Romantic dream. Chopiniana. Chopinian's romantic dream ballet contents

“Chopiniana” is a ballet suite to the music of Fryderyk Chopin. The ballet does not have a specific, developing plot, i.e. does not contain a story about certain events that happened with actors. In the dances of this suite the language plastic images the moods characteristic of Chopin's music are expressed: from romantic dreaminess and melancholic sadness to bright, radiant joy. The dance, following Chopin's melody, takes the viewer into poetic world composer.

The first version of Chopiniana, staged by choreographer M. M. Fokin in 1906, had almost nothing in common with the current Chopiniana. Then Fokin used for his production A. K. Glazunov’s orchestral suite of four piano pieces Chopin: polonaise, nocturne, mazurkas and tarantellas. At the request of Fokin, A.K. Glazunov additionally instrumentalized a cis-moll waltz, which was included in the suite. Each of these plays was designed by the choreographer as an independent scene: the polonaise was performed in Polish costumes against the backdrop of the ballroom scenery. To the music of the nocturne, Chopin himself was brought onto the stage: he fought against nightmares in the ruins ancient monastery and here his muse appeared to him. The Mazurka was decided like a Polish wedding: a girl is forcibly married to an old man, but she runs away with her lover. To the music of the tarantella, performers in Italian costumes danced against the backdrop of Vesuvius. The cis-minor waltz was composed as a duet between two soloists. The waltz was performed by Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Obukhov. Here's what Fokin says about their performance:

"Sylphide - winged hope - flies into the illuminated moonlight romantic garden. A young man is chasing her. It was a dance in the style of Taglioni, in the style of that long-forgotten time when poetry dominated the art of ballet, when the dancer stood on pointe shoes not to demonstrate her steel toe, but in order to create an impression with her dance, barely touching the ground. lightness, something unearthly, fantastic... The audience was captivated, and so was I. Pavlova made such a strong impression on me that I thought about whether to stage a whole ballet in the same style. And so, for the day of the next benefit performance, I prepared the ballet “La Sylphides” for Pavlova (under this name “Chopiniana” was performed during the Russian ballet’s tour in 1909). If she had not performed Chopin’s waltz so wonderfully, so delightfully, I would never have created this ballet.”

Thus, in 1908 - 1909, the ballet “Chopiniana” was born, in which Fokine, having abandoned original plan composing disparate plot dances for Chopin's plays, created a stylistically unified choreographic composition. The waltz that Pavlova performed was the key to creating a ballet that was extremely integral in its choreographic and musical unity.

“Chopiniana” in its final edition consists of 8 pieces by Chopin. The introduction to the ballet is a solemn polonaise in A major. Then it includes a nocturne As-dur, a waltz Ges-dur, two mazurkas (G-dur and D-dur), a prelude in A-dur, a waltz cis-moll. The ballet ends with a general waltz in B major.

The polonaise, which serves as an introduction, and the cis-moll waltz were orchestrated by A. Glazunov, the rest of Chopin's pieces included in “Chopiniana” were orchestrated by M. Keller and others.

"Chopiniana" belongs to the most famous Fokine ballets. When staging Chopiniana, Fokine was aware that the success of the performance depended on whether he managed to create dance images, close musical images Chopin. The dances in this ballet should be perceived as music that has come to life and become “visible”: Chopin’s romantic music seems to bring to life the images of light-winged dancers of the era of romantic ballet - Maria Taglioni, Fani Elsler, Carlotta Grisi...

In an effort to reproduce in “Chopinian” the style of romantic ballet of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century, the choreographer voluntarily made self-restraint in dance technique, abandoning the virtuoso pirouettes and other spectacular steps that appeared at the end of the 19th century. However, the choreographic language of “Chopiniana” does not look impoverished at all because of this: only by mastering all the riches of ballet technique can a choreographer create dances that are distinguished by such noble simplicity and grace. In “Chopinian” everything is logical and strictly subordinated to musical thought, namely thought, precisely the meaning of music, and not just its form - and this is where Fokine’s merit lies.

