And America believed in him

Alexei Ratmansky became a laureate of the Shostakovich Prize

The prize that will be awarded to the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet was established by the Yuri Bashmet Foundation. This foundation has existed since 1994, and outstanding musicians have become laureates of the award - for example, Gidon Kremer, Valery Gergiev, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Olga Borodina. There were no ballet people on this list yet, so Ratmansky, as they say, opens the topic.

25 thousand dollars will be awarded to him on June 6 at his native theater, and in honor of that, the repertoire includes “Bright Stream” - the ballet, after the production of which four years ago Ratmansky was offered his current position. The choreographer had previously composed dances to the music of Shostakovich - among his first miniatures, made in Kyiv, where he worked after graduating from the Moscow school, were “Duet Buff” and “Simple Dances”. And at the Bolshoi, after “Bright Stream,” he also staged “Bolt”; and now dreams of making a “Golden Age”, thus collecting all Shostakovich’s ballets in his collection. At a press conference dedicated to the upcoming award ceremony, Ratmansky said that he would like to stage the master’s First, Sixth and Ninth Symphonies; but for now these are just dreams, specific plans have not been announced.

The choreographer’s immediate work is by no means connected with Shostakovich - on June 21, a new version of “The Corsair” will appear at the Bolshoi, and naturally, journalists took the opportunity to ask Ratmansky about this particular performance. The choreographer is doing it together with choreographer-restorer Yuri Burlaka: he works with Harvard archives and is responsible for resurrecting the ballet text of Marius Petipa - using the remaining recordings, approximately 50% of the performance can be restored, while Ratmansky himself is responsible for the new choreography that will appear in those scenes , which were not preserved in the record. The artistic director promises “a big staged performance of the 19th century - with a ship, a shipwreck, waves.” The artists who will play the main roles on the day of the premiere have already been determined - these are Svetlana Zakharova and Denis Matvienko. Ratmansky has not yet named the performers who will appear in the leading roles in the next days, saying only that all the premieres are busy.

When asked about his personal plans, the choreographer answered in a completely matter-of-fact tone that he had invitations from the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theater (two main and competing theaters in the United States; apparently, after the triumphant success of Ratmansky’s “Russians” composed last year at NYCB seasons" America believed in him); In addition, “Russian Seasons” will be moved to Amsterdam next March. The choreographer did not talk about any Bolshoi premieres next season, promising a separate press conference. Meanwhile, theater people are predicting a new version of “La Sylphide” (the performance will be given a divine appearance by Covent Garden star Johan Kobborg - this text is native to the Dane) and “Flames of Paris”, which Ratmansky himself will do. So the next ballet Shostakovich, apparently, will appear in some other season.

Anna GORDEEVA