Igor Belsky: The Boundary

Abstract

I. Belsky belonged to a special breed of people: everything he touched, all areas of activity that occupied him, immediately acquired a special interest and value. For him the search for the key was always decisive - how to solve the main, general problem? I. Belsky’s work, along with that of Y. Grigorovich, marked a milestone in the history of Russian ballet in the 20th century. Y. Grigorovich’s The Stone Flower (1957) and I. Belsky’s The Coast of Hope (1959) are recognised as turning points. Grigorovich’s essentially revolutionary novelty did not escape the traces of the past. Belsky exacerbated the problem and with his performance declared the new aesthetic programme to have finally won. It paradoxically corresponded with F. Lopukhov’s ideas about dancesymphony. Once again dance prevailed, the ties of the plot loosened, and the action gravitated towards programme.