Russia’s Unique Riches: From Village to the Moiseyev & Kirov
Both ballet and theatrical folk dance choreographers have drawn from peasant and village life of different cultures. These dances are creatively transformed for the proscenium stage. Ballet often tells a narrative, whereas theatrical folk dance presents vignettes. Dance moves through history and across geographical space, often evolving with derivative exoticism.
Earlier this year, the Washington metropolitan area indulged in Russia’s unique riches: the world renowned folk-based performances of the Moiseyev Dance Company at the Music Center at Strathmore and then the Kirov Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Moiseyev at Strathmore Music Center
To celebrate the life of the Russian choreographer Igor Moiseyev, who recently died at age 101, as well as the seventieth anniversary of the company and the fiftieth anniversary of its first appearance in America (orchestrated by impresario Sol Hurok in New York in 1958), a film about Igor Moiseyev preceded the live performance. Through Moiseyev’s visionary artistic direction and choreography, the company he founded in 1936 has reached the pinnacle of success and is honored as Russia’s official “State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance.”
Moiseyev Dance
When Moiseyev was Ballet Master and former principal dancer and choreographer of the Bolshoi Ballet, the Soviet government asked him to organize the first Festival of National Dance. As a student, Moiseyev had traversed the country on foot during his free time, immersing himself in the study of Russian folklore and in the treasury of songs, dances, customs, traditions and festivals belonging to the 180 national cultures that comprised the Soviet Union. Fascinated by what he found, he embraced the unprecedented task of bringing traditional dances to national attention. The festival’s acclaim convinced Moiseyev to form a professional company to preserve and develop the best traditions of folk dancing and to raise the skill of performance to the highest artistic level.. He selected outstanding dancers from amateur companies across the country and a handful of professional ballet dancers from the Bolshoi School and other classical companies. Moiseyev’s strong background in classical ballet provided the basic training for his company, and his keen powers of observation and thorough knowledge of folklore led him to establish its unique style: at once dramatic, entertaining in a theatrical sense and larger-than-life. Moiseyev also created new works based on current themes, such as the desperate struggle of the Russian people during World War II. In 1955, the Moiseyev Dance Company began to tour the world and has since appeared in and returned to more than 60 countries. The company’s repertoire now includes dances of Spain, Japan, China, Bulgaria, Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Hungary and American jazz and rock-and-roll – all with a Moiseyev imprint. The company currently numbers more than 200, has its own orchestra and school and possesses a repertoire in excess of 200 dances. Some of the dances at the Strathmore deserve special mention. “Tatarochka” was a North American premiere depicting the athletic prowess of the Tartars of Crimea. “Kalmuk Dance,” a piece about the nomads of the Nogai Steppes, featured three males dressed in black suggesting the flight of eagles, the running of horses and the contest of bulls in mating season. Their spectacular vibrations through the body and exquisite hands gestures were awesome. “Summer” is a traditional Russian dance about the harvest festival. The Nanayan play, “Two Boys in a Fight” is filled with humor; children in the audience were bursting with laughter. The two boys turn out to be one highly skilled young man. The evening’s speeding dancers, manipulated lines by decreasing size of the dancers, machine-like uniformity and technically difficult folk movements brought audience members to their feet. The Kirov at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At The Kennedy Center, the St. Petersburg Kirov Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre presented the full-length ballet “La Bayadère.” Founded in 1783, the Kirov is a venerable institution that has maintained the integrity of its distinctively aristocratic style through its more than 200 years. Dancers are delicately pliant, with a fluid sculpted arching flow and line of arms that move with the eyes. Chins lift on the up-breath at the beginning of a phrase and again at the end. Kirov dancers train at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, developing the dance style and ensemble coordination they need on stage. Former dancers teach in the Academy and work as coaches in the theater. Dancers entering the company are assigned a coach who prepares them in their roles, preserving a tradition that allows leeway for a dancer’s individuality. The coach is a go-between for a dancer with the artistic director.
“La Bayadère,” a three-act choreography by Marius Petipa in 1877 set to Ludwig Minkus’s music, draws its inspiration from some traditions of the upper and lower castes of India. We see a tiger hunt, elephant, temple with Brahmin priests in sandals and palms together in a prayer gesture, specially trained high-status female dancers dedicated to the temple (bayadères), a fakir, a golden idol (captivatingly danced by Grigory Popov), the court of a wealthy raja, a snake charmer and male folk dancers moving to a drummer’s beat. The women wear short sleeve bodices that bare the midriff. But outside the men’s folk dance and the occasional female angular arm gesture, the dancing is classical ballet full stop.
The ballet plot is rooted in early Indian Sanskrit drama. Petipa spins a nonverbal narrative: A sensuous Indian temple dancer, Nikiya (danced by Diana Vishneva who displayed remarkable technique and emotional intelligence in portraying contrasting sensual and ethereal temperaments) loves the noble soldier Solar (Andrian Fadeyev). He returns her love and vows eternal fidelity but is soon reminded that he has been betrothed since childhood to the Raja’s daughter Gamzatti (Viktoria Tereshkina), whom he must marry. She resents Nikiya’s claim on Solar. Treachery and murder ensue. Nikiya is summoned to dance in holy wedding rites. A slave girl brings her a basket of flowers declaring it is a gift from Solor. But the basket carries a poisonous snake that bites Nikiya and causes her death.
Solar is chastened and distraught that a jealous Gamzatti arranged for his beloved Nikiya’s demise. He takes an opium-induced spectral voyage to the afterlife where he dreams of reconciliation with Nikiya. Now a ghost, she is cool, removed, on a higher plane. The famous, hypnotic “Kingdom of the Shades” scene creates the context for Solar’s wishful fantasy. Thirty-two white tutu-clad dancers, a white veil wrapped around each arm, sequentially appear single file onstage and step into arabesques, backs arched, position held for a few moments, then place raised legs on the ground and bend them as arms sweep toward the ground and upward, walk three steps and repeat the phrase. The spiritually mesmerizing dancers perform the movements in unison as they wend their way down a ramp, representing the Himalayas, and across the stage.
Both the Moiseyev and Kirov companies, with different ancestral roots and traditions have drawn from village life. They radiated superb dancing, exquisitely coordinated corps, spectacular solos and vibrant costumes. Folklorists tell us that village choreography usually does not belong to a single individual, but many members of the village. One wonders if the villagers benefit when their dances are appropriated? Would they be flattered?