Steve Voytek Beginning Dance Professor S.F.

Titas September 26, 2007

A Brief History of Russian Ballet

The study of ballets history is a lengthy and complex endeavor, yet it is vastly rewarding. The aim of this paper is to scrutinize the intricacies of arguably the apex of this particular type of dance: Russian ballet. Over the past few centuries this term has become virtually synonymous with everything that is great about classical ballet. This expression is tantamount to the collaboration of the best dancers, choreographers, musicians, and artists of the classical time period. The study of its history is of course essential to all dances of today. A cursory knowledge of ballets classical history and more particularly Russias will most certainly improve the understanding of the art and theory of the dance in todays modern setting. First one must define the art form that is ballet. On the surface ballet is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as:

1 a: a theatrical art form using dancing, music, and scenery to convey a story, theme, or atmosphere b: dancing in which conventional poses and steps are combined with light flowing figures (as leaps and turns).

However one must delve further to truly discover the magnificence of this wide collusion. While the term may be used in reference to any dance work involving a group of dancers, it typically refers to the classical definition above. Carol Pardo a dance instructor and scholar of classical ballet describes ballet as . . . a combination of athletics and aesthetics, whose result is rhythm given three dimensions by the human body in motion (99). Ballet is simply too complex to put into a straightforward definition; only after much visual scrutiny of the movements and positions in ballet may one completely understand its truest form: art. The origins of Ballet can be traced back to the arrival of Italian dance masters in France in the late 16th century (Pardo 100). These dancers performed for the royal court of France in front of King Louis XIV. Prior to these annual shows the King was himself a dancer and truly promoted the fine arts during his tenure. He eventually established the Royal Academy of Dancing, an appointed group of thirteen ballet masters whose charge was to reestablish the art of dancing to its original perfection and the Royal Academy of Music (Pardo 101). Because this was the first true dance academy all ballet terms of today are in French. However after King Louis XIVs great strides ballet within France began a downward slide. The political and social upheaval during the French Revolution took much attention, money, and support away from the fine arts. This led to the eventual exportation in of ballet to a variety of nations, among them was Russia. While each of these nations pursued different avenues to preserve ballet, THE Russian version is considered among many to be the best-preserved and refined. It is evident that ballet flourishes in monarchical societies. The extravagant amounts of money needed to perform, train, and house dancers and musicians was only able to be met by royal

families throughout Europe. Imperialist Russia was no exception and had vast amounts of money to invest in the development and refinement of ballet. While France is known as the birthplace of ballet, Russia can be seen as the place it was truly mastered. Dancers and choreographers were hired from all over Europe (the majority were either Italian or French). As Andy Adamson a Russian Theatre scholar aptly put, The history of the Russian ballet consists of the gradual absorption of this foreign knowledge by the Russians themselves until the art became indigenous (185). The first true appearance of ballet is said to have arrived onto the harsh Russian landscape through the second Romanov ruler Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich for his wedding in the mid 17th century. Peter the Great can be seen as a parallel to Louis XIV of France in that both took a great interest in ballet, ultimately resulting in its growth and expansion in their respective countries. The two rulers also took part in the dancing (Louis XIV more so than Peter the Great) and had their courts taught the intricacies of the art form. It is also argued that the gymnastics teacher at the Imperial Cadet School sent a letter to the Empress Anne I humbly ask Your Majesty that I shall be given twelve children -- six males and six females -- to create ballets and theater dances using twelve persons of comic and serious character. These pupils, by the end of the first year,will dance with cadets; in two years they will execute different dances; in three years they will not be less than the best of foreign dancers (Belova 68). His name was Jean Batiste Lande and he was a French national who eventually became the head of the first Russian dance school (later it became known as the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School). Yet other scholars maintain that it was Catherine the Great who originally brought ballet to the Russians. [Catherine the Great], was a great patron of the arts, and established

