Import substitution from the Seraglio

On the stage of the New Opera, the Ballet Moscow presented three world premieres: Mono by Konstantin Keikhel, This Magnificent Century by Irina Kononova and Lake by Anna Shchekleina. Tatyana Kuznetsova considered that the hero of the evening was not the choreographers, but the troupe itself.

This season, the Ballet Moscow, which joined the staff of the Novaya Opera as a result of the “optimization” of Moscow cultural institutions, changed not only the status, but also the staff and the concept of development. The troupe, which has retained the name it received at birth 30 years ago, is generally lucky: the general director of the Novaya Opera, Anton Getman, considers it not a burden, but an incentive for the development of the theater. And the new artistic director of Ballet Moscow, the ex-soloist of the Bolshoi Anastasia Yatsenko, held almost all competitions for Russian choreographers in Diana Vishneva’s Context, so no one knows the situation on the domestic choreographic market. One of her requirements for artists is a basic classical education (see “Kommersant” dated November 1, 2022), so Ballet Moscow has ceased to be divided into “classics” and “contemporaries”, and the composition of the troupe has been updated almost by half.

The first program of the renewed troupe was drawn up according to the principle of contrast. All three fairly young, but already experienced authors lit up on the “Context”: Konstantin Keikhel won the first competition in 2013, Irina Kononova won the “audience award” in 2018, Anna Shchekleina, known in the circles of “contemporaries” not the first decade, last year won the right to a big production. So, in the conditions of dance import substitution, Novaya Opera chose the best available authors. And each performed in his repertoire.

Five years ago, Irina Kononova captivated the audience of the “Context” by bringing a miniature “Black Friday” from Stavropol – about a violent line at the sale. However, having come up with a dashing plot, she failed to tell the story. The same thing happened now with “This Magnificent Century” by sound designer Eduard Kozlovsky – a half-hour tale about how the viewer of the series imagines himself a sultan in the thick of the intrigues of the Turkish harem. The bustle of six characters around the hero turned into a senseless flicker. Neither two very amusing variations, perfectly performed by Anton Shishkin (Servant) and Ilya Gromov (Counselor), nor the dexterity and lightness of the three wives of the Sultan, nor the heaped up group support, nor the manipulations with the baby (which is thrown from hand to hand for a long time) and the poisoned drink (judging by the effect, just alcoholic). Irina Kononova, who is trying to master the now outlandish genre of plot comic miniature, clearly needs a screenwriter, and a director would not hurt either.

Anna Shchekleina, in fact, a temperamental woman, not alien to sociality (her pamphlet “Freedom to a Statue!” Two years ago became a hit on tour of the Yekaterinburg “Provincial Dances”, see “Kommersant” dated March 19, 2021), now she prefers global topics. The choreographer announces his “Lake” (the music was written by Vasily Peshkov, and the artist Galya Solodovnikova built an inclined circle on the stage, planting gigantic hogweed stalks around it) “as a metaphor for human states: from frozen phlegmatic expectation to furious internal beating keys-energies.” There is no doubt that it is difficult for artists to move at any intensity: there is little space, their faces are wrapped in white cloth, and their bodies are bandaged from head to toe. But their actions cannot be called “phlegmatic”: in the very first minutes of the performance, they almost beat one of their wrapped brethren with poles-stems to death. When the time comes to beat the “energy keys” and the artists get out of their bandages, they appear by no means in a “human state”. The tight-fitting beige jumpsuits were adorned by the artist with giant flattened crests resembling the backbones of dinosaurs, huge frills made of leaves and flowers, and a long fringe that effectively stands on end when rotated. These animation charms, already hilarious, produce an irresistible comic effect when the artists begin to actively squirm, clumsily imitating Sharon Eyal’s extreme choreography. Anna Shchekleina has already made a similar lexical experience at the last “Context” (see “Kommersant” dated November 25, 2022), but then she did without the help of such a creative co-author as Galya Solodovnikova.

Konstantin Keikhel is an adherent of “abstract dance”, as we call plotless compositions with a claim to philosophy. His “Mono” should be interpreted in the Japanese spirit: as the aesthetic concept of “mono no aware” (“the sad charm of things”). And if the buzzing decibels of electronics engineer Konstantin Chistyakov don’t break your eardrums, Keichel’s monotonous signature language may well contribute to meditative contemplation. Based on smooth, wide circular movements of the arms and body, stretching and deep squats in the second position, the choreographer’s style has not changed for several years, as, indeed, almost all modern world authors – one can only reproach Keichel for his irreparable secondariness and predictability ” language.” The lighting score by Ksenia Koteneva favorably distinguishes Mono from other Keychel abstractions, adding dynamism to the monotonous flow of the black-and-white production. Entire episodes are built on the dramatic, as on the canvases of Caravaggio, relief chiaroscuro of the torsos, while the lower half of the artists, dressed in wide black skirts and pants, are completely hidden in darkness. The synchronous duet, multiplied into five pairs, is also impressive, especially the episode in which men and women merge into a single body with octopus-like writhing limbs. The final spin of the soloist with her head thrown back is also spectacular, which quotes Bejart’s famous “Mass for the Present”: in Russia, this “Present Time” came almost 60 years later.