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A TICKET TO BOLSHOI
I'm terribly sorry, you took me unawares, I haven't even put a wig on.
Irina DOLZHENKO: - But I have a nice hat, a stunning costume...
...and today we're having a premiere of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier!
The musical director of this production is Vassily Sinaisky, the artistic director of the Bolshoi.
The production is directed by a famous English director Stephen Lawless.
And the designer who made my fabulous dress and other great costumes, is Sue Wilmington.
This is our dear director Stephen Lawless.
The thing is, we have very complicated mise-en-scenes.
I have to push the wheelchair with the Baron around the stage.
But the wheelchair is very heavy, the Baron's quite large, and I'm small.
I just couldn't move the wheelchair. So Stephen told me not to move it but to pretend I'm rocking him in his chair.
And he gave me candies!
It's a tradition, you know, among actors and directors, the Western ones especially,
to bring some sweets on the first night to make it nice and to keep everyone in good mood.
Oleg NAIDENYSHEV, Assistant Director: - It's 6 minutes until the performance begins, and it's my least favourite time.
Everyone's prepared, the orchestra is in the pit, the singers are ready to go on the stage.
Only the directors can be here, and the property man can bring the Marshallin's table.
Here are the hairpins the extras fasten her wig with on stage.
Octavian's sabre. It keeps falling, so we had to glue it on a double-sided tape.
The glass is for the Marshallin, she must have some water to drink,
as it's a very taxing part vocally.
Yes, I'm very excited. It's a premiere, after all.
Here I am in my wig, almost ready.
Unfortunately, maestro Sinaisky could not lead the performance tonight, Alexander Soloviev has come to his stead.
I believe we'll accomplish everything maestro Sinaisky has devised.
He has put a lot of effort into the soloists and the orchestra.
We'll try our best to carry out what he wanted to hear in this opera.
Melanie DIENER
This is an extraordinary and very complicated score.
The music is amazing. When we were listening to it on the piano, during the rehearsals,
we thought it was something incomprehensible. And when we heard it with the orchestra, we found ourselves in a magical world.
And I see now why Sinaisky did it: he wanted us to listen to the orchestra fabric and to understand how our voices should be intertwined in it.
It's a very complex and colourful score, it has a lot of solo instruments we have to hear and cooperate with.
Lyubov PETROVA Anna STEPHANY
It's been a long time since we last had such costumes.
Very beautiful, stylish, in accordance with the epoque.
These costumes are supposed to make us feel special.
The choreographer and the director tried to make us feel different in each epoque.
Act 1 is 18th century, Act 2 is 19th, Act 3 is 20th.
And they have appropriate style.
Evgeny NAGOVITSYN
When the director was teling us about his concept, he said he wanted to go away from the traditional lyricism, to make something more action-filled.
With a lot of things happening, coming together as a kaleidoscope, forming an interesting work.
Lyubov PETROVA Thomas ALLEN
We were very interested because everyone got like 3 roles at once. You had to be different in each act.
The air in each act was different.
Irina DOLZHENKO Stephen RICHARDSON
Irina DOLZHENKO: This is the music for our theatre! So grand, with a large orchestra...
It's such a wonderful feeling - to be inside this music, in this production.
Makvala KASRASHVILI, Director of the Opera Company collectives: I was with the audience, and the public was bewitched, despite this opera being so long.
There was no time to be bored, you couldn't help but enjoy this beauty.
Melanie DIENER Anna STEPHANY Lyubov PETROVA
Fantastic ensembles, extremely difficult parts, so many nuances, such intricate singing.
The final trio, I think it's the art of singing at its finest.
Stephen LAWLESS, the director
Vyacheslav YEFIMOV, Deputy Director: - It's been 5 months since the Bolshoi Theatre was opened for the public after its major restoration,
reconstruction, technical reequipment. It begins outdoors.
One of the most important tasks of the reconstruction was to improve conditions for the public.
Now, when people come to the theatre, they may not notice,
but the changes are fundamental.
There is a new concert hall that hasn't been there before, under the Teatralnaya Square, in front of the columns.
The inconspicuous glass pavilions mark the evacuation exits from this hall.
Later we will go down and see how the concert hall looks like.
We're approaching one of the entrances to the main building.
Now there is another ticket office in here.
