Heroic and comic all in one
National Opera soloist Ihor Bulychov becomes laureate of the Shekera Prize
There are artists who not only determine a certain direction in art, but also become an artistic image of their time. The outstanding choreographer Anatolii Fedorovych Shekera (1935-2000) was such kind of personality. He created over 30 productions in Ukraine and abroad. Several generations of artistic youth were raised on Shekera’s masterfully developed, versatile productions, exhausted by emotional truth, psychological and philosophical depth, the personalities of dancers were shaped, and new opportunities opened for all the dancers of the capital who embodied their own artistic image in these plays.
Since 2000 every May the National Opera has been hosting festivals of the plays staged by the outstanding choreographer and the Anatolii Shekera Prize has been awarded. It will be reminded that the winners of this prestigious award founded by the National Opera of Ukraine and Ukrainian department of the UNESCO International Institute of Theater included Olena Filipieva, Kostiantyn Kostiukov, Viktor Yaremenko, Maksym Motkov, and Olha Holytsia.
This year’s feast of ballet productions, staged by Shekera, ended with a grandiose gala concert and awarding soloist Ihor Bulychov with Shekera Prize. This versatile dancer who mostly employs the dramatic type of performance came to the company of actors of the National Opera from Kyiv School of Choreography (Volodymyr Denysenko’s class). On stage Bulychov impresses the audience with monumental shapes full of concentrated extreme energy which is able to channel via body movements the inner strength of the heroes’ characters, as well as with specific plasticity typical of big noble predators, lords of prairies and jungles. The heroic line of a character, both positive and acutely negative, naturally sticks to this kind of dancer and listing his repertoire is ample proof of this: Von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Escamillo and Zuniga in Carmen Suite, Birbante in Le Corsaire, Hans in Giselle, Crassus and Spartacus, Tybald in Romeo and Juliette, Rival in The Right of Spring, Abderakhman in Raymonda, Golden Slave in Sheherazade, Voland in The Master and Margarita, Vakula in Christmas Eve, Manolios and later Zorba in Zorba the Greek. But the image of Spartacus is the most crucial in the asrtistic life of Ihor Bulychov: a courageous fighter against tyranny, leader of the greatest rebellion of slaves in the world history, he is no less a lyrical hero separated by the war with his beloved woman.
Another dimension, embodiment of pure evil which is not mean – Voland. Bulychov is extremely convincing when he plays a devil’s role. His solos, duos with Margarita and Jeshua, the ensembles, and especially the scene “Voland’s Triumph” simply fascinate the audience.
Manolios is another kind of evil image, this time insidious. A self-confident local leader who behaves like a Fuehrer, has cold eyes and heart, and hot blood for punishment. Every movement and pose in this part embody meanness and rapacity. We can see the same in Tybald’s part: hatred, disdain, eagerness to kill, which do not undermine by a bit his noble origin. The heroes fence with imaginative sabres, which enables one to turn the fencing bouts into dynamic dances, full of jumps, unexpected plastic angles, and inner dramatism, and the reality of events, although shown on stage, depends namely on the masterfullness of the dancer. But the audience feels terrified when Bulychov performs Tybald.
His artistry and masterful control of his body enable to create a whole gallery of images – from warriors to lover heros, including the courageous and beautiful Vakula, a neglected, yet proud bridegroom Abderakhman, an unreserved Golden Slave – to comic characters. Unfortunately, the play Buratino, in which Bulychov brilliantly performed the role of ... a female Tavern Owner, is not in the repertoire anymore. The dancer in female dress, especially by contrast with short Karabas, created a very funny image, performing a passionate tango in which their love, unbelievable and unexpected like any love, emerges. Or Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro – where does the rock man disappear? We see a mannered creature.
The dancer should be paid his due: he never exceeds the limits of comicalness, pompousness, and his free but reserved moves do not leave room for banality, which is proof of his right for both a complicated, at first glance an additional, comic line, and the heroic line of performance. Every role of the artist stays in the memory of the audience.