the Directorate of the Imperial theaters, giving it control over ballet (Adamson 183). At a Moscow Orphanage in 1774 she also started a ballet school under the direction of Filippo Beccari a dancer and choreographer from Italy. The Directorate while not quite as interested in Ballet as its aristocracy was ultimately inclined to favor it over the other fine arts under its control. The lavish amounts of money and notoriety were more than enough to draw dancers and choreographers throughout Europe eastward. August Bournonville was a great dancer and teacher of classical ballet and was of Danish descent. He was renowned for his skill and enthusiasm for dance. He learned all that he knew while in France and brought that knowledge with him when he joined the Paris Opera Ballet in the 1820s. Bournonville is of particular importance to Russian ballet in that he had a Swedish student Christian Johannson who came to Russia as one of the first Imperial dancers. He eventually took up a teaching post within the Ballet school set up by Catherine the Great and significantly grew the knowledge and popularity of ballet throughout Russia. In 1847 growing nationalism within Russia caused Tsar Nikolai I to begin searching for a more Russian choreographer. Many ballets before this tended to be seen as Un-Russian and thus Jules Perrot was found. With him he brought immense talent within himself but also world-renowned dancers, including Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi, and Fanny Cerrito (Adamson 185). Perrot came to St. Petersburg and with him he brought many of his popular performances with a more Russian style. However he encountered problems with censors and his work was eventually deemed inappropriate and anti-Russian for its realistic themes and contemporary styles. He eventually resigned in 1859 (Adamson 185).

Hidden in the shadow of Perrot was Marius Petipa from France. In 1847 he was Marius was offered a one-year contract in St. Petersburg and remained there for the rest of his life, devoting fifty-six years to the Russian stage (Adamson 186).Early in his career he mainly danced as his choreographies were not terribly popular. Although much of his early choreographic work was riddled with failure, Petipa found great success on the stage and by 1962 he was the leading dancer in St. Petersburg. In that same year he created his first wildly successful choreography entitled The Pharaohs Daughter. Following this successful outing Petipa was appointed Ballet Master in Chief of the Imperial Tsar. In his role of leadership Petipa created many multi- and single-act ballets for presentation on the imperial stages of Russia. Marius Petipa is arguably the reason Russian ballet is considered to be the essential paragon of perfection. He created many Ballets of note including: Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Giselle, Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. The Big Three ballets by Petipa were Swan Lake, the Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty all of which had music accompaniment with the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovskys and Petipas relationship gave both more fame and fortune because both were considered the best in their respective fields. With that in mind anything that they produced was considered the best and in turn this was resoundingly successful in promoting Russian ballet throughout Europe. This is technically the reason why Russian ballet is in turn considered the best when it comes to ballet. However Petipas success did not last forever. Near the turn of the century, people grew tired of Petipas ideas and principles. Ballet enthusiasts craved something new, something exciting. Many up and coming choreographers tried to fill this niche with some

success. However it was never as overwhelming as Petipas. Costumes were used, as were props and other accessories on stage. Bare toes were portrayed (one was not allowed to go without shoes in Imperial Theater) with toes painted over the shoes (Belova 83). Russian Imperial ballet was still going on however it was slowly losing the popularity it previously enjoyed. As the Tsars reign over Russia came to end (similarly to Frances) ballet began to disperse throughout the not just Europe, but the world. The Ballet Russes was still

going strong, and a young dancer and choreographer named Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze (commonly known as George Balanchine) helped Diaghilev (another choreographer after Petipa) with its last major production in 1922. The production was Sleeping Beauty and while it rekindled Europes interest in ballet, it was ultimately deemed a failure because it failed to recoup its enormous expenses. After Diaghilev died Balanchine left the Ballets Russes and set out on his own for a while before ending up directing the dance company Ballets 1933 (Pardo 189). When that company folded he was invited to come to America by Lincoln Kirstein an American who while knew little about ballet was particularly interested in the art form. In 1934 Balanchine established the School of American Ballet, which gave its first performance, a new piece called Serenade that same year. It was then that ballet had officially left Russia and its talent was dispersed throughout the world. While there still exists ballet in Russia today, it suffered greatly during the Soviet Unions reign. It was seen as an extravagant waste of time by the powerful communist regime of the era and it got little to no subsidy or attention from the government. Today Russian ballet is still seen as the paragon of ballet in this contemporary setting. Studying and researching ballets history is essential in understanding where it came from and how

to improve and maintain the wonderful form of ballet. Without this knowledge ballet cannot go forward as a fine art and would surely falter into the collective memory of the world. It is with this information that we as individuals can glorify and ultimately preserve ballet.

Bibliography Adamson, Andy. "The Russian Imperial Ballet." History of Russian Theatre. Ed. Robert Leach & Victor Borosky. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Belova, Evdokia and Souritz Elisabeth. The Great History of Russian Ballet. Bournemouth, England: Parkstone Press, 1997. Pardo, Carol. "Ballet: A History In Broad Brushstrokes." The Dance Experience. Comp. Myron Howard Nadel & Marc Raymond Strauss. Hightstown: Princeton Book Company, 2003.