The door plate reads it's an entrance to the stalls, the amphitheatre, the lower boxes, the dress & 1st circles.
The entrance to the upper circles is at the side.
The side facades of the theatre are decorated with the cast iron galleries.
The side entrances are right there.
This is Petrovka Street, across the street is the TSUM shopping mall.
On the other side is the Tschepkin Way, we'll approach one of the doors now.
These are newly opened entrances, we'll see them from the inside later.
But the public enters them as before, from under the cast iron gallery.
In the 19th century two more entrances for the public were opened.
But now they are mostly closed and open only for the entrance to the underground concert hall.
Now we're in the Kopievsky side-street, near the reconstructed northern facade of the theatre.
Before the reconstruction there was an outdoor storage of decorations here.
And there was no public passage.
This side-street joins together the Petrovka st., the Bolshaya Dmitrovka st. and the Teatralnaya Square.
So you can see the theatre from all sides.
Facing the northern facade is the Khomyakov House, an architectural monument,
which also belongs to the theatre and was restored during the reconstruction.
A beautiful facade by the architect Joseph Bove.
Now we're in the theatre's lobby.
It's warm here, in contrast with the outdoors temperature.
From here the public begins their journey around the theatre.
We'll try to move fast to see as much as possible and to show you how the audience feels in the renewed Bolshoi Theatre.
As I said before, one of the most importants tasks of the reconstruction was to ensure the safety of the public.
The security system protects the public from possible threats.
Near the main staircase there's a new ticket office that hasn't been there before.
People can purchase tickets here the whole day long and before the performance.
Now we move to the opposite side of the lobby.
There's the administrator's window opposite the main staircase.
Now the administrator has more responsibilities towards the audience than before.
It wasn't possible to make wheelchair ramps everywhere,
so there is special equipment for transporting wheelchairs of the handicapped persons up the stairs.
This is part of such equipment, a device that can carry a wheelchair.
A special staff member will transport a handicapped person to his/her place.
The stairs are on both sides of the lobby, they lead to the main foyer.
We'll see it, too.
And this lobby is accessed from the side entrances.
From here the public goes to the stairs and the elevators that pick them up to the cloakroom on the 3d circle.
The elevators are not large. They had to fit into the historical interior,
so there were serious size limits.
Nevertheless, if someone needs to use an elevator, they can do it.
Having their tickets checked, people go to the cloakroom and leave their things there.
Everyone except the owners of tickets to the 3 upper circles, can use this cloakroom.
It's situated in its original place, there always was a cloakroom here.
It has been enlarged at the expense of technical premises.
There are also clothes hangers in addition to pegs.
From the cloakroom the people can get to the elevators and circular stairs.
These are new fire-prevention doors.
They are held permanently open by special magnets and close only in the case of emergency,
isolating staircases from possible smoke.
Circular staircases are equipped with modern panoramic elevators
that haven't been there before. The elevators can get you to all levels of the audience's space.
From the lower cloakroom we went up to the 3d floor, where a new cloakroom for upper circles is situated.
This room was a costume storage before.
And, as strange as it might seem, this new cloakroom may be better than the old one, as it has more space.
There are two such cloakrooms, and people get to them by means of those small elevators near the side entrances.
We're going to the new cafeteria.
The cafeteria is very large, it occupies all the space around the audience hall.
It has 5 sectors and the same structure as the main foyer.
In short, a large, modern cafeteria.
The side foyers have become quite important premises.
The famous cafeteria was here before the reconstruction.
The smell of smoked sturgeon was spreading from here throughout the whole theatre and reached even the audience hall.
I must say that only in Soviet years the theatre cafeteria was here.
Before the revolution it was under the stage zone, and during the day the ballet fans could come and see the rehearsal.
Now the audience doesn't have such opportunity,
and this space is used to connect the old audience zone with the new underground premises.
This is the entrance to the lower boxes, this is to the stalls and the amphitheatre.
Next is the door to the stairs, cloakrooms, elevators.
Then there are the stairs, elevators and escalators that lead to the underground space.
The new underground hall is called the Beethoven's Hall, after an old concert hall that was located in one of the side foyers.
We're in the new Beethoven's Hall now.
Now it looks like a foyer, with no chairs.
This floor can transform, it can go up and down, forming different levels.
The architect Andreyev used Italian motives in his design of the hall which go well with the main building's interior.
