Drama ballet:
Drama ballet is a kind of dance that shows some plots. Its representative dance drama "Bakhti saraj Water Spring" is a successful example. Bakhti saraj Water Spring, which we can also call the Spring of Tears, is based on Pushkin's long poems. Not long ago, the Central Ballet just premiered this ballet in June 12.
The four-act dance drama "Bakhti saraj Water Spring" was first composed by Asafyev and written by zakharov, and was staged at the Dance Theatre in Leningrad. This work is the result of the cooperation of composers, stage books and choreographers. Dance drama mainly shows the theme of Pushkin's original work, reflecting that a savage soul is reborn through lofty love. It is particularly commendable that Maria, Zalma and Gurei in the third act, that is, the three-person drama dance that can shoot Wang, was a very typical three-person dance at that time. Yes, Maria's role.
Creation became a milestone in the history of ulanova ballet. She once said that after the performance of Tears Springs, I had to re-examine my old works. After being exposed to the works of the great Pushkin, I can't simply dance as before. I will always inject a fresh soul into the role on the dance stage, which is the main reason why ulanova is world-famous. Because ballet is not only about arms and legs, but also about her understanding of music and roles.
In the 1920s, the dance world began to learn from the drama world. At that time, the representative of the theater industry was the Stanislavsky system of the Art Theatre. Stanislavski once said that an actor can deeply impress the audience only if he has rich expressive force and beautiful appearance, integrates thoughts and emotions, and promotes to the extreme excitement.
Romantic ballet:
At the turn of 18 and 19 centuries, a new trend of literary thought appeared in Europe and North America, which was the romantic movement, and ballet was a part of romanticism at that time. Romantic ballet has become more poetic and can arouse the audience's feelings more directly and deeply. This more poetic dance style can be carried forward.
The rapid development is largely due to dancing skills, especially the ability of actresses to stand on tiptoe.
According to the research of experts in dance history, in the history of ballet, the earliest time for actresses to wear toe shoes was from 1822 to 1825. Italian actress Mary? Tarioni was the first ballet master who was famous for his tiptoe dancing. Mary? Tarioni's father is a ballet dancer, and arranged a ballet for her according to her figure and ability. This ballet was once performed by our ballet company, and it was a two-act ballet. In this dance drama, Tarioni successfully created the image of a flying fairy by tiptoe dancing. Later, people followed suit, and tiptoe dance became an indispensable part of ballet dancers' performances.
At the same time, Tarioni's dance skirt is also highly praised. This is a romantic dance skirt, with silk outside and multi-layer tulle inside. It looks like a clock. This texture makes her look very soft and elegant when dancing. The upper body of the whole dress is to show her slender waist, with a tight bra hanging over her neck and short and wide sleeves showing her arms. The skirt is longer than the knee, but the calf is exposed. Apart from wearing a small flower on the chest, there is not much decoration on the clothes, and the back is decorated with two little wings made of bran white gauze. These dance costumes are still in use today. They symbolize a flying fairy and become a symbol of romantic ballet. Europeans call this kind of work mite ballet, that is, white ballet, and regard it as a special style of dance.
Another masterpiece in the same period is Giselle. Our group sometimes goes to other places to perform, and many people think Giselle is a gypsy story. In fact, it is a very famous masterpiece of The Romantic Period in18th century. It played a very important role in the history of western European ballet. The first act of the play shows Giselle's madness, and the second act shows the dance of the ghost of Willis, which is a blend of plot ballet and symphonic ballet at that time. There is an action in Giselle, with his hands crossed on his chest. According to Lopukhov's analysis, this dance originated from an ancient pagan funeral. At that time, people crossed the hands of the deceased on their chests, so it was easy for dancers to arrange such a gesture on a ghost. Therefore, in our ballet pantomime, this represents a dead man.
The ballet Giselle represents the highest achievement of romantic ballet in its heyday. Giselle is regarded as the touchstone to test the maturity of female dancers. To play this role well, you must have a very high performance level. In the first act, Giselle is a pure rural girl. Albert, a disguised earl, came to the countryside to hunt and fell in love with her. She loved Albert very much, but when she learned that she had been cheated, she went crazy and died. In Act II, Giselle still misses Albert. At this time, she is a sentimental, lingering ghost who never forgets her old feelings. In this way, Tarioni and Grix, who played Giselle, became the real ballet queens at that time with their superb acting skills. These two dance dramas are masterpieces of18th century.
Ballets russes:
Next, I will introduce Russian ballet more emphatically. As we all know, Russian ballet still occupies the top position in the world. So how did ballet reach Russia in the second half of the17th century? At that time, Russian envoys went to Western Europe, saw this form of banquet ballet, especially appreciated it, and introduced it to Russia. Because ballet has no lines, only music, dance and pantomime are easy to understand, so it spreads quickly. By the time Peter the Great came to power, Russian aristocrats had completely mastered the dance of European aristocrats.
