This  article  is  an  observation  of  life  and  work  of  Frederick  Ashton,  an outstanding  English  choreographer  of  the  20th  century.  The  author  identify patterns of the development of the ballet master’s choreographic style, describes Ashton’s biography from birth to death and events of the life which are unusual for  a  professional  choreographer:  lack  of  the  special  education,  long-term Military service, creation of impeccably musical masterpieces despite of absence of the musical education, and ballets which are sophisticated, imaginative and viable. The impact of Anna Pavlova on the life and work of Frederick Ashton is also pointed out in the article.

The  issues  of  creating  a  choreo-musical  artistic  product  are  highlighted. The  mechanism  of  combining  musical  and  choreographic  texts  is  considered. Alternative principles of discreteness and independence and interaction in the creation of a modern choreographic production are described. The necessity of considering alternative approaches to optimizing the interdependence of music and movements in both technological and sensory directions is justified.

The article examines an example of a plastic interpretation of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” of choreography by A. B. Petrov. The ballet “The Magic Flute” staged by A. B. Petrov is analyzed from the point of view of an integrated approach to  the  stage  text,  which  includes  the  use  of  music,  choreographic  solution, interpretation  of  images  and  collisions,  as  well  as  stage  design  and  costumes. Special  attention  is  paid  to  vocal  forms  that  have  received  choreographic interpretation. It is noted that A. B. Petrov often takes musical forms as a basis. Thus, the aria turns into a variation, the duet into adagio, the vocal tercet into a  ballet  trio,  the  chorus  into  a  corps  de  ballet.  Moreover,  using  the  leading ballet form pas de deux for large scenes associated with the main characters, the choreographer very clearly reveals the characteristic features of their images with choreographic means. In his production, Petrov, relying on the musical basis of Mozart’s opera and supplementing it with inserted musical fragments of other works of the composer, managed to preserve a single musical style and reveal its content, using canonical ballet techniques and the classical form of dance. The author (Gasnikova O. V.) uses excerpts from a personal conversation with A. B. Petrov, choreographer of the ballet “The Magic Flute”, People’s artist of  Russia,  winner  of  the  Moscow  Prize  in  literature  and  art,  Professor  of  the Moscow State Academy of Choreography.

The article is devoted to the history of the implementation of P. I. Tchaikovsky the  tragedy  of  W.  Shakespeare.  In  addition  to  the  well-known  symphonic overture-fantasy  “Hamlet”  of  1888  (f-moll,  op. 67)  in  the  composer’s  work incidental music (op. 67-bis) is represented, created at the request of the French actor L. Gitri in 1891. For the first time the idea of embodying the plot in music is indicated in the legacy of P. I. Tchaikovsky in 1876, it was proposed to his brother by M. I. Tchaikovsky, but earlier in 1872 the composer in his musical-critical article dedicated to the opera of the same name by A. Toma, discusses the problems associated with the creation of works on this plot. P. I. Tchaikovsky’s materials also consisted the composer’s sketch of Hamlet’s monologue with text in English, possibly  for  opera  (1885),  and  sketches  in  the  notebook  No. 4,  presumably intended for the program symphony “Hamlet” and partially included in the Fifth Symphony (1887). The result of the composer’s searching was a programmatic overture-fantasy and incidental music, in which the author included fragments from previously written compositions — from music to “Snow Maiden” and Elegy or string orchestra (“Hello gratitude”). The article concludes the significance of the plot for the composer and his connections with other opuses of the author.

The article is devoted to the study of the historical, performing and musical aspects of the functioning of the operetta theater in the Far East in 1900–1905. The author uses materials from periodicals, most of which are first introduced into  scientific  use.  With  their  help,  the  local  specifics  of  the  performances and  facts  that  are  important  for  the  history  of  the  Far  Eastern  operetta  are illuminated:  the  opening  of  the  seasons  of  a  purely  operetta  enterprise,  the premiere of a new national operetta, and artistic compositions are established. As a result of the study, a direct perception by the Far Eastern operetta theater of the developed performing traditions of M. Lentovsky’s theater, which have become stylistic features of Russian operetta, is established. This concerns the traditions of the performance of plug-in numbers, the gradual strengthening of the  entertainment  element.  Periodicals’  testimonies  make  it  possible  to  make sure  that  the  Russian  operetta  theater  retains  all  its  peculiarities  outside  the Russian borders. After the crisis of the operetta theater in European Russia, in the Far East at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is experiencing a new heyday and retains all the developed traditions.

