The article is devoted to the creativity of Kenneth MacMillan (1929–1992), the most famous English choreographer of the 20th century. Macmillan’s biography is presented in connection with his theatrical activities. The author of the article analyzes the main productions of the choreographer and indicates their place in the history of English ballet.

The article is devoted to such a phenomenon as ballet for children. The author classifies this phenomenon, identifying several semantic groups. Firstly, it is a ballet performed by children, and secondly, a ballet staged for children. The first group deals with such types of performance as children’s ballet, which is entertainment for adults (this is an earlier phenomenon), children’s ballet as part of education, and ballet performed by children for children. In the second group, the author notes a ballet «perceived» as a child’s (but not originally), and a ballet specially created for children (and performed on the stage by adult dancers). Sequentially examining each of these groups of productions, the author confirms the stated theses with examples of productions and quotes from research and critical articles.

The article considers the phenomenon of contemporary dance to define the main consistent patterns which don’t allow this type of dance fixed its own frames. This statement is proved by the concrete examples of choreographers practice who create a new kind of movement through expansion of dancers’ function, various restrictions of stage movements, input of voice and text into dance composition, turn of dancer into performer.
Based on the conclusion that an axiological part of contemporary dance implies a constant development and search of new form of ideas’ expression, contemporary dance has a direct dependence on modern and postmodern dances. These types of dance matter for contemporary dance as external movement typology.
The relevance of the question of the article is determined by wide outspread in contemporary art of another types of dance expression using eclectic postmodern method of creativity and taking place of true contemporary dance without having its basic qualities.

The article highlights the topic of multicultural trends in the work of the choreographer Maurice Béjart. In the center of the study is his hero, who was transformed in accordance with his philosophy, stylistic and musical preferences. The story of the creative tandem of Béjart and the composer of specific music Pierre Henri runs through the article in the development of their creative interaction, the thematic vectors of the choreographer, which he strove to at various periods of his biography. The analysis focuses on the opposition of two Béjart’s heroes: a lonely man from the ballet to the music of Pierre Henri and the Nietzschean «superhuman», from the ballet Ninth Symphony to the music of Beethoven. Through this opposition, the author concludes that they can be presented as private and public, and the contradictory and multifaceted nature of Béjart’s work becomes a manifestation of will of the individual.

Contemporary dance in the art project “Nine evenings” transforms the traditional structure of the performance into the plane of object-oriented ontology. The methodology of object-oriented philosophy in the postmodern practice of contemporary dance allows structural analysis of some performances.
Generative anthropology of art in the mode of Peirce’s semiotic discourse is focused on the study of attractive objects — the generative mechanisms of artistic performance. When referring to a generative mechanism or an attractive object of a performance, it becomes possible to model not only a theoretical discourse about its possible local manifestations, but also to practically investigate the action from within.

The article considers the most significant ballet performances with music by Shostakovich, both specially written for ballet and not intended for ballet. It shows their artistic originality and stage fate in the 20th century.

The article attempts to consider training in the Russian ballet school from the viewpoint of its compliance with the most advanced trends in the art of choreography at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. To achieve the research goals there has been used the cultural-historical method, methods of participatory observation, document analysis and generalization. The author refers to the ideas of prominent researchers of dance moves (F. Delsarte, E. J.- Dalcroze, R. Laban), who influenced the development of modern dance, acting and plastic expressiveness. The article analyses certain example of change in the St. Petersburg Ballet School teaching methods. The author comes to the conclusion that development of Russian ballet largely determines the educational content in ballet schools, its compliance with the theaters’ repertoire policy. Reliance on best examples of modern choreography and achievements of Russian classical dancers will ensure the progressive development of the Russian Ballet School.

This article proposes to consider the connection between the two largest national modernist artistic movements of the first half of the twentieth century: Italian futurism and American precisionism, using the example of the similarity of ideas and artistic means of expressing images of the technogenic surrounding world: cars, mechanisms, factories, or, in other words, the image of the Machine. This image captured at that time the imagination of artists — from poets to artists — all over the world, but the brightest artistic manifestations of this enthusiasm were left by the painters of Italy and the USA.

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of Marshal McLuhan’s concept of a global village with its reflection in the musical-theoretical ideas of Stockhausen, articulated by him in texts about world music. “Weltmusik” became one of the most influential musical concepts of the European avant-garde from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. These ideas, creatively presented in compositions like “Telemusik”, “Hymnen” got their own musical perspective. The problem of world music seems to be relevant, as such composers as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Henri Pusser, Mauricio Kagel and Dieter Schnebel — often said that they are the ones who constitute the hegemony of new world music. The author concludes that many provisions of McLuhan’s concept, as well as Stockhausen’s ideas, which had not only a creative perspective of development, but also a theoretical one, are by no means indisputable, and often such models represent a picture of the interaction of communication technologies and social structures, and this happens in an overly simplified way and unilaterally.

