High Fashion in Terms of Ballet
The National Opera of Ukraine hosted the premieres of Stravinsky’s and Mussorgsky’s one-act ballets The Rite of Spring and Pictures at an Exhibition (choreographed by Radu Poklitaru and conducted by Volodymyr Kozhukhar) on November 22-23.
The appearance of the ballets on the National Opera’s repertoire is largely due to Volodymyr Kozhukhar. The idea of staging The Rite of Spring had long been considered and the current rendition completes Igor Stravinsky’s ballet cycle, including The Firebird (choreographed by Viktor Lytvynov), The Fairy’s Kiss (staged by Oleksiy Ratmansky), and Petrushka (choreographed by Viktor Yaremenko). The National Opera is thus the only CIS company with all the gems of the great Russian composer to its name. Interestingly, Stravinsky wrote the three ballets almost completely in Ukraine (he had a small estate in Ustiuh, a town in what is currently Volyn oblast where he worked, inspired by the scenic environs).
LOVE BY THE RULES
Before the premiere of The Rite of Spring, Volodymyr Kozhukhar had taken a most active part in staging the other Stravinsky ballets. Being an excellent musician, his interpretation of the score was of utmost importance in bringing the projects to fruition, although casting and stage directions were also very important. Originally, The Rite of Spring was to be staged by the ballet troupe’s current artistic director Viktor Yaremenko with Mariya Levytska as the production designer. However, their version of the Petrushka met with a cool response by the critics and the opera management decided to step off the well-trodden path. Viktor Kozhukhar was placed in charge and he proposed Radu Poklitaru as stage director. He believed that the gifted and ambitious choreographer with his innovative views would produce interesting results. Radu, although quite young, had made his name as an experimenting choreographer, winning numerous international contests (among them Serge Lifar), staging The Fairy’s Kiss at the Belarusian Opera, Gubaidullina’s Quo Vadis at the Minsk College of Choreography, Mahler’s and Deprez’s The World Does Not End on the Threshold at the Minsk Music Theater, Women in D Minor based on Bach’s First Concerto, and Bizet-Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite at the Odessa Opera. Radu Poklitaru describes himself as “a freelancer with a Moldovan surname and Belarusian passport.” In 1991, he graduated from a college of choreography in Perm [Russia] and was assigned a job in Minsk, as a soloist with the National Opera and Ballet Theater. After the Soviet Union collapsed, he stayed in Belarus. Along with dancing, he tried to stage choreographic pieces. He remembers those early experiences with a smile. He wanted to be professional choreographer, so he enrolled in and graduated from the ballet master department of the Belarusian Academy of Music, then worked as a leading choreographer at the National Opera and Ballet Theater of Moldova. He says he likes to work with different groups. After the Kyiv premiere he plans to start on another project in Minsk and will then fly to Moscow. At present, he is a postgraduate with the Ukrainian Dance Academy. He has many plans and much enthusiasm.
Poklitaru wrote his own libretto for The Rite of Spring. It has nothing to do with that of Stravinsky and Roerich that had remained canonical for decades with so many choreographers. Radu is dedicated to the Western style. He could be referred to as a follower of Matz Eca, meaning that music is the background for his fantasies coming true on stage.
“The Rite of Spring is a famous and well-danced ballet,” says Radu Poklitaru. “There are a million interpretations. How is one to stage it now? The first option is keeping authentic, using that heathen eurhythmics, as done by the brilliant Vaclav Nijinsky. The second option is the one applied by Maurice BОjart, whose interpretation of the ballet was purely virtual. He did not associate it with any epochs and nor did he attempt any historical authenticity. His was a perfectly cosmopolitan project, rooted in just two notions: man and woman. I decided not to follow in the classical footsteps but find my own creative path. I kept listening to the music and finally I saw a picture where a young couple and their small joys were in dramatic contrast with the rigid demands of the social environment. The setting is an institution of learning with faceless rows of school or college/university students. Everything is subject to the strict bylaws suppressing the individual. In this oppressive atmosphere is born love, like a tender exotic flower. But the lovers die in the end, falling prey to dark envy and intrigue, simply because they dared challenge the dull routine of the masses forming a system being a master unto itself.”
