“This is the path to happiness when the whole world opens up before you”

On November 25, the new Nutcracker will appear at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theater — Tchaikovsky’s two-act ballet is staged by Yuri Possokhov, choreographer-resident of the San Francisco Ballet, author of all the latest high-profile productions of the Bolshoi Theater — A Hero of Our Time, Nureyev , “Seagulls”. Before the premiere Tatyana Kuznetsova asked Yuri Posokhov about his “Nutcracker”, about the attitude towards the “Chinese”, about American plans and prospects in Moscow.

— In the 130 years that have passed since its premiere, The Nutcracker has been staged more often than all of Tchaikovsky’s other ballets combined. And there are more original versions of The Nutcracker than any other ballet. Perhaps because there is almost nothing left of Lev Ivanov’s old choreography.

– It seems like a free field of action – but in fact, all roads lead to the original spectacle.

– How? And what about Mark Morris with his America of the 1960s, Matthew Bourne with an orphanage and a robot protecting children, Maurice Bejart with his Mother of God and the boy Beam, Glen Murphy with the history of Russian emigration? Finally, Dmitry Chernyakov and his choreographers with the collapse of the universe and the search for the meaning of life … The ballet seems to be childish, but the music is tragic, that’s all the choreographers are trying to reconcile this contradiction.

Why tragic? Who is speaking? I don’t like it, I’m tired of it. It all depends on how you hear it. Rather, this music can be called pathetic; there is no tragedy, there is an apotheosis. This is the path to happiness when the whole world opens up before you. I don’t want to show off by doing a performance that no one else had. It’s not really necessary, it’s not the right time. I want to make a truly family-friendly performance. After all, I mostly work in America, where the tradition of going to the Nutcracker at Christmas is very strong. For them, this is not just a ballet, it is a sign of family reunification, it is, first of all, music and a sense of celebration. And I want my Nutcracker to have this unifying force so that grandparents, parents, children come and enjoy it.

– It is difficult to come up with something that both children and parents enjoy. Especially with such a sweet libretto as Petipa’s.

– Well, he wrote according to Dumas, but I put more on Hoffmann.

— With Princess Pirlipat?

– No, but I will have a nephew of Drosselmeyer – according to the book, he is the Nutcracker. It seems to me that the idea for a ballet is unusual. This is a play about the first childhood love. The most difficult thing is to direct the first act so that everything is clear, but everything is in motion and not boring. After all, how many boring Nutcrackers have we seen …

– Well, I don’t know, the first act is so dynamic and varied – you won’t get bored. It seems to me that it is more difficult to stage long climactic scenes – the transformation of the Christmas tree, the waltz of the snowflakes, the waltz of the second act, the pas de deux …

– This is if there are few movements in the choreographer’s arsenal. And if there are no problems with this… It is much more difficult to link my concept and direction with the scenography, especially in the first act.

– The English stage designer Tom Pye, who was supposed to stage The Nutcracker in Moscow, refused to work after the start of the special operation. And Polina Barkhina became the set designer. Did it change the concept?

– Yes, with Polina I had to redo a lot, compromise, start something anew. After all, we had already done The Nutcracker with Tom in Atlanta, I didn’t have to explain my ideas to him …

– That is, in Moscow you repeat the American production?

– Of course not. There is a troupe of 25 people. And here 60. Also, of course, not enough for the capital’s theater, even strange somehow. You have to adapt. We have no problems with the main characters – there are four casts. But in other performances, all these soloists also dance minor parts.

– It is easier with ballerinas in Stasik than with premieres …

I want to dispel this rumor. The troupe has wonderful leading soloists – Ivan Mikhalev, Denis Dmitriev, Seryozha Manuilov, Dima Sobolevsky. Firstly, they obey, they don’t do gag. Secondly, they have great potential. And the girls are just a discovery for me – one is better than the other.

– Young artistic director Maxim Sevagin is busy in your Nutcracker?

– He’s my Drosselmeyer. In the play, this is not a decrepit old man. He is such a “runner on the waves”: he manages to arrange everything, solve all problems.

– Maxim Sevagin and the choreographer himself, does he offer you something of his own at rehearsals?

— Yes, some musical things. I generally like how young people perceive music. Not at all the way I was trained. Even people in the corps de ballet hear music rhythmically differently, they react purely physiologically. They intuitively feel the accents, as if the music is part of their body. I really like it, I always listen to artists.

