The article is an attempt to formulate the problem of the concept of post-choreographic theatre. The first task set by the researcher is to articulate the characteristic properties of the new stage of contemporary theatre associated with conceptual choreography. The second task of the study is to trace the main stages of the formation of a new type of theatrical art, presenting a panorama of discoveries of contemporary choreographers (from the ideas of the semantic potential of movements by Doris Humphrey, through the specifics of understanding the spectator in the performances of Trisha Brown, who worked with new forms of space that transform the perception of the body, to the restructuring of relations with the spectator in the works of Cunningham and the conceptual choreography of Jérôme Bel). The theoretical nature of the perception of bodily movements of modern and postmodern dance, the filling of this theory with conceptual ideas are revealed. A typological study of the choreography of Doris Humphrey, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, Yvonne Rainer, Pina Bausch, Jérôme Bel is conducted. The conducted analysis of the innovations of choreographers, as well as the involvement of the theory of postdramatic theatre by Hans-Thies Lehmann, lead to the need to form a new concept of post-choreographic theatre.

The material is dedicated to the reissue of Yuri Slonimsky’s book “The Soviet Ballet” (1950). The book by an outstanding ballet researcher-historian, critic, librettist was published 74 years ago, but has never been republished. The reason for the negative assessment of fundamental art historical work is its excessive ideologization. The reason for the author’s dependence on communist party and government guidelines is the brutal campaign launched at the end of the 1940s against critics of the “cosmopolitans,” to which Slonimsky belonged. However, this does not detract from the artistic and historical significance of the book, which contains extensive information material layered with reflections on the specifics of ballet art. Among other things, the book is perceived today as an indicative document of a bygone era. 

The Corsair ballet is the most important classical ballet of the 19th century. This ballet continued its stage career on the stages of theaters during the Soviet period. The history of the productions of The Corsair in Leningrad is particular interest. The play was not included in the repertoire at the Kirov Theatre from the 1940s to 1973. The version of the ballet staged by M. I. Petipa, edited by A. Ya. Vaganova, was until 1940. The production by K. M Sergeev was staged in 1973. However, attempts to bring ballet back to the stage were constantly being made. The history of the restoration of the ballet is based on archival materials: the archives of Yuri Slonimsky, the Maly Opera and Kirov Theaters of Leningrad.

The article attempts to understand the activities of the graduates of the first Chuvash class of the Leningrad Academic Choreographic College named after A. Ya. Vaganova in 1957. In order to analyze the subject of study, cultural, historical, factual and survey methods were used (interview with a 1966 graduate, Yu. A. Svintsov). This allowed us to reconstruct the key events that influenced    the formation of the professional musical theater. The origins of the national ballet of the republic, dating back to the amateur studio at the Chuvash Academic Drama Theater and further progressive changes after the return of graduates in 1966, are being clarified. The transformation of the non-professional troupe into a professional team, which currently holds an ontological significance for the    history of ballet in the republic, is noted. A conclusion is drawn about the careful attitude of the graduates to the traditions of Leningrad/St. The Petersburg Ballet School, which ensures the cultural and historical continuity and preservation of socio-cultural heritage

The article is devoted to the pedagogical activities of Ekaterina Vazem at the Imperial Theater School in St. Petersburg. After her stage career ended, the former prima ballerina taught in the middle classes of the ballet department for 10 years; she taught Matilda Kshesinskaya, Julia Sedova, Anna Pavlova and others. The article attempts to investigate the ballerina’s pedagogical skills: to study Vazem’s activity as a teacher, to identify the peculiarities of her ballet class, to determine the level and quality of teaching. The article is written on the basis of archival documents and memoirs of ballet dancers.

Artificial intelligence as a tool for preserving and studying choreographic heritage (based on materials from the round table “artificial intelligence on ballet: a conversation with Agrippina Vaganova”) This article explores the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the preservation and study of choreographic heritage. The research focuses on the statements and observations made during the roundtable discussion “Artificial Intelligence on Ballet: A Conversation with Agrippina Vaganova” (May 31, 2024), held as part of the “Priority 2030” Strategic Academic Leadership program. Participants included faculty and graduate students from the Academy, researchers from the St. Petersburg Museum of Theatre and Music Arts, and the Russian Institute of Art History, all of whom are interested in the potential of using Data Science in art history research. During the roundtable, a text-based avatar of Agrippina Vaganova, trained on her writings and letters, was presented. The interaction with the avatar, discussion, and deliberations took place in an online format. Topics addressed included exploring the potential of new technologies for educational purposes, the current state of ballet, the ethics of using AI technologies, and their future prospects for research in ballet studies and the science of dance. 

