The Russian Ballet
The Russian Ballet has a rich history. Starting in 1737 and still active today it is one of the most famous ballets in all of history. The ballet had the influence of Tchiakovsky, Sergei Diagilev, and Marius Petipa. The ballet had very fascinating beginnings.
The Russian ballet started in 1737 when a letter was written to the Empress Anne, from the teacher of gymnastics at the Imperial Cadet School. The letter states:”I humbly ask your majesty that I shall be given twelve children-six males and six females- to create ballets and theater dances using twelve persons of comic and serious character. These pupils, by the end of the first year, will execute different dances; in three years they will not be less than the best of foreign dancers.” Anna Pavlova was one of the most famous classical dancers. She inspired many ballerinas. But, she was not the only ballet artist that inspired people. Each generation of beautiful Russian swans wins worldwide fame.
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Marius Petipa created over fifty ballets and is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived. Marius Petipa is also known as the father of Russian ballet. He is also an amazing dancer and teacher himself. Petipa’s first choreography occurred in 1949. Petipa died in 1910. Peter Ilyich Tchiakovsky also had great influences on the Russian ballet. He was born on April 25, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia and died November 6, 1893 in St. Petersburg. His work in the Russian ballet includes lots of music that has inspired many
Anna Pavlova perfected a new art form. Her passion and dedication to ballet impacted Russia’s culture and the direction in this specific art. Pavlova was recognized as the leading artist for both Imperial Russian Ballet and Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev while her best ballet performances included the Birth of a Dying Swan and The Dragonfly. Anna impacted Russian ballet but it originated in Russia by Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich and Peter the Great which brought this exquisite art to their country while others played an integral part to make this art spectacular. Pavlova shared her incredible talent and today ballet plays an active and important role in Russia.
George Balanchine, born January 22, 1904, in St. Petersburg, Russia; is considered the father of American ballet, and the greatest ballet choreographer of his time. Through his 79 years of life, he is said to have created some 465 works, beginning in 1920, at the young age of 16. It is no secret, that as the co-founder of the New York City Ballet, that Balanchine has greatly influenced the world of ballet, its masters, choreographers, dancers, and viewers.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the author of six symphonies and the finest and most popular operas in the Russian repertory. Tchaikovsky was also one of the founders of the school of Russian music. He was a brilliant composer with a creative imagination that helped his career throughout many years. He was completely attached to his art. His life and art were inseparably woven together. "I literally cannot live without working," Tchaikovsky once wrote, "for as soon as one piece of work is finished and one would wish to relax, I desire to tackle some new work without delay." The purpose of this paper is to give you a background concerning Tchaikovsky's biography, as well as to discuss his various works of art.
Which great composer received the title of the first Russian to gain international fame? Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky created marvelous music that carries his name to this day. He contributed to the great Romantic era with the genuineness of his compositions. Having hard life, he still persevered on and did not let his circumstances stop him. Learning about his life, music, and worldview gives a full view of Tchaikovsky.
same culture and time period of the ballet. During this time in ballet there were often
Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. The son of a famous bass singer at the Imperial Opera, Stravinsky showed little inclination to pursue a musical career, but while pursuing law studies in 1902, Stravinsky met Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who advised him to study music instead. Stravinsky began studying with the famous Russian composer in 1903, and after Rimsky's death in 1908, never had another teacher. Stravinsky's early works caught the imagination Sergei Diaghilev, impresario of the famed Ballets Russes, who invited him to compose a ballet. The result was The Firebird in 1910, which was followed by the even more successful Petrushka in 1911. With his ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913, with its representations of prehistoric pagan Russian rituals and sacrifice, Stravinsky's music ignited the most famous riot in the history of music. With its eclectic rhythms, absence of melody, and savage energy, The Rite of Spring marks the true beginnings of 20th century music, and even today never fails to thrill or amaze listeners.
