Mariinsky Ballet Unique Repertoire
Today I want to share my love for the Russian Ballet and why I feel so lucky to work at the Mariinsky Theater. When I discovered the Russian Ballet Method at the age of seventeen, I immediately fell in love with it. I grew up in a completely different ballet word (mainly French and later Italian school), and the Russian school was like a revelation ; everything made sense, my ballet training changed, as if my body finally understood how to work.
My dream to work at The Mariinsky Theater came naturally, since I loved the Kirov's ballerinas, their style, manners, purity and beauty. My first trip to Saint Petersburg confirmed that my soul here felt at home, a strange feeling.
I decided to share with you what I consider to be Saint Petersburg's unique footprint, these specifics and unique ballets that are linked to this theater ; they can be exclusive to our theater repertoire, or they originate from this theater.
Of course, the mariinsky is renowned all over the world because of Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Raymonda, Giselle, Don Quixote, or Sleeping Beauty.
But I want to show you the ballets, that are very specifically linked with the history of our theater, and that you hardly watch somewhere else.
Let's start !
1. The Fountain of Bakhchisarai
Based on a poem of the same title by Alexander Pushkin, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai premiered in 1934 at the Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet (now the Mariinsky Theatre). Choreographed by Rostislav Zakharov on the music of Russian composer Boris Asafiev, the ballet tells the story of Maria, a beautiful Polish noblewoman. A band of Tatars led by Khan Ghirei disrupted their ball, killed her bridegroom and the Ghirei falling obsessively in love with Maria at first sight, decided to bring her back to Bakhchisarai Palace. In the second act, we discover the harem and quickly understand that his favorite wife, Zarema, who loves him very much, is devastated when Ghirei ignores her completely because of his obsession with Maria. I let you watch the ballet and discover how it will end.
It's a dram-ballet that requires deep acting skills from the soloists in order to give true life to the story. I love the fact that we really travel in the time between Polish nobility and Turkish-Muslim traditions.
2. Spartacus (Leonid Jakobson)
Spartacus was first staged in Leningrad on 27 December 1956, by Leonid Jakobson, for the Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Mariinsky Theatre) on the music of Aram Khachaturian (composed in 1954), composition for which he was awarded a Lenin Prize.
The ballet follows the exploits of Spartacus, king of Thrace, the leader of the slaves in quest of freedom, uprising against Crassus, a Roman consul. This period is known as the Third Servile War, and reveals to the public eyes what was the life and struggles under the domination of the Roman Empire.
This ballet is unique, from musicality to plasticity. I think for the soviet time, this ballet was undoubtedly creative, experimental, and contemporary but also controversial. I really love it.
3. The Legend of Love
Yuri Grigorovich, a young Leningrad choreographer, staged his second ballet, The Legend of love, based on Nazim Nikmet’s libretto together with Arif Melikov (music) and Simon Virsaladze (set designer). The premiere happened on March 23, 1961, at the Kirov State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet (now Mariinsky) and it tells the story of the proud, cruel and deeply passionate Queen Mekhmeneh Bahnu, her beloved young sister Shyrin and the artist Ferkhad through a splendid tale of forbidden love, self-sacrifice, jealousy and suffering.
It's a classical ballet production with oriental influence (poses of the arms, dance motifs of Persian miniatures, sets with ornamental script in the Arabic alphabet and costumes style). On the premiere, Mekhmene Banu was danced by Olga Moiseyeva and Shyrin Irina Kolpakova.
I love this ballet. Of course, everyone believed that because it’s one of Grigorovitch masterpieces, it got birth at the Bolshoi Theater, but no. You must watch it at least one in your life, It’s a true chef d’oeuvre.
4. The Stone Flower
The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118 (Russian: Сказ о каменном цветке), is Sergei Prokofiev's eighth and last ballet, written between 1948 and 1953. It is based on the Russian Ural folk tale The Stone Flower by Pavel Bazhov
It's the first ballet of Yuri Grigorovich at the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre (Mariinsky Theatre) on 22 April 1957.
The ballet tells the story of Danila, a craftsman, engaged to a nice girl named Katya. He is looking for a stone to make his vase, hoping to find something as beautiful as the Stone Flower from Malachite Mountain. One day, walking sadly in the magic woods, he finally met with the Mistress of Copper Mountain. She is the one who can lead him to the Stone Flower, but in exchange, he will never come back to the village and stay in the mountains. Danila will disappear for three, Katya looking for him one day, finally met The Mistress, will beg her to bring Danila's home. Katya and Danila will be reunited and live happily together in the Ural Mountain.
Grigorovich decided to add some characters like Seviliane, folklore dances, gypsies that create more colors to the ballet. It's also interesting to notice the contrasts between the story telling parts and the non-subject dancing movements of the stone world.
The battle between evil-good, and the contrasts of colors between folklore and classical, makes this ballet emotional short travel in Russian cultural fairytale.
5. Les Ballets Russes (Chopiniana, The Firebird, Shéhérazade)
Chopiniana, or Les Sylphides, is a short, non-narrative ballet Blanc , choregraphed by Mikhail Fokine on Frederic Chopin's music. On the premier in 1907, the ballet was described as a "romantic reverie".
The ballet was presented in Paris by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes on 2 June 1909 at Théâtre du Châtelet, in the main part dancing the famous soloists were Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky (as the poet, dreamer, or young man), Anna Pavlova, and Alexandra Baldina.
