Russian ballet seasons. Theater `Russian Ballet Seasons`

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Description:

A professional ballet troupe whose repertoire is based on classical ballets. The company also offers dance accompaniment for events - weddings, exhibitions, concerts, birthdays, presentations, advertising, fashion shows, filming, etc. A wide professional range of artists allows you to perform a composition both in the classical style (ballet), and in the neo-classical, modern style, etc. The repertoire includes short concert numbers (from 2 minutes) to ballet fragments of 15-20 minutes, it is also possible to order a full performance (1.40 minutes) or staging a number / program / performance specially for a specific project, an adapted ballet-tale for children (accompanied by a narrator). Own extensive dressing room, scenery and professional mobile flooring are also available.

Special Conditions (Rider):

Discussed directly for each specific order (because it depends on the nature of the selected number / performance).

The first quarter of the 20th century was a time of innovation. At the same time in Europe were held with an unprecedented full house "Russian Seasons" arranged Sergei Diaghilev. The impresario was passionate about expanding the boundaries of traditional ballet, so he gathered talented dancers, composers and artists around him, who together created a ballet that was ahead of its time. Europe applauded the Russian Seasons for 20 years.

Sergei Diaghilev spent his childhood and youth in Perm (Northern Urals). After the future impresario graduated from law school, he realized that he wanted to devote himself to culture.

The turning point in the life of Sergei Diaghilev came when he moved from Russia to Paris in 1906. He organized there an exhibition of paintings by Russian artists, a number of concerts dedicated to the work of Russian composers. But most of all, he was remembered by posterity as the organizer of the "Russian Seasons" - innovative ballet performances.

Back in 1899, as an official for special assignments under the director of the Imperial Theatres, Diaghilev saw the performance of Isadora Duncan and Mikhail Fokine. Dance innovations led Diaghilev to complete delight. He decided that traditional choreography would no longer surprise the public, so in 1909 he opened the Season of Russian Ballets in Paris.

Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokin, Vaslav Nijinsky created something unique. New choreography, music by Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev, Strauss merged together. Alexandre Benois, Pablo Picasso, Coco Chanel, Henri Matisse realized their fantasies in the design of costumes and scenery.

The three earliest ballets, The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913) made a splash. Although it is worth noting that the public did not immediately accept the innovation of Diaghilev and his team. At the premiere of The Rite of Spring, the audience did not understand what was happening on the stage: they screamed so that they drowned out the orchestra. Choreographer Nijinsky had to tap out the beat so that the artists could keep on dancing. Nevertheless, after the “Russian Seasons”, a fashion for everything Russian appeared in Europe: foreign dancers changed their names to Russian manners, and the wife of King George VI walked down the aisle in a dress decorated with elements from Russian folklore.

For 20 years, Europe has applauded the Russian Seasons. Despite the fact that Sergei Diaghilev was a welcome guest in the most famous aristocratic houses of Europe, this man teetered on the brink of ruin all his life. Diaghilev suffered from diabetes for a long time, but did not follow the diet prescribed for him. In 1929, his health deteriorated sharply, while in Venice, he fell into a coma, from which he never came out.
After the collapse of the "Russian Seasons" continued to excite the public for more than a decade.

The dance ensemble "Russian Seasons" was organized in 1991 by a group of enthusiasts with the aim of further developing the deepest traditions of the Russian dance school. Today the dance ensemble "Russian Seasons" is one of the leading groups in Russia.

The artistic director and chief choreographer of the ensemble is one of the best choreographers in the country, Honored Art Worker of Russia, laureate of international competitions Nikolai Nikolaevich Androsov. He comprehended the art of choreography from the age of 6, starting with the Song and Dance Ensemble named after V.S. Loktev, then at the Choreographic School-Studio at the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble of the USSR under the direction of I.A. Moiseev, after which he became the leading soloist of the GAANT of the USSR under the direction of I.A. Moiseev. In 1990 he graduated with honors from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) as a director - choreographer (course of Professor A.A. Borzov).

