Within acceptable pas – Kommersant

The graduation concert of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (MGAKh) took place on the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre, proving by its scope that one of the oldest educational institutions in the country has already prepared for the celebration of its 250th anniversary. The scale of work was appreciated Tatyana Kuznetsova.

The Moscow ballet school was founded by Catherine II in 1773 by decree on the creation of fine arts classes at the Moscow Orphanage, which included a dance class. An impressive anniversary will be celebrated only in November, but the graduation concert shows that the work is already in full swing. For a long time the program was not so extensive and conceptual: it covered three centuries of ballet history. The restorer Yuri Burlaka was responsible for the 19th century with suites from the ballets Esmeralda and Millions of Harlequin choreographed by Petipa. For the Soviet interpretation of the classics – the pre-war Grand pas from La Bayadère, composed by Vakhtang Chabukiani. For the thaw ballet of the 1960s – the first part of the “Classical Symphony” to the music of Prokofiev, which Leonid Lavrovsky staged for the Moscow school in those years when the current rector Marina Leonova studied there. Our centenary was represented by Boris Eifman: officially recognized as the main modern choreographer of Russia, he gave the Moscow school a one-act ballet Musaget, staged by him in 2004 for Balanchine’s centenary commissioned by the New York City Ballet.

I must say that in New York, Eifman’s homage was received ambiguously. In the hero of the ballet, shattered by old age and nostalgia, taken to the stage in a wheelchair, the Americans did not want to recognize “Mr. B” – an epicurean, dandy and a favorite of women; and in his excruciatingly sexual duets with three muses, vulgar allusions to the real biography of the choreographer were discerned. Boris Eifman’s own troupe performed this ballet infrequently (Russian critics also did not approve of it), so at the Moscow State Academy of Arts the unshabby performance looked quite fresh, especially since the choreographer clearly reduced the eroticism in the school version. It was a wise decision to invite the soloist of the Bolshoi Klim Efimov to the main part – an intelligent dancer with an innate sense of proportion and not in the least pretending to be a macho. So, no matter how the first muse (Taisiya Konovalova) rubbed against him with her body and legs, and no matter how voluptuously the third muse (Deimante Taranda) stretched on the ballet barre, base feelings did not take possession of the hero. Leaving aside the problem of the complete discrepancy between Eifman’s work and the gift and spirit of Balanchine, it can be noted that the abundance of mass scenes in which the Russian author quotes iconic movements and mise-en-scenes of Balanchine ballets allows us to present the students of the Moscow State Academy of Arts in all their crowds, which, in fact, is required for graduation concert. Another thing is that the taste of schoolchildren suffers, believing that they are dancing a real modern ballet, and doing it with such rapture and joy that they could not be suspected of performing in the first part.

The graduates passed the obligatory classical program with learned good manners; stylistic differences between eras and choreographers were leveled to complete indistinguishability, so it was just right to suspect that they knew little beyond specific steps. As usual, the Moscow school welcomes high legs in adagio (all the soloists diligently brought arabesques to splits), appreciates and nurtures female rotations (although there are obviously no girls with such a natural gift in this release) and excellently puts wide male entrecha. It can be seen that the teachers are trying to soften the traditionally hard hands of the wards, but there is only enough patience for the soloists. It is sad that Moscow girls have forgotten how to jump, replacing the jump with tearing their legs. Only the musical and dancing Darina Moseeva distinguished herself with the ability to soar into the air. Acting skill in a clear paddock – contacts between young artists are reduced to utility. For future ballerinas, the main object of attention is the audience: they make eyes for the audience in duets, noticing partners only during pirouettes and lifts. The dead characteristic dance is still hopeless: “Dance with Drums” looked like a performance in a cheap variety show (however, it looks the same at the Bolshoi Theater).

From graduation concerts, balletomanes expect the appearance of future stars, from reviewers – their names. This year, the talents were not blinded. The school focused on tall, thin and long-legged girls – the playful Polina Netsvetaeva-Dolgaleva, the domineering-fatal Deimant Taranda and the duty-cheerful Taisiya Konovalova; she suggested the tall and already narcissistic Makar Mikhalkin as a future prime minister, but did not hide the charming, soft-bouncy Ratmir Dzhumaliev. In total, 10 graduates entered the Bolshoi Theater, but how their career develops depends on too many circumstances.