The article is devoted to the opera “Nixon in China” by the American postminimalist John Adams. The article analyzes the libretto of the opera, created by the writer Alice Guzman, from the standpoint of the postmodern aesthetics. It is in literature that the features of postmodernism are most vividly and characteristically manifested, and in opera, the literary basis constitutes the semantic core and is the bearer of the most characteristic stylistic features. This is the case with Nixon in China. Before us is an example of a rare genre offshoot in relation to works for musical theater: political opera. Applying the methodology of interdisciplinary analysis of the primary literary source, with its inherent features of postmodern narration: nonlinearity, fragmentation, anti-narrativeness, the author comes to the conclusion that “Nixon in China” demonstrates an example of postmodernist opera. It is in literature that the features of postmodernism are most vividly and characteristically manifested, and in opera, the literary basis constitutes the semantic core and is the bearer of the most characteristic stylistic features. This is the case with Nixon in China. Before us is an example of a rare genre offshoot in relation to works for musical theater: political opera. Applying the methodology of interdisciplinary analysis of the primary literary source, with its inherent features of postmodern storytelling: nonlinearity, fragmentation, anti-narrative, the author comes to the conclusion that “Nixon in China” demonstrates a model of postmodern opera.

The article is devoted to the “Jeanne D’Arc” performance of 1846, based on a play by French playwright Alexander Soumet. The piece was inspired by “The Maid of Orleans” F. Schiller, with obvious borrowing, and at the same time in accordance with the French traditions. The title role was played by the leading tragic actress of the Comedie Francaise – Rachel. Her play organically combined the old classicist style with new romantic influences.

The article is devoted to realism in painting of the XIX century. The aim of the study was to identify the similarities and differences in the understanding of this phenomenon by G. Courbet and Russian artists-peredvizhniki. The novelty of the study lies in the comparison of realistic trends in the work of G. Courbet and Russian artists-peredvizhniki by comparing specific paintings (genre paintings, portraits, self-portraits, landscapes, marinas, still lifes). The comparison was carried out according to the following criteria: the plot, the organization of the space, the color scheme. Common themes, genres, stylistic features and compositional features of realist painting were found. The authors explain this similarity (in the absence of documentary evidence of direct “borrowing” of images and subjects from Courbet by Russian artists) by the common desire for the selected group of realist artists to reflect the phenomena of the surrounding world in painting and the commonality of current artistic trends in Europe and Russia in the nineteenth century.

The article identifies the ways of formation and development of three-row accordion systems with 12-step chromatic uniform temperament according to the ergonomic criteria of the “man-machine” system. The transformations of the keyboard are shown in order to expand information channels and improve the conditions for the implementation of articulation algorithms for sound production. According to the laws of ergonomics, ways of improving the functioning of real keyboard systems are proposed in order to fully reveal the artistic and expressive properties of an accordion with three-row chromatic keyboards in the field of composing and performing activities.

The given article examines the musical aesthetics of the outstanding German poet Klopstock’s poetry. It is visible in various layers: semantic, compellation and acoustics. Klopstock’s “Der Messias” is a verbal symphony, which includes new dynamic effects created by analogy with a variable musical tempo. The German poet’s lyrics reflect various spheres of mental activity: mystical, idealistic feelings, the loving movement of the soul. Small lyrical forms by Klopstock convey the subtle sensitivity of the character. This sensitivity shows an appeal not so much to a beloved or friend, but to the universe upon the whole. The melodiousness of Klopstock’s poetry contributes to the popularity of his works among the late 18th – early 19th centuries composers. Schubert’s romances, written on the verses by Klopstock, penetrate into Russian culture. Russian interpreters create equirhythmic arrangements, convey the flexibility of sound and acoustic euphony of Klopstock’s poetry. Their translations accurately reflect the semantic accents and emotional fullness, thanks to which Klopstock’s odes and songs, set to music by Schubert, are still performed today. This article is the first approach to the analysis of Klopstock’s translations into Russian from the musical point of view.

The article is dedicated to A. Berg’s vocal cycle “Five Orchestral Songs after Postcards by Peter Altenberg” (“Altenberg Lieder”) op. 4 which is considered as the implementation of the Mahlers traditions. The main task of the author is to analyze the interpretation of the orchestral song genre, as well as the spheres of figurative and intonational content of the “Altenberg Lieder” in order to identify the artistic relationships with the works of G. Mahler.
The article examines the reasons for Mahler’s influence on the representatives of the Second Viennese School and, in particular, on A. Berg. The line of succession connecting the “Altenberg Lieder” cycle with “Songs of Dead Children” (“Kindertotenlieder”) in the context of the development of the genre of orchestral song is revealed. A detailed analysis of the implementation of important semantic themes of Mahler’s symphony “Song of the Earth” (the first and sixth movements) in Berg’s vocal cycle op. 4 is carried out. The intonation relationship between “Altenberg Lieder” and Mahler’s “Symphony in songs” is considered. Attention is paid to Berg’s expressionistic rethinking of themes and images, which are typical for Mahler’s works and late romanticism in general.

The article explores the use of media and communication channels in modern art practice. We considered the use of synthesizing, organizational, expressive media capabilities in works related to various areas and types of art of the second half of the 20th — early 21st centuries. The review includes such media and technologies as radio, social networks, hologram, video projection, video broadcasting, virtual reality. Using examples of combining the expressive possibilities of different arts (dance, video, theater art), carried out through media, it is shown that the introduction of media can serve to enrich, develop the language of art, allows to set and solve new creative tasks. In this context, the article analyzes examples of new space and time solutions in theater, dance, performance projects. It has been shown that the successful synthesis of media with traditional forms often leads to the emergence of new genres. Examples are cyber performance and video dance.