March, 27, 2014. Issue No. 262March, 25 - the Bolshoi Theatre opera company's soloist Anna Aglatova was awarded the President's of the Russian Federation Prize for Young Workers of Culture "for her contribution to the development of music art in Russia" March 30 - the ballet "Marco Spada" will be broadcast in cinemas around the world"Lady of the Camellias" at the Bolshoi TheatreThe singer Anna Aglatova has a lot of ambitious goals: to learn all languages she sings in and to perform at the largest world theatre. At the same time she assures that the Bolshoi Theatre will always be the main theatre for her. Photo: Konstantin ZavrazhinOn March 30th the ballet "Marco Spada" will be broadcast live in 750 cinemas around the world .pathelive.com/fr/bolshoi-worldwide/bolshoi-worldwide-1Newsletter costume is. Prima-ballerina Evgenia Obraztsova, who dances the part of Marguerite in the second cast, came to a fitting. She asks: "Can we please tuck it in a little here?" The dress is fixed immediately, while she is still wearing it. The prima-ballerina puts her arms up to check whether the sleeve is comfortable enough. Vyacheslav Lopatin (Count N) also is at the fitting. He has big doubts about his costume. He says thoughtfully: "I would say this does not look like Pierrot's costume, but rather like some pajamas… the bed cap is missing, though". The costumiers calm him down: "Do not worry, Slava, we will add pompons and you will be a real Pierrot". Meanwhile the dress for Marguerite is ready, the ballerina undresses and the journalists are asked to go out for a minute. While Obraztsova is trying on her costumes, and Vyacheslav Lopatin is putting on his pajamas, Des Grieux (Ruslan Skvortsov) comes in. He warns strictly: "I have half an hour before the rehearsal". The Bolshoi Theatre's chief specialist in design, production and exploitation of theatre costumes Elena Zaitceva explains: "There are certain tricks when it comes to male costumes. For instance, a dancer has to wear a tail-coat, a vest, a shirt and a wide sash. But it is very difficult to move in such a costume. Thus, all collars, the vest and cuffs are sewn directly to the tail-coat from the inside. But people in the audience cannot see this and it seems to them that the dancer is wearing a full historic costume". Hand made in the Bolshoi The Bolshoi workshops are one of the last outposts of hand labor. People who work here know how to use a spinning wheel and lace bobbins and how to make tatting Richelieu embroidery. There is a pillow fight in one scene, set at a country house; old lace doilies and lace ribbons were bought on a Paris flea market for those pillows. Those materials were used to decorate 11 cushions. They say proudly: "We painted the lace fabric by hand. In Paris it would have taken more than four months to do this, but we coped much faster". The workshop workers are used to treat demands of a designer as orders. "Die doing it!" This is the experience and the tradition of the theatre. Great theatre designers used to work at the Bolshoi. People who work here now have particularly good memories about Simon Virsaladze, who was a great colorist and the strictest pedant. Demands of Jürgen Rose, who has created designs for numerous ballets of John Cranko and John Neumeier, are treated at the workshops with maximum respect. The designer himself did not come to Moscow but put his assistant Dominique Gay in charge. Olga Tadorashko from the Bolshoi Theatre also helped Jürgen Rose. Evgenia Obraztsova is trying on one of Marguerite's dresses. Photo: Sergei Mikheev Jewelry for the courtesan "Now we will take a look at the jewelry" - the Bolshoi Theatre's spokeswoman Katerina Novikova says. We go to the second floor of the Bolshoi Theatre's auxiliary building. By coincidence prima-ballerina Svetlana Zakharova came to this workshop together with us; she needs to choose a carcanet for her Marguerite. The carcanet is very important in this ballet. Both Zakharova and the jewelers know that, so they ask us: "Please, do not disturb us, Svetlana is the most important person for us at the moment". So we go to the other corner of the room. But we take no offence. The jeweler Alexandra Popova-Raikova created the jewelry based on sketches by Jürgen Rose. Initially she was invited to paint fabric, but when it turned out that unique jewelry had to be created for the production, she was asked to work on it as well. Alexandra says: "I am proud to be the first jeweler who worked at the Bolshoi Theatre".The theatre's workshops are a real factory, even several factories, to be more exact, that produce everything from the lightest tutu skirts to metal constructions and furniture. March, 272014Newsletter "This vase will be here", - assistant set designer Olga Tadorashko, the Moscow "eyes" of Jürgen Rose, puts the vase on a console. The set designer Jürgen