Sir Anton Dolin Dancer and choreographer Anton Dolin has been called “one of the most colorful and vital figures in modern ballet.” As a member of internationally known ballet companies or as director of his own troupes, this British-born artist has toured Europe and America for the past twenty years. Anton Dolin, originally Patrick Healey-Kay, was born on July 27, 1904, in Slinfold, Sussex, England. He is one of the three sons of George Henry and Helen Maude (Healey) Kay. When he was ten years of age his parents moved from Slinfold to Brighton. It was at about this time that the boy made up his mind to become a dancer. Although his parents tried to discourage him from dancing, they sent him to Miss Claire James’ Academy of Dancing and later to the Misses Grace and Lily Cone, who came to London each week to give lessons in Brighton. After the boy danced and acted at the Brighton Hippodrome Theatre, the manager of the theater suggested that he be sent to London for training in dramatics. In the metropolis Pat studied under Italia Conti, and at the same time he attended the Pitman School for instruction in stenography and French. In 1917, a month after attending a performance of Princess Seraphina Astafieva’s Swinburne Ballet, the thirteen-year-old boy registered for lessons with the Russian ballerina. A former pupil of the Imperial School and at one time principal dancer in the Diaghilev Ballet Russe, Astafieva was then conducting the only school of Russian ballet in London, which stressed the importance of the individual dancer in ballet. After Pat had been her student for about four years, the famous Diaghilev visited the school one day in search of promising young dancers for extras in The Sleeping Princess. It was then that the seventeen-year-old youth was given his first dancing bit, a part in Diaghilev’s chorus. The Sleeping Princess had a three-month run, after which the young dancer returned to school for two more years of instruction. On August 26, 1923, under the name of the Anglo-Russian Ballet, Astafieva put on a large scale production with her pupils as the principal dancers. For this first solo appearance Patrick Healey-Kay decided to choose a Russian name as he thought it would be an excellent joke. He found “Anton” in a Chekhov volume, but had difficulty in selecting an easily pronounced surname until someone at the school suggested “Dolin.
Surely no one could have known that the daughter of the dark-haired usher at the Mariinsky Theatre would acquire the title of Ballerina in 1915, become the creator of one of the most-practiced standards of ballet instruction, and be remembered as one of the ballet world’s most beloved instructors and choreographers. Agrippina Vaganova’s revolutionary technique introduced a certain athleticism to ballet, which, rather than emphasizing the individuality of the parts of the body, trained the body into one unit. Consequently, the parts of the body depended on the whole in order to move and function. Her legacy is a well-known and revered one in the ballet world.
When one thinks of a ballet they hear soft rhythmic notes and see elegantly dancing ballerinas softly tip-toeing around the stage. This is also what people in early 1900’s expected to see when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913 a ballet named The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title as it translates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the ballet to Stravinsky. Roerich wanted to put into motion the ideas behind pagan pre-Christian rituals in Russia. Together the two created the story line behind the ballet; a sacred pagan ritual where a young female dances herself to death and is then offered to the “Gods” of spring to make them happy. The music was composed by Vaslav Nijinsky and the ballet was produced by Sergei Diaghilev for the Russian Ballet. This ballet was so different from what the spectators expected to see that it caused a riot. The Rite of Spring turned the tables of ballet in every sense: the dance, the music and the general idea of ballet was modernized by the group of artists who created and produced it.
Classical ballet is a traditional and a formal style that required a vigorous technique such as pointe work and turnout of the legs. Ballet can be combined with other types of music and movement like hip hop, jazz, tap and more. I believe that ballet is an elegant and flowing dance that can be combined with music and body movements. One of my favorite ballet dancer is Misty Copeland. She learned ballet very quickly when she stared, one technique that takes long time to learn is pointe, which is to support all the body weight in your feet, and Copeland learned to do it in just of three months.
When you think of Russia you think of the cold, communism and a massive empty space on earth that we have no idea why God even put it there. Out of that land, however, came one of the greatest composers to ever live, Peter Tchaikovsky. We instantly place his wild name with the great ballet, The Nutcracker, but this is just a part of his magnificent legacy of music he produced.
He published his first orchestral works, a symphony and an opera, by 1869 (1). Inspired by E. T. A. Hoffmann’s libretto, Tchaikovsky wrote his best-recognized ballet, The Nutcracker (“Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky” 2).The Nutcracker lends an ironic understatement to Tchaikovsky because of the ballet’s cheerfulness and Tchaikovsky’s various forms of mental stress he faced throughout his life (2).... ... middle of paper ... ...
Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular of all composers. The reasons are several and understandable. His music is extremely tuneful, opulently and colourfully scored, and filled with emotional passion. Undoubtedly the emotional temperature of the music reflected the composer's nature. He was afflicted by both repressed homosexuality and by the tendency to extreme fluctuations between ecstasy and depression. Tchaikovsky was neurotic and deeply sensitive, and his life was often painful, but through the agony shone a genius that created some of the most beautiful of all romantic melodies. With his rich gifts for melody and special flair for writing memorable dance tunes, with his ready response to the atmosphere of a theatrical situation and his masterly orchestration, Tchaikovsky was ideally equipped as a ballet composer. His delightful fairy-tale ballets, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker are performed more than any other ballets. Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's first ballet, was commissioned by the Imperial Theatres in Moscow in 1875. He used some music from a little domestic ballet of the same title, composed for his sister Alexandra's children in 1871.
Ballet is one of the most popular types of dance. It is known for its grace and elegance. Ballet is a very disciplined style of dance and may take many years to develop the proper technique. Ballet is the foundation for many other types of dance.