The article emphasizes the informative aspect of the educational programs «Canto  rinascimentale  e  barocco»,  implemented  in  the  Italian  professional education of vocalists. There is no similar specialized educational program in Russia. Accordingly, there is a need to study all the existing experience in order to adopt and adapt in domestic programs some of Italian educational models and techniques, used in the vocal repertoire of the 15-17th centuries. Considering internalization  of  education,  emerging  innovative  educational  environment, the  expansion  of  international  ties,  this  interaction  is  not  only  aligned  with the present, but may, to a certain extent, support domestic vocal education in competitive environment. It will also contribute to the acquisition by the students of  competencies  that  will  be  ultimately  required  in  the  professional  work  of a  performer  with  renaissance  and  baroque  repertoire  as  such  knowledge  and skills are indispensable in actual artistic practice of contemporary historically acquainted performance.

The article considers one of the most important problems of an actor’s plastic education  —  desomatization  —  the  loss  of  physicality,  which  is  a  powerful destabilizing  factor  in  the  formation  of  the  plastic  culture  of  an  actor.  It  is about  the  awareness  of  body  potential  and  the  problems  associated  with  the “consciousness-body” system. Based on the pedagogical experience of Professor A. B. Droznin, Head of the Department of Plastic Expressiveness of the actor of  the  Boris  Shchukin  Theater  Institute,  the  author  reveals  a  set  of  effective methods that successfully influence the process of overcoming desomatization and develops practical recommendations for plastic disciplines teachers.

Based on written sources (theoretical works, epistolary heritage, diaries and materials of periodicals), the article examines the system of scientific views of P. A. Sorokin on the problem of creativity in the context of his integral philosophy, traces  the  relationship  between  the  theory  of  socio-cultural  dynamics,  the integral  theory  of  knowledge  and  creativity,  the  theory  of  creative  altruism, clarifies the place of art as an empirical system in the historical types of culture and society. The question of the influence of the teachings of V. M. Bekhterev, N. A. Berdyaev, and N. O. Lossky on the formation of P. A. Sorokin’s scientific views on the phenomenon of creativity is raised.

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of artless, «trivial» art; extra-genre and extra-stylistic quality of fine art, manifested in blurring the line between a work of art and reality. The author describes the features and circumstances of the existence of the discovered phenomenon on the examples of creativity of the authors of the 20th and 21st centuries: the ways of the artist’s creative interaction with  the  world  (dissolution,  mediation),  features  of  work  with  the  plot  and material (manifestation of the non-obvious, «quiet» beauty of the surrounding reality; inclusion of former the use of creative materials); the minimal artistic gesture  (the  detection  by  the  author  of  the  minimum  necessary  and  accurate actions  to  fix  the  artistic  discovery,  while  remaining  in  the  shade).  Through the prism of artlessness, various types and genres of visual art are examined: graphics,  painting,  collage,  assemblage,  relief,  sculpture,  «found  object». Despite the declared extralistical look at art, there are areas in which features are more common Dadaism, «poor» art. The origin and nature of the phenomenon described  is  found  first  in  ancient  and  eastern  Zen  Buddhist  cultures,  and then — in a formal search for 20th-century art. As a conclusion, an assumption is made about the relevance of such a path, which returns to direct tactile and visual  sensations  about  reality  under  the  conditions  of  dematerialization  and virtualization of 21st century art.

The article is devoted to the unique gift of the great ballerina Galina Ulanova. The most famous Soviet ballet dancer, she was also a choreographer and teacher. The most titled ballerina in the history of Russian ballet, she was also one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Analyzing the roles played by the great ballerina, the author of the article is also the famous ballerina G. T. Komleva approaches from the position of her own performing practice.

The article is devoted to the life and work of Alexander Pavlovich Demidov (1944-1990), a Soviet ballet expert and theater critic, as well as a director whose activities were associated with various publications: the Theater magazine, after leaving which he continued to publish critical articles in the magazines “Musical Life” and “Theater Life”. The article examines the problem of transformation of a creative personality, in which direction displaced criticism, and a critic could dismember  someone  else’s  performance  into  its  components,  revealing  the secret mechanics of art.

The article is a review of the recently published book by S.V. Lavrova «After Walter  Benjamin:  New  Music  in  Germany,  Austria  and  Switzerland  from  the Digital  Post-Capitalist  Era  to  COVID  19».  The  main  semantic  core  of  the research is the problem of the aura, articulated in the famous work of Walter Benjamin «A work of art in the era of its technical reproducibility». Within the framework of the problem of the existence of music in the new conditions of digitalization, the author examines the work of five Austro-German composers: Bernhard  Lang  (1957),  Peter  Ablinger  (1959),  Beat  Furrer  (1954),  Georg Friedrich Haas (1953) and Johannes Kreidler (1980). A feature of this work is that it is also devoted to the problem of the pandemic lockdown of 2020 and how it may affect the state of modern culture and art.