"Russian Seasons" brilliantly passed the difficult path of becoming a young team, with which N.N. Androsov has staged more than 400 productions on the best stages of the world (the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Vienna Opera, the Rome Opera, etc.). Among them are one-act and two-act ballets, musical and dramatic performances, musicals, concert programs, etc. In 2000, the ensemble was nominated for the Golden Mask award in the Best Joint Production nomination for the ballet The Rite of Spring by I. Stravinsky staged by the Japanese choreographer Mina Tanaka. Behind the shoulders of the artists of the ensemble are such works as the project "Return of the Firebird" together with Andris Liepa, "The Gospel of the Evil One" together with Vladimir Vasiliev, "Bolero", "Slavic Dances", "Judas", "Arimoya", ballet P. AND. Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker".

In the first 10 years, the band successfully performed three times on long tours of the United States of America, and since 2002 they have been repeatedly invited to tour the United States. The art of the "Russian Seasons" was enthusiastically accepted by the audience in Spain, Argentina, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Chile, Hong Kong, Finland, Taiwan, Kenya, Japan, France, Germany and other countries.

The creative successes of the Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, the founder and artistic director of the Choreographic School at the Moscow State Academic Theater "Russian Seasons" Nikolai Nikolaevich ANDROSOV, were awarded the Prize for the best modern choreography of the International Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers "Maya", the Prize "National Treasure of Russia", the Order of S. Diaghilev, Order "For Service to Art" ("Silver Star"), Diploma of the Government of Moscow.

"Russian Seasons" by Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev

“And what are you, dear, doing here? - King Alfonso of Spain once asked Sergei Diaghilev during a meeting with the famous entrepreneur of the Russian Seasons. – You don't conduct an orchestra and you don't play a musical instrument, you don't paint scenery and you don't dance. So what are you doing?" To which he replied: “We are similar to you, Your Majesty! I do not work. I do nothing. But you can't do without me."

The "Russian Seasons" organized by Diaghilev were not just propaganda of Russian art in Europe, they became an integral part of European culture at the beginning of the 20th century. and invaluable contribution to the development of ballet art.

history "Russian Seasons" Diaghilev and many interesting facts read on our page.

Prehistory of "Russian Seasons"

The combination of a legal education and an interest in music developed in Sergei Diaghilev brilliant organizational skills and the ability to discern talent even in a novice performer, supplemented, in modern terms, with a managerial vein.

Diaghilev's close acquaintance with the theater began with the editing of the Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters in 1899, when he served at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Thanks to the assistance of the artists of the World of Art group, to which S. Diaghilev, an official for special assignments, belonged, he turned the publication from a meager statistical code into a real art magazine.

When, after a year of work as the editor of the Yearbook, Diaghilev was instructed to organize L. Delibes' ballet "Sylvia, or the Nymph of Diana", there was a scandal because of the modernist scenery, which did not fit into the conservative atmosphere of the theater of that time. Diaghilev was fired and he returned to painting, organizing exhibitions of paintings by European artists and "World of Art" in Russia. The logical continuation of this activity was in 1906 a landmark art exhibition at the Paris Autumn Salon. From this event, the history of the Seasons began ...

Ups and downs…

Inspired by the success of the Salon d'Automne, Diaghilev did not want to stop and, having decided to establish tours of Russian artists in Paris, he first gave preference to music. So, in 1907, Sergei Pavlovich organized the "Historical Russian Concerts", the program of which included 5 symphonic concerts of Russian classics, held at the Paris Grand Opera, reserved for the "Seasons". The high bass of Chaliapin, the choir of the Bolshoi Theatre, the conducting skills of Nikish and the delightful piano playing of Hoffmann captivated the Parisian public. In addition, a carefully selected repertoire, which includes excerpts from "Ruslan and Lyudmila" Glinka, "Christmas Nights" "Sadko" and "Snow Maiden" Rimsky-Korsakov, Enchantress » Tchaikovsky, « Khovanshchina "And" Boris Godunov "by Mussorgsky, made a splash.

In the spring of 1908, Diaghilev again goes to win the hearts of the Parisians: this time with an opera. However "Boris Godunov" gathered far from a full hall and the proceeds barely covered the expenses of the troupe. Something needed to be done urgently.