The article is devoted to the choreographic embodiment of life and work of two great French sculptors Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel in two modern performances: Rodin, her eternal Idol by the major Russian choreographer Boris Eifman and Rodin/Claudel by the prominent Canadian choreographer Peter Kwantz. The author examines the features of dramatic composition of both performances, semantic center of which is the complicated story of the relationships between two brilliant artists. Also is noted the original staging techniques and he choreographic solution of the central characters

The article defines the historical place of the first vocal treatise “The Complete School of Singing” by Alexander Varlamov, which was published in 1840, in the optics of two dimensions: namely in the circle of pan-European trends of the 19th century; among the tasks of the formation of Russian national composing and performing schools. A contemporary of “The Complete School of Singing” (Méthode complè te de chant, 1840) by Luigi Lablache and “The Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing” (Trattato completo dell’arte del canto, 1840) by Manuel Garcia-son, A. Varlamov’s work fell into the vanguard of the rapidly developing knowledge of the basics of working with voice in the 19th century. The impetus for this development was given by “The Method of Singing” of the Paris Conservatoire in 1804, estimated today in the category of archetype. At the very beginning of the century, the Paris Treatise proposed to educational practice a structure that could easily accommodate in its content the optimal forms of updating knowledge, depending on the needs and tasks of the time. The curator of the commission for the creation of “The Method of Singing” of the Paris Conservatory, the Italian Bernardo Mengozi, contributed to the introduction of the teachings of Italian masters into the French method. The algorithm of assimilation of the Italian experience tested in Paris with assimilation of the fundamental elements of vocalization 

One of the F. I. Shaljapin’s autographs (7 sheets) has been preserved in the A. A. Bakhrushin Museum. It dated October 21–28, 1921 and contained a synopsis of the libretto of A. N. Serov’s opera The Enemy’s Power. The autograph was written in pencil on paper with the logo of the ocean liner “Adriatic” when the singer was heading on tour to New York. In connection 104 Вестник Академии Русского балета им. А. Я. Вагановой. № 4 (93), 2024 with this document, an important question is inevitable: why did Shaljapin have the need to summarize the libretto, while indicating the characters, actions of the performers, and stage directions? Composer A. N. Serov (1820–1871) worked on the opera in 1867–1871, it was first staged in 1871. The part of Eremka in this opera was one of the favorites in the repertoire of F. I. Shaljapin, he performed  it on various stages, starting in 1902. In 1915 he acted as the director of The Enemy’s Power at the People’s House Theatre in St. Petersburg and in 1920 at the Mariinsky Theatre. Probably, while making pencil notes, Shaljapin planned to carry out another production of the opera, but this did not happen, the singer left Russia forever in 1922

In the course of studying the role and place of ballet costume in the process of creating a performance, the need for a conceptual understanding of the “visual solution” as a complex phenomenon of the artistic process, which has not yet become an object of special scientific interest, was revealed. As a working version, the definition of the visual solution of the performance is proposed as a combination and interaction of such components of its artistic and figurative structure as the concept / initial idea implemented in the scenery and stage props, costumes and make-up of performers, stage lighting, as well as augmented reality technologies represented by modern digital tools. The relevance of this discursive track is equally conditioned by both the tasks of historical art studies and the problems of art ontology, as well as modern challenges posed by the rapid development of technologies that change all the architectonics of the artistic process — from the stages of development and creation of an art product to its production.

The article is dedicated to the recently discovered archival source “Journal des Théâtre. Russie. Chapitre VIII. Théâtre de Znamensky”, — a manuscript that tells us about the theatrical activity of the dilettante Praskovia Ivanovna Myatleva.  At the late 18th - early 19th. Myatleva was a famous amateur actor. Later, the Myatlevs’ theater in St. Petersburg became famous, but only brief references to it by contemporaries and historians have survived. The found manuscript provides information about this theater for the first time, describing its troupe and allows us to reconstruct the repertoire. At the same time, it also provides information about the Myatleva’s creative path: from amateur court performances at the Hermitage Theater to the idea of creating her own private troupe.

The article is dedicated to ornamentation in the vocal treatises of    representatives of the Paris Conservatory Manuel Garcia (son) and his trainee Henrietta Nissen-Saloman. Special attention is paid to the vocal embellishments teaching, which was approved at the Petersburg Conservatory in the periods from 1860 to 1872, and in 1878/1879 academic years, due to the acting professor Henriette Nissen-Saleman. Reference to the treatises “The Method of Music Conservatory Singing” (“La Méthode de chant du Conservatoire de musique...”, 1803/1804), created by the Committee of the Paris Conservatory professors, headed by the Italian Bernardo Mengozzi, “Full Treatise on the Art of Singing” (“Traite complet de l’Art du Chant, 1840) by Manuel Garcia (son), “School of singing by Henrietta Nissen-Saloman” (1880) allows to reveal peculiarities of theoretical and practical knowledge implemented in Russia. The 40-year distance between treatises helps to understand the dynamics of the process of adjusting the contents of the list of ornaments. The terminological polylinguism, observed in the treatises, is an important factor in understanding the process of indoctrination. The demonstrations of the Paris Doctrine in St. Petersburg show the persistence of the singing pedagogy’s trend for the absorption of the Italian methods of the old masters and the constant striving to adapt to the new artistic reality, where not all the previous rules were in demand. The performed analysis convinces us that the modern stereotypes and the ideas of vocal embellishments adopted today in the pedagogical practice of singers do not only correspond to the historical reality of the second half of the 19th century, but in some cases directly contradict the authentic principles of the past.