Radu Poklitaru’s approach was markedly unconventional. His cast conveys to the audience that teenage cruelty and intolerance with a striking verisimilitude, using the eurhythmics of the crowd. His actors do not dance, rather they make postures and grimaces, their bodies twisting grotesquely, at times looking disgustingly obscene. The Rival (Maksym Motkov) achieves special dramatic identification. The Teacher (Volodymyr Chupryn) matches the crowd precisely right. A born taskmaster, he demands unquestioning obedience, encouraging sneaking, wanting everyone in class to conform to the set standard. The Boy (Artem Datsyshyn) and the Girl (Tetiana Biletska) are portrayed using totally different colors. There is an erotic flair to their love duet, but without the slightest hypocrisy. The actors perform an outwardly simple yet inwardly very sophisticated choreographic pattern. The stage boils with passions, yet they seem to produce little emotional effect on the audience. Regrettably, the beautiful music (courtesy of the symphony orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Kozhukhar) failed to be complimented by an adequate choreographic drama performance. There are interesting scenes, yet the plot lacks integrity.
FROM COPPERFIELD TO PIERROT
The poster of the Pictures at an Exhibition reads that it is a defile ballet, adapted to Modest Mussorgsky’s piano cycle, a composition correctly regarded as one of the world’s best instrumental pieces. Poklitaru says the biggest risk was in avoiding another simple choreographic illustration. Divertissement implies lack of a plot. The original stage props and wardrobe were designed by Andriy Zlobyn and Hanna Ipatieva — it was their creative debut on the capital’s stage. Their designs show a sure artistic touch and a conspicuous theatrical emphasis. Outwardly, the setting and costumes look pretentious, yet everything appears to contribute to the overall concept of the ballet.
“I tried to find that thread which would lead me in putting the music, scenes, and choreography together,” says the ballet master. “I though that a high fashion touch would make the production more interesting. The Couturier is an enigmatic, mythical character, a cross between the mysterious David Copperfield and the ever sad Pierrot as interpreted by the once popular Russian ОmigrО chansonnier Alexander Vertinsky in Paris. He cuts a weird, high-strung, emotionally extremely “out-of-this- world” figure, simultaneously proving a markedly ambitious and treacherous personality. At a high fashion show, we see different scenes in the “high fashion ballet style.” We see the Dwarf and the Beauty as his antipode. Every “picture” is divided into the old and modern parts. The Troll is ugly and awe-inspiring, and right beside him we see a dandy sporting an immaculate dinner jacket. In the Castle scene, we see dancers wearing costumes representing different epochs, switching pairs. The audience is also made part of the defile. In the finale, the Couturier appears at the podium with his latest model, in accordance with the rules of high fashion. The young lady is his bride, yet she is not wearing the traditional white attire; she is dressed in black as though she were a widow. The Couturier, like the legendary Pied Piper, produces a flute and leads the cast off the stage, into the audience and to his “studio” where everyone turns into a living dummy.
According to the cast, the first rehearsals were quite difficult. The actors had to turn themselves against themselves. Literally and figuratively, because their hands and legs protested every movement; it was not dancing but assuming the most unnatural postures. Gradually, they and the choreographer came to terms, and later two months passed like a day. The actors were now inspired by the concept, they were interested in trying themselves in that new capacity.
“I would like to say special thanks to Tetiana Biletska, Hanna Dorosh, Tetiana Borovyk, Maksym Motkov, Yevhen Kaihorodov, Dmytro Kliavyn, Maksym Chepyk, Natalia Lazebnykova, Vadym Brutan, Ihor Bulychev, Serhiy Sydorsky, and other actors for trusting and following me, taking all the risks,” says Poklitaru.
However, both renditions lacked the main thing: the harmony of music and stage direction, although the ballets are worth watching indeed to have an idea about the contemporary trends in ballet and high fashion using the arsenal of ballet. After all, this is the kind of style currently upheld in Germany and Austria. We now also boast such renditions. The company decided on an experiment. It is good, meaning that they are after innovation.
