Don Quixote |
Alexander Gorsky, considered
in Russia today as a pioneer
of dramatically oriented
ballet realism and as great a
reformer as Fokine, was born
in St. Petersburg on August
6, 1871. His father was a
book-keeper, but his main
interests were painting,
embroidery and the breeding
of silk
worms.
When Alexander was eight
years old, his mother brought
him and his sister to St.
Petersburg with the intention
of enrolling the former in a
school of commerce and
placing the latter at the
Imperial School of Ballet.
Both children were accepted
at the School of
Ballet.
A year later Gorsky entered
the school as a paying
student and was placed in the
junior class taught by Platon
Karsavin, the father of the
ballerina Tamara Karsavina.
Placed on scholarship one
year later, Gorsky also studied
with N. I. Volkov and Marius
Petipa before he graduated in
1889 and joined the corps de
ballet.
Six years later he became a
soloist and danced a wide
range of roles, including the
lead roles in La Fille Mal
Gardee and The
Magic Flute, Aguilon in
Flora's Awakening,
and character roles such as
the Satyr in the opera
Tannhauser, and the
Danse Chinoise in
Casse-Noisette.
In 1896 Gorsky was appointed
assistant instructor of the Ballet
School under Paul Gerdt. A
year later when Vladimir
Stepanov, a dancer and teacher
who had invented a system of
dance notation, died, Gorsky
decided to continue his work
and was responsible for
establishing the notation system
in the school's
curriculum.
At this time, the director of the
Imperial Theatres decided to
raise the standing of the
Moscow Ballet and chose to
stage The Sleeping
Beauty, which had not yet
been seen by Moscow
audiences. Gorsky was selected
and his arrival in December,
1898 coincided with the
foundation of the Moscow Art
Theatre. The premiere of the
ballet took place on January 17,
1899, and the program stated
that the ballet was staged
"according to dance notations
based on the system of V. I.
Stepanov."
Satisfied that a ballet could be
reproduced from dance
notation, Gorsky now wanted to
prove that a new ballet could
also be staged in this manner.
Returning to St. Petersburg he
decided to choreograph a
one-act ballet "on paper." The
result was Chlorinda, the
Queen of the Mountain
Fairies, performed on April
11, 1899, at a ballet school
performance. The program
note explained that it was "the
first attempt at composing a
ballet...on paper by use of the
alphabet of movement invented
by V. I. Stepanov. The roles
were rehearsed from written-out
parts, similar to those used in
opera during the current school
year."
On September 1, 1900, Gorsky
was promoted to the rank of
premier danseur of the St.
Petersburg Ballet, but eight
days later he was transferred to
the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre as
regisseur. Although he regarded
this move as temporary, he was
to remain
there.
A great renaissance of the arts
was occurring in Moscow
during this period in every area
but ballet. The Moscow Ballet
was in terrible condition. There
was no choreographer of
distinction (as soon as a
choreographer of promise
developed he would be
transferred to St. Petersburg);
the repertory was poor and
often the theatre was only filled
to a one-third capacity; and the
company's roster listed only 70
dancers. Only the school was in
a more positive condition
because of the talents of the
instructors I. D. Nikitin and
Vassily Tikhomirov. But
leadership was
needed.
Gorsky's full-fledged debut as a
choreographer occurred with
his next production, Don
Quixote, which he staged
quite differently from Petipa's
version, although he did retain
certain sections. Completed in
18 months, Gorsky considered
the ballet an important step
toward achieving a unity of
artistic conception. Of the work
he said: "The distinction of my
production is that there is a
continuous movement of
groups on the stage; the scenes
are based on a plan new and
original with me; I do not
recognize any rules of
symmetry." For this production
Gorsky commissioned the
painters Korovin and Golovin to
design the settings and
costumes. The ballet premiered
on December 6, 1900.
Although the press had a mixed
reaction, the audience
attendance began to
grow.
In January of 1911, Gorsky
restaged Swan Lake,
which had not been performed
in Moscow since 1877 when
the original and unsuccessful
production was staged by Julius
Reisinger. Gorky worked from
the Petipa-Ivanov version,
revising the first and third acts,
where he eliminated the
symmetry of the dance groups,
introduced a number of strong
character dances to create a
contrast with the lyrical scenes,
created a definite direction in
the development of the plot,
and increased the
expressiveness of the classic
dances.
By the end of 1904, Gorsky was
teaching regularly in the school
-- his teaching was designed to
develop individual creativity --
and he is considered to be
responsible for substituting the
piano for the traditional violin as
class
accompaniment.
In addition to Gorsky's
choreographic activities, he
served in several administrative
organizations associated with
the ballet and worked to
improve the quality of ballet
training, as well as to develop
creativity. He was a
well-educated man and was
proficient in painting, writing,
acting and music. Alexander
Gorsky died in September
1924.
Sources:
Researched and compiled by Fran Michelman. |
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