Fokin shows exceptional musicality, subtle taste and ingenuity not only in developing solo dance movements, but also in group dances. The movements and groupings of ballet dancers are inextricably linked with the dance of the soloists. Combinations of movements moving from one group to another are always beautiful and logically follow from one another.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the choreographic language, “Chopiniana” is a very difficult performance; it requires from the artists not only confident performance, but above all a sense of style, musicality, and extreme ease of dance. Otherwise, the charm of this captivating “romantic dream” to Chopin’s music, as the choreographer called it, will be irretrievably lost.

In 1909, a few months after the St. Petersburg premiere of Chopiniana, this ballet was shown in Paris. The most outstanding dancers of Russia took part in the performance: Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky. The famous poster dedicated to the tour of the Russian ballet in Paris, made according to a sketch by the artist V. Serov, depicts Anna Pavlova in Chopinian. The performance was very big success. Parisian critics unanimously expressed admiration for its choreography, design, and performers.

Anna Pavlova and other Russian ballerinas danced Chopiniana not only in France, but also in England, the USA and other countries. Later, under the name “La Sylphides,” this ballet entered the repertoire of all ballet troupes in the world.

The significance of “Chopiniana” in the history of Russian and world ballet art is great. She opened the way for choreographers to use them in ballet performances classical music, which was not originally intended to be expressed through dance.

One after another, ballets to the music of P. Tchaikovsky, E. Grieg, A. Lyadov, R. Strauss began to appear in the production of other choreographers “Listiana”, “Mozartiana”, “Straussiana”. Ballets set to the music of symphonies, instrumental and piano pieces by classical composers have become very widespread. Thus, ballet art was enriched with new genres, and many musical works, successfully resolved in dance, have become more accessible, understandable, closer to the wide circles spectators.

(1880-1942), graduated from the St. Petersburg Theater School in the class of N. Legat, who made his debut as a dancer on the stage of the capital Mariinsky Theater and just beginning his career as a choreographer, he conceived the idea of staging ballets that would radically break academic traditions. Since these ballets were to be completely new performances, not similar to all previously staged, none of the existing ballet scores were suitable for Fokine’s plan. And he turned to Chopin's music, using a suite from his works, orchestrated in 1892 by Glazunov.

The idea of the ballet was embodied in several paintings. In the first, a polonaise unfolded at a ball; in the second, to the sounds of a nocturne, the shadows of monks surrounded the music-making Chopin, who was fleeing from eerie visions in the arms of the Muse, who sent him bright dreams. Ballet resurrected the figurative system musical performances The 30s - 40s of the 19th century with their romance, a bizarre mixture of reality and fantasy. The origins of this approach can be found in the first romantic ballet, La Sylphide by F. Taglioni. According to the prominent ballet researcher Yu. Slonimsky, La Sylphide and Chopiniana are the beginning and the end of one idea. Fokine's work is the completion of the style, a twentieth-century look at the Taglioni era. "La Sylphide" and "Chopiniana" are two points on a circle. A century later, the circle closed.” The third picture, set to mazurka music, was designed as a genre-specific pantomime sketch in a pseudo-peasant style. Chopin's famous Seventh Waltz, orchestrated by Glazunov at Fokine's request, became the center of the divertissement, reminiscent of the incomparable Maria Taglioni - the romantic, poetic, flighty and elusive La Sylphide. The final tarantella vividly recalled works on Italian themes, popular in the first half of the 19th century.

