Russian Ballet

Russian Czar Peter the Great

• toured Europe and became fascinated with western European culture

• established European style capital in St Petersburg

• opens Marinsky Theatre located in St Petersburg, showing the grand and very embellished architecture

• forced courtesans to follow the dance, etiquette, and lifestyle of the Europeans

Empress Anna

• imported French ballet master, Jean Baptiste Lande

• established St Petersburg Ballet in 1738, showing howballet was derived from French influence at first

Directorate of the Imperial Theatres

• established in 1766 by Catherine II

• acted as a board or organization to oversee fundraising for all the performing arts of the country (opera, ballet, theater, etc.)

male ballet dancers in 18th century Russia

• held to the same respect as military men → the greatest dancers were idolized and their performances had a great influence on the perspectives of the people

19th century ballet in Russia

• grew rapidly with state-supported theatres

• dancers are employed, teachers are being paid to teach, students are attending schools → creates job security for the performers and those involved in the arts because they could now live and work comfortably in these positions

Charles Didelot

• laid technical foundations of ballet (at the time) for Russian pedagogy

• previously involved in the same for France, so Russians brought him over to help

Jules Perrot

• choreographed Giselle in France, then went over to Russia in 1840-50s

• created Esmerelda which showed his views on supporting the middle class/common man

  • very at odds with the Russian royal views, so they dismissed him

Arthur St Leon

• choreographed Coppelia in 1868 in Russia

Marius Petipa

• initially a premier danseur

• assistant to Perrot and Saint-Leon to help them choreograph

• choreographed Daughter of the Pharaoh, La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake (with Lev Ivanov)

• worked in Russia for 56 years

• developed the pancake tutu to show more of the dancers’ legs and make them more virtuosic

La Bayadere

• choreographed by Petipa

• very first time seeing the corps de ballet dance en pointe so it was a very technically influential/grand

Petipa’s Influence on corps

• prominent corps de ballet with many intricate floor patterns and movements of these dancers → reminiscent of the patterns from court dancing

Pas de deux

• step for two: both adagio, male variation, female variation, coda finish of both

  • used in all Petipa’s ballets and became a formalized expectation of all sequences

Petipa’s ballet structure influence

• much more incorporation of national or folk dances of the ballets → seen in the character dances where the dancers don’t wear pointe shoes, but character shoes, and learn folk dances/traditions

• use of divertissement where variations are put into the ballet for pure entertainment, not necessarily to advance the plot/story

• wanted music to precisely align with choreography

• pas de deux used in all his ballets and became a formalized expectation of all sequences

Peptipa’s influence on others

• imported elite teachers from Italy, Borenenville, etc

Tchaikovsky & Petipa

• had a longstanding composing and choreographing relationship

• began collaborating with Sleeping Beauty

• choreographer gave meticulous details and instructions to musician, highly influencing what he wanted the movie to sound like for the choreography

• musician also created the musical scores for Swan Lake and The Nutcracker

Lev Ivanov

• served as Petipa’s assistant choreographer

  • half-choreographed Swan Lake (Act 2 & 4) while Petipa did Acts 1 & 3

• 1892: helped and finished choreographing The Nutcracker after Petipa got sick

Mariinsky Theatre

• located in St Petersburg, Russia

• at one point called Imperial Russian Ballet

• in 1917, became property of the state and renamed the Kirov Theatre in 1935

• original name restored on January 16th, 1992, and same as present

• associated with the Vaganova Ballet Academy, named after the man who created the Vaganova techniques

Bolshoi Theatre

• located in Moscow, Russia

• in 1898, developed by Alexander Gorsky after a trip who served as a ballet master

• introduced realistic stage business making the scene more realistic with extras/normal pedestrian movement incorporated

• considered overly “flamboyant” by rival theater, while they, themselves, are more pure

rivalry in Russian theatres

• between major theatres of Mariinsky Theatre and Bolshoi Theatre