Rose has calculated and drawn all details. Photo: The Bolshoi Theatre press-office She adds: "We will put camellias in the vase. By the way, flowers used to be made at the workshops. Now we buy them and just put bouquets together". The "carved" console was made by a joined effort of a sculptor, a molder, a carpenter and a designer. Small elements used to be made from foam plastic and paper-mache. Today everything is easier: they are molded from plastic. The workshop of designers is a poetic place, which has its own stories, artifacts and traditions. There is a huge paper-mache mask, fragments of old sets and sketches on the wall next to Alexander Lavrentiev's table. "This collection has been put together over several years. Really great masters have worked on it!" - The designer laughs and points at another wall. There is a collage made of port wine labels from different years. Which pieces of furniture dance in the ballet? 13 pieces of furniture for the auction scene the theatre bought at a Paris antiques market. Olga Tadorashko flew there to shop. The assistant designer explains: "There is little furniture of this kind in Russia; it is more expensive and its condition is very different. However, there are a whole quarter of antique shops on the Paris flea market. We went there together with a Paris Opera set designer and chose things that would be suitable. She was the one who talked to the venders, but sometimes I talked to them as well. The only thing we discussed beforehand was not mentioning the Bolshoi Theatre, so that the venders would not raise prices". The sofas, the armchairs, the canapé and the easel were shipped to Moscow in a special container. Then these ordinary antique pieces of furniture were made into theatre props. What is the difference? The main thing for theatre furniture is not to be lasting and functional. This is why traditional restoration and changing of upholstery were not always enough; some things had to be modernized. At a workshop on the Entuziastov Avenue upholstery is being changed on a heavy gilded sofa in second rococo style. One person is putting new fabric, another is fastening is with an upholstery stapler. They explain: "The seat used to consist of a base and two big pillows. Monsieur Sofa plays the leading part in the episode of furniture sale. Photo: Sergei Mikheev But it looks like those pillows were not original and appeared later, when the sofa was fixed. We got rid of them and made a one-piece soft part. In the auction scene the sofa is carried away, so all those details could fall out on the stage". Special belts were fixed to the wooden framework and strings were sewn on the belts; the strings were then tied with a strap, which made them springy. The only antique thing used here was a strap from horse hair. Such straps were used to create sharp and geometrical lines, so that the upholstery would keep its shape better. Walls disappear, chandeliers do not break We walk through the fitting workshop, where we see heavy black pipes and smell welding, and get into a huge hall. Here all coulisses, curtains and top masking borders for "Lady of the Camellias" are hung. The set is made from curtain lace. Olga Tadorashko says: "Now it seems that they all are grey and transparent. But using theatre lightning we will give them color and make them look like stone, plaster and wallpaper. If we shoot light at them from a different side, curtain lace will become transparent, and it will seem that it disappeared. That is why it is very important to paint the fabric evenly". The Bolshoi Theatre stage is twenty three and a half meters wide and thirteen meters tall. Therefore, designers have to paint the set using canvas of such Rabelais-like sizes. The paint is pulverized from a huge spraying nozzle with wheels. It takes special skill to control how thick the layer of paint is. Twenty four coulisses, ten top masking borders and five curtains were made for the "Lady of the Camellias" at the workshops. The biggest curtain is a red one; it was painted with a golden ornament by hand. 40 meters of a unique non-suture fabric were used so that the curtain would dangle. In order for all soft pieces of the set to hang straight, there are special "pockets" for ballast. Metal pipes are inserted there: this creates tension and curtain lace walls hang like stone ones. Four crystal chandeliers are used in the "Lady of the Camellias". It is not possible to buy antique ones. It is not allowed by ballet safety rules. One fallen crystal can prove costly for the dancers. Therefore, those chandeliers were made at the workshops according to theatre rules. The metal framework was welded at the fitting workshop; the "crystals" were made of acryl. The shape of the crystals from Bolshoi's historic chandeliers was used. The acryl was polished, so it would shine. Olga Tadorashko