Coast of Hope (ballet)

In 1950, the librettist Yuri Slonimsky conceived the script for the ballet “Fishermen” about the working days of Soviet fishermen, one of which falls on a “foreign shore” during a storm, where he is tormented by “enemies” and then saved by participants in a working demonstration. Yuri Grigorovich became interested in the idea of ​​the production, supported by the then artistic director of the ballet of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov Pyotr Gusev . But the writing of the libretto lasted for six years - Slonimsky could not get out of the plot alterations worthy of the "drama ballet" - round dances of the collective farm chairman with kindergarten pupils, increased catches of fishermen, gifts of Soviet workers to a newborn, etc. During this time, two ballet leaders changed theater, and Yuri Grigorovich moved away from the project.

Only a meeting with Igor Belsky during the rehearsals of the ballet The Thunder Trail in 1957 gave a new impetus to the ballet about fishermen. Belsky, by then already having tried himself as a choreographer, showed interest in the libretto, but resolutely protested against the remnants of "drama ballet". Slonimsky rewrote the script and the new artistic director of the Kirov Theater Ballet Fyodor Lopukhov supported the production. Belsky found the beginning composer Andrei Petrov himself. But when the performance was ready and it was accepted by a commission from the Ministry of Culture and the Department of Culture of the Central Committee of the CPSU , the high authorities had doubts - the Soviet Union was shown in ballet, but there were no Russian dances, Soviet fishermen were running with bare torsos, and for some reason they weren’t on the Soviet coast a red flag flutters ... Only the intervention of the director Roman Tikhomirov , the future chief director of the Kirovsky Theater, who was friends with Furtseva , saved the new performance. The burnt careerist Tikhomirov reminded the high authorities that the premiere of the ballet is dedicated to the 21st Congress of the CPSU and that the party has given the installation: the road is young.

The ballet saw the light, but Igor Belsky, like his predecessor Grigorovich, was declared a “formalist”. Leonid Lavrovsky , Rostislav Zakharov and Konstantin Sergeyev from high stands called for the stigmatization of the leaders of formalism. But Belsky was saved by the Kirov Theater tour in Moscow, where The Coast of Hope and his next ballet The Leningrad Symphony were welcomed by critics and influential colleagues.

Our shore

• Fisherman
• His favourite
• Variations: Prayer, Despair, Hope
• Fishermen
• Girls
• Seagulls

Alien Coast

• The girl who lost her beloved
• Fishermen
• Patrol
• Stranger
• Temptations

First act

• Seagulls fly
• Hello, hometown!
• Friendship song
• Fisherman and his beloved
• Parting
• In the storm

Second act

• Fishermen are returning
• Patrol
• Lost a beloved
• Man in the sea!
• Dispute
• Unequal battle
• The gulls are calling

Third act

• Torture
• Friends voices
• Man in black
• Interrupted Story
• Torture again
• On the wings of Love
• Coast of hope

Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov

The premiere took place on April 16, 1959.

Choreographer Igor Belsky , production designer Valery Dorrer , conductor Yevgeny Dubovsky

Characters

• Fisherman - Askold Makarov , (then Alexander Gribov , Yuri Solovyov , Oleg Sokolov )
• His favorite is Alla Osipenko , (then Irina Kolpakova , Ninel Kurgapkina )
• Prayer - Tatyana Udalenkova , (then Irina Bazhenova, Margarita Alfimova , Natalya Bolshakova )
• Despair - Kaleria Fedicheva , (then Galina Ivanova , Tatyana Legat )
• Lost her beloved - Tatyana Legat, (then Gabriela Komleva , Margarita Alfimova)
• The man in black - Yuri Myachin

Renewal in 1970

Conductor Yuri Gamaley

Characters

• Fisherman - Yuri Solovyov, (then Vadim Budarin )
• His favorite is Alla Osipenko, (then Irina Kolpakova)
• The Prayer - Tatyana Udalenkova
• Despair - Galina Ivanova
• Lost her beloved - Gabriela Komleva, (then Tatyana Legat)

Performances in other theaters

• 1963 - Perm Opera and Ballet Theater , choreographer M. M. Gaziev
• 1963 - Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater , choreographer N. I. Tregubov
• 1965 - Moscow Academic Musical Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko , choreographer Igor Belsky, production designer Valery Dorrer, conductor George Zhemchuzhin
• 1965 - Turkmen Opera and Ballet Theater, choreographer E. Tann
• 1966 - Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater , choreographer V. Kh. Pyari

• Dobrovolskaya G. “Dance Poem” // Change: newspaper. - L. , 1959. - No. 18 of June .
• Karp P. "Dramaturgy and choreography" // For Soviet art: newspaper. - L. , 1959. - No. 25 of June .
• Chistyakova V. “The Coast of Hope” - a ballet about modernity // Leningradskaya Pravda : newspaper. - L. , 1959. - No. 27 of June .
• Entelis L. “Coast of Hope” // Star: magazine. - L. , 1959. - No. 9 .
• Katonova S. “Romance of love and heroism” // Soviet music : magazine. - M. , 1959. - No. 9 .
• Sheremetyevskaya N. “Seagulls in Flight” // Theater: magazine. - M. , 1959. - No. 11 .
• Lvov-Anokhin B. "The modern theme in ballet" // Musical life : magazine. - M. , 1960. - No. 2 .
• Bogdanov-Berezovsky V. “Letter from Leningrad” // Soviet music: magazine. - M. , 1961. - No. 8 .
• Chistyakova V. In the world of dance . - L .: Art, 1964. - S. 114-116. - 130 p. Archived March 5, 2016 on Wayback Machine
• Dashicheva A. Again - “Coast of Hope” // Theater : magazine. - M. , 1965. - No. 10 .
• Slonimsky Yu. Time of big changes // “In honor of the dance”. - M: Art , 1968. - S. 301-307. - 402 s. - 25,000 copies.
• Bialik M. “Like a legend ...” // Leningrad truth: newspaper. - L. , 1970. - No. 10 of March .
• Il'icheva M. Irina Kolpakova . - L .: Art, 1979. - S. 61-67. - 260 p. - ( Ballet Soloists ). - 25,000 copies.
• Il'icheva M. Askold Makarov . - L .: Art, 1984. - 194 p. - ( Ballet Soloists ). - 25,000 copies.
• Zozulina N. Alla Osipenko . - L .: Art, 1987. - P. 84-91. - 256 s. - ( Ballet Soloists ). - 25,000 copies.
• Gamaley U. Year 1959 // "Mariinsky" and my life. Memoirs of the conductor. - L .: PapiRus, 1999 .-- S. 237–239. - 424 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-87472-137-1 .
• L.I. Abyzova . From the Fishermen to the Coast of Hope // Igor Belsky. The symphony of life . - SPb. : Russian Ballet Academy A. Ya. Vaganova, 2000 .-- S. 110-133. - 400 p. - 1200 copies. - ISBN 5-93010-008-X.
• Sheremetyevskaya N. Choreographers - “sixties” // Long shadows. - M .: Editorial office of the magazine "Ballet", 2007. - S. 237-243. - 490 s. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-901818-09-9 .