy Ballet, which was staged in France in 1581.

It was in France that ballet began to develop. During the reign of Louis XIV, the performances of the court ballet reached a special splendor.

Brief history of Russian ballet

In Russia, a ballet performance called "The Ballet of Orpheus and Eurydice" was staged for the first time on February 8, 1673. This happened in the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Slow and ceremonial dances were graceful poses, moves and bows, which alternated with speech and singing.

Only a quarter of a century later, along with the reforms of Peter I, dance and music entered the life of the Russian people. In educational institutions for the nobility, classes were equipped for dancing. Foreign opera artists, musicians and ballet troupes began to perform at the royal court.

The first ballet school in Russia was opened in 1731. It was called the gentry Land Corps. It is considered the cradle of Russian ballet. Jean-Baptiste Lande, a French dance master, made a huge contribution to the development of the ballet school. He is the founder of Russian ballet. Lande also opened the first ballet dance school in Russia. Today it is the Academy of Russian Ballet. A.Ya. Vaganova.

Ballet received a further impetus in its development during the reign of Tsaritsa Elizaveta Petrovna. After the invitation of the choreographer from France Didelot to Russia, this art reached a special flowering - elegant productions, poses and decoration made a splash.

The most beautiful of all arts.

The most beautiful of all arts, ballet tells stories of love and death in a language understandable to all people on Earth. Enduring values, repeated crimes and miracles of faith, oath and duty find their expression in dances. “In the beginning there was the Word,” the Bible says, but Maya Plisetskaya objects: “In the beginning there was a gesture!” The art of silent movement does not require human language and translation. The beauty of the body in motion, the body as a tool for creating art, now themselves serve as "plots" for plotless dances. Ballet is impossible without the technique of classical dance, without the nature of the body, without sacrifice and unconditional love without sweat and blood. And yet ballet is a perfect movement that makes you forget about everything petty and earthly.

A Brief History of Russian Ballet.

The first ballet performance in Russia took place on Shrovetide February 17, 1672 at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Preobrazhensky. Before the start of the performance, an actor portraying Orpheus came on stage and sang German couplets, translated to the tsar by an interpreter, in which the beautiful properties of the soul of Alexei Mikhailovich were extolled. At this time, on both sides of Orpheus, there were two pyramids decorated with banners and illuminated with multi-colored lights, which, after the song of Orpheus, began to dance. Under Peter I, dances appeared in Russia in modern meaning of this word: minuets, country dances, etc. were introduced. He issued a decree according to which dancing became the main part of court etiquette, and noble youth were obliged to learn dancing. In 1731, the Land Gentry Corps was opened in St. Petersburg, which was destined to become the cradle of Russian ballet. Since the graduates of the corps in the future had to hold high government positions and needed knowledge of secular manners, the study of fine arts, including ballroom dance, a significant place was allotted in the body. On May 4, 1738, the French dance master Jean-Baptiste Lande opened the first ballet dance school in Russia - "Her Imperial Majesty's Dance School" (now the Academy of Russian Ballet named after A. Ya. Vaganova).

In specially equipped rooms Winter Palace Lande started teaching 12 Russian boys and girls. Pupils were recruited from children simple origin. Education at the school was free, pupils were on full content. Ballet in Russia was further developed during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. Among the cadets of the Land Corps, Nikita Beketov excelled in dancing. Moreover, Beketov, who later became Elizabeth's favorite, enjoyed the special favor of the Empress, who herself dressed the young man, who perfectly performed female roles. In 1742, the first ballet troupe was created from the students of the Lande school, and in 1743, fees began to be paid to its participants. On August 1, 1759, on the empress's name day and on the occasion of the victory over the Prussian troops at Frankfurt, the ballet-drama "Refuge of Virtue" was solemnly staged, which was a huge success.

During the reign of Catherine II, ballet in Russia gained even greater popularity and was further developed. On the occasion of her coronation in the Moscow Palace, a magnificent ballet "Joyful Return to the Arcadian Shepherds and Shepherds of the Goddess of Spring" was given, in which the noblest nobles participated. It is known that in the court theater in ballet performances the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, often danced. From the era of Catherine II, a tradition of serf ballets appeared in Russia, when landlords started troupes made up of serfs. Of these ballets, the ballet of the landowner Nashchokin enjoyed the greatest fame.

