"Classics have a future at the Bolshoi"

Ekaterina Belyaeva talks with Mikhail Messerer

-- “Class Concert” opened the evening of one-act ballets and at the same time the last, shock block of the Bolshoi Theater tour in London. In your opinion, is there any special concept in constructing an evening of three completely different performances?

-- The concept is simple. The Bolshoi Theater wants to demonstrate the different facets of the troupe's capabilities and is doing this in the wake of the last premieres of the past season.

Working with the most talented artists of the Bolshoi, working on the restoration of the performance of my uncle Asaf Mikhailovich Messerer, we sought to strictly adhere to the laws of classical ballet, to control that the fundamentals and main condition of the classics - turnout and fifth positions - were observed. The success of the “Class Concert” depends, not least of all, on the accuracy of the combinations and the correct start “from the fifth” and ending in it. In other ballets of the evening, which follow the "Class Concert", completely different skills of the artists are in demand - pure classical positions recede into the background, and the same young men and women boldly speak in a modern and ultra-modern language. The program was compiled by Alexei Ratmansky competently and logically. The classic parade is at the forefront, the subtle psychological drama of Christopher Wheeldon and the energetic freedom of Twyla Tharp. Excellent demonstration program.

—You staged “Class Concert” for different theaters. Are the characteristics of the specific troupe you are working with taken into account?

— The basis of the ballet will remain the same, no matter where I stage it, but the variability of individual combinations will always be present. This was the case during the time of Asaf Messerer, especially when the play existed on tour (at the Bolshoi Theater, if you remember, it was quickly removed from the repertoire). Let’s say that if Sasha Godunov had a tight schedule of performances in three-act ballets on tour, his solos, for example double assemblies or grand pirouettes, were shared by other artists. That is, the part of one could be performed by three other artists in one evening, or it was done differently - the solo was changed to a dance of two or three. Now on the London tour, the day after the “Class Concert”, Svetlana Zakharova had a very difficult “Corsair” - we relieved her of the second performance, and divided the part between our three other primas: Anya Antonicheva performed in a duet, Masha Alexandrova performed a fouetté, Masha Allash danced the slow part of the waltz. Such variability and at the same time invariability of classical exercise is the essence of the “Class Concert”. On the one hand, these are the ABCs, the movements that any ballet dancer performs in class every day. On the other hand, this is not an ordinary class, but a play for a troupe, where each artist plays his own role. Of course, when I staged this play at today's Bolshoi, I studied exactly the current strengths of the troupe and tried to present the theater from the most advantageous side. And the rule “from fifth to fifth” had to be strictly observed.

— As far as I know, England did not have its own textbook performance like the Danish “Conservatory” or the Moscow “Class Concert” until you brought the latter to the Covent Garden stage with the participation of the Royal School. Tell us how this non-London-specific ballet was received in the theater back then and how the audience reacted.

— In the 80s, I combined work in the theater with lessons at school. The principal of the Merle Park school approached me with a request to stage a new performance for the students, something like Lander’s “Etudes,” and I offered not a new one, but a ready-made “Class Concert” by Asaf Messerer. The school's performances were staged at Covent Garden. I remember that I was very lucky with my students - the future English star Darcey Bussell was in the pre-graduation class, and she, seventeen years old, danced the central female part (the one in which Svetlana Zakharova is now appearing at the Bolshoi) with the aplomb of a real ballerina. Christopher Wheeldon was an excellent student, diligent and intelligent - in general, a promising boy. The production was a success: the British are somewhat sentimental, and when they saw how hard the children - the future of English ballet - were trying, they rejoiced. Even when the guys didn’t succeed in some movement or didn’t get into the music, it was clear that this was just a lesson and the mistakes would certainly be corrected. Then the performance was given at the grand opening of a new theater at the school of the English Royal Ballet, which was named after Margot Fonteyn. Then the children also had great success. As a result, in London in the 80s, “Class Concert” ran for several seasons and was, in a certain sense, the calling card of the school.

— How would you rate the performance of Bolshoi artists in London this summer?

— I started attending Bolshoi performances from the Don Quixote block. In addition to the already recognized Moscow stars, Natalya Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev performed brilliantly. As a viewer I enjoyed it immensely. Natasha made a big leap forward - both technically and acting-wise. Vasiliev amazed everyone with his phenomenal jump and confident balance. Over the past two years, the troupe has begun to work amazingly. The theater has a huge repertoire, a significant part of which the Bolshoi brilliantly shows in London. In original productions, such as “Bright Stream” or the reconstructed “Corsair”, the pedagogical spirit of the choreographer is visible; you feel his participation in every moment of the performance. The result is real quality. This ballet is close to me, besides, my mother was the first performer in Moscow of the main role many years ago in its repressed predecessor. We should all be grateful to Boris Akimov that the “Bright Stream” was restored. I think when a choreographer works uninhibitedly, when he and his family are not threatened by power, his creation comes out free. And what roles were played by Alexandrova, Lunkina, Filin, Yatsenko, Neporozhny! I was not able to attend the Moscow debuts of young soloists, and I am very glad that I saw Natasha Osipova, Katya Krysanova and Andrei Merkuryev in London. Excellent acting work. By the way, the “Class Concert” on these tours was also very well received by both the audience and English critics. The performance enters the body of the artists, they begin to play out their performances and increase their virtuosity.

- You single out Ivan Vasiliev. If I’m not mistaken, it was he who you instructed to perform the famous “flag” (a kind of pirouette attitude in the air) of Vladimir Vasiliev?

- Yes, he can do it. Previously, in the performances of the “Class Concert”, if Vladimir Vasiliev did not participate, then this “flag” was changed to another movement.

— After the premiere of “Class Concert,” some Moscow critics started talking about the return of the golden age of Moscow ballet and began to feel nostalgic for a bygone time. What do you think about this?

- I think about the timeliness of the appearance of the “Class Concert”. We need to remember the past for the sake of the present and the future. For almost forty years the Bolshoi Theater followed its chief choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, and during this time it became the bearer of his unique style. This is great, but there are a few "buts". I’m not sure that mastering only one style has a good effect on preserving the classical heritage and reaching a new horizon. If critics, through today’s modernized “Class Concert,” recall classic examples of the Moscow style, this is encouraging. This means that classics have a future at the Bolshoi.