25.02.2011
The mysteries of the ballet Romeo and Juliet
On 13 October 2010 in the framework of the Lectures before the performance series a ballet master of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, People’s Artist of Russia, Professor Nikita Dolgushin disclosed the mysteries of the production of Romeo and Juliet.
Nikita Dolgushin, who danced the role of Paris in the ballet, told the audience about different stage versions of the well-known story. The Russian stage saw the first production of the ballet choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky at the Mariinsky Theatre set to music by Sergey Prokofiev composed before WWII. Dolgushin especially mentioned Galina Ulanova dancing Juliet. The great ballerina created a unique character full of romantic flutter, spirituality and inimitable lightness. “She danced not the movements but an impulse,” ballet critics commented.
The choreographer Oleg Vinogradov created his Romeo and Juliet in 1965 in Novosibirsk. The minimalistic design of the production was invented by the young stage designer Valery Leventhal. Just after graduating the ballet school, Dolgushin followed his friend Oleg Vinogradov and left for Novosibirsk. Dolgushin now calls the period “the golden time of the ballet” and Vinogradov “a real man of the sixties.”
It was the production of Romeo and Juliet by Oleg Vinogradov that appeared in the repertory of the theatre in 1976. In 2008 Oleg Vinogradov created a new stage version of the ballet, which is still on at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.
Nikita Dolgushin also told about the specifics of stage design and the great dancers, who performed the roles of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Paris.
The next lecture is to take place on 26 October 2010: the great expert in musical theatre Vsevolod Bogatyryov will tell the public about the operatic masterpiece of the grand style La Juive and its contemporary interpretation.
Nikita Dolgushin, who danced the role of Paris in the ballet, told the audience about different stage versions of the well-known story. The Russian stage saw the first production of the ballet choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky at the Mariinsky Theatre set to music by Sergey Prokofiev composed before WWII. Dolgushin especially mentioned Galina Ulanova dancing Juliet. The great ballerina created a unique character full of romantic flutter, spirituality and inimitable lightness. “She danced not the movements but an impulse,” ballet critics commented.
The choreographer Oleg Vinogradov created his Romeo and Juliet in 1965 in Novosibirsk. The minimalistic design of the production was invented by the young stage designer Valery Leventhal. Just after graduating the ballet school, Dolgushin followed his friend Oleg Vinogradov and left for Novosibirsk. Dolgushin now calls the period “the golden time of the ballet” and Vinogradov “a real man of the sixties.”
It was the production of Romeo and Juliet by Oleg Vinogradov that appeared in the repertory of the theatre in 1976. In 2008 Oleg Vinogradov created a new stage version of the ballet, which is still on at the Mikhailovsky Theatre.
Nikita Dolgushin also told about the specifics of stage design and the great dancers, who performed the roles of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Paris.
The next lecture is to take place on 26 October 2010: the great expert in musical theatre Vsevolod Bogatyryov will tell the public about the operatic masterpiece of the grand style La Juive and its contemporary interpretation.
