Freddie Mercury and Russian ballet: how the rock scene became a theatrical stage

Abstract

The article is devoted to the influence of Russian ballet on the Freddie Mercury’s output — the British singer and front-man of Queen rock-band. The embodiment of ideas inspired by the images and plots of ballet art can be traced in many of the musician's works, created both as part of a team and as solo project. In particular, Mercury's attention was attracted by the legacy of Diaghilev's enterprise and performances with Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Artistic borrowings in the singer's work are present in the form of separate cultural references, expressed in elements of costumes and stage behavior and adapting the famous theatrical work’s ideas as the concept of his own video clips As an analytical material of this article are used two video clips: I Want to Break Free (the song by Queen) and Made in Heaven (Freddie Mercury's solo single), in which the singer's passion for ballet art was most vividly reflected.