The premiere of “Chopiniana” took place on February 10 (23), 1907 at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater as part of a charity performance. On March 11, 1908, also in a charity performance on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, the second edition of the ballet was shown, which became a classic, repeatedly reproduced throughout the 20th century in many theaters around the world. “In 1906, while preparing a production of the first version of Chopiniana, performed to Chopin’s music orchestrated by Glazunov, I prepared for Pavlova and my fellow ballet school Obukhov’s waltz in cis-moll, specially orchestrated by Glazunov at our request in addition to the suite,” Fokin recalled. - Sylph - winged hope - flies into a romantic garden illuminated by moonlight. A young man is chasing her. It was a dance in the style of Taglioni, in the style of that long-forgotten time when poetry dominated the art of ballet, when the dancer stood on pointe shoes not to demonstrate her steel toe, but in order to create an impression with her dance, barely touching the ground. lightness, something unearthly, fantastic. There was not a single pirouette or trick in this dance. But how poetic, how charming and captivating this duet in the air was! The audience was captivated, and so was I. Pavlova made such a strong impression on me that I thought about whether to stage a whole ballet in the same style. And so, for the next benefit performance, I prepared the ballet La Sylphide for Pavlova. If she had not performed Chopin’s waltz so wonderfully, so delightfully then, I would never have created this ballet... In my “Reverie Romantiqe,” as I called my new “Chopiniana,” I tried not to surprise with novelty, but to return the conventional ballet dance to the moment of its highest development. I don’t know if our ballet ancestors danced like this. And no one knows. But in my dreams they danced just like that.”

The second edition of the ballet introduced some changes to the order of the numbers. Some of them have been replaced. A male mazurka for Nijinsky was added, and the introduction became a prelude rather than a polonaise.

"Chopiniana" - an elegant stylization on romantic theme and at the same time - a musical and choreographic generalization of romanticism with its eternal conflict between dream and reality, the illusory nature of dreams, the elusiveness of the ideal. The choreographic solution organically merges Fokine’s characteristic figurativeness and the generalized imagery of the romantic school. The seventh waltz was distinguished by its flight, upward striving, and romantic impulse. “The staging of the waltz differed from all ballet pas de deux in its complete absence of tricks. Not a single entreche, no tours, no pirouettes... When composing the waltz, I didn’t set myself any rules, no prohibitions... That’s why I was rewarded with one of the most great success, which only fell to the share of my productions,” the choreographer later wrote. Overall, the performance was completely different from anything we were used to seeing on the ballet stage. “Dance seemed to flow into dance, group into group, and although traditional steps were used... the goal was not to show technique, but to create a mood. However, the dance was extremely difficult to perform, and the prolonged poses required considerable strength and experience,” writes Nijinsky biographer R. Buckle. Abroad, Fokine's ballet is more often called "La Sylphide", emphasizing its continuity with Taglioni's "La Sylphide".

Plot

There is no plot as such in the play. “In “Chopinian,” the curtain rose to reveal an engraving from the 1830s... Two sylphs leaned toward the Young Man, standing in the middle, with their hands folded identically and their heads bowed thoughtfully. The third settled down at his feet in a pose of frozen flight. From these central figures The garlands of the corps de ballet spread out in a semicircle: the dancers, intertwining their arms, looked out into the gaps formed between their arms. As if awakened by the sounds of music, the sylphs rose in a smooth movement, came to life, scattered in succession of ever new groups, fading, pouring from one to another - the ideal of romantic choreography, a host of ethereal romantic creatures. In the finale, the sylphs, who had just fluttered across the stage, ran upstairs, under the canopy of the romantic scenery and, freezing in the original group, fit into the motionless background,” writes V. Krasovskaya about the ballet.

Music

The music of the second edition of the ballet uses the solemn and lush polonaise in A major (as an overture) and the poetic Seventh Waltz, orchestrated by Glazunov; nocturne op. 32 No. 2, which begins as a smooth barcarolle, as if swaying on the waves, and turns into a pathetic monologue; Mazurka Op. 33 No. 3, melancholic, slightly capricious and changeable; miniature Prelude No. 7, sounding like a memory of a mazurka; Great brilliant waltz Es-dur op. 18, festive and elegant; and the posthumous waltz Ges-dur op. 70 No. 1, similar in mood to the waltz in es major.

L. Mikheeva

This now well-known choreographic suite was preceded by the so-called Chopiniana, the first one composed by Mikhail Fokine a year earlier. It is based on the “Suite in Memory of Federic Chopin”, orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov back in 1892. The performance was opened by a corps de ballet, marching to the sounds of a polonaise. Next in the nocturne were Chopin and his Muse, as well as nuns in white shrouds. In the third number (mazurka), the bride ran away from the wedding, preferring her poor lover to the rich groom. Glazunov additionally orchestrated Chopin's seventh waltz at the request of the choreographer. It turned out to be the most successful of all the numbers and became the prototype of the second “Chopiniana”. In it, Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Obukhov, in costumes and makeup based on sketches by Lev Bakst, resurrected the times of Maria Taglioni. The ankle-length tunic of the ballerina and the short black velvet tunic of the gentleman were reminiscent of the attire of romantic ballet dancers of the 1830s and 40s. A lively Italian tarantella against the backdrop of Vesuvius ended this varied divertissement.

In the new “Chopiniana,” called “Reverie Romantique” (“Romantic Dreams”) at the premiere, only the opening non-danceable polonaise and the seventh waltz remained from the numbers orchestrated by Glazunov. The rest had to be orchestrated by the conductor of the performance, Mikhail Keller. About the idea, not just to compose a few numbers, but to show his understanding of classical ballet, Fokine wrote: “I came to the conclusion that in the pursuit of acrobatic tricks, pointe dancing has lost what it was created for. Nothing remained of poetry, lightness and beauty. The dancers put on such strong shoes to surprise with a “steel toe” that it was not only impossible to jump or flutter on stage in them, but it was even difficult to move or run naturally. The tunics became ugly short view to show legs. The hands served to gain momentum. When I looked at the engravings and lithographs of romantic ballerinas (Taglioni, Grisi, Cerrito, etc.), I clearly saw that their dance was different, that their goals were completely different... I tried not to surprise with novelty, but to return the conventional ballet dance to the moment of its highest development. I don’t know if our ballet ancestors danced like this. And no one knows. But in my dreams they danced like this.”

Today it is difficult to believe that many of Fokine’s contemporaries doubted the suitability of Chopin’s works for creating a full-fledged choreographic performance: “Chopin did not write ballets!” The selection of pieces for Chopiniana and their sequence were the personal choice of the choreographer. Many were also indignant at the fact that the instrumentation of Chopin’s subtle lyrical outpourings inevitably coarsened them. Only Glazunov's authority softened the reproaches. Meanwhile, the gloomily sad romanticism of Chopin and the infernal scenes of romantic ballets are in many ways consonant. I think it is fair to say that the Polish genius did not really write romantic ballets, but he could have written them. Subtlety musical taste The choreographer's strength was manifested in the fact that Fokine did not impose alien plots on Chopin's plays, limiting himself to following their moods. The example of “Chopiniana” in this regard was followed by many in the twentieth century, let’s name, for example, “Dancing at the Party” and “In the Night” by Jerome Robbins and “The Phantom Ball” by Dmitry Bryantsev, composed, however, to original, not orchestrated music by the Polish composer.

In Fokine's ballet, not only the soloists, but also the corps de ballet have their own dance part. He either accompanies the soloist, then develops the choreographic theme started by him, then, on the contrary, having started the dance, he passes it on to the soloist. The dances themselves do not consist of a random set of movements; they contain leitthemes and their development. All types of arabesque are generously developed in statics and dynamics. Fokin's arms and body often bear an equal load to his legs. Their movements can serve as an introduction to the dance itself or as its ending, pictorially or emotionally consolidating artistic image. The choreographer also abandoned the canonical hand movements; his hands are relaxed: his hands and forearms can move independently to the beat of the music. By selecting certain movements, Fokine sought to make the dance soaring and creeping, like a light night fog, in which only sylphs can dream.

After the curtain opened, the viewer saw the performers artfully lined up against the background romantic landscape. In the center is a young man; two sylphs lean towards him, heads bowed. The third was located at his feet. Groups of sylphs radiate symmetrically from these main participants, forming the resemblance of an old romantic engraving. Both the soloists and the corps de ballet are dressed the same - in long snow-white tunics with small wings on the back, with wreaths of white roses in their hair combed smoothly in the parting. With the first sounds of the nocturne, everything came to life, new groups formed and disappeared. Like unearthly visions, the soloists flashed and flew by, playing their mysterious games. In the finale, as if by order from above, everyone gathered at the back of the stage, forming a starting position.