Knowing what the public of that time liked, Diaghilev compromised his own principles. He despised ballet, considering it to be primitive entertainment for the same primitive minds, but in 1909, the entrepreneur, sensitive to the mood of the public, brought 5 ballets: Armida's Pavilion, Cleopatra, Polovtsian Dances, sylph ” and “Pir”. The amazing success of the productions performed by the promising choreographer M. Fokin confirmed the correctness of Diaghilev's choice. The best ballet dancers from Moscow and St. Petersburg - V. Nizhinsky, A. Pavlova, I. Rubinstein, M. Kshesinskaya, T. Karsavina and others - formed the core of the ballet troupe. Although a year later Pavlova leaves the troupe due to disagreements with the impresario, "Russian Seasons" will become in her life that springboard, after which the ballerina's fame will only grow. The poster by V. Serov, made for the tour in 1909 and containing the image of Pavlova, frozen in a graceful pose, became a prophecy of glory for the artist.

It was the ballet that brought the “Russian Seasons” great fame, and it was the Diaghilev troupe that influenced the history of the development of this art form in all countries where they had to perform on tour. Since 1911, the "Russian Seasons" contained exclusively ballet numbers, the troupe began to perform in a relatively stable composition and was called the "Russian Ballet of Diaghilev". Now they perform not only at the Paris Seasons, but also go on tour to Monaco (Monte Carlo), England (London), USA, Austria (Vienna), Germany (Berlin, Budapest), Italy (Venice, Rome).

In Diaghilev's ballets, from the very beginning, there was a desire to synthesize music, singing, dance and fine art into one whole, subject to a common concept. It was this feature that was revolutionary for that time, and it was precisely thanks to this feature that the performances of the Russian Ballet of Diaghilev caused either storms of applause or flurries of criticism. Being in search of new forms, experimenting with plastique, scenery, musical accompaniment, Diaghilev's entreprise was significantly ahead of its time.

As proof of this, we can cite the fact that the premiere held in Paris (Theater on the Champs-Elysées) in 1913 "The Rite of Spring" - a ballet based on Russian pagan rites , - was drowned out by the whistles and screams of an indignant audience, and in 1929 in London (The Covent Garden Theatre) her production was crowned with enthusiastic exclamations and furious applause.

The incessant experimentation has given rise to such idiosyncratic performances as The Games (fantasy on the theme of tennis), The Blue God (fantasy on the theme of Indian motifs), the 8-minute ballet The Afternoon of a Faun, called by the public the most obscene phenomenon in the theater due to frankly erotic plasticity of the luminary, the "choreographic symphony" "Daphnis and Chloe" to the music of M. Ravel and others.

Diaghilev - reformer and modernist of ballet art

When the Diaghilev troupe entered the ballet, there was a complete rigidity in academic conservatism. The great impresario had to destroy the existing canons, and this, of course, was much easier to do on the European stage than in Russia. Diaghilev did not directly participate in productions, but he was the organizing force, thanks to which his troupe achieved world recognition.

Diaghilev intuitively understood that the main thing in ballet is a talented choreographer. He knew how to see an organizational gift even in a novice choreographer, as was the case with M. Fokin, and he knew how to bring up the qualities necessary to work with his troupe, as happened with 19-year-old V. Myasin. He also invited Serge Lifar to his team, first as a performer, and later made him a new star in the galaxy of ballet masters of the Russian Ballet troupe.

The productions of "Russian Seasons" were under the powerful influence of the work of modernist artists. Sets and costumes were created by A. Benois, N. Roerich, B. Anisfeld, L. Bakst, S. Sudeikin, M. Dobuzhinsky, avant-gardists N. Goncharova, M. Larionov, Spanish muralist H.-M. Sert, Italian futurist D. Balla, cubists P. Picasso, H. Gris and J. Braque, French impressionist A. Matisse, neoclassicist L. Survage. Such famous personalities as C. Chanel, A. Laurent and others were also involved as decorators and costume designers in Diaghilev's productions. As you know, the form always affects the content, which was observed by the audience of the Russian Seasons. Not only the scenery, costumes and curtains amazed with their artistic expressiveness, outrageousness, play of lines: the entire production of this or that ballet was permeated with modernist trends, plastic gradually displaced the plot from the viewer's attention.