The acoustics here can change according to the configuration of the acoustic panels, there.
They can move forward and form the acoustic wall behind the structural columns.
To achieve good acoustics, different surfaces were used.
Here we have concrete surface,
imitating the folds of an open curtain.
Besides its decorative function, it has an acoustic one, diffusing the sound and at the same time preserving its power.
This is the contour of the stage.
When the source of the sound is inside this contour, the sound spreads around extremely well.
The structure of the hall is similar to that of a Roman amphitheatre.
And some of the ancient acoustic methods that allowed sound to be projected around without any amplification, were actually used.
One of the problems during the construction of this hall was the metro line under it.
An enormous amount of work was done to remove the effects of vibration and noise from the passing trains.
A large portion of the metro rails had to be put on anti-vibration elements.
We're very happy with the result and are proud to present this hall to our audience.
This is where we end for today.
Vyacheslav YEFIMOV, Deputy Director: - Next time we'll see the main foyer and the audience hall.
The rehearsal is over in the ballet class #5, led by the People's Artist of Russia Nina Semizorova.
- Nina Lvovna, good evening. - Good evening.
Are you free now, your working hours are over?
They are, for today.
- Will you find some time for us? - With pleasure.
How was your day? Did you have many students?
Yes, a lot of lessons, all of them very different. I'm tired, of course.
But I'm satisfied with the work I've done.
I don't have this feeling every day.
So you're content with your students' performance?
Today, I am.
And how many did you have today?
Only 2, but one had 3 rehearsals, and another 2.
Other girls have left, they take part in the opening of the competition in Perm.
Daria Kohklova, Maria Alexandrova have left on tour.
Maria Allash is temporarily out of business.
Allash, Alexandrova, Kaptsova - they are all etoiles. It must be difficult working wihth them?
I'm sort of a guiding force with them. They are creators, experienced dancers who understand their art.
They have their own attitude, each of them.
- And their caprices? - Well, many things happen.
I like attitude in work.
Helps you on stage. Of course, it has its disadvantages, but a dancer must have spirit.
You are a well-known dancer. Was there such a thing as an etoile in your time?
It was implied, rather.
A true ballerina is the one who dances in the lead, who has the most important roles.
You have been a coach for a long time, haven't you?
More than 10 years, I believe.
- And in the Bolshoi Theatre? - It's my third year here.
Do you still feel nostalgic when you see your students dancing the parts you have danced once?
No, I'm thinking of totally different things when I watch my student dance.
I know her weak points and I rather feel for her when I watch her performance.
But if I'm watching another dancer, not my student, yes, I can feel nostalgic.
As far as I know, Galina Ulanova trained until the end of her days.
- Do you train, too? - Yes, I do.
I try to do exercises all the time, though I missed a week, I was ill.
For me, ballet exercises are like going to a mass.
You start feeling different.
And what do you like more, dancing or coaching?
Of course, I loved dancing, but recently, I began to feel proud of my students, my work.
It may be a nice replacement for dancing.
Dance is all my life.
Your husband, Mark Peretokin, is a ballet dancer, too. Are you never tired of your profession? Do you have some home interests?
I have a lot of cares at home. Two cats and a dog, my daughter Anna, my mother.
Mark works in a theatre in another city, and we see each other only on holidays, you may say so.
What can make you laugh, feel easy-going?
Anything! I'm a friendly person, so I greet anything life gives me.
My cats, who keep annoying me, my dog who wakes me up at 6 AM...
What would you wish to yourself?
A bit of free time on a day off.
Thank you very much. And I wish you more reasons to smile, you have a wonderful smile.
Thank you.
As a young boy I was here on excursion.
I thought it was some kind of a museum, and so huge.
We were brought here to see "Cipollino" and there was also a bit of an excursion.
Who could ever think that this "museum" would become my home.
There were some nice events this year, as in all years past,
and one of these events was that I was commended by the Ministry of Culture for outstanding contribution to the development of Russian art.
Denis MEDVEDEV: - When in my youth I was winning golden and bronze medals
in different competitions, it was a motivation to move further.
So... be it a "bad luck" leap-year or any other year,
the most important thing is that these years go on.
L. Minkus Grand Pas from the ballet "Paquita"
This is my 18th season with the Bolshoi. I have many good memories,
a lot of things have been done.