The soloists were three first-class and different ballerinas. Anna Pavlova's Sylph flew through the mazurka like an elusive dream, now appearing and now disappearing, promising something, beckoning somewhere. The playful sylph of Tamara Karsavina was carefree and playful in the waltz. Olga Preobrazhenskaya's pensive sylph seemed to be listening to the music of Chopin's tender prelude. Concluding her leisurely dance, the ballerina took several silent steps towards the ramp and, raising her finger to her lips, seemed to ask the audience for silence. Vaslav Nijinsky's Mazurka painted the image of a poet, a dreamer, perhaps Chopin himself, flying after the sylphs he had dreamed of. The duet seventh waltz remained central. The young man tried to hold on to the sylph, who was ready to fly away at any moment. The capricious creature either became submissive or rushed away. The image of an elusive dream, so characteristic of romantic ballets, was here only a teasing hint, not resolved by unnecessary tragedy. The entire suite, woven by the choreographer from fleeting visions in tune with Chopin’s music, captivated the viewer with its pensive beauty.

Chopiniana, along with other ballets by Mikhail Fokine, was selected for the 1909 Paris Russian Season. Sergei Diaghilev changed the name of the play to “La Sylphides,” emphasizing the origins of the composition style. Sergei Taneyev, Alexander Lyadov and Igor Stravinsky were invited to replace Keller's rejected instrumentation. The main cast of soloists were from St. Petersburg, only Preobrazhenskaya had to be replaced by the young Alexandra Baldina. The costumes were created by the artist Alexander Benois. In his other role - criticism - he reported to his homeland about the special success of Pavlova and Nijinsky: “Their aerial dance duet with high silent flights, full of affectionate, somewhat painful grace, conveyed the impression of a strange afterlife romance, hopeless love of disembodied creatures who do not know fiery hugs, no sweet kisses.”

The success of La Sylphide was unconditional, but without the furor that accompanied Polovtsian Dances and Cleopatra. However, it was “La Sylphides” that remained in the repertoire of Diaghilev’s troupe for a long time. All the performers changed, but the ballet continued to captivate audiences from different countries and continents. Under the name “La Sylphide,” Mikhail Fokine’s ballet is today known and performed everywhere. Many productions in different countries carried out by the choreographer himself. The instrumental outfit of the ballet also changed. Thus, in 1960, on tour in the USSR, the American Ballet Theater used the instrumentation of Benjamin Britten. An interesting “experience” was carried out in 1972: Alexandra Danilova performed “La Sylphide” at the New York City Ballet to Chopin’s original piano music, while all the artists were dressed in black “swimsuits.” It was argued that in this way “the art of Chopin and the choreography of Fokine in its purest form” were demonstrated.

The life of “Chopiniana” in Russia was also long-lasting and relatively serene. In Leningrad, the ballet was performed against the backdrop of one of Camille Corot's landscapes on the same evening as Giselle. Today in St. Petersburg he opens evenings of Fokine ballets. Chopiniana was transferred to Moscow former artists Mariinsky Theater: Alexander Chekrygin (1932), Leonid Lavrovsky (1946, with the participation of Galina Ulanova), Ekaterina Heidenreich (1958).

"Chopiniana" became classic work choreographic theater. She opened new genre a plotless ballet performance based on new relationships between music and dance.

A. Degen, I. Stupnikov

In the photo: ballet “Chopiniana” at the Mariinsky Theater / N. Razina, V. Baranovsky

Mikhail Fokin's stop.

“Chopiniana” is often called Mikhail Fokine’s accidental masterpiece: the young choreographer invented it in 1906 for another charity evening to revive the classical repertoire. The ballet “Chopiniana” does not have a specific, developing plot; it is a “romantic dream”. According to Fokine's plan, four genre scenes to the music of a polonaise, nocturne, mazurka and tarantella were orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The Poles danced in the polonaise in the ballroom. In the nocturne, Chopin himself met his muse on the ruins of the monastery. In the mazurka, a girl was forced to marry an old man, but she ran away with her lover, and the tarantella was performed against the backdrop of Vesuvius... The first edition of “Chopiniana” was shown only once. The choreographer created several versions of the second edition of the ballet “Chopinians”, which was later transformed into the ballet “La Sylphide”.

