Fyodor Vasilievich Lopukhov (Occasionally Fedor,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n: Фёдор Васи́льевич Лопухо́в; 20 October 1886,
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
– 28 January 1973,
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
) was a choreographer in Soviet Russia.
Training and dance career
Lopukhov was born into a family of dancers, which included his brother, Andrei, and his two sisters, Evgenia and the renowned
Lydia Lopokova
Lydia Lopokova, Baroness Keynes (born Lidia Vasilyevna Lopukhova, russian: Лидия Васильевна Лопухова; 21 October 1891 – 8 June 1981) was a Russian ballerina famous during the early 20th century.
Lopokova trained at the I ...
. Lydia was a dancer for
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...
and married
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
. Lopukhov graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theatre School in 1905 and began his career at the
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
. He also toured with the
Bolshoi in their 1910–11 season.
Choreography
Following the
Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, a period of experimentation in ballet ensued as a distaste for works which evoked the imperial court developed in post-revolutionary Russia. To re-appeal to the public, choreographers in Soviet Russia explored new performance spaces and formed smaller chamber ballet companies where there would be more scope for creativity. Among those experimental choreographers was Fyodor Lopukhov.
Lopukhov considered the relationship between music and dance, suggesting that choreographers should be able to analyze the score of their
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
as to better portray the nuances of the score in terms of instrumentation, rhythm, color, and dynamics. His goal was to create ballets from a musical as opposed to a dramatic perspective – he published his ideas in his book ''Paths of a Balletmaster'' in 1925.
Lopukhov was appointed the artistic director of the
Leningrad State Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Kirov) in 1922 and quickly began to override the work done by
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 an ...
by creating plotless ballets – the first, and best known, being ''The Magnificence of the Universe'' (1923), a "dance symphony" done to
Beethoven's fourth symphony. Unlike the Petipa classics, ''The Magnificence'' did not tell any story, but symbolically suggested the origin of universal light and other profound spiritual concepts. The choreography was characterized by a mixture of academic ballet technique and acrobatic lifts that would later become synonymous with The Soviet style of ballet – his cast included
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
who would later introduce similar processes and concepts to the American dance scene. ''The Magnificence'', after a positive rehearsal review by contemporaries, was received negatively on its debut and Lopukhov did not attempt any further dance symphonies.
Lopukhov also created the Soviet political ballet focusing on the concept of a cleansing whirlwind titled ''Red Whirlwind'' (1924). This ballet, the first to tackle the subject of the
1917 Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, begins with an act or “process” with strong, aggressive dancers opposing the passive and elusive group. The second “process” depicts dissatisfied citizens with robbers and drunks who are defeated by the working class.
Some other ballets choreographed by Lopukhov in an effort to find a new means of expression include ''Night on Bald Mountain'', with music by
Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
(1924), ''Pulcinella'' (1926) and ''The Fox'' (1927), both with music by
Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
. His attempts to evolve the principles of classical dance were displayed in the acrobatic movements and character dances closely resembling the original ethnic dances they sprung forth from. This was apparent in his ballet ''The Ice Maiden'', with music by
Grieg (1927), which was one of his longest running ballets, being staged until 1936. He also choreographed
''The Bolt'' in 1931 and choreographed and co-wrote the libretto for ''
The Limpid Stream
''The Limpid Stream'' (russian: Светлый ручей, also translated as ''The Bright Stream'') is a ballet in 3 acts, 4 scenes, composed by Dmitri Shostakovich on the libretto by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov, with choreography by F ...
'' in 1935, both with music by
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
. Following a negative editorial of ''The Limpid Stream'' in the ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...
'' in early February 1936, which resulted in Lopukhov's co-librettist
Adrian Piotrovsky
Adrian Ivanovich Piotrovsky (russian: Адриа́н Ива́нович Пиотро́вский) ( – 21 November 1937) was a Russian Soviet dramaturge, responsible for creating the synopsis for Sergei Prokofiev's ballet '' Romeo and Juliet''. He ...
being sent to a
gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
, Lopukhov was stripped of his directorship and his choreographic career was effectively ended.
Lopukhov assembled courses for choreographers from 1937-1941 at the Leningrad Choreographic School. He was artistic director of the choreographic section in the stage directing department at the
Leningrad Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...
starting in 1962.
Lopukhov’s other choreographed ballets include ''The Firebird'' (1921), ''Raymonda'' (1922), ''The Sleeping Beauty'' (1923), ''Don Quixote'' (1923), ''Khovanshchina'' (1926), ''The Red Poppy'' (1929), ''Coppélia'' (1934), ''The Snow Maiden'' (1947), and ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' (1963).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopukhov, Fyodor
1886 births
1973 deaths
Choreographers of Mariinsky Theatre
Honored Artists of the RSFSR
People's Artists of the RSFSR
Ballet masters
Soviet cartographers