Russian fairy tales (ballet)

In 1916 , in Spain, the Russian ballet of Diaghilev showed the one-act ballet of Myasin “ Kikimora ” ^[5] . This short composition to the music of the symphonic poem by A.K. Lyadov was created at the time of the complications of V.F. Nizhinsky's relationship with S.P. Diaghilev , who decided to identify L.F. Myasin as the ballet master of the troupe. According to the memoirs of S. L. Grigoriev , the entrepreneur “imagined that Myasin was able to become the embodiment of everything that was modern in art, and to realize Diaghilev’s own ideas. While we were in Rome , he did not lose the opportunity to incorporate these ideas into his mind. <...> The meat period in the history of the Russian Ballet began in Rome ” ^[6] .

In Rome, Diaghilev suggested that Larionov and Myasin expand Kikimora by adding other paintings based on Russian fairy tales, for which the story of Baba Yaga and the music of the eponymous symphonic poem Lyadov ( 1904 ) were chosen, and the ballet was called Russian Tales ^{[7 ]} . At that time, in Myasin, Rome created three ballets: “ Women in a Good Mood ,” “Russian Tales” and “ Parade ”. In Russian Tales, Myasin continued the Russian line based on folklore, begun in the ballets Midnight Sun and Kikimora. From the point of view of the stylistics of Myasin’s works, “Russian Tales” took place after the first Russian ballet “The Midnight Sun”, the first Spanish “ Menina ” and the first Italian “Women in a Good Mood”. The ballet was performed by Larionov and Goncharova, who joined San Sebastian in the Diaghilev troupe after her American tour of 1916 ^[8] .

In the spring of 1917, Myasin composed additional scenes “The Swan Princess and Bova Royal” and “Baba Yaga” to the music of Lyadov — this is how “Kikimora” became the first scene of the ballet “Russian Tales” ^[2] . The new Russian ballet included Prologue, Epilogue and 4 paintings: “Kikimora”, “Bova Royal and Swan Princess”, “Baba Yaga”, “Kolyada” ^[9] . A puppeteer appeared in the Prologue and presented to the public two puppets - Kikimoru and Kota ^{[7] [10]} . “As an interval between the episodes with the Swan Princess and the last scene with Baba Yaga, I came up with a scene of a terrible funeral procession in which three peasants carried dragon heads on long poles, and the Cat walked, stumbling on its hind legs, sobbing in handkerchief ” ^[11] . When creating the composition, Myasin enlisted the support of Diaghilev and Larionov, who acted not only as a designer and author of the libretto, but also as a “movement consultant” ^[12] when Myasin turned to him for advice ^[13] . In the ballet, the scenery “acquires its own choreographic part - Izba Baba Yaga dances, the role of which is performed by two artists, the cot of Kikimora sways, a part of the backstage comes to life and starts to dance” ^[12] . The result of such cooperation “was a magnificent performance, distinctly Russian, in three episodes, connected by interludes, and ending with an unusually colorful mass scene” ^[6] . In "Russian Tales", declared as "choreographic miniatures", ancient Russia is depicted, only it is presented in the modern version ^[14] with the use of pagan folk characters of the era before the baptism of Russia ^[15] . But, according to the description of Myasin, in the last scene of Baba Yaga, the Girl is baptized and escapes from a cannibal trying to catch her with the help of three devils ^[13] .

In 1918, the “Lament of the Swan Princess” and interludes connecting parts: separate dances and the scene “Dragon Funeral” were staged on a tour in London. At all stages of the creation of the ballet, starting from Kikimora to the last expanded edition, Myasin worked with Larionov and Goncharova ^[16] .

• 1917, May 11 - the first show of the suite of choreographic miniatures and dances “Russian Tales” ( Fr. Contes russes ^[17] “Kikimora”, “Bova Royal”, “Baba Yaga”, “Kolyada Malyada”) at the Chatelet Theater, Paris. Music by A.K. Lyadov, choreography by L.F. Myasin. Scenery and stage curtain by M.F. Larionov; Costumes M.F. Larionov and N.S. Goncharova. Conductor E. Anserme, director S. L. Grigoriev ^[3] .

Roles and Performers ^[18]

• Puppeteer (Prelude) - Leon Voytsikhovsky
• Kikimora - Lydia Sokolova
• Cat - Stanislav Idzikovsky
• The Swan Princess - Lyubov Chernysheva
• Bova Royal - Leonid Myasin
• Baba Yaga - Nikolay Kremnev
• Girl - Antonova
• Three features (at Norton - Forest demons ) - Okhimovsky, Maximov, George Yazvinsky

Unlike some Russian fairy tales, where Kikimora appears in a masculine guise, in the ballet the character is represented by a female person ^[19] . From July to October 1917, "Russian Tales" were shown during a tour of the countries of South America ( Uruguay , Brazil , Argentina ) ^[17] .

• 1918 , December 23 - premiere of the new and final expanded edition entitled "Children's Tales" at the Coliseum Theater, London ^{[20] [21] [22]}

The ballet was included in the repertoire of the Diaghilev troupe and since the first show has been performed annually, being presented on tour in famous theaters in European cities ( Barcelona , Geneva , London, Madrid , Monte Carlo , Paris, Rome, Turin ) ^[23] . The last time “Russian Tales” was presented by the Diaghilev troupe on May 5, 1929 at the Monte Carlo Opera ^[24] , after which only the Baba Yaga miniature was performed in the same year: in May – June in the 22nd Russian season at the Theater Sarah Bernhardt (Paris) ^[24] and in July at Covent Garden (London) ^[25] .

• 1934 , August 7 - The reopening of the ballet Russian Tales by the Russian Ballet Colonel de Basil was presented at the Covent Garden Theater , London. The premiere in Australia took place on December 5, 1936 at the His Majesty's Theater in Melbourne , after which the shows were held during the Australian tour of the 1936/37 troupe of the Russian Ballet Monte Carlo Colonel de Basil.

The permanent director of the troupe, S. L. Grigoriev, wrote: “If Fokine’s influence is still noticeable in The Midnight Sun , the ballets that appeared in Rome were created in a completely different way, they already showed a style that was destined to become distinctly meat. Having lost similarities with the Fokine ballets, marked with a clear and beautiful pattern, and with the traditional classical ballets, they became complicated, dry, pretentious ” ^[6] .

Leslie Norton noted that Russian Tales was an important step in the development of Myasin as a choreographer, becoming his first experience with a large ensemble of dancers ^[26] .

• Kikimora - a symphonic poem by A.K. Lyadov
• Kikimora - ballet of L. F. Myasin
• Russian ballet of Diaghilev
• Russian ballet Monte Carlo

• Grigoriev S. L. Ballet of Diaghilev, 1909-1929 = The Diaghilev Ballet. 1909-1929 / Per. from English Chistyakova N.A .; foreword and com. V.V. Chistyakova . - M .: Artist. Director Theater, 1993 .-- 383 p. - ( Ballets Russes ). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-87334-002-1 .
• Kulakov V. A. Russian Tales // Russian Ballet: Encyclopedia / Ed. E.P. Belova, G.N. Dobrovolskaya , V.M. Krasovskaya , E. Ya. Surits . - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, Concord, 1997. - 632 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-85270-099-1 .
• Myasin L.F. My life in ballet = My Life in Ballet / Per. from English M.M.Singal / foreword. and fragments from the monograph "Leonid Fedorovich Myasin" Surits E. Ya. / com. E. Yakovleva. - M .: Artist. Director Theater, 1997 .-- 366 p. - ( Ballets Russes ). - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-87334-012-9 .
• Myasin L.F. L.F. Myasin. Letters to A.P. Bolshakov (1914-1917) / Publication, entry. Art. and com. E. Ya. Surits // Mnemozina: Documents and Facts from the History of Russian Theater of the 20th Century: Almanac / Ed. V.V. Ivanov. - M .: Indrik, 2014 .-- Issue. 6 .-- 904 s. - 800 copies. - ISBN 978-5-91674-330-2 .
• Surits E. Ya. The History of Russian Ballet, real and fantastic in drawings, memoirs and photographs from the archive of Mikhail Larionov / Scientific. ed. Elizabeth Surits, Gleb Pospelov . - M .: Interros Publishing Program, 2009. - 432 p. - (“First Publication”). - ISBN 978-5-91491-013-3 .
• Les ballets russes : [ fr. ] : Catalog d'exposition [Paris, Bibliothèque-musée de l'Opéra, 24 novembre 2009 - 23 mai 2010] / Direction de Mathias Auclair et Pierre Vidal; assistés de Jean-Michel Vinciguerra; préface de Bruno Racine. - Montreuil: Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2009 .-- 299 p. - ISBN 978-2-35340-067-6 .
• Norton L. Léonid Massine and 20th Century Ballet / Leslie Norton. - McFarland & Company, 2004 .-- 380 p. - ISBN 0-7864-1752-8 .

• Baba Yaga, op. 56 (Lyadov, Anatoly): sheet music by International Music Score Library Project
• Kikimora, op. 63 (Lyadov, Anatoly): sheet music by International Music Score Library Project
• Lyadov. Kikimora, op. 63 on YouTube - a symphonic poem performed by the SB of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic conducted by Yu. Kh. Temirkanov , 2013