M. Fokin “Against the Current” (1962):

"I put five short paintings to the music of Chopin. Shortly before this, A.K. Glazunov orchestrated several piano pieces by Chopin and called this suite Chopiniana. The waltz (during a charity performance - Ed.) was performed by A. Pavlova and M. Obukhov. From this “Moonlight Vision” a whole ballet grew the following year (my 2nd “Chopiniana”), which later gained popularity under the name Les Sylphides. In the waltz, Pavlova appeared in Taglioni's costume. Bakst drew it. I didn’t think about techniques that would guarantee success, I didn’t think about success at all... That’s why I was rewarded with one of the greatest successes that have ever befallen my productions.

The ballet Chopiniana began with a polonaise. A large corps de ballet performed this Polish ballet dance in luxurious costumes. Created during the heyday of the Polish gentry, it reflected greatness, luxury, pride and, at the same time, knightly admiration for the lady. If we approach the assessment of “Chopiniana” from the point of view of the now so fashionable “abstract” dance, then we would have to throw out two dramatic paintings set to the music of a nocturne and a mazurka, and, perhaps, character dances, polonaise and tarantella. What kind of abstraction is there? These are pieces of life itself (a ball in a luxurious castle and folk fun against the backdrop of the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius). It (the tarantella - Ed.) was performed by Vera Fokina with a very large corps de ballet. I tried to convey the authentic character of the folk dances that Vera and I observed during our trip to Italy and studied especially on the island of Capri.

This miniature seemed to indicate the various paths along which ballet should develop and along which I directed my future activities. I staged the 2nd Chopiniana. With this production I wanted to answer the accusation that I reject ballet finger dancing, that I don’t like it, don’t understand it, and thereby destroy the old traditional ballet. How could I not understand classical ballet? No, I understood, but I understood differently. And I wanted to express this understanding in the production of Chopiniana, which later became known throughout the world under the name Les Sylphides. My new ballet was, in essence, a development of this waltz, a repetition of the same experience, but on a larger scale. In my Reverie Romantique, as I called my new Chopiniana, I tried not to surprise with novelty, but to return conventional ballet dance to the moment of its highest development. I choreographed a series of individual Chopin pieces as solo dances and ensembles. They were orchestrated by Maurice Keller. Waltz orchestrated by A.K. I inserted Glazunov from the 1st Chopiniana into the ballet.

When I talk about the changes and “improvements” made to this ballet over the 30 years of its existence, I will show that many dancers and directors did not understand everything in this ballet. And it would seem that everything is so simple!
I staged the ballet La Sylphide in three days. This is a record speed for me. I never changed anything in this ballet. Thirty years later, I remember every slightest movement, every gesture. Due to the fact that I staged first the 1st Chopiniana, then the 2nd Chopiniana, and then my 2nd Chopiniana turned into La Sylphide, there has been confusion in some books about Russian ballet.”

Theater critic Nina Alovert about the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater ballerina Zhanna Ayupova from the article “Zhanna Ayupova. La Sylphide of the St. Petersburg Ballet" (2004):

“I saw Ayupova in Mikhail Fokine’s ballet Chopiniana, she danced a mazurka. The main roles were performed by masters whom I knew well: Irina Kolpakova, Sergei Berezhnoy. Kolpakova has always been considered one of best performers this ballet, and time has not changed it. But when a girl stood out from the ensemble of sylphs in romantic tunics—tender, feminine, as if glowing from within, with a slightly sly half-smile on her lips—I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was an amazing phenomenon: a modern Carlotta Grisi (the first performer of Giselle in 1841) danced in front of me! Ayupova, having acquired both confidence and skill over the years, never found bravura assertiveness in dance, so she was not awarded first prizes at competitions, but for all fifty recent years In the 20th century, I have not seen on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater such a truly romantic ballerina in the old-fashioned sense of the word as Ayupova. Arabesques are never exaggerated, the jump is not too high, but light and “flying” are a feature of her style. Special musical sensitivity, refined lyricism and elegance of manners, together with an innate sensitivity to beauty, make up Ayupova’s special stage charm.

