The ugly side of ballet

EXCLUSIVE:
By Yevgenia Borisova

Russia's ballet troupes have for years been exalted in a fashion that approaches spiritual reverence. In turn they pursued art in a purist style that Western troupes could only dream of. But in the post-Soviet era of dwindling government subsidy, commercial reality has struck. YEVGENIA BORISOVA looks at Russian ballet's gradual loss of its divine essence and prestige.

That has surprised no-one. While ballet dancers soar gracefully above the earth, ballet administrators operate according to the same murky laws that bedevil all other organizations trying to operate within the Russian economy.

Corruption is especially rife in any organization dealing with international money -- it is harder to track, easier to hide.

But the Kirov has long been under a gradual, insidious threat that has warped its artistic direction far more than this latest assault to its integrity.

The Kirov's ballet troupe started to tour internationally long before perestroika as did the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. And that was when the rot began.

"All of our artistic life, starting from the 1950s was concentrated in tours abroad... these tours imprisoned and spoilt the dancers," wrote the Bolshoi's famous ballerina Maya Plisetskaya in her 1994 biography.

That applied equally to the Kirov as it did to the Bolshoi Ballet.

"Western troupes also tour abroad but they are not literally owned by their organizations. Dancers' lives, their entire existences are not put at stake.

And it makes no difference to a ballerina from the Covent Garden troupe where she buys her boots, underwear or bras -- Brussels, Lausanne, or Detroit. But try buying these in Moscow on your poor salary in worthless roubles," wrote Plisetskaya.

"No wonder you long to go to Detroit or Brussels. We even evaluated new premiers on the opportunities they would give us for future foreign tours.

"If the performance was to be taken on tour -- everyone wanted to participate, it was considered an interesting performance. If not it was branded a bad show," wrote Plisetskaya.

When abroad, apart from daily allowances actors receive fees for each performance, which can count to several hundred dollars. When in Russia, they only get salaries. For many of them a monthly salary is only worth about $100 a month.

Competition for tours abroad is tough. The atmosphere is strenuous.

Ballet, a highly spiritual art, was gradually losing its divine essence.

"Actors begin to turn into sportsmen. They strive to achieve more pirouettes, try to lift their legs that bit more or jump higher to be competitive, to get more financial dividends for the number of technical elements, but not for the spiritual satisfaction of the image they create," said choreographer and dancer Nikita Dolgushin, head of the ballet department at the St Petersburg Conservatory.

"But it is not just the highest jump or the biggest number of pirouettes that makes art great. Galina Ulanova's vaults were low, she did not lift her legs high, and made only a few pirouettes -- but she is legendary, she is great," added Dolgushin.

"A ballet dancer should have a broad experience and education -- listen to music, read poetry, know art, visit exhibitions. The more the dancer knows, the deeper is his or her spirituality and the better the dancer," he added

But he believes money rules the roost, "only one artist from the Kirov Ballet studies in the Conservatory's ballet department now."

In the past 20 years there have been no major, new and innovative productions staged by the Kirov Ballet.

"When is there the time to stage them? In between one tour to another? To be really good, new performances should be thought over time and time again, written and rewritten hundreds of times, endlessly rehearsed until they are right. But you can't rehearse new performances in hotels," said one ballet source.

The final Curtain for Vinogradov?

A Kirov Ballet soloist, who did not want to be named, said, "New productions, including "The Hussar's Ballad", "Battleship Potemkin", "The Knight in Tiger Skin" and "Petrushka" were commissioned for the Kirov but aren't staged because none of them are wanted abroad and impresarios won't buy them."

"And over the last five years Artistic Director Oleg Vinogradov just staged the same old ballets which he made in other theaters 20-30 years ago. He brings them here saying it's a new version. Years of Vinogradov's rule have stifled artistic creativity at the theater," he said.

"Too few brilliant, artistic talents are being pushed forward. The present tactic is to take a dancer from the Corps de Ballet for one or two performances and then push them into the background. Real treasures are being buried for decades, many left and are leaving to go abroad."

He called Vinogradov's language of body movements, that he is shaping for dancers, primitive. "These are plastic opportunities that do little to improve and quite frankly this has very little to do with the real art."

With such constraints it's not surprising that Russian ballet has started to lose its popularity abroad.

The US based Dance Magazine said of this year's summer tour by the Kirov, "In an effort to modernize the old fairy tales, to make them less bizarre, he [Vinogradov] has flattened the stories and made them, if anything, harder to follow..."

It continues, "The Cinderella production is ruined by streamlining. Near the beginning, there is customarily a charming dance for the heroine partnered by her faithful broom.

"When the Fairy Godmother appears in a vision, she is usually accompanied by the Four Seasons, who have pretty, technically challenging variations. Here all this is replaced by pointless, dull sequences for the Corps de Ballet, who cross and recross the stage, smiling vacuously."

The UK's Daily Telegraph on July 22 reported that British dancers beat the Russians when it came to artistry, choreography and individuality.

Time magazine was less than flattering when it said, "The Kirov's artistic focus seems insecure, even wayward. The time to pay court to some kind of Russian mystique is over."

But there are ballet experts in the Kirov who are satisfied with the situation at the theater.

Oleg Vinogradov, the artistic director, was not available for comment but his deputy and soloist Farukh Ruzimatov believes that it is "a big achievement" that the theater has preserved its classic repertoire in the face of pressure.

"Classical ballet will be in demand for hundreds of years, it's our golden egg which we sometimes modify but why change a good thing," he said.

"We can modify scenery, decorations, interpretations, even choreography but we're not going to replace the essence of classical ballet."

Ruzimatov said several ballets had been dusted off and restored over the last few years -- "Sulphide" by Bournonville, "Romeo and Juliet" by Lavrovsky, "Chopiniana", "Scheherezade" and "The Firebird" by Fokine are all being performed in their original versions.

Concerning the lack of new productions at the Mariinsky he said, "The Mariinsky is not the place where we can afford to take risks, experiment and invite new, trendy choreographers versed in modern dance. It might be damaging for the troupe.

" We are a classical ballet company and modern performances are not, I think, suitable for our stage."

He also cited the huge cost of staging performances, "Before it was easy to get our hands on government cash but now, when everything is so costly, we're not given much money."

Barishnikov -- last to defect?

On the subject of artists leaving the troupe, he said, "The last major figure, who left our theater, was Mikhail Barishnikov. Those who left afterwards, were from the Corps de Ballet, or those who could not find their place in the theater. But this is quite normal, ballet dancers move around the world, people change jobs."

Ruzimatov added, "A theater like this is a vast organization, it can't suit everyone."

"Personally I'm quite pleased with my work, it was interesting for me to work in the States for a while, but I returned to work here because the Kirov is unique to the world.

"What other ballet troupe on the world stage can boast what we have achieved, has the number of talented young dancers we have and catapults them to such international heights.

"We are planning a Moscow tour to show that we're still the best, to silence this stupid, unfounded gossip and rumours once and for all."