The choreographer wrote: “I have tried not to surprise people with the newness, but rather to restore conventional ballet dancing to the point of its greatest advances. I don’t know if this is how our ballet predecessors danced. And no-one else knows that. But in my dreams this is precisely how they did dance.”
Watching this ballet is really like watching a dream.
The Firebird, a ballet choreographed by Michel Fokine on Igor Stravinsky score, in collaboration with Alexandre Benois was premiered at the Paris Opera on 25 June 1910 by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company.
Stravinsky's first commissioned work and successful career beginning, which ranked him among the main newsmakers of the new European art.
The ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles Koschei with the help of the magical Firebird.
In folk tales, the Firebird is a mystical bird that flies around a king's castle and at night swooping down and eating all the king's golden apples. Others say that the firebird is just a bird that flies around giving hope to those who need it.
In any case, the ballet was a huge success and it conquered Paris. Yet in Russia, Stravinsky’s The Firebird was performed only in 1921 Fedor Lopukhov's avant-garde production. Fokine's version of The Firebird, for which Stravinsky created his score, became a part of the Mariinsky Theatre’s repertoire only in the late 20th century.
It's such a beautiful and timeless ballet with gorgeous costumes and decorations, I love it !
Scheherazade is also a ballet by Michel Fokine, with designed decor and costumes from Leon Baskt, on the musical score of Rimsky-Korsakov. It was shown to the public for the first time in Paris, at the Palais Garnier, on June 4, 1910.
Rimsky-Korsakov wrote with Scheherazade an orchestral piece inspired by the famous collection of oriental tales One Thousand and One Nights, and which was not in the least intended to be danced. But for the creators of the ballet, the music, like the chosen subject, is a brilliant and colorful pretext for creating a show whose action takes place in the Orient.
The ballet was such a success in Paris, with such passionate orgies, that The fashionistas of the time, having just shouted "bravo" at the premiere, hurried to put on serouals and turbans à la Eastern style.
The original cast included Ida Rubinstein with her regal beauty and Vaslav Nijinsky, with animal-like flexibility of his half-naked body.
About the story : The Shah, comforting his brother who was unhappy in love, affirmed that “this is how they all do it” (“cosi fan tutte”). He suggests that they go hunting and come back unexpectedly, convinced that his own wife will have betrayed him. This is indeed what is happening. Not only does Zobéide, his wife, in love with a slave, deceive him, but the other odalisques follow his example, organizing a real orgy... Needless to say, on his return, the Shah gives the order to massacre everyone. So all perish, including his wife.
It's one of my favorite ballets, because of its exquisite beauty at all level of perceptions and this fascinating-dreamy oriental exotics.
6. Leningrad Symphony - The Young Lady and the Hooligan
The Symphony of Leningrad is a one-act ballet, created by the young choreographer Igor Belsky, on the music score of the first movement of D. Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony.
The premiere took place on April 14, 1961, at the Leningrad Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov (Mariinsky Theatre).
This ballet is about the feat of besieged Leningrad and the soldiers who defended the city, the three-year Siege, which by German troops became one of the longest and most brutal battles in world history.
The role of the Youth was also performed by Anatoly Nisnevich, Oleg Sokolov and Alexander Gribov; the role of the Girl was performed by Alla Sizova, Kaleria Fedicheva, Gabriela Komleva and Natalia Makarova.
Having won success with the audience and Communist Party approval, the production was spread out to other theaters in the Soviet Union.
This is a powerful ballet, in which the music gives the harsh reality of this period of time, without words, we still can feel and remember. I think it's an historical ballet that transmit emotions and memory of millions of beings.
The Lady and the Hooligan
In 1918, Russian cinemas screened the art film The Young Lady and the Hooligan, staged after a scenario by Vladimir Mayakovsky, adapted from the Italian writer Edmondo De Amicis' story La maestrina degli operai (The Workers' Young Schoolmistress).
The tragic story is about the love at first sight between the hooligan and the new schoolmistress, and his moral transformation under her influence by this love he had not known before.
This ballet was created in 1962 at Leningrad's Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre. Performed in numerous theaters in the Soviet Union, it was only in 2001 that it entered the Mariinsky Theatre's repertoire.
Alexander Belinsky produced the libretto for the eponymous ballet, while Konstantin Boyarsky created the choreography. The music score was taken from three unfortunate ballets by Dmitry Shostakovich – The Bolt, The Golden Age and The Limpid Brook, also featuring highlights from Shostakovich's music for films.
7. Shurale
Shurale is a three acts colorful ballet fairy tale, choreographed by Leonid Yakobson.
The premiere took place on May 28, 1950, at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, named after S. M. Kirov.
The music, full of ethnic intonations, was written by the Tatar composer Farid Yarullin.
As the tradition of folk fairytales goes, goodness and love win over evil : the evil and cunning master of the woods, Shurale, is defeated by the young, handsome, and righteous Ali-Batyr, who is fighting for justice and love. The ballet ends happily with the marriage between Ali-Batyr, hunter and Syuimbike, the bird girl.
It's a magical ballet for children but also adults that shows many aspects of the Tatar culture.
I could add our version of Laurencia and Gayane, but unfortunately, in the lasts years they haven’t been in our repertoire.
I hope this small travel into The Mariinsky repertoire gave you the desire to discover more about these ballets, and that you will have an amazing time watching these video extracts.