But I consider the pinnacle of Ayupova’s creativity to be her performances in the ballets “La Sylphide” by A. Bournonville and “Giselle” by J. Coralli, J. Perrot, M. Petipa. The ballerina's sensitive understanding of the stylistic differences between the ballets was especially evident in the performance of these two romantic images. I have seen how dancers performing the same repertoire mistakenly made La Sylphide look like Giselle. I didn’t feel anything like that in Ayupova’s dance. Her light, playful, careless, not knowing the depths human feelings The Sylph was a truly magical creature.

In 2002, Ayupova was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, but I think there are no titles that would correspond unique talent romantic Russian ballerina Zhanna Ayupova."

Prepared by Yulia Yakovleva

“Chopiniana”, production 1991, fragment. Choreography by Mikhail Fokine, revised by Agrippina Vaganova, music by Frederic Chopin

Marius Petipa directed the St. Petersburg ballet for almost fifty years. When he was fired, no one knew what to do next. They needed a person who would lead the troupe and assign work to trained, well-trained dancers - that is, someone who could freely compose in the language of classical dance.

In 1907, Mariinsky Theater dancer Mikhail Fokin showed his ballet Chopiniana, and it became clear to everyone: this was the choreographer they had been waiting for. The music of the ballet was composed by Fokine from piano works by Chopin and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. It was enough for one act. And Fokine didn’t need more: he immediately realized that the age of three- or four-act performances in the spirit of Petipa had passed. Just like the century of Petipa’s favorite virtuoso ballerinas, whose standard was Pierina Legnani - short, short-haired, strong, with a bravura, precise and bold style of dancing.

Fokine yearned for the ballet 1830s, for the times of "" and the ballerina Maria Taglioni, Chopin's contemporary. Fokin studied the available engravings of that time and ordered costumes for the entire corps de ballet for a pittance. In Petipa's ballets, costumes were made of silk and velvet, decorated with gold embroidery and incredibly inflated the production budget. In "Chopinian" all the dancers, from ballerinas to corps de ballet, wore simple white bodices with cambric puffed sleeves, lush long skirts and wreaths of roses. Fokin saw the same costume in Maria Taglioni’s engravings. He asked the dancers in “Chopinian” to move in a low voice, or even in a whisper, wanting to recreate the impression that, according to the memoirs, Taglioni made on the public. And he achieved it. The audience was shocked, it became clear to everyone that the soloists of “Chopiniana” - Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky - were stars, and stars of a completely new type.

But the main discovery of Fokine and “Chopiniana” was not even them, not the manner of dancing in a low voice, as if shading the dance pattern, but the fact that in “Chopiniana” there were demonstratively no heroes. The program simply said “Youth” and “La Sylphides”. The dance performed on its own, one on one with the music. And as it turned out, this did not at all prevent the ballet from remaining fascinating, interesting, and complex.

Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Staged by M. Fokin

History of creation

At the end of 1906, Mikhail Fokin (1880-1942), who graduated from the St. Petersburg Theater School in the class of N. Legat, made his debut as a dancer on the stage of the capital's Mariinsky Theater and was just beginning his career as a choreographer, conceived the idea of staging ballets that would radically break academic traditions. Since these ballets were to be completely new performances, not similar to all previously staged, none of the existing ballet scores were suitable for Fokine’s plan. And he turned to Chopin's music, using a suite from his works, orchestrated in 1892 by Glazunov. The idea of the ballet was embodied in several paintings. In the first, a polonaise unfolded at a ball; in the second, to the sounds of a nocturne, the shadows of monks surrounded the music-making Chopin, who was fleeing from eerie visions in the arms of the Muse, who sent him bright dreams. The ballet resurrected the figurative structure of musical performances of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century with their romance, a bizarre mixture of reality and fantasy. The origins of this approach can be found in the first romantic ballet, La Sylphide by F. Taglioni. According to the prominent ballet researcher Yuri Slonimsky, La Sylphide and Chopiniana are the beginning and the end of one idea. Fokine's work is the completion of the style, a twentieth-century look at the Taglioni era. La Sylphide and Chopiniana are two points on a circle. A century later, the circle closed.” The third picture, set to mazurka music, was designed as a genre-specific pantomime sketch in a pseudo-peasant style. Chopin's famous Seventh Waltz, orchestrated by Glazunov at Fokine's request, became the center of the divertissement, reminiscent of the incomparable Maria Taglioni - the romantic, poetic, flighty and elusive La Sylphide. The final tarantella vividly recalled works on Italian themes, popular in the first half of the 19th century.

