How to impress the modern ballet public

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Published: 10 March, 2009, 19:28

Sylvie Guillem and Russel Maliphant in Push

With Moscow and St. Petersburg permanently vying for the status of Russia’s cultural capital and with their respective ballet strongholds – the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres –

competing for having the world’s best known names on their playbills, this spring is turning out to be a headache for ballet fans. In order to not miss the major events, fans are doomed to shuttle between the two cities.

For lovers of old choreography, on March 12 the Bolshoi will be showing Coppelia – the Petipa-Cecchetti choreography restored by Sergey Vikharev. However, the eyes of those appreciating the legends of the last decades will be on the Royal Ballet of Flanders dancing William Forsythe’s ‘Impressing the Czar’.

While this month’s highlight at the Mariinsky theatre is its International Ballet Festival, boasting such stars as ABT principal dancer Marcelo Gomes, Ashley Bouder from NYCB, Cuban ballerina Viengsay Valdes, Polina Semionova from Berlin Staatsoper Ballet, not to mention its home-grown and internationally acclaimed celebrities Diana Vishneva and Ulyana Lopatkina.

Uliana Lopatkina as Odette-Odile

It is not just on the imposing stages of these two heavyweights that ‘the world’s greatest ballerina of our time’ Sylvie Guillem will appear. Together with Russell Maliphant on March 14 and 15 at the Moscow Art Theatre she will perform the 2005 contemporary dance production Push. Touring the world it has gathered thousands of viewers and claimed numerous star reviews. Principal dancer of Paris Opera and Royal Ballet, once the ballet prodigy favored by Noureev, the rebellious Guillem has broken with classical ballet. The 44-year-old says she will never put on her tutu again and now can only be seen in avant-garde modern choreographies.

For the first time ever Moscow will also play host to another icon of contemporary dance. Nederlands Dans Theater will perform Last Touch First signed by Czech choreographer JiÃƒâ€¦Ã¢â€žÂ¢í Kylián – author of surrealistic ballets exploring human instincts (March 27, 28, Pyotr Fomenko’s theatre).

Impressing the Czar, Ãƒâ€˜Ã‚Âhoreography by William Forsythe

In the first days of March the Russian capital has already witnessed most of the significant contemporary dance premiers of the local companies: Nikita Dmitrievsky’s mysterious Sansara featuring life of a Tibetian guru; and Alla Sigalova’s Poor Liza – which brought together the Bolshoi theatre dancer Andrey Merkuriev and drama actress Chulpan Khamatova. Based on the 18th century love story, the production has nothing to do with the remote past and is a sophisticated narration about human loneliness.

Modern choreography is not new on the stages of the two capitals – contemporary dance festivals have been regular events since the late 1990s. Still, it has been slow to reach Russia’s major ballet stages. The Mariinsky has been a step ahead of the Bolshoi, collaborating with the recognized headliners. Both, however, say they cannot allow themselves to stay in the trail of modern trends and are anxious to get acclaimed or still unknown choreographers on their playbills.

Petit Mort , choreography by JiÃƒâ€¦Ã¢â€žÂ¢í Kylián

Still, being brands and proudly preserving Russia’s classical ballet school, they are by definition less flexible in choosing its repertoire. This means experimental dance, as everywhere in the world, will be developing in small companies.

The trends of the recent years, and of this season, confirm a change in the perception of contemporary dance as marginal and only appealing to a small group of intellectuals. On the contrary, big companies realize that they only can gain new audiences by constantly enlarging their palette and keeping with the times.

Inna Logunova, RT