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Olga Sapphire
Olga Sapphire (russian: Ольга Сафайя or russian: Ольга Сапфир, ja, オリガ・サファイア, 28 June 1907 – 20 June 1981) was the stage name of Russian and Japanese ballerina and choreographer Olga Ivanovna Pavlova (russian: Ольга Ивановна Павлова), whose married name was Midori Shimizu ( ja, 清水みどり). She was classically trained at both the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute and the Moscow Choreographic School. She performed in Russia until her marriage in the early 1930s to a Japanese diplomat, Takehisa Shimizu. After agreeing to move to Japan in 1936, she developed classical ballet there, bringing with her theoretical and pedagogical materials to underpin her dance lessons and establish the field. From 1936 until her retirement in 1957, Sapphire was employed by the Nihon Gekijō variety theater, in Tokyo, serving as its prima ballerina, choreographer and ballet instructor. She performed classic Russian ballets, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dying Swan
''The Dying Swan'' (originally ''The Swan'') is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Le Cygne'' from ''Le Carnaval des animaux'' as a '' pièce d'occasion'' for the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who performed it about 4,000 times. The short ballet (4 minutes) follows the last moments in the life of a swan, and was first presented in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. The ballet has since influenced modern interpretations of Odette in Tchaikovsky's ''Swan Lake'' and has inspired non-traditional interpretations as well as various adaptations. Background Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks and by Lord Tennyson's poem "The Dying Swan", Anna Pavlova, who had just become a ballerina at the Mariinsky Theatre, asked Michel Fokine to create a solo dance for her for a 1905 gala concert being given by artists from the chorus of the Imperial Mariinsky Opera. Fokine suggested Saint-Saëns's cello solo, ''Le Cygne'', which Fokine had been playing at h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Character Dancing
Character dance is a specific subdivision of classical dance. It is the stylized representation of a traditional folk or national dance, mostly from European countries, and uses movements and music which have been adapted for the theater. Character dance is integral to much of the classical ballet repertoire. A good example of character dance within ballet is the series of national dances which take place at the beginning of Act II of '' Swan Lake''. The ballet ''Don Quixote'' also features many character variations based on traditional Spanish dances. Popular character dance adaptations for ballet also include the national dances of Hungary , Russia, Poland, Italy and Spain: csárdás, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco, etc. One of the best known schools that incorporate character dance to teaching syllabus is Vaganova Ballet Academy. Outside of Russia and the former republics of the late Soviet Union, there is little training in the art of character dance. However, it is stil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reinhold Glière
Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (born Reinhold Ernest Glier, which was later converted for standardization purposes; russian: Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр; 23 June 1956), was a Russian Imperial and Soviet composer of German and Polish descent. In 1938, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of RSFSR (1935), and People's Artist of USSR (1938). Biography Glière was born in the city of Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine). He was the second son of the wind instrument maker Ernst Moritz Glier (1834–1896) from Saxony (Klingenthal in the Vogtland region), who emigrated to the Russian Empire and married Józefa (Josephine) Korczak (1849–1935), the daughter of his master, from Warsaw. His original name, as given in his baptism certificate, was Reinhold Ernest Glier.S. K. Gulinskaja: ''Reinhold Morizevich Glier'' Moscow "Musika", 1986, (russian) About 1900 he changed the spelling and pronunciation of his surname to Glière, which gave rise to the legend, sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Red Poppy
''The Red Poppy'' (russian: Красный мак, Krasniy mak) or sometimes ''The Red Flower'' (russian: Красный цветок, Krasniy tsvetok) is a ballet in three acts and eight tableaux with an apotheosis, with a score written by Reinhold Glière and libretto by Mikhail Kurilko. This ballet was created in 1927 as the first Soviet ballet with a modern revolutionary theme. Possibly the most famous dance from this ballet is the Sailors Dance, sometimes referred to as the " Russian Sailors Dance" (although it is described as "Dance of the Sailors from the Soviet Ship" in the score and libretto). It is this musical selection for which Glière is perhaps best known. There have been four main versions of ''The Red Poppy''. History Original version (1927) The original version of ''The Red Poppy'' was choreographed by Lev Lashchiline (1st and 3rd Acts) and Vasily Tikhomirov (2nd Act). The first performance was on 14 June 1927 in the Bolshoi Theatre (which at the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhailovsky Theatre
The Mikhailovsky Theatre (russian: Миха́йловский теа́тр) is one of Russia's oldest opera and ballet houses. It was founded in 1833 and is situated in a historical building on 1, Arts Square in Saint Petersburg. It is named after Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia. Since 1989, it has borne the Modest Mussorgsky name. Since 1991 it has officially been named The St Petersburg Mussorgsky State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre—Mikhailovsky Theatre. History Before 1871 The theatre was established in 1833 by decree of Tsar Nicholas I. Before the 1917 Revolution, the Mikhailovsky did not have its own resident company. Performances were given either by a French company, hired by the Russian Imperial Theatres, or at the end of the century by the Mariinsky Theatre and Alexandrinsky Theatre companies. When the Bolsheviks took power the French company was forced to leave Russia, and in 1917 the Mikhailovsky Theatre was closed. Communist era On 6 March 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2,909,500 (2022). It is in northeastern Uzbekistan, near the border with Kazakhstan. Tashkent comes from the Turkic ''tash'' and ''kent'', literally translated as "Stone City" or "City of Stones". Before Islamic influence started in the mid-8th century AD, Tashkent was influenced by the Sogdian and Turkic cultures. After Genghis Khan destroyed it in 1219, it was rebuilt and profited from the Silk Road. From the 18th to the 19th century, the city became an independent city-state, before being re-conquered by the Khanate of Kokand. In 1865, Tashkent fell to the Russian Empire; it became the capital of Russian Turkestan. In Soviet times, it witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Sov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Turkestan