The premiere of “Chopiniana” took place on February 10 (23), 1907 at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater as part of a charity performance. On March 11, 1908, also in a charity performance on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, the second edition of the ballet was shown, which became a classic, repeatedly reproduced throughout the 20th century in many theaters around the world. “In 1906, while preparing a production of the first version of Chopiniana, performed to Chopin’s music orchestrated by Glazunov, I prepared for Pavlova and my friend at the ballet school Obukhov a cis-moll waltz, specially orchestrated by Glazunov in addition to the suite at our request,” Fokin recalled . - The Sylph - winged hope - flies into a romantic garden illuminated by moonlight. A young man is chasing her. It was a dance in the style of Taglioni, in the style of that long-forgotten time when poetry dominated the art of ballet, when the dancer stood on pointe shoes not to demonstrate her steel toe, but in order to create an impression with her dance, barely touching the ground. lightness, something unearthly, fantastic. There was not a single pirouette or trick in this dance. But how poetic, how charming and captivating this duet in the air was! The audience was captivated, and so was I. Pavlova made such a strong impression on me that I thought about whether to stage a whole ballet in the same style. And so, for the next benefit performance, I prepared the ballet La Sylphide for Pavlova. If she had not performed Chopin’s waltz so wonderfully, so delightfully then, I would never have created this ballet... In my “Reverie Romantiqe,” as I called my new “Chopiniana,” I tried not to surprise with novelty, but to return the conventional ballet dance to the moment of its highest development. I don’t know if our ballet ancestors danced like this. And no one knows. But in my dreams they danced just like that.”

“Chopiniana” is an elegant stylization on a romantic theme and at the same time a musical and choreographic generalization of romanticism with its eternal conflict between dream and reality, the illusory nature of dreams, and the elusiveness of the ideal. The choreographic solution organically merges Fokine’s characteristic figurativeness and the generalized imagery of the romantic school. The seventh waltz was distinguished by its flight, upward striving, and romantic impulse. “The staging of the waltz differed from all ballet pas de deux in its complete absence of tricks. Not a single entreche, no tours, pirouettes... When composing the waltz, I didn’t set myself any rules, no prohibitions... That’s why I was rewarded with one of the greatest successes that have ever befallen my productions,” wrote the choreographer later. Overall, the performance was completely different from anything we were used to seeing on the ballet stage. “Dance seemed to flow into dance, group into group, and although traditional steps were used... the goal was not to show technique, but to create a mood. However, the dance was extremely difficult to perform, and the prolonged poses required considerable strength and experience,” writes Nijinsky biographer R. Buckle. Abroad, Fokine's ballet is more often called "La Sylphide", emphasizing its continuity with Taglioni's "La Sylphide".

Plot

There is no plot as such in the play. “In “Chopinian,” the curtain rose to reveal an engraving from the 1830s... Two sylphs leaned toward the Young Man, standing in the middle, with their hands folded identically and their heads bowed thoughtfully. The third settled down at his feet in a pose of frozen flight. From these central figures, garlands of the corps de ballet spread out in a semicircle: the dancers, intertwining their arms, looked out into the gaps formed between their arms. As if awakened by the sounds of music, the sylphs rose in a smooth movement, came to life, scattered in succession of ever new groups, fading, pouring from one to another - the ideal of romantic choreography, a host of ethereal romantic creatures. In the finale, the sylphs, who had just fluttered across the stage, ran upstairs, under the canopy of the romantic scenery and, freezing in the original group, fit into the motionless background,” writes V. Krasovskaya about the ballet.

Music