Classical Ballet "Swan Lake" (Ice ballet) State Classical Circus of St. Petersburg (established 1827) - The Chinizelli circus
Schedule for "Swan Lake" (Ice ballet) 2022
The Saint-Petersburg State Ballet on ice (former the Leningrad State Ballet on
ice) founded in 1967 by the outstanding choreographer Konstantin Boyarsky, is
the successor of the remarkable traditions of the St.Petersburg school of the
classical ballet.
The Ballet is headed by its Artistic Director, former
soloist of the world-famous Mariinsky Ballet, Merited Artist of Russia
Konstantin Rassadin, a school-mate of Rudolf Nuriev. He participated in the
performances jointly with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia
Makarova.
Musical Director and one of the co-founders of the Ballet is
Leo Korkhin, prominent Russian conductor who conducts quite a number of
orchestras including the renowned Academic Symphony Orchestra of the
Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Society named after D.Shostakovich.
The
multiple World and European champions, double Olympic champions Ludmila
Beloussova and Oleg Protopopov; multiple World and European champion, Olympic
champion Alexei Ulanov; multiple prize winner of the World and European
figure-skating competitions and Olympic games Ludmila Smirnova danced in the
Ballet at different times. There are about 20 dancers in the company who have
the honorable titles of the Masters of Sports of Russia for the victories at the
all-Russia and international figure-skating competitions.
Since 1995 the
Saint-Petersburg Ballet on ice has been performing on stage of opera theaters.
It shows the most famous ballets by P.Tchaikovsky: "Sleeping Beauty", "Swan
Lake", "Nutcracker" and "Cinderella" ballet by S.Prokofiev.
All the
productions are staged by its principal choreographer Merited Artist of Russia
Konstantin Rassadin. This is for the first time in the world that the real
classical ballets in classical ballet costumes and sets are performed on an ice
rink installed on stage of the theater.
For the last five years these
productions have been successfully performed on the best stages of the USA,
Canada, Netherlands, Germany, China, Spain, Korea, Taiwan, Greece, Portugal,
Ireland.
“Swan Lake”
It is difficult to understand
these days how it could have happened that the first show of the “Lake” in 1877,
in Moscow’s Bolshoi, was a flop, and that it took many years for the ballet to
achieve its worldwide cult status. The composer, Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, never
lived to see the ultimate success of his creation.
The story begins in 1875, when Bolshoi commissions a ballet score
from the young but already famous composer. It was not yet customary practice
–despite Tchaikovsky fame and previous successes, which included four
symphonies, the now famous Piano Concerto and “Eugene Onegin” opera, the
Imperial Theatres of the time would normally employ the composers on Imperial
payroll, such as Cesare Pugni, Ludwig Minkus, and Riccardo Drigo. Keeping that
in mind, Tchaikovsky did not embark on the course of a revolution in the Russian
ballet, and studied the classic ballet scores assiduously, planning to produce a
score that would be in tune with the established tradition but at the same time
would sound new and interesting. The task of composition occupied him from May
1875 to April 1876. The story was a knightly fairy tale, and historians still
debate the literary origins –some opt for Heine, some for Musaeus, a German
fairy-tale writer, some for Russian folklore fairy tales, some even for Pushkin.
The first show took place on February 20, 1877, and was a flop.
The critics reviled the chief choreographer, Wentsel Reisinger, and were short
on praise for Polina (Pelageya) Karpakova, the first interpreter of the main
female part. The failure of the first show was detrimental for the immediate
reputation of the ballet itself, and for quite some time nobody dared to stage
it again.
The situation changed after Tchaikovsky’s death. In 1893, Mariinka
decided to revive the “Swan Lake”. A new version of the libretto and the music
was to be produced by Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, Ivan
Vsevolzhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres himself, and by Riccardo
Drigo. The latter used the original music as a source material for a completely
new score. The choreography was supervised by Marius Petipa and his pupil Lev
Ivanov. The tradition claims that while Petipa was the father of the unique
choreography of the new ballet, its truly Russian singing character is there
thanks to Ivanov. The lake and swan scenes, famous for their perfection, are
undoubtedly his alone. It was Ivanov who came up with the idea of enchanted
ladies with their criss-crossed arms and heads tilted to one side, which every
spectator immediately recognized for birds that sit with their wings folded. The
very magical world of the swan lake was created by Ivanov. Petipa’s are the
scenes of courtly dances and festivities and their intricate lace of waltzes and
various dances – Spanish, Hungarian, Polish. Petipa also created an antipode for
Ivanov’s White Queen of Swans –its black twin Odile, and its beautiful black
pas-de-deux of the second act.
It was this particular stage version that came to be admired as
the pinnacle of Russian ballet. This production, as none other, was the perfect
setting for many famous dancers to showcase their art. The Swan Lake is a unique
and perfect creation, and despite the changing musical and dancing fashions, the
performance of Odette and Odile parts is still considered a touchstone for the
mettle of any serious dancer. The White Swan is truly a symbol of Russian
Ballet, of its beauty and magnificence.
© Text 2010 Art and Culture Magazine "St Peterburg"
Schedule for "Swan Lake" (Ice ballet) 2022
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