A Truly Significant Holiday - Passport magazine

For the first time, the capital’s ballet-lovers will have an opportunity
to see Sylvie Guillem, a world famous star of such
acclaim that no theatre can claim any rights to her name. A
classical ballerina by training and profession, she has for years
preferred to work with modern choreographers like Russell Maliphant
for example, whose ballet she will perform in mid-March
on the stage of Moscow Art Theatre (MHAT). Russell Maliphant,
trained at the Royal Ballet School, has created over 20 ballets
for renowned companies and artists including Lyon Opera
Ballet, Ricochet Dance Company and Ballet de Lorraine. In
1996 he founded his own dance company and in 2003 began
working with Sylvie Guillem. PUSH, which comprises of three
solos and one duet allows the public to be fully absorbed by
Maliphant’s fluid and physical choreography. Initially “PUSH”
was staged by Maliphant but Sylvie Guillem insisted on his own
performance that clearly adds an extra personal dimension to
a highly emotional production. Even in the opinion of the most
demanding critics, such as UK Sarah Crompton, PUSH demonstrates
the “dance you want to watch forever” phenomenon.
Many agree with her that the combination of Maliphant and
Guillem is dance at its very best.
The Ноlland Dance Festival will feature a performance of
Last Touch First by Irzhi Kylian.
This world-renowned Czech dancer, ballet director and
choreographer who has created 72 ballets for the Netherlands
Dance Theater (NDT) recently celebrated his thirty-year association
with NDT that, thanks to him, has become one of the
best contemporary dance companies in the world. According
to Valeria Uralskaya, the choreography of Irzhi Kylian with
its romantic and classical roots, is stylistically closer to Russian
taste than many other European dance masters of the new
generation. “In his best works,” Uralskaya says, “this artist draws
on the abstract language of dance to explore the depth of
the human soul, though in his latest works he is searching for
new forms.”
Last Touch First will be followed by the Royal Ballet of Flanders’
performance of Impressing The Tzar, created by William
Forsythe who was for many years Director of Ballet Frankfurt.
After leaving his post in 2004, Forsythe established a new, more
independent ensemble – The Forsythe Company, though the
performance that is to be shown in Moscow is a revived ballet
staged by Forsythe back in 1988. At the initiative of the Royal
Ballet of Flanders, the work was brought back to life and was
one of the most important dance pieces at last year’s Edinburgh
Festival. Perspective and pictorial composition are central
to Forsythe’s work, which makes connections between the
15th-century Italian Renaissance and the ballet-boom of 19th
century St. Petersburg. The subject matter is appealing to the
Russian audience: part one is called Potemkin’s Signature
and refers to a Pushkin story about the court of Catherine the
Great, an early patron of Russian ballet. Often called a choreographer
of extremes, Forsythe combines very theatrical and
classical elements with unique ballet aesthetics, which without
denying traditional ballet, challenge its lexicon by constructing
a new deconstructed technique. It is most encouraging
that Russia’s main theatre festival is gathering pace despite
the unfavorable economic situation. The festival will last almost
three weeks, from 27 March to 17 April 2009. On 18 April, all the
winners will be awarded their Masks. P
March 2009
Ballet
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