Twenty-five years after the establishment of the French Ballet Dance School, that is, 1738, Russia established the first dance school-Vagonova Dance School, which is still in St. Petersburg. All the former Soviet Union experts in our Central Ballet are from this school. This school has trained countless stars for ballet companies all over the world, from which ulanova came out. It should be said that Russia has played a very important role in promoting the development of ballet.
In addition to national choreography, a group of French people applied to work in Russia in the middle of19th century, which played an indelible role in Russian ballet. A few years ago, when the ballet of Paris Opera House performed Giselle in the Great Hall of the People, I once went on stage to ask them and get to know them.
Both the scenery and the paintings are from Russia, from which we can see how Russia and France have jointly contributed to the ballet cause. So who is more famous? I'd like to introduce Pitipa in particular.
Marius? Ivanovic? Pitipa has made the greatest contribution to Russian ballet among all foreigners who come to work in Russia. I tell a joke, this year 6.
In the international ballet competition in Jackson, USA, every evening, the required items should be reported to Director Petipa. One day, because of the modern dance competition,
So the host said humorously that we would never hear the name Pitipa again tonight. This shows Petipa's important position in ballet history. Pitipa was the chief choreographer of Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. His choreographed dance drama "Tang? Ming Kusi's Ode to Sacrifice. He used Cervantes' original literature to save Don? As a classical heritage, Gitzo De's shell weaves all the main valuable things into a strong Spanish-style dance. Among them, the wedding duet of the hero and heroine in the fourth act has been preserved in international competitions until now.
Ming Kusi's music uses a group of Spanish folk melodies, as well as waltz and polka. This makes his music appear smooth, suitable for dancing and particularly rich in melody. 1877, Pitipa released another masterpiece Dancer, which was also composed by Ming Kusi. This dance drama is based on the life of a dancer in an ancient temple in India, which is basically the same as Sagondaro staged by the Paris Opera House at that time. In this work, Pitipa fully demonstrated his choreography ability, especially classical duets and group dances. Group Dance In the fourth act of Shadow Kingdom, 32 actors perform uniform dance movements on the stage. Pitipa's choreography made this group dance perfect.
After introducing the above characters, I will introduce Tchaikovsky and his three ballets. The audience in China knows Tchaikovsky very well, so what are Tchaikovsky's three major ballet works? One is Swan Lake, the other is Sleeping Beauty, and the other is Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky's earliest ballet was Swan Lake, and his first musical work was in 1876. At that time, an Austrian choreographer did not understand Tchaikovsky's music and the essence of his national style when compiling this dance drama, so he was defeated when 1877 premiered for the first time. This broke the composer's heart, and he said that he would never compose music for dance again, so this talented dance music has not been paid due attention for a long time. It was not until 18 after the birth of this piece of music, that is, 1894 after the composer's death, that the Russian Mariinsky Theatre decided to arrange its second act as a work to commemorate the first anniversary of the composer's death. I didn't expect this performance to be a great success. This director is Ivanov, who is famous in Russia. Ivanov had a good understanding of Tchaikovsky's music and handled his symphonies and music well. Of course, after 18 years, the audience at that time had a deeper understanding of Tchaikovsky's music.
Ivanov used a typical swan action in the play, that is, the hand action, which fixed the performance action of the second act of Swan Lake. One year later, 1895 65438+ 10/0/5, Swan Lake was officially released. At that time, there were two directors, one was Ivanov and the other was Pitipa. Ivanov and Pitipa have different choreography styles. Two people make up one or three scenes, and one makes up two or four scenes, which shows the different styles of the two directors. These masterpieces made Russian ballet a bridge to the future dance in the 20th century after inheriting the romantic tradition.
Let me talk about sleeping beauty again. Sleeping Beauty was a play written by the director of Mariinsky Theatre at that time to reproduce the elegance of Louis XIV's French court. He also designed the costumes for the play himself. 1in may, 888, the dean wrote to Tchaikovsky, saying that I conceived such a Taiwan Province version of Sleeping Beauty according to Perot's fairy tales, hoping that the stage scheduling would be Louis XIV-style, where the musical imagination could go a long way. If it suits you, why not write music by hand? The last scene should have a male cat wearing a doll, a thumb child, Cinderella and so on. What attracts Tchaikovsky is the poetry of fairy tales. 1On July 25th, 889, Tchaikovsky wrote in a letter to Nadezhda von Meek, "The plot is so poetic and the music is so lofty. I was fascinated by their creation, and they were full of interest and enthusiasm, which are prerequisites for writing a good work. " Moreover, Tchaikovsky pointed out in his letter to the publisher Jurgensen that "you know, ballet is also a symphony". Why do I quote this sentence? In other words, the process of appreciating ballet is actually a very good opportunity to appreciate symphony.
Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker laid the foundation of Russian ballet. By the beginning of the 20th century, two Russians had achieved the fate of ballet, which influenced ballet all over the world. They are Fukin and Sergey? Pavlovic? Dia Gilev.
Dia Gilev is an artistic activist with management ability. He has a deep understanding of painting, music and drama, but he can't dance ballet. With his cultural accomplishment, means of communication and relationship with the upper class, he began to organize Russian performance seasons and led a group of Russian artists to perform abroad. He rehearsed at Chatterley Theatre in Paris, France, attracting the elite of Paris upper class. At that time, sculptor Rodin, composer Ravel and St.? Sang and dancer Duncan. Until Dia Gilev died in 1929, all the comments he received were about the grand occasion of Russian performance season, and he had an immeasurable influence on ballet art all over the world. Since then, a large number of artists and composers have cooperated with his dance troupe. Picasso designed clothes for them when he was young, and Debussy and Ravel composed music for them. At that time, George, the actor of their group and also the director? Balanchine later became one of the founders of American ballet.
At that time, there was another famous actor in their group, namely Nikinsky. Rodin, a famous French sculptor, said that Nikinsky is one of the few people who can express the human mind in dance. Dia Gilev hired Nijinsky with a high salary and asked Fujin to arrange some dance dramas and dances specially for him, which were very popular during the performance season. Nijinsky's masterpiece is The Rose Elf and his ballet with Stravinsky's Sacrifice to Spring as its music, which blazed a new trail in ballet art in the mid-20th century. At the same time, Nikinsky has greatly enriched Russian men's dance, and so far the skills of Russian men's ballerinas are second to none in the world.
European and American ballet:
From the end of 19, ballet in western European countries generally declined and became an accessory of opera. The establishment of the dance company is generally reduced, and there are few new works, all of which are magic or meta-chat.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Dia Gilev Ballet toured Paris, London, new york, Rome and other places during the Russian performance season, which aroused the enthusiasm of people of insight in Europe and America and pushed them to devote themselves to the revival of their own ballet. At the same time, modernist dance has become a new army that can compete with classical ballet. The two artists complement each other and learn from each other, so modern ballet can also be called modern ballet. This new dance came into being and gradually occupied the stage of most theaters in Europe and America. Their creative principles, aesthetic ideals and training systems often give people in the classical ballet world useful enlightenment, thus each of them launched their own masterpieces. Because of this, the ballet stage in the 20 th century appeared a situation of letting a hundred flowers blossom.
Several great ballet countries are Britain, America, France and Germany. Representing the level of British ballet is the Royal Ballet, whose representative is the well-known Margo? Ms Fantine, as well as famous choreographers Adaton and Kenneth? Mr. Macmillan. The origin of English ballet is attributed to three dancers: one is Genet and the other is De? Ms Vallova, one is Ms Lambert. The Lambert Ballet was the first to perform in China. Famous dancer Margo? Fang Ting, a British expatriate born in Shanghai, has created many beautiful roles and ballet images in her life. Mr. Macmillan's representative works are large-scale ballets adapted from novels, such as Mistress Manon and Millin, which have exerted considerable influence on the international ballet circle and even China.
There are many ballet companies of different sizes in the United States, but the most influential one is the New York City Ballet Company and the other is the American Grand Theatre. The New York City Ballet, I want to mention it here, because it is composed of entrepreneurs, dancers and musicians. Speaking of the New York City Ballet, Lincoln is the first person you can talk about? Colstam, he is an outstanding organizer of American ballet. He and the Russian-American George I just mentioned? Balanchine founded American Ballet School and New York City Ballet Company. As a matter of fact, Colstam has always been the head of new york Ballet, and he has played a decisive role in the repertoire policy, the direction of establishing a troupe, and the introduction of directors and actors. At the same time, he is an excellent critic.
Like George? Balanchine himself said that because he was trained in Russia, Russian ballerinas especially emphasized their understanding of music, and they all played the piano. George? When balanchine developed ballet in the United States, he attached great importance to the combination with musicians, which was directly reflected in his close relationship with Stravinsky. He emphasized the expression of music through the beauty of human body image. Therefore, since then, the style of symphonic ballet has been formed, and it has made unique and brilliant achievements in modernism and postmodernism.
The main contribution of the American Grand Theatre is to shape Robbins and Anthony? Excellent talents such as Tude. Anthony? Tudor is one of contemporary American choreographers. He is the founder of psychological ballet school. He has never studied ballet himself, but he can choreograph many dances. His masterpiece is Lilac Garden.
