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Bulletin of Vaganova Ballet Academy

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No 4 (2022)
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THEORY AND HISTORY OF CHOREOGRAPHIC ART

6-19 281
Abstract

One of the most famous Greek composers of the 20th century, Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949), wrote many works using traditional Greek melodies in some of them. In the period from 1938 to 1949 he wrote 3 ballets. His most important ballet was the last one, which he wrote in the years 1948-1949, called The Sea («Η θάλασσα»), with the note «traditional ballet for large orchestra».

This ballet includes an introduction and 10 images. The libretto was written by the composer himself and describes the imaginary world inside and outside the Greek sea. The composer uses two traditional melodies based on the Greek dance syrtos; The first one is called I will love you and the second one is called The boat. He uses these two melodies throughout the entire work, each time comparing them, thus giving the musical Greek character throughout. The premiere took place in 1949, and was choreographed by the Greek choreographer Yvonne de Chirico. The choreography also refers to the traditional Greek dance syrtos.

Although the musical genre of ballet is not so widespread among the Greek composers of the 20th century, Skalkottas managed to leave a great legacy in Greek traditional ballet music through his ballet The Sea.

18-30 303
Abstract

Dance Studies and Digital Humanities are contemporary trends that have the potential to transform the scholarship about dance. Dance Studies have continuity in relation to Сultural Studies. For all the diversity of the kinds of dance to which researchers address, for all the variety of methods (from semiotics and psychoanalysis to postcolonial studies), Dance Studies are united by an attitude of investigating how dance participates in the formation of identities, and identities are considered to be in conflict. Digital Humanities involves the use of digital methods for source collection, processing, and analysis to raise new research problems from the horizon of the humanities. Creative process with digital technologies; the documentation of dance in the form of annotated video recordings; historical research based on digital archives and thematic databases are considered to be the main forms of digital humanities in dance researches. Addressing digital humanities promise to be productive within the framework of the Priority 2030 strategic leadership program for the transformation of the educational and research environment of the Vaganova Ballet Academy.

31-39 221
Abstract

The turn of the 19th-20th centuries is a bright period of the heyday of choreographic art. The ballet theater becomes a platform for experiments. Free dance (modern dance) occupies a special place in the genre and style picture of the era. There is the creative biography analysis of the American dancer LoieFuller, who stood at the origins of this synthetic art, in the article. The material of the study was the autobiography of the actress «Fifteen years of my life». Special attention is paid to the characteristics of the creative method of Loie Fuller, based on observation, empathy for the image and intense involvement in the process of movement. The metaphoric images (first of all, the image of fire) created by the dancer in her performances are comprehended by the author of the article in line with the phenomenological method of G. Bachelard, and Fuller’s work as a whole is considered as an illustration of the concept of J. d’Udine about the synthetic nature of art, based on which lies the touch and, accordingly, the gesture.

CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN CHOREOGRAPHY, MUSIC AND THEATRE

40-51 254
Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the musical side of the «non-canonical» performances of the ballet Raymonda by A. Glazunov, carried out in the last century: the works of V. Vainonen (1938), J. Balanchine (1955, 1961), T. Rojo (2022), R. Bozhan (2022) – transforming or rejecting the original plot and musical and dramatic foundations of the performance, created in collaboration between the composer and M. Petipa). Emphasizes the importance of a careful and professional attitude to the editorial work with the composer’s score, which is distinguished by its extraordinary organicity and compositional balance. The musical-editing and musical-dramatic features of the scores created for each of the productions under consideration are revealed, their conditionality is noted with new, relevant for their era, ideas of choreographers. The main methods of working with the text are shown: re-arrangement of the score, introduction of notes, transfer of numbers from one act to another (Vainonen, Rojo, Beaujean), creation of the author’s suite embodying the symphonic idea of a plotless ballet (Balanchine), adding fragments of music from other works by Glazunov (Rojo, Bozhan). It is concluded that each of the considered choreographic and musical versions of Raymonda embodies one of the most relevant ideas, directions of theatrical and choreographic thought, merging into the cultural context of the era.

CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN CHOREOGRAPHY AND THEATRE

52-63 210
Abstract

The article is devoted to the character images of the opera The Master and Margarita by S. Slonimsky, decided by the composer by means of dance and plastic, but without vocals. Their connection with the genesis of Bulgakov’s literary text and the long traditions of the opera genre refracted by the composer in his composition was revealed. The dramatic significance in the opera of Slonim’s images of Koroviev (Bassoon), Behemoth, which have an instrumental-plastic characteristic, and dance episodes (ball at Satan) is determined. The additional inclusion of the main characters (Masters and Margarita) in the final episode of the opera by the choreographers of the dance was considered.

64-80 534
Abstract

The article is dedicated to choreographic interpretations of works of Russian classical literature created in the 21st century by foreign choreographers. Continuing the traditions of literary ballets of the 20th century, modern interpretations confirm the relevance of the development of this genre. An interesting trend in connection with which foreign choreographers often find inspiration in the works of Russian writers. Thus, the article discusses the choreographic interpretations of the works of Alexander Pushkin (the story The Queen of Spades, the novel in verse Eugene Onegin), Nikolay Gogol (the comedy The Government Inspector), Leo Tolstoy (the novel Anna Karenina), Anton Chekhov (the play The Seagull), Mikhail Bulgakov (the novel The Master and Margarita), staged by Roland Petit, Iñaki Urlezaga, John Neumeier, Deborah Colker, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Teet Kask, Christian Spuk, Marina Kesler, Edward Clug. In these ballets there are new variants of visual reflection of the relationship between literature and choreography.

