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Russian Literature in the Creative Work by European Choreographers (on the example of the ballet «Winter dreams» by K. Macmillan)

Russian Literature in the Creative Work by European Choreographers (on the example of the ballet «Winter dreams» by K. Macmillan)

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Keywords: A.P. Chekhov, Three Sisters, Kenneth MacMillan, Winter Dreams, P.I. Tchaikovsky, literature subject, drama, choreographic interpretation, ballet directing, musical and choreographic drama

To cite this article

Priezzheva E.S. Russian Literature in the Creative Work by European Choreographers (on the example of the ballet «Winter dreams» by K. Macmillan). // Theory and History of Art. 2023. N 3/4, p.300–332

Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
N 3/4, 2023

Abstract

The article analyzes «Winter Dreams», a ballet in one act by K. MacMillan, based on Chekhov's play «Three Sisters», staged in 1991 in the UK, in the context of interpreting the literary source on the ballet stage. The idea of the ballet is revealed, the dramatic and musical foundations, the set design, the features of choreographic dramaturgy, and the artistic methods compared with the choreographer's personal style are analyzed. The research provides a brief overview of the theatrical productions of «Three Sisters» in London, in the context of the approval of Chekhov's works in the English classical repertoire of the XX century. The author explains how the internal structure of the ballet meets the compositional complexity of the original play and how Chekhov's psychology is remained in the conditions of the ballet genre. It is noted that the choreographic dramaturgy principles used by K. Macmillan hide the linear development of the action, and escape the interpretation excessive illustrativity. It is also specified that the musical score in the form of mixing piano pieces by P.I. Tchaikovsky and Russian folk music supports a «Chekhovian genre», characterizing personal states of mind, and reflecting the reality in its comical ordinariness; and the characters are presented through a life prism and are truthfully revealed by the choreoplastic nuances. In conclusion, the article's author notes that the choreographer's experience looks credible, characterizes the mutual influence of cultures in the ballet directing, and the interpretation itself marks the rejection of a direct recreation of the plot with the help of artistic methods and the transformation connected with the literary source rethinking and conceptualizing in European choreographic art.

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