Abstract: In this article, an attempt is made to comprehend the features of the choreographic embodiment of the images of the main characters (Zephyr and Flora) by choreographer A.S. Belyakov in the play "Zephyr and Flora, or Metamorphoses" (2021). This ballet is a modern appeal to the theme of the pre–romantic ballet Sh. Didlo (early XIX century). Such a plan cannot but be relevant, as well as the study of its creative results, first carried out in this article. Based on the methods of ballet studies analysis approved by Russian historians and ballet theorists (Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Slonimsky, Surits), the author applied comparative historical, ideological, artistic and analytical methods, as well as the method of included observation (based on personal experience working on the part of Flora). The main research tools were analytical description and semantic analysis of the variation of Zephyr and the duet of Zephyr and Flora. With their help, we managed to draw the following conclusions. The choreographic vocabulary of the fragments is distinguished by an organic combination of classical positions and pas with the author's movements (pictorial, ornamental poses; somewhat broken positions of the arms and body; originally modified technical elements). The dramaturgy of the modern reading of the plot of the pre-romantic ballet is developed by the choreographer by plastic (not pantomime) means in key dance fragments. Thus, the choreographic embodiment of the images of Zephyr and Flora demonstrates an organic synthesis of the ideological idea and the general aesthetics of pre-romantic ballet with the unconventionality and innovation of the modern author's plastic solution.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.6.38010

Abstract: In this paper, the author continues to study and comprehend the author's interpretation of J. Neumeier images of the main characters of the ballet "A Midsummer Night's Dream". A meaningful interpretation of the choreographic embodiment of Hippolyta and Theseus, one of the two hypostases of the main characters of the ballet, is carried out in order to identify their features in the context of the performance and the choreographer's creativity. Based on the methods of ballet studies analysis approved by historians and ballet theorists Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Surits, the author used comparative-historical, ideological-artistic and analytical methods, as well as the method of included observation (based on personal experience with Neumeier). In the course of the source analysis, the author used video materials from the archives of the Hamburg "Ballettzentrum" and the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. A detailed analysis of the choreographic score of the roles of Hippolyta and Theseus allows us to conclude that Neumeier makes two detailed duets that differ from each other as the main fragments characterizing these characters. In the first of them, the choreographer uses a rich duet technique: upper supports without approaches (often starting from kneeling positions), non–standard combinations of paired rotations - elements that determine the further line of development of his choreographic style. The composition and means of choreographic expressiveness of the second duet are rather atypical for Neumeier's work. Here, the choreographer, with poses and technical solo fragments of the dancers, hints at the similarity with the ballets of the classical heritage, with the help of which he emphasizes the ceremonial and ceremonious solemnity of this duet. It also uses such an additional attribute as a train, which gives the ballerina's movements even more weight and royalty. Thus, the choreographic development of the images of Hippolyta and Theseus occupies one of the key positions (along with Titania and Oberon) in the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and also becomes an important stage in the evolution of the author's style of J. Neumeier.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.5.37921

Abstract: In this article, the author continues to study the choreographic interpretations of the works of J. Neumeier, in particular, the ballet "Lady of the Camellias". The identification of expressive staging means and choreographic elements used by Neumeier in the production of the "white" duet of Marguerite and Armand is carried out in this work in order to determine the place of this choreographic fragment in the performance and its significance both for the plastic embodiment of the images of the main characters and in the context of the evolution of the author's style. The author applied comparative-historical, ideological-artistic and analytical methods, as well as the method of included observation (based on personal experience of working with Neumeier). Video materials from the archives of the Hamburg "Ballettzentrum" and the Moscow Bolshoi Theater and lectures conducted by Neumeier on the eve of the Moscow premiere of "Lady of the Camellias" (recordings from the author's archive) were also used. A detailed analysis of the "white" duet allows us to conclude that the studied choreographic fragment is markedly different from the other two duets of Marguerite and Arman. From the point of view of developing the images of the main characters, this is the only episode of the play in which Neumeier allows the audience to see the light lyrics in the relationship between Marguerite and Armand. In the "white" duet, the choreographic innovations of the choreographer in the field of technically saturated duet dance, replete with upper supports, with a lack of preparation for them and constant control by the partner of the ballerina's movements, are especially justified. They are the main means of plastic expressiveness, creating the effect of flight, an unbroken flow of movements, as well as the visualization of musical legato. It is this duet technique (later actively used by the choreographer) that can be called a distinctive feature of the choreographic style of J. Neumeier.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.4.37829

