Continuity of the choreographic tradition of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet

Kopunova Kseniya Sergeevna ORCID: 0000-0001-9731-9672 Postgraduate student, Department , Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet 191023, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Architect Rossi str., 2 kse6581@yandex.ru

In terms of continuity, the spiritual community of people is valued above all, and the expression is recalled: "Spiritual relatives are better than bodily ones." Intergenerational continuity is one of the most important social phenomena, thanks to which the past is preserved, the integrity of society is preserved, the vector of further development is determined – this also applies to choreographic art.

The continuity of generations in choreographic art is guaranteed by education, which is a factor of individual social and spiritual development. 

It is important to note that in this article the term "continuity" is used in the aspect of education, since two choreographic traditions are compared, updated respectively in two educational organizations. The continuity of the choreographic tradition is the basis for combining the present, past and future in the theater. Changes in the development of culture in one or more theaters should occur in such a way that the main themes of culture are passed down from generation to generation and only minor details change. The continuity of the choreographic tradition is maintained through direct contact with live communicators who act as teachers and students.  The term "continuity" fully corresponds to its meaning, regarding the process of learning choreographic art. "The connection of times, the continuity of generations that keep the precepts of their predecessors and inherit great values, passing them on to students - this is the foundation of the traditionality of education, this is the guarantee of its quality" ^{[5, p. 263]}.

The purpose of the article is to compare the continuity factor of the choreographic tradition at the Mariinsky Theater and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.  It is important to determine what the continuity is manifested in today, using the example of the performances of the Mariinsky Theater, the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.

The role of modern ballet education, on the one hand, is to maintain the level of practical training of ballet dancers, and on the other hand, is to preserve those traditions that have been formed for centuries, designed and formed for an eight-year training cycle.

The analysis of the works of various researchers (M.Y. Gendova, G.N. Isaenko, V.M. Krasovskaya, etc.) shows that the problem under consideration may be the lack of methodology, theory, technology for the formation and development of pedagogical traditions of choreographic art.

The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the historical analysis and analysis of the structure and development of the choreographic education system in Russia was carried out on the model of the Mariinsky Theater and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.

To begin with, it is necessary to turn to the Soviet era, where special attention in choreographic education was paid to children's stage practice. In order to improve technical and acting skills, it was necessary to regularly go on stage. Among the outstanding choreographers are M. Fokin, G. Balanchivadze, L. Lavrovsky, V. Vainonen, V. Chabukiani, L. Jacobson, B. Fenster, K. Boyarsky, B. Eifman.

Pupils of the Academy are still actively involved in stage practice on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Currently, the number of performances featuring children's dances has increased significantly. These are "Sleeping Beauty", "Bayadere", "Don Quixote", "Corsair", "Paquita", "The Bronze Horseman", "Shurale", etc. Performing on the same stage with professional ballet dancers, students are required to show high quality performance and impeccable training. Children's dancing in ballets has always been the first step in this art for everyone, even the most famous dancers. The path to the profession of young performers begins with these productions, and the origins of their artistic development in ballet are the education of stage discipline, understanding of orchestral music, and the development of artistic abilities. These stage skills gradually turn into professional skills, forming the baggage necessary for the profession of a ballet dancer.

In the art of choreography, it is with the children's dances of M. I. Petipa that one can begin the theme of the continuity of choreographic traditions. This is the base with which the whole era of Russian ballet and its legacy are connected. Russian Russian ballet combined music and choreography, the French school with the Russian spirit, he staged more than 60 ballet performances, thereby defining the classical heritage of Russian ballet.

It is important to note the term "choreographic tradition", which in a broad sense refers to everything related to the art of dance, whereas the basis of the concept, or choreography in a narrow sense, is dance. The peculiarity of the choreographic tradition, as well as choreography itself, is that it conveys human thoughts, feelings and experiences without the help of speech, through movements and facial expressions ^{[1, p. 204]}.

The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet trains ballet dancers, choreographers, art critics (ballet scholars), set designers and accompanists. In 2005, the academy was the first of the art schools to receive the status of a non-standard educational institution for teenagers and people with special abilities. This officially indicates that the Academy has played an important role in the domestic system of choreographic education and organizational features of the educational process.

To date, ballet education solves the problem of maintaining the level of practical training of professional ballet dancers, on the one hand, and adapting the established tradition of training ballet dancers to the level and goals of ballet-pedagogical activity, on the other. 

The Mariinsky Ballet plays a huge role in the development of Russian culture. Russian Russian folk dances were performed in its establishments, thanks to which many domestic and foreign viewers had the opportunity to get acquainted with traditional Russian culture.

Today, the art of the Mariinsky Theater has "conquered" almost all continents. Russian Russian ballet experts from all over the world note the deep connection between Russian ballet and Russian classical art. The reputation of the Russian ballet school is very high in Europe, America and Asia, so the desire to join the traditions of our school has always attracted everyone who is related to ballet art, from choreographers to recognized masters.

The solution to the issue of continuity in choreography is to study the existing systems of teaching classical dance. They reflect the style and manner of performance, which serves as a guarantee of preserving the traditions of the best ballet school in the world. The process of systematization of the methodology, after A. Ya. Vaganova, was continued by her followers who graduated from pedagogical courses under her leadership: among them N. P. Bazarova, V. P. May, V. S. Kostrovitskaya, L. I. Yarmolovich, E. V. Shiripina, etc. Also, a special basis for identifying the continuity of the choreographic tradition in the process of training and stage practice is the analysis of modern productions of performances that take place at the Mariinsky Theater.

The teaching system created by A. Ya. Vaganova is based on the achievements of the Italian, French and Russian performing arts schools. In our opinion, the traditional model of ballet dance training based on the methodology of A.Ya. Vaganova relies on a complex system of highly structured methodological systems based on the level of complexity in accordance with the historical tradition of ballet education.

Currently, in the conditions of the modern information society, the issue of cultural and artistic heritage of the national tradition of ballet theater is of particular importance, in which specific phrases with inextricably expressed concepts, meanings and value orientations are revealed, which often contradict each other in the conditions of globalization. The actors' need to know the inner world of a person and his great tragedy on stage is associated with the subjectivity of existence, loneliness of the individual, lack of communication skills, complex communication relationships. But at the same time, the achievements of the domestic system of Russian ballet were forgotten, and therefore, from the earliest stages of its creation and development, it took into account world experience and guidance on finding meanings of expression, verbal description ^{[11, p. 198]}. 

The Russian ballet style, which we know today, began to take shape precisely on the basis of the teaching system of A. Ya. Vaganova. The uniform manner of performance, noted by her students, determined him. The desire for conscious execution of each movement contributes to the development of virtuoso technique. Great attention has always been paid and is being paid to danceability and expressiveness for ballet dancers. If we talk about the continuity of traditions in the methodology of A. Ya. Vaganova, it should be noted that she developed the goals and objectives of her teacher E. O. Vazem. In her memoirs, A. Ya. Vaganova writes that E. O. Vazem thoughtfully set different tasks at each lesson: on the development of endurance, musicality, plasticity, softness of performance, developed a jump and accustomed to the strict correctness of the execution of movements ^{[12, p. 122]}.

A. Ya . Vaganova insisted: "It should be added that the achievement of full coordination of all movements of the human body in the dance exercise makes it necessary to further inspire movements with thought, mood, that is, to give them that expressiveness, which is called artistry" ^{[3, p. 12]}.

E. N. Heydenreich, a dancer and teacher-tutor, whom Vaganova considered her follower and like-minded person, noted that it was necessary to "fight with indifferent, indifferent faces and tense heads. Delving into the technique and purity of execution, one should not forget about the "face" and "soul-filled flight" ^{[5, p. 156]}. This is the continuity of Vaganova's traditions. It is important in the process of studying movements, in a classical dance lesson, to animate them, to dance, and not to perform them mechanically. Since the teaching methodology of A. Ya. Vaganova was developed and was closely connected with theatrical practice, we can safely talk about combining choreographic and pedagogical activities and, as a result, about the highest level of the Mariinsky Theater troupe.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Mariinsky Theatre was founded in the traditions of the great M. I. Petipa. His ballet was inviolable. And in many of his works he introduced children's dance. From time to time, both junior and senior students of the school participated in the performance. Great choreographers were built from an early age as an opportunity to awaken children's dance interests and conscious performances with the birth of art, freedom of movement on stage and other professional qualities of the artist. Children's participation has always been the jewel of ballet. The master conducted the rehearsals calmly, patiently and carefully. He taught children movements in an exact musical sequence, beautifully and clearly. He paid attention to the simultaneous movements of the head and body. M. I. Petipa believed that when staging a dance, it is necessary to develop the imagination of the child, to achieve his conscious stage behavior and active attitude to creativity. Then any, even the most incredible details of the performance will be available to him." ^{[7, p. 41]}.

Petipa was a true master of dance. He took into account both the tastes of the public and the opportunities and needs of the artists, which is very important for the final result of joint work. He did not include acrobatic elements in his choreography, believing that they distract artists from creating an image. In his productions, academic classical dance was of paramount importance. V. M. Krasovskaya wrote: "Never violating the iron schemes of academic ballet dance, he sought to infuse poetic content into it, fill it with authentic imagery" ^{[10, p. 243]} This is an example of not just competent command of choreographic language, but also an important fact of the continuity of classical traditions dance.

The triumph of the Russian ballet is associated with the name of M. Petipa. His contribution to the choreographic art is difficult to overestimate. The legacy of M. I. Petipa helped the Russian ballet, which established its traditions of stage and performing skills, surpass European ones and become the center of the world choreographic art. It would be appropriate to quote the words of L. I. Abyzova: "One can only rely on the mission of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi Theaters, whose task should be to preserve at the reference level the grains of the legacy of Marius Ivanovich Petipa." ^{[2, p. 245]}. Preserving the choreography of the XIX century in its original form is a difficult task. It is known that M. I. Petipa himself adjusted variations for a certain dancer, and believed that to show the artist at his best, that's the goal of the choreographer. Today, the capabilities of artists have changed, time will judge for the better or for the worse. A. A. Sokolov-Kaminsky argues that: "... a ballet performance that has existed for many decades is inevitably subject to changes due to various reasons, including objective ones, such as, for example, the growth of virtuosity of dance skills." ^{[12, p. 105]}. Despite this, it is necessary in all possible ways to remember the recommendations and comments of such ballet masters as G. T. Komleva, G. P. Kekisheva, E. V. Evteeva, T. G. Terekhova, M. G. Kullik, who were mentored by masters of the past who came out of the class of A. Ya. Vaganova.

The conclusions of this article can be considered the justified need to transfer from generation to generation the knowledge and skills of dancing. Using the available knowledge and skills, you need to move on. It is on the experience of the older generation that new opportunities are being built. At the same time, Vaganova herself left an important testament to her followers: "... life is all around, everything is growing, everything is moving forward. Therefore, I recommend watching life and art." ^{[3, p. 9]}. It follows that the timely development and addition of methods of teaching classical dance is necessary. It will allow us to move in a modern direction, taking into account the development of dance art and will be necessary for young generations of ballet dancers to improve their bodily apparatus.

It is also important to note the very moment of continuity of the choreographic tradition as the participation of students of the Academy of Russian Ballet in the stage practice of the Mariinsky Theater, which evenly and gradually introduces students into the rhythm of theatrical life, accustoming them to professional existence on stage and giving those skills that are the beginning of their creative career. Here there is a development of respect for an older friend, mentor. The relationship between a teacher and a student, which is laid down during training, as well as relations with senior colleagues, serve as a guarantee of continuity of traditions of internal, collective relationships.

This article touches upon a very important topic of preserving the classical repertoire as a historical continuity of cultural heritage. The whole essence of culture and continuity as a factor of its development is to preserve, consolidate and form new qualities enriched by previous experience.

The essence of continuity was best expressed by L. N. Tolstoy, who loved such an aphorism: "Whoever owns the past owns the present, whoever owns the present owns the future."

It should be added that the dance technique has been developing over the centuries, continuously improved, but has not lost its identity. Based on European dance laws, Russian ballet embodied its national character, which was reflected in the music, performance, and artistic design. Today, the Russian Ballet is one of the leading in the world, and the Mariinsky Theater is the pearl of Russian and world culture. Therefore, it is especially important for our society to preserve this unique heritage.

In the conditions of continuity of the dance education system, the stability of the pedagogical tradition is determined not only by the time parameter, which is the leading element, but also by the possibility of their significance. The study of the pedagogical tradition of choreographic education in Russia makes it possible to determine the value potential of ballet art in certain historical periods of social development on the example of the studied educational institutions. The study of the problem of the pedagogical tradition of ballet, ballet pedagogy in general and choreographic education in particular is an important applied task of preserving and developing the pedagogical tradition of choreographic education in Russia.

Based on the material of this article, it can be assumed that the pedagogical tradition of choreographic education in Russia is particularly developed. In the difficult conditions of reforming the education system of the Russian Federation, domestic choreographic art and pedagogical traditions have been preserved, which can be expressed by such principles as the unity of tradition and innovation, the obligation of interdisciplinary connections, the unity of research, systems, educational and creative activity, the use of individualization, personal identity and anthropological approaches, the representation of polymodal learning. The synthesis of these pedagogical principles determines the originality of the creation and development of the pedagogical tradition of choreographic education in Russia.

The source of the formation and development of the Russian drama and ballet theater was the understanding of the constancy of the mind, access to the core of the meaning of the performance and the structure of dramatic action. In this regard, the choreographers and actors of the Mariinsky Theater and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet played their historical role.