– The Nutcrackers have become a source of constant scandals in the world. Puppet dances, particularly Chinese and Oriental dances, are believed to be racially or gender discriminatory. Will you have “Chinese”?

– They will. “Chinese” was recently made, it turned out unusually, even for me. And I consider all these replacements-cancellations unacceptable. If you dig deeper, you can find black in any white. In many theaters in America, The Nutcrackers are canceled because of Chinese dances, just some kind of nonsense.

— And with such views, how do you remain the resident choreographer of the San Francisco Ballet?

— Well, Tamara Rojo (new artistic director of the San Francisco Ballet.— “b”) for some reason like my performances. We met with her only once, the contract was renegotiated, we talked about future plans. She would like to move Nureyev to San Francisco, but this is financially unsustainable. So far, I’m releasing a one-act ballet in San Francisco on January 25th. Plotless, to Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto. I finished it over the summer.

– Your career in the USA will not be damaged by what you stage in Russia?

– I do not know yet. There are plans until 2026. Soon I will be staging Eugene Onegin in Chicago. They ordered it themselves. And now the Australian Ballet has come on tour to New York with my Anna Karenina, then they will take her to Washington, to the Kennedy Center. Everywhere they want big plot ballets. But it turned out that the ballet world is not ready for this – not many people can direct such a performance.

— And in our country, narrative is considered bad form.

Well, we’ve been through it. When I came to America thirty years ago, Balanchine was playing in all theaters. 70% of the repertoire is Balanchine. Now Balanchine occupies, probably, 10% of the poster. And it goes only in large, financially wealthy troupes. The rest are looking for something of their own, new. The world has changed completely. Lots of choreographers. But if earlier we knew them all by name, now I don’t have time to keep track of them. Great put, the professional level has grown a lot. But all ballets are somehow similar. And they are quickly forgotten.

– And who of the contemporaries is unforgettable?

— Akram Khan. His Giselle and Creation are a ballet about Frankenstein, which is very cool.

– Akram Khan told me that at the production of “Giselle” at the English National Ballet, he locked the entire troupe in the hall for the whole day and rehearsed. They didn’t go on stage for two months.

– Well I do not know. They probably danced in the evenings, it’s money. But yes, this is how they work in the West: they rehearse all day, and then they dance a performance. Here, of course, it’s different. You yourself know what a huge repertoire is at the Bolshoi, and even at Stasik; ballets go almost every day. And on the day of the performance, the corps de ballet can be occupied for only an hour and a half. Occupational Safety and Health. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the production in advance, stage it in pieces. In February, I’m starting The Queen of Spades at the Bolshoi, which should be released only in the summer. I will come and go, install in parts.

– Did the Bolshoi Theater suggest the name?

This idea has been in my head for a long time. And when this summer there was a call from Moscow with a proposal to stage a big plot ballet in less than a year, I immediately said – “The Queen of Spades”. But, of course, new music cannot be created during this time. And Yuri Krasavin agreed to rework Tchaikovsky’s opera for us. But as long as there is no music, I can’t put it on. For me, music is the starting point.

– And someone else’s choreography does not interfere? The bright “Peak” at the Bolshoi was staged by Roland Petit. And the old “Nutcracker” by Vainonen still serves as the basis for the classic versions. And in Stasik, until recently, he walked.

“I just don’t know either one or the other choreography.

– And Grigorovich’s The Nutcracker, which you yourself danced at the Bolshoi?

– I know Grigorovich’s production, but it didn’t bother me at all. Another thing is that I have danced at the Bolshoi Theater for many years, and I always have the rhythm of Grigorovich’s choreography inside me. Such a dimensional, clear … This sometimes bothers me. And the style also had to be changed. For a long time I learned to feel the music differently, to build the form of my movements in a different way. Still, Yuri Nikolayevich’s relationship between movement and music is very straightforward. Now they don’t put it that way. Sometimes they put on silence at all or put fast movements on slow things. Although this also passes, they return to simplicity again. It’s amazing how everything goes in waves in the choreographic world.

– At the Bolshoi, your performances are preserved in the repertoire. But without the names of the co-authors – directors Alexander Molochnikov and Kirill Serebrennikov. And Ratmansky’s The Flames of Paris is generally untitled, the poster says “the stage version of the Bolshoi Theatre.”

I don’t ask questions, to be honest. Decided that this is not my area. But it’s hard for me to understand, still it’s not very correct. I think that the artist’s political views have nothing to do with his performance, if the performance meets all accepted standards. This is my position.