Andrii Pysariev wins Lifar Contest
The names of the winners of the 7th Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition were announced in Donetsk. The grand prix went to the soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine, 25-year-old Andrii Pysariev, together with 20,000 dollars — an unprecedented sum for ballet competitions.
The tough competition in the senior men’s group was predicted by the experts in advance. Dancers from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and South Korea vied in this category. Some of them, like Nurlan Konokbayev, have already been to Donetsk for the International Festival “Stars of World Ballet.” However, most of the participants came to the miner’s capital for the fist time.
“It seems to me that the first and second rounds were a squall of discoveries and novelties,” said the artistic director of Donetsk National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet Vadym Pysariev, “And in the third round, many of those expected to show better results became over-anxious.”
In the third round the contestants were accompanied by the theater’s symphony orchestra. The conductor’s stand was taken up (in turn) by the Donetsk Opera conductor Viktor Oliinyk and the People’s Artist of Russia Mikhail Bank.
Andrii Pysariev was truly outstanding in his performance of the variations from the ballet Flames of Paris! The jury, headed by the prominent choreographer Yurii Hryhorovych awarded him with the Grand Prix. The first prize among boys went to Aidos Zakan from Kazakhstan, while the Donetsk resident Svitlana Bednenko won the girls competion. There were no worthy pretenders for the gold in the young and youngest age groups among the boys, thus the first and second prizes were not awarded. Among the girls the best were Sofia Matushenska (Moldova) in the “Petit Serge Lifar” group, and Kateryna Chebykina in young age group.
By the way, Andrii Pysariev, the son of National Artists of Ukraine Vadym Pysariev and Inna Dorofieva, won on his birthday, April 1. The stage in Donetsk can be considered his home stage — it is where he made his first steps as a disciple of the choreography school. However, the father, who wasn’t part of the jury, was very critical toward his son.
“Of course I am happy and proud that Andrii won a grand prix on his birthday. But, looking from my own ‘bell tower,’ I would give him [only the] gold... Maybe it’s because I pay attention to some professional moments: how well the contemporary choreography was chosen, how fitting the costumes were. I’ve always been very demanding of myself and of my son as well,” explained Vadym Pysariev.
The National Artist of Ukraine, the pedagogue-tutor of the National Opera Alla Lagoda recalls that those very variations from Flames of Paris brought fame to Pysariev Sr. in his time. “I remember Vadym dancing at the exam in such a way that the captivated committee asked: ‘Boy, could you do that again?’” The pedagogue praised the fact that all professional Ukrainian dance schools took part in the competition in Donetsk.
“The participation of nonprofessional schools is becoming a disturbing tendency. These are paid educational institutions, and when money plays a decisive role art often moves to the background. Perhaps it is not declared, but the stage reveals this problem fully,” stressed Lagoda.
The head of the jury Hryhorovych said that there were no fierce debates among the judges, as they were professionals. “In due time the classics were the basis of competitions, modern dance being added gradually,” the master of ballet expressed his vision. “And now it became balanced. Besides, the competition is not just for dancers but for choreographers as well.”
This year, young choreographers had to submit one composition to the music of Sergei Prokofiev. Thus Donetsk decided to honor the 120th anniversary of the birth of its former resident — the worldwide famous composer. The jury gave the first place to the Ukrainian Serhii Kon and his Ballad of a Friend to the music of Prokofiev. The “arbitrary program” of choreographers turned out to be interesting. Among the most impressive pieces were Reflections to the music of Grieg, directed by Kirill Radev from Russia, and Mother by Dmitry Zaleski from Belarus, which used motifs of Georgian and Armenian folk music.
In total over 160 participants from 16 countries took part in the competition. The prize fund was 110,000 dollars. Donetsk has not yet experienced such a large-scale dance competition. The Serge Lifar competition “moved” from Kyiv after five years of oblivion. It is anticipated to be held once every two years from now on. The title of winner of the competition or recipient of a prize allows the young dancers to start a good career and participate in gala-concerts along with experienced masters. However, experts are wary of making predictions on the future development of the arts.
“It’s very difficult to be a seer and say what is going to happen next,” said Hryhorovych, “as the system of classical ballet absorbs many things that come from everyday dance, even from physical education. I remember when Soviet ballet first came to the West, the partners there couldn’t lift the ladies, they had never done this. And now a wonderful practice of ballet partnership has been formed there, they adopted it from us and are doing well with it. There is modern dance, which has an absolutely free plastique, and we couldn’t develop a unified system. Many styles, many searches, much less findings. Nevertheless, dance is developing very fast and is popular.”
The Day’s FACT FILE
Serge Lifar, the famous 20th-century dancer and choreographer, was also celebrated in his native Kyiv. The National Opera of Ukraine held a gala-concert “Serge Lifar de la Dance,” in which Kyiv’s masters presented Lifar’s ballets Suite in white and Morning Serenade. These are masterpieces of neoclassical choreography. The Suite..., to the music of Lalo, was revived in 2001 on the Ukrainian stage by the colleagues of Serhii Mikhailovisch — Christiane Vlassi (the prima of Paris Grand Opera) and Gilbert Mayer (a French choreographer). The leading parts at the gala-concert were performed by: Olena Filipeva, Hanna Dorosh, Tetiana Holiakova, Serhii Sydorsky, Tetiana Lozova, Maksym Chepyk and others. Morning Serenade, to the music of Poulenc, appeared on the playbill of the National Opera in 2006 (it was “reconstructed” by the French choreographer Olivier Patey, Grand Opera). Now the soloists were Tetiana Holiakova and Andrii Hura (conducted by Oleksii Baklan).