In 1766, the choreographer and composer Gasparo Angiolini, discharged from Vienna, adds a Russian flavor to ballet performances - he introduces Russian melodies into the musical accompaniment of ballet performances, which surprised everyone and gained universal praise for himself. At the beginning of the reign of Paul I, ballet was still in vogue. Interestingly, under Paul I, special rules for ballet were issued - it was ordered that there should not be a single man on the stage during the performance, the roles of men were danced by Evgenia Kolosova and Nastasya Berilova.

This continued until Auguste Poirot arrived in St. Petersburg. During the reign of Alexander I, Russian ballet continued its development, reaching new heights. Russian ballet, first of all, owes its success at this time to the invited French choreographer Karl Didlo, who arrived in Russia in 1801. Under his leadership, such dancers and dancers as Maria Danilova, Evdokia Istomina began to shine in Russian ballet. At this time, ballet in Russia reached unprecedented popularity. Derzhavin, Pushkin and Griboedov sang the ballets of Didelot and his students Istomin and Teleshova. The emperor loved ballet performances and almost never missed a single one. In 1831, due to a conflict with the director of theaters, Prince Gagarin, Didlo left the St. Petersburg stage. Soon a star began to shine on the Petersburg stage European ballet Maria Taglioni.

She made her debut on September 6, 1837 in the ballet La Sylphide and aroused the delight of the public. Such lightness, such chaste grace, such extraordinary technique and facial expressions have never been shown by any of the dancers. In 1841, she said goodbye to St. Petersburg, having danced more than 200 times during this time.

In 1848, Taglioni's rival Fanny Elsler, famous for her grace and facial expressions, arrived in St. Petersburg. Following her, Carlotta Grisi visited St. Petersburg, who made her debut in 1851 in Giselle and was a great success, showing herself to be a first-class dancer and an excellent mimic actress. At this time, choreographers Marius Petipa, Joseph Mazilier and others consistently staged luxurious ballets and, by attracting talented artists, tried to put forward ballet performances, which they began to cool off thanks to Italian opera. Among ballet critics At that time there was also Vissarion Belinsky, who was noted for articles about Taglioni, Guerino and Sankovskaya. In the reign of Alexander II in Russian ballet, the promotion of domestic talents begins. Whole line talented Russian dancers and dancers graced the ballet stage. Although great savings were observed in ballet performances, the experience of Mariyca Petipa made it possible to stage elegant ballet performances at low financial costs, the success of which was greatly facilitated by the excellent scenery of the artists. During this period of development of Russian ballet, dances take precedence over plasticity and facial expressions.

During the reign of Alexander III, ballets were given at the Mariinsky Theater twice a week - on Wednesdays and Sundays. The choreographer was still Marius Petipa. At that time, foreign ballerinas were touring in St. Petersburg, among them Carlotta Brianza, who was the first to perform the part of Aurora in the ballet The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The leading dancers were Vasily Geltser and Nikolai Domashev. In the 20th century - A.V. Shiryaev, 1904 A.A. Gorsky, 1906 Mikhail Fokin, 1909. At the beginning of the 20th century, the guardians of academic traditions were artists: Olga Preobrazhenskaya, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Vera Trefilova, Yu. N. Sedova, Agrippina Vaganova , Olga Spesivtseva. In search of new forms, Mikhail Fokin relied on contemporary fine art.

Anna Pavlova. Invitation to the Dance aka Invitation to the Valse.

The favorite stage form of the choreographer was a one-act ballet with laconic continuous action, with a clearly expressed stylistic coloring. Mikhail Fokin owns the ballets: Pavilion of Armida, Chopiniana, Egyptian Nights, Carnival, 1910; "Petrushka", "Polovtsian Dances" in the opera "Prince Igor". Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova became famous in Fokine's ballets. The first act of the ballet "Don Quixote", to the music of Ludwig Minkus, reached his contemporaries in the version of Alexander Gorsky.

Russian ballet of the twentieth century.

Galina Ulanova in the ballet "Giselle."

Pas de deux from the ballet "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky.