“The Scarlet Flower” in State Kremlin Palace
The Seventh International Ballet Festival began the night before at the State Kremlin Palace. In the repertoire, as always, staging the theater “Kremlin Ballet” with the participation of world ballet stars. Recall that one of the main tasks of the theater is the creation of original works on the basis of classical literary material. For the opening performance, we chose a material with which the national dance art has not yet fully experienced.
The tale “Scarlet Flower” this year is 160 years old. A performance based on the work of Sergei Aksakov “The Kremlin Ballet” was first shown a year ago in Ufa, in the writer’s homeland. And here is the second show. Carrying a fairy tale to the stage, the creators tried to preserve the soul of the work. “There are peripeteias of human relations, which is manifested in the fact that love must be fought for, such simple things are very well identified,” says the choreographer-director, People’s Artist of Russia Andrei Petrov.
With the opening of the curtain, you get caught in the living book illustrations. Bright fairy-tale Russia in a frame of filigree patterns. The artist Grigory Belov created for the heroes three worlds – the cold and cruel forest of the evil sorceress, the magical kingdom of the scarlet flower and the Russian folk motives for the house in which Nastenka with her father and sisters lives. “This is a completely Russian theme with Russian ornament, Russian power. And with our sophisticated metaphor, which we all own and live by, because we have Russian poetry, “he comments.
Choreography is also from several worlds – it’s the dances of the peoples of the world. Evil forces speak the language of modernity, the main characters dance classics. “Each time this is a new way. This is your condition. Suddenly, you heard the music somehow brighter, you have it from the soul, it’s very important, “says the assistant choreographer-director, Honored Artist of Russia Zhanna Bogoroditskaya.
The main character – a scarlet flower – comes to life in a ballet and becomes a fairy. He has the main musical theme, the leitmotif of which runs through the whole play. The libretto was written by Andrei Petrov and Vladimir Kuptsov. “Everyone has his own theme, and these themes are also repeated throughout the entire ballet. It turns out such a “linkage”. The themes are repeated, the viewer remembers them, and all this works for drama, “- said composer Vladimir Kuptsov. “The Scarlet Flower” opens the Seventh International Ballet Festival in the Kremlin. Within the framework of it, the audience will see 7 performances with the world’s leading dancers from Russia, Germany, France, America, Norway. “We tried to diversify the program as much as possible and invite diverse artists from different countries,” says festival producer Aidar Shaydullin. During the festival week, the audience will see “Esmeralda”, “Swan Lake”, “Don Quixote”. The review will be closed with the premiere of “Cipollino”.