Russian Turkestan (russian: Русский Туркестан, Russkiy Turkestan) was the western part of Turkestan within the Russian Empire’s Central Asian territories, and was administered as a Krai or Governor-Generalship. It comprised the oasis region to the south of the Kazakh Steppe, but not the protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva. History Establishment Although Russia had been pushing south into the steppes from Astrakhan and Orenburg since the failed Khivan expedition of Peter the Great in 1717, the beginning of the Russian conquest of Turkestan is normally dated to 1865. That year the Russian forces took the city of Tashkent under the leadership of General Mikhail Chernyayev expanding the territories of Turkestan Oblast (part of Orenburg Governorate-General). Chernyayev had exceeded his orders (he only had 3,000 men under his command at the time) but Saint Petersburg recognized the annexation in any case. This was swiftly followe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikolai Tcherepnin
Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin (Russian: Николай Николаевич Черепнин; – 26 June 1945) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Saint Petersburg and studied under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He conducted for the first Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Life Nikolai Tcherepnin was born in 1873 to a well-known and wealthy physician of the same name. The elder Nikolai moved in elite circles of artists including Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Modest Mussorgsky. Young Nikolai's mother died when he was a baby, and when his father remarried, was replaced by an ambivalent stepmother. As a child, Nikolai's father beat him regularly and enforced a general code of strict discipline. At his father's insistence, Nikolai earned a law degree, though during this time he composed steadily. In 1895 he graduated with his degree in law from the University of Saint Petersburg. In 1898, he earned a degre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vakhtang Chabukiani
Vakhtang Mikheilis dze Chabukiani (Russian: Вахта́нг Миха́йлович Чабукиа́ни, ka, ვახტანგ ჭაბუკიანი) (March 12, 1910 – April 6, 1992) was a Soviet and Georgian ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. He is considered to be one of the most influential male ballet dancers of the 20th century, and is noted for creating the choreography of several of the most famous male variations of the classical ballet repertory, for example in '' Le Corsaire'', ''La Bayadère'', and ''Swan Lake''. He is also noted for his and Vladimir Ponomaryov's 1941 revival of ''La Bayadère'' for the Kirov Ballet, which is still retained in the company's repertory and has served as the basis for many subsequent productions in Russia and abroad. Early life and career Born in Tbilisi to a Georgian father and a Latvian mother, Chabukiani graduated from the local Maria Perini Ballet Studio in 1924. He continued his studies at the Leningrad State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the classical era. Biography Born in Maiolati, Papal State (now Maiolati Spontini, Province of Ancona), he spent most of his career in Paris and Berlin, but returned to his place of birth at the end of his life. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French ''opera''. In his more than twenty operas, Spontini strove to adapt Gluck's classical ''tragédie lyrique'' to the contemporary taste for melodrama, for grander spectacle (in ''Fernand Cortez'' for example), for enriched orchestral timbre, and for melodic invention allied to idiomatic expressiveness of words. As a youth, Spontini studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà de' Turchini, one of four active music conservatories of Naples. Working his way from Italian city to city, he got his first break in Rome, with his successful comedy ''Li Puntigli delle Donne'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Vestale (Spontini)
''La vestale'' (''The Vestal Virgin'') is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. It was first performed on 15 December 1807 by the Académie Impériale de Musique ( Paris Opera) at the Salle Montansier and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece. The musical style shows the influence of Gluck and anticipates the works of Berlioz, Wagner, and French Grand opera. Composition history Spontini had finished ''La vestale'' by the summer of 1805 but had faced opposition from leading members of the Opéra and rivalry from fellow composers.Del Teatro The premiere was made possible with the help of Spontini's patron, the Empress Joséphine, but only after being rearranged by Jean-Baptiste Rey and Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis. ''La vestale'' was an enormous success, enjoying over two hundred performances by 1830. Performance history Its fame soon spread abroad; it appeared in Naples and in V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marius Petipa
Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history. Marius Petipa is noted for his long career as ''Premier maître de ballet'' (''First Ballet Master'') of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, making him Ballet Master and principal choreographer of the Imperial Ballet (today known as the Mariinsky Ballet), a position he held from 1871 until 1903. Petipa created over fifty ballets, some of which have survived in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from the original. Among these works, he is most noted for ''The Pharaoh's Daughter'' (1862); ''Don Quixote'' (1869); ''La Bayadère'' (1877); '' Le Talisman'' (1889); '' The Sleeping Beauty'' (1890); ''The Nutcracker'' (choreographed jointly with Lev Ivanov) (1892); ''Le Réveil de Flor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