Abstract: In this article, a meaningful interpretation of the plastic solution is carried out by choreographer J. Neumeier created images of Titania and Oberon in order to identify their choreographic features in the context of the ballet "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the choreographer's work as a whole. In the course of the research, the author applied comparative-historical, ideological-artistic and analytical methods. The theoretical basis of the research was the methods of ballet analysis approved by the historians of the ballet Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Surits; the methodological basis for the analysis of choreography were the works of ballet master and ballet theorist Lopukhov. In the course of the source analysis, the author used video materials from the archives of the Hamburg "Ballettzentrum" and the Moscow Bolshoi Theater.A detailed analysis of the choreographic score of Titania and Oberon's parts made it possible to identify the following author's solutions related to the new research results. In the first duet of Oberon and Titania, Neumeier forms plastic leitmotifs, which are developed in further appearances of the characters. The choreographer uses emphatically profiled, graphic and carefully geometric positions of the performers' bodies, additionally accentuating this with tight-fitting costumes; the parties receive active choreographic development based on a technically saturated duet dance, replete with high supports with acrobatic elements using extreme flexibility and stretching of the ballerina. So, when setting the analyzed roles, J. Neumeier used qualitatively new, including non-traditional plastic methods, which were significant in the context of his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and influenced the further formation of the choreographic style of the choreographer.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.3.37642

Abstract: The subject of this article is the interpretation of J. Kranko images of Katarina and Petruchio in three duets of the ballet "The Taming of the Shrew", studied in contextual comparison with the original text вЂ“ the comedy of W. Shakespeare. The purpose of the study is to determine the place of the three duets of the main characters in Kranko's performance, drawing ideological and figurative parallels with the text of the original source, and to identify expressive means and choreographic elements used by the choreographer in their production. The methods of ballet studies analysis approved by ballet historians Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Surits were used as a theoretical basis; the works of choreographer and ballet art theorist Lopukhov became the methodological basis for the analysis of choreography. Other sources used include video materials from the archives of the Stuttgart State Opera and the Bolshoi Theater. The work on the article required a historical approach вЂ“ the involvement of materials (videotapes and reviews) from 1969 to 1996.. The methods of ideological and artistic analysis and semantic analysis of the choreographic construction of the duets of Katarina and Petruchio were also used. The detailed semantic analysis of the choreography and composition of the duets of the main characters has become the main research tool. The new results include the identification and comparison of staging tools developed and used by the choreographer. In the first duet it is an alternation of syncopated pas, acrobatic elements, movements on the floor; in the second вЂ“ plastic imitations of funny and awkward situations; in the third вЂ“ technically rich choreographic development of duet dance (which corresponds to the three phases of the development of the relationship of the heroes: duel, ridicule, harmony). So, the modification of the images and relationships of the main characters of J. Kranko concludes The Taming of the Shrew in three duets, making them meaningful fragments that form the concept of ballet, as well as the author's view of the plot of the comedy by W. Shakespeare.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2022.3.37741

Abstract: This article continues the author's research devoted to the study of the problem of choreographic interpretations of literary works, in particular, John Neumeier's ballet "Anna Karenina". In this work, the identification of expressive staging means and choreographic elements used by Neumeier in the production of duets by Anna Karenina and Alexei Vronsky is carried out in order to determine the place of these choreographic fragments in the performance, as well as their significance for the author's interpretation of the images of the main characters of the novel by Leo Tolstoy. In the course of the research, the author applied comparative-historical, ideological-artistic and analytical methods, as well as the method of included observation (based on personal experience of working with Neumeier on Kitty's party). In the course of the source analysis, video materials from the archives of the Hamburg Ballettzentrum and the Moscow Bolshoi Theater were used, as well as lectures conducted by Neumeier before the Moscow premiere of Anna Karenina (recordings from the author's archive). A detailed analysis of the dance score of three duets by Anna and Vronsky revealed traditional and innovative author's solutions related to the new research results. So, Neumeier uses such staging means as the compilation of Tchaikovsky and Schnittke's music; the inclusion of symbolic images (a chair, a door, a bag) in the choreographic canvas; the appearance of other characters; the use of stage lighting to accentuate the transition from reality to the sphere of the subconscious; active choreographic development based on a technically saturated duet dance, replete with high supports in the neoclassical style, as well as acrobatic elements; semantic use of plastic quotations. It can be concluded that in order to develop the images and relationships of Anna Karenina and Alexey Vronsky, the choreographer chooses a duet as the dominant musical and choreographic form. Moreover, in his version of Anna Karenina, Neumeier makes three duets of the main characters a key component of the performance and the author's interpretation of the images of the main characters.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2022.1.37356