Another ballet power is France. The founder of the Paris Opera House is Rifade. Here, we should mention Rudolph, a ballet master, who left Russia for France and Britain. Nuriev Due to the situation in the Soviet Union at that time, three famous ballet artists went to the west, one was Nuriev, the other was Ma Kallova (female), and the other was Barisnikov-probably many people have seen the films White Night and Turning Point, which were performed by Barisnikov. As the three of them went to the west, western ballet revived, and western ballet began to merge with Russian ballet, combining their advantages.
Did Rudolph mention this place? 1985 Nuriev, who came to the Central Ballet, rehearsed "Don? Keats' Complete Plays. At that time, it was the heyday of the Central Ballet, and the main actors at that time have now become ballet masters of the troupe.
Speaking of European dance, I'd like to introduce Germany in particular. There are two famous ballet companies in Germany, one is Hamburg Ballet and the other is Stuttgart Ballet. In fact, in the17th century, there were ballet performances imitating France and Italy in Germany, which was once a pastime of princes and nobles, and most of them invited foreign actors to participate. By the middle of18th century, Germany had carried out ballet reform, and plot ballet took to the stage. German ballet in the 20th century was influenced by Duncan, Laban and other modernist styles, and obviously had modernist characteristics.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, Stuttgart and Hamburg became the centers of two ballet companies. What you saw in Beijing was onegin, a ballet adapted from a famous Russian poetic novel, and The Taming of the Shrew, which was adapted from Shakespeare's works. Both dances were choreographed by John? Cranko. Cranko was an outstanding director, but he died of illness at the age of 46. But his drama ballet, drama ballet and novel adaptation ballet left a very deep impression on people. Our country's ballets, such as Lin Daiyu and Blessing of Our Ballet, are also influenced by these ballets in Stuttgart.
China Ballet:
Let me briefly introduce China's ballet.
In the 1920s, some foreigners began to teach ballet art in Shanghai, Harbin, Tianjin and other cities, all of which were private tutors. Later, Ms. Dai, artistic director of the Central Ballet Company, went to Britain to study ballet, and then brought it to China after returning home. But at that time, the people of China had just been liberated and could not accept ballet. At that time, it was said that "the thigh dance ran all over Taiwan Province, and the workers, peasants and soldiers couldn't stand it", which was how it came about.
However, with the support of the CPC Central Committee and the government, 1954 established the Beijing Dance School. I am a student of 1955, and I clearly remember that our school building is in our own Dongdaqiao village. At that time, there was only a simple teaching building in the dance school, opposite the Normal University and on the other side was the crematorium. It is certainly a different scene to go to Baijiazhuang of Dongdaqiao now.
At first, in such a difficult environment, we invited a group of Soviet teachers to teach. At that time, they not only trained students, compiled tutorials and tutored teachers for us, but also trained a group of directors. 1957, Beijing Dance School staged the first ballet "Imprisoned Daughter", also known as "Unhelpful Caution". Then we premiered Swan Lake in the student days 1958.
Beijing Dance School has only been established for over 50 years. By 1959, the Beijing Dance School Experimental Ballet, the predecessor of our Central Ballet, was established. In just a few years, we have accumulated a lot of procedures.
At the end of 1963, Premier Zhou put forward three issues of music and dance, namely, revolutionization, nationalization and popularization. Comrade Lin Mohan specifically talked about how to do modern ballet, what stories to choose and what themes to choose. At first, some people mentioned da ji and her father, Hongyan and so on. Li Chengxiang proposed that The Red women soldiers be adapted into a ballet. One of the reasons is that it mainly shows female soldiers, and ballet is dominated by women. Secondly, the characteristics of several main characters are very distinct. Third, Hainan has national characteristics and is very colorful. Jiang Zuhui also thinks this is a good theme that combines romanticism and realism.
1February, 964, the creative team went to Hainan Island to experience life and write a script. At that time, the ballet company didn't know what it was like to use a knife and a gun. After the rehearsal, invite comrades from the army to watch. They affirmed this, but they also mentioned that we are like a lady, but not an army. So later we all went to Datong military camp in Shanxi to experience life. This creative method is unique in the history of world ballet. When I come back from my life, it will be very different to rehearse it again: the action of holding the gun is particularly neat; the action of aligning to the right is used when I get off the army. At that time, actresses were very naughty. They immediately stood on tiptoe when the company commander called to look right. The company commander said they were neater than them; The assassination dance also originated from the complete assassination dance at that time. After the assassination dance, the female soldier shouted: Kill! Thus, the birth of Red women soldiers is inseparable from life and practice, which is the eternal charm of this great work!
China's ballet has only lasted for more than 40 years, and it has gone through hundreds of years in many countries. Especially in today's reform and opening up, its achievements have attracted more attention from the world.
I believe China Ballet will have a better tomorrow.