took the smallest crystals, which are put on the very top, from Christmas tree garlands that are sold in every shop before the New Year. /…/ The President of Russia awarded prizes to young culture workers at the Kremlin Palace Ekaterininsky Hall. The awards were given to those who decided to devote themselves no matter what to this difficult profession, which at times can be a lowly craft.Mass media about the Theatre March, 272014Newsletter Bolshoi Theatre's soloist Anna Aglatova is known all over the world, regardless of the fact that she is only 32. The singer says that at the Kremlin Palace she was even more nervous than on stage. Anna Aglatova admitted: "I was incredibly nervous; I am more used to singing than speaking, but I cannot fail to express my gratitude. Of course, this signifies that they believe in me and expect me to show great performance; this is also a great motivation for me to work hard and to become successful in my creative work". th, On the World's Theatre Day, which is celebrated on March 27 the readers will be presented an album: "The Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre in photographs: 1860- 1917. From the Bolshoi Theatre Museum's collection", which was created in cooperation with the Bolshoi Theatre. This editorial project, dedicated to the history of The Zimin Opera, will be presented by experts of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art and the "Generation" fund's specialists together with the "Helikon- Opera's" soloists. Volunteers were called to the theatres in the capital /…/ Irina Yasina said: - Many disabled people would like to go to theatres, but these are usually located in old buildings, which are not equipped for wheelchairs. If you buy a ticket to the Bolshoi and say beforehand that you will need assistance, a young man will meet you at the entrance and assist you anywhere you need. But I have not seen anything like that at other Moscow theatres; when I come to the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, I have to look for several strong men and ask them to bring me inside on my wheelchair. Of course, this is not convenient; not every person can ask for help. If there were volunteers at theatres, many more people would have the opportunity to enjoy cultural life at the capital regardless of their health condition. Text: Olga Svistunova The Bolshoi Theatre presents the Russian premiere of the project "Diana Vishneva: On the Edge" World's ballet star Diana Vishneva presents the Russian premiere of her international project "On the Edge" at the Bolshoi Theatre. On Wednesday the presentation of this project took place at the Bolshoi New Stage; the creators of the project, famous choreographers Jean-Christophe Maillot and Carolyn Carlson, took part in the presentation. The premiere performances are scheduled for March 27, 29 and 30.The Bolshoi press-office informed ITAR-TASS: "This is the third personal project of the People's Artist of Russia Diana Vishneva, who is the Mariinsky Theatre's and the American Ballet Theatre's soloist. Her previous projects, "Beauty in Motion" and "Dialogues", were highly appreciated by the audience and critics and were awarded five "Golden Mask" awards in different nominations". In her project "On the Edge" the famous ballerina continues to acquire a new choreographic language by means of modern dance. Jean-Christophe Maillot, the March, 272014Newsletter On March 27 the Russian premiere of ballerina's Diana Vishneva international project "On the Edge" took place at the Bolshoi Theatre. This is a joined production of the Les Ballets de Monte Carlo's artistic director Jean- Christophe Maillot and an American choreographer Carolyn Carlson "Diana Vishneva: On the Edge" is another part of the Mariinsky Theatre's and the American Ballet Theatre's prima-ballerina's series of solo projects. It is interesting that Vishneva's two previous productions, "Beauty in Motion" and "Dialogue", received five "Golden Mask" awards in different nominations. As for the new one, the ballerina wants to show to the audience her new talents that she has not demonstrated yet. Because the production team was international, rehearsals were organized in different cities and countries: Moscow, Monte Carlo, Paris and California. It was in America that the world premiere of "On the Edge" took place last November. Diana devoted all her attention, time and effort to the rehearsals. She supposes that the project can cause controversial reactions of the audience. We asked the ballerina, if there was something shocking in the production. - There is nothing revolting; there is no provocation. This is pure art; perception is the only issue. Some can dislike this project, because many people know me only as a classical ballerina.
272014Newsletter Digest has been compiled by The Bolshoi Theatre Press Office |