Abstract: The subject of this research is Jean-Christophe Maillot’s interpretation of the images of Katherine and Petruchio in the context of ideological-imagery parallels with the original text – W. Shakespeare’s comedy "The Taming of the Shrew". The article determines the expressive means and choreographic elements used by the choreographer to stage the lead roles, as well as their contextual comparison with the original literary text. The theoretical framework leans on the principles of ballet analysis developed by the ballet theoretician and historians Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Slonimsky, and Surits. The works by Lopukhov serve as the methodological basis for analysis of the shape and choreography. Other sources include video materials from the archives of Monte Carlo Ballet and Bolshoi Theater, recordings of staged rehearsals that took place from April to June 2014 (author's archive). The research employs the methods of ideological-artistic analysis, semantic analysis of construction and choreographic solution of the roles of Katherine and Petruchio, as well as method of included observation (personal participation in the performance). The novelty lies in revealing the innovative and modernized classical elements of choreography and staging developed by Maillot (leitmotif plasticity combinations, transforming symbolic moves). The detailed semantic analysis of the composition and choreography f the images of Katherine and Petruchio became the main instrument of research and allowed making the following conclusions. Interpretation of the images of the protagonists in the first act is conceptually similar to Shakespeare's text and slightly adapted in accordance with the expressive potential of ballet art and authorial artistic tasks. In the second act, the choreographer shifts the compositional and plotline focus, highlighting not the final scenes, but the full-scale duet of the protagonists, where the plasticity solution is transformed depending on the changes in their emotional states. Namely abstract and visual plasticity ideation individualizes the choreographic style of Maillot and underlies his interpretation of the profound plotline of Shakespeare's comedy.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.6.36354

Abstract: The problem of choreographic interpretation of the novel “Anna Karenina” by L. Tolstoy in the modern ballet theater is relevant: in the past twenty years, several outstanding choreographers have selected this theme for their performance. The subject of this article is the interpretation of the character of Levin by John Neumeier. The goal consists in revealing the expressive elements and peculiarities of choreographic language used by the ballet master in staging this role, as well as in juxtaposing them with the original literary text. The article employs comparative and analytical methods, overt observation (in the process of working with Neumeier on the role of Kitty), Neumeier's lectures prior to the Moscow premiere of “Anna Karenina” (from the author's archive), and materials from video archives of the theatre. Detailed semantic analysis of stage direction and choreographic language of the role of Levin became the basic instrument for determining the traits of Tolstoy’s hero, which Neumeier derived from the literary source. Tolstoy’s reasoning on the topics that require in-depth philosophical reflection, which were inscribed into the artistic fabric of the novel, are instilled in the role of Levin. Creating the choreographic interpretation of this character, Neumeier did not pursue the original verbatim. However, the choreographer strongly emphasizes the difference between Levin and other characters. Determination of the staging techniques used for this purpose define the novelty of the research results, which can be applied in the further study of Neumeier's works. This includes explicit monologue, Stevens' songs as musical background, bare feet of the dancer, series of symbolic leitmotivs of bodily movements, arbitrary bodily movements that resemble improvisation, usage of costume details. Levin's monologues represent a performance within a performance, philosophical-symbolic choreographic meditation that is not connected with the overall plotline. Such solution, despite all apparent differences, conceptually brings together the choreographed character of Levin and the original text. Interpretation of this role is one of the key components in interpretation of L. Tolstoy's novel by J. Neumeier, which encompasses the author’s innovative staging solutions.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8744.2021.4.36233

Abstract: The subject of this article is the artistic and staging solutions applied by John Neumeier in choreographing the ballet “Anna Karenina”. Their determination and analysis is carried out in order to reveal the semantic dominants in interpretation of L. Tolstoy's plotline and understand the ideological intention of the author, who is both a choreographer and a production designer. The research is based on the comprehensive approach. Using semantic analysis of the ballet, the author was leaning on the principles developed by theoreticians and historians of the choreographic theater – Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Lopukhov, Suriz. In the course of historiographical analysis, were used the lectures given by Neumeier prior to the Moscow premiere of “Anna Karenina”. The article also contains video materials from the archives of Hamburg “Ballettzentrum” and Moscow Bolshoi Theater. The method of overt observation (based on the personal experience of working with Neumeier on the role of Kitty) was also applied. Neumeier saturates the minimalistic and easily transformable design of the ballet with symbolic images (chair, bag, door, steam locomotive), as well as uses staging techniques such as layering of scenes and change of scenery in motion, exposure of the structure of decorations, creation of several scenic plans, use of videography. Detailed semantic analysis of scenography, which became the key research instrument, allows concluding that in his choreographic interpretation of L/ Tolstoy's novel, Neumeier actively uses staging techniques characteristic to drama theater, broadening the range of scenographic solutions for the ballet performance. The author was able to determine and decode the symbolism of the original expressive elements and images by in-depth analysis of the ideological concept of the performance.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2020.10.33879