Diaghilev used the most diverse music for the productions of the Russian Ballet: from world classics F. Chopin , R. Schuman, K. Weber , D. Scarlatti, R. Strauss and Russian classics N. Rimsky-Korsakov , A. Glazunov, M. Mussorgsky, P. Tchaikovsky , M. Glinka to the Impressionists C. Debussy and M. Ravel, as well as contemporary Russian composers I. Stravinsky and N. Cherepnin.

European ballet, which experienced a crisis of its development at the beginning of the 20th century, was endowed with the young talents of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, refreshed by its new performance techniques, new plastique, an unsurpassed synthesis of various types of art, from which something completely different from the usual classical ballet was born.

Interesting Facts

Although the "Historical Russian Concerts" are considered among the "Russian Seasons", only the poster of 1908 contained this name for the first time. There were 20 more such seasons ahead, but the 1908 tour was the last attempt by the entrepreneur to do without ballet.
To stage "Afternoon of a Faun" lasting only 8 minutes, Nijinsky needed 90 rehearsals.
An avid collector, Diaghilev dreamed of getting hold of A. Pushkin's unpublished letters to Natalya Goncharova. When they were finally handed over to him in June 1929, the entrepreneur was late for the train - a tour in Venice was coming. Diaghilev put the letters in the safe to read them after arriving home ... but he was no longer destined to return from Venice. The land of Italy received the great impresario forever.
During the performance of the solo part in the ballet "Orientalia" in 1910, V. Nijinsky made his famous jump, which glorified him as a "flying dancer".
Before each performance of the ballet The Phantom of the Rose, the costume designer re-sewed rose petals to Nijinsky's costume, because after the next performance he tore them off and gave them away to the dancer's numerous admirers.

Films about S. Diaghilev and his activities

In the film The Red Shoes (1948), Diaghilev's personality received an artistic rethinking in the character under the name Lermontov. In the role of Diaghilev - A. Walbrook.
In the feature films "Nijinsky" (1980) and "Anna Pavlova" (1983), Diaghilev's personality is also given attention. In his role - A. Bates and V. Larionov, respectively.

Documentary film by A. Vasiliev “The fate of the ascetic. Sergei Diaghilev” (2002) tells about the founder of the magazine “World of Arts” and the entrepreneur of “Russian Seasons”.
A very interesting and exciting film “Geniuses and villains of the outgoing era. Sergei Diaghilev” (2007) talks about little-known facts related to Diaghilev and his production activities.
In 2008, the series "Ballet and Power" was devoted to the films of Vaslav Nijinsky and Sergei Diaghilev, however, their ambiguous relationship and the talent of the young dancer became the object of attention of many films that deserve a separate review.
The film "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky" (2009) touches upon the relationship between the entrepreneur and the composer who wrote the music for many of his performances.
The documentary "Paris of Sergei Diaghilev" (2010) is the most fundamental film work about the life and work of a talented entrepreneur.
The first of the films in the "Historical Journeys of Ivan Tolstoy" series is dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev - "A Precious Bunch of Letters" (2011).
Sergei Diaghilev is also dedicated to one program from the cycle “The Chosen Ones. Russia. Century XX" (2012).
The documentary film "Ballet in the USSR" (2013) (Series of programs "Made in the USSR") partially touches on the theme of "Russian Seasons".
The TV release “Absolute Rumor” dated February 13, 2013 tells about Diaghilev and the art of the 20th century, and from January 14, 2015 - about the first productions of the ballet “Afternoon of a Faun”.
Two films were released as part of the Terpsichore Mysteries program series - Sergei Diaghilev - a man of art (2014) and Sergei Diaghilev - from painting to ballet (2015).

It can rightly be considered the ancestor of the domestic show business. He managed to play on the outrageous performances of his troupe and purposefully saturate performances with various modernist techniques at all levels of composition: scenery, costumes, music, plasticity - everything bore the imprint of the most fashionable trends of the era. In Russian ballet of the early 20th century, as in other areas of art of that time, dynamics were clearly visible from the active search of the Silver Age for new means of expression to hysterical intonations and broken lines of avant-garde art. " Russian seasons” raised European art to a qualitatively new level of development and to this day they do not cease to inspire creative bohemians in search of new ideas.

Video: Watch a film about Diaghilev's Russian Seasons

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