DANCE TECHNIQUE PEDAGOGY

81-94 126
Abstract

The article shows the place and importance of educational practice in the system of interdisciplinary training of bachelors in the direction of «Art and Humanities». On the basis of a competency-based approach and understanding of competence as a socially expected learning of the theory and history of choreographic art, taking into account the main spheres, tasks and types of professional activities (research and creative), enshrined in federal state standards of higher education, the priorities of the educational policy of the Russian ballet Academy named after A. Ya. Vaganova, the tasks of the program of strategic academic leadership «Priority 2030» highlight the basic principles of organizing and conducting introductory practice on the basis of the oldest museum of the Russian Federation-the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theater and Musical Art, which is a multifunctional scientific and cultural and educational complex. The results of practice are summed up.

ТHEORY AND HISTORY OF ART

95-107 137
Abstract

Optical media, being introduced into an opera score, can influence the interaction of different compositional planes (musical, verbal, stage ones) as well as significantly change the structure of the opera text. These issues are considered in this article on the example of two works – the musical drama Die Glückliche Hand by A. Schoenberg (1913) and the opera Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin by F. Schreker (1912).

In Die Glückliche Hand we see a fundamental change in the principle of distribution of dramatic material, the concentration of the event plan in the field of visual solutions (color, light, gesture), which leads to a significant predominance of the non-sounding word in the score (in the author’s remarks) over the sounding word (in the parts of the characters). Correlation between the optical layer of dramaturgy and musical material forms here a free counterpoint of autonomously moving plans.

In Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin, the author’s directorial and scenography is expressed as clearly as in Die Glückliche Hand, but the traditional structure of the libretto as a whole is not broken, and the color part is subordinated to the logic of musical and dramatic action. A distinctive feature of Schreker’s remarks is manifested in the attention to acoustic appearances (indications of the various sources of sound, their location and movement).

108-118 214
Abstract

The 20th century was a turning point in the history of culture. Technological progress has penetrated into all areas - including the art of music. The discovery of the vacuum tube ushered in a new era of electronic musical instruments. One of the most original and early inventions is the instrument of the French musician Maurice Martenot – «Martenot Waves». Many works have been created for this instrument; it is used in film music. Today, the history of the instrument is of great interest from the point of view of the origin of electronic music, as it, among others, stood at its origins.

119-149 402
Abstract

The present article focuses on analyzing of «Tchaikovsky at the Russian Ballet» essay by L. S. Bakst, which was published on the eve of the premiere of The Sleeping Princess ballet in 1921 at the Alhambra Theatre, London, and which was included into the souvenir programme for the said performance. The author’s research interest is concentrated on the first part of the essay – L. S. Bakst’s recollection of his being invited to the Mariinsky Theatre for the dress rehearsal of The Sleeping Beauty ballet in 1890, of his being acquainted with P. I. Tchaikovsky and I. A. Vsevolozhsky, and also of the providential influence of this performance onto determining the artist’s creative futurity. The author calls into question the indicated reminiscing by L. S. Bakst and comes to the conclusion that the artist constructed a compelling, but questionable, memory by mythologizing some details of the past. Within working on the research, the author identifies incorrect dating of two L. S. Bakst’s photographs. In the appendix to the article, the author offers a translation of the corresponding part of the essay from English.

150-162 176
Abstract

Chinese composer Bright Sheng. In his work, he skillfully combines elements of Chinese traditional musical culture with European composing techniques. Sheng seeks to unite the eastern and western elements without violating their original integrity. To achieve this goal, the composer tries to add elements of complexity to the original natural simplicity and diatonicity of Chinese music through the use of counterpoint and extended key. While in Sheng’s music, its European features are usually emphasized by the use of Western instruments and genres, the emphasis is on melody developed through ornamentation rather than traditional motivational development. Timbre aspects as colorful elements of Sheng’s opera are no less important for the composer than harmonic ones. Traditional Peking Opera, accompanied by a special orchestra of Chinese traditional instruments, also influenced Dream in the Red Chamber. The conclusion from the study is that using various folk motifs and themes that Sheng collected while living in China and traveling to its various provinces, he turns to a single melodic line, re-colored through the wide use of the diversity of the European harmony of the twentieth century. The use of irregular meters and rhythms, as well as the system of rhythmic patterns analyzed and identified in this study, also brings additional elements of Chinese traditional music to American modern opera.

163-179 204
Abstract

This research aims to show the importance of paradigm change consideration and it’s direct pertinence to to post-structuralist philosophy as well as the French poststruсturalist Gilles Deleuze; in particular his idea of rhizome as related to network concepts through the process of revealing innovations in modernist and postmodern poetry and prose (the example chosen is the poetry by T. S. Eliot, the prose by J. Winterson). Rhizome and network concepts are directly related to a contemporary view from the state-of the art paradigm associated with cultural and social development and often viewed as applicable to the study of literary texts. The chosen methodology includes the structural semantic study of literary texts and the analysis of the views on the innovations in modernist and postmodern poetry. The results of the research allow us to hypothesize that postmodern philosophy is directly applicable to the study of modernist (as well as post-modernist and contemporary literary texts) if not social processes. One of the possible examples could be seen in the development of poetic paradigm with modernist (and post-modernist) writing which uses language as a medium, when a poem becomes a means of expressing the transcendental and actualizing the network concept. Rhizome and network concepts allow one to see common patterns of development and innovation of poetic, literary, cultural, and philosophic scenes; characteristics of the contemporary aesthetic paradigm. An important part of this research is the comparison of the language of music and literary texts, finding common patterns of their development.



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ISSN 1681-8962 (Print)