Abstract: The subject of this article is the interpretation of male images from W. Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” by the choreographer C. Wheeldon in the context of its conceptual commonality with the literary original. The goal of this research is to determine the stage means and elements of choreographic language used by the choreographer for creation of male roles, as well as to draw ideological-imagery parallels with the original text. Methodological foundation of this study features the principles of critical analysis of text of the play along with the semantic analysis of choreography, developed in the scientific works of such theoreticians of ballet art as Lopukhov, Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Surits, Slonimsky. Comprehensive approach towards interpretation of the literary original on the modern ballet stage required the analysis of such sources, as the English-language peer reviews of the world premiere of the ballet and video materials from the archives of the Royal Opera House in London and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The author also applied the method of overt observation based on the personal experience of working with Wheeldon in Bolshoi Theatre, and accompanied by the analysis of rehearsals from the author's archive (over the period from March to April 2019). The author carried out a detailed semantic analysis of the stage interpretation and choreographic language of the male images of W. Shakespeare's play of the later period “The Winter's Tale” in the eponymous ballet of C. Wheeldon (which served as the key instrument for this research). The conclusion is made that the conceptual ground of Wheeldon’s interpretation of the male images is based on the Shakespeare’s text adapted to the realities of a stage performance. He employs a wide array of plasticity and other innovative means of expression, applying an individual approach towards staging each male role.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2020.9.33669

Abstract: The subject of this article is K. Wheeldon's interpretation of the female images of Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" in the context of its ideological and figurative identity to the literary source. The research is carried out in order to determine the expressive means and elements of choreographic vocabulary used by the choreographer in the production of female roles, as well as their contextual comparison with the text of the original source. In the course of the research, the author of the article, due to the versatility of the problem of interpreting W. Shakespeare's play on the ballet stage, used an integrated approach. The theoretical basis of the work was the principles of critical and semantic analysis of choreographic vocabulary developed by historians and theorists of ballet art (Dobrovolskaya, Krasovskaya, Slonimsky, Lopukhov, Surits). In the process of source analysis, English-language reviews of the world premiere of the ballet were reviewed (quotes from the articles are translated by the author), as well as video materials from the archives of the London Royal Opera House and the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. In addition, the included observation method was used (based on personal experience of working with Wheeldon as a performer of the Loss part in a Bolshoi Theater performance), accompanied by an analysis of rehearsal recordings for March вЂ“ April 2019, which are in the author's archive. So, the detailed semantic analysis of the composition and choreographic vocabulary of female images of Shakespeare's late play "The Winter's Tale", interpreted by Wheeldon in the ballet of the same name, carried out in this article, was the main tool in the development of the scientific problem posed. The new results of the study include a significant groundwork in the aspect of identifying classical and innovative artistic elements of the dance language developed and used by Wheeldon, which allowed us to draw the following conclusions. Conceptually starting from Shakespeare's text, the choreographer adapts the interpretation of female images to a certain extent, guided by the expressive potential of conventional ballet art. At the same time, in the production of female roles, individualized plastic interpretations of the heroines become the main means of expression.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.3.32664

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to confirm or confute the semantic and compositional similarity of Chopin’s piano heritage with its ideal and graphic interpretation by a choreographer John Neumeier in the context of synthetic materialization on the ballet stage. The object of research is the “black” duet of Marguerite and Armand from the 1978 ballet Lady of the Camellias. The contextual unity of the compositional and semantic choreographic interpretation of this fragment with the music images of the Ballade No.1 g-moll is the subject of research. The theoretical and methodological background of the research is the principles of critical analysis of the choreographic and musical text of the play, and the semantic analysis of choreography developed by historians and theorists of the ballet art (Vanslov, Dobrovolskaya, Lopukhov, Slonimsky). The research is based on video materials from the archives of the Ballettzentrum Hamburg and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The author uses the method of overt observation (based on the personal experience of work with Neumeier as a participant of the Lady of the Camellias first run in Moscow on March 20th, 2014) together with the analysis of the choreographer’s lectures and rehearsals records from the author’s archive. The analysis of the semantics of the choreographic form and vocabulary of the “black” adagio is the main instrument used for solving the scientific problem. Among the new results are the significant groundwork in the detection of classic and innovative author’s expression elements of Neumeier’s artistic language. The author concludes that the combination of the ballade narration with the harmony of the sonata form typical for the Ballade No.1 dictates Neumeier the allocation of parts and the development of choreographic themes inconcert with the music ones, while the dramatic propensity towards conflict allows the choreographer to develop the main characters’ confession.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.3.40342