A lot of nerves spent. The worries, the pains.
And a lot of joy. So, of course, it's an interesting profession.
Very demanding physically.
I can't say I'm feeling tired or whatever,
but I know how to control my performance, my emotions,
I know where I can have a bit of rest and where to put more effort.
This comes from the experience.
Everyone learns it in time.
L. Minkus "La Bayadere"
I don't think I have a specific dramatic type,
I'm a versatile dancer.
There are mime roles, there are character dances, more modern ones.
But what appeals to me most, are more emotional parts,
when you can pour a feeling from here, portray a person.
Be it a good character or an evil one.
[S. Prokofiev, "Romeo and Juliet"]
When I can feel connected to the person I'm portraying.
If we're to speak of such productions as "Romeo and Juliet" we had in the Bolshoi,
by Radu Poklitaru and a well-known theatre director Declan Donellan,
there were mixed critical receptions, of course, but we had great success everywhere we took it.
I was entrusted with the part of Tybalt, a negative character.
Tybalt - for me? I had absolutely no idea why I should play Tybalt.
I thought I was more suited for Mercutio, physically and stuff...
Declan Donellan spent a lot of time explaining me what was required of me.
There were about 5 different traits I had to portray during the performance.
It was very interesting dramatically.
Not just come and make a few movements, but how you make them, what you're putting into every gesture, every glance, every turn.
Denis SAVIN Denis MEDVEDEV
What can I say? Everything's changed, of course.
It's a bit different now.
Once I have danced right here, on this very floor.
It was galliarda, a historical dance.
I danced it on a small occasion organized by the Bolshoi Theatre.
So we're in this very foyer that was my dancing ground once.
P. Tchaikovsky, "The Nutcracker"
Xenia PCHELKINA Denis MEDVEDEV
I was energetic since childhood. I would start dancing as soon as someone turned the music on.
Must be in the genes, I suppose. First, it's my parents.
Both are dancers, my mum was in the Moiseev Folk Dance Ensemble.
Dad invited her to his company "Semyora", they often went on tours with our popular singers.
I was often left behind and stayed with my mother's sister or with a babysitter.
When my parents would come home, there were times I didn't recognize my mother.
They could be away on tour for 3-4 months, and I called my aunt "mama".
They took me to their concerts.
I sat there behind the scenes and clapped, like this.
And then they noticed that I was moving to the music,
showed me to some musicians. They gave me a drum and drumsticks, I started beating some rhythm.
And the drummer said: hey, the boy has a music ear, send him to a music school.
My parents began wondering what class to send me to.
I liked the drum. I would collect every pan and pot and beat it until our neighbours started knocking the walls.
And at age 6 I began attending an amateur theatre studio.
There was a teacher named Victoria Sergeyevna Martynenko who began teaching me ballet exercises.
First position, port de bras... I began to understand these French terms, to learn these movements.
I even danced on the stage, and I liked it very much.
When I heard the audience clapping, I had a giant smile on my face.
K. Khachaturian, "Cipollino"
I suppose in the beginning I wanted something else.
When my mum asked me what I wanted to be, I said: "A street cleaner".
Mum was shocked, she almost fainted.
"But, Denis, why a street cleaner?!"
I said: "Well, they don't have to work the whole day long and they're always outdoors."
Yeah, how do you like that...
And then everything went its way when I took the preparation courses to the ballet college.
For my entrance exams I danced fragments from a small number.
It was about a growing potato that I was pouring.
The potato was played by a girl, and I danced around with a watering can.
The dance was basically a few steps. The most difficult part was a squat movement.
I used to fall in this one.
And I was very worried. But my mum said: "Just smile and be yourself, a lively, cheerful boy."
"Don't look at anyone, you must be the best, the first of them."
They turn the music on, I come forward, dance just a few steps, and they say: "Thank you, that's enough."
And I'm like: this is the end, I failed.
Turned out they liked it. Geez, hope I don't fall...
It was like this...
And they accepted me when I was just... like that.
C. Pugni, "La Esmeralda"
In college, my coach during the first three years was Vera Kulikova.
She was shaping me like clay, told me how to turn out my feet, what to wear to not stoop...
It was a real school, you know.
My another coach was Elena Barysheva, she was very good but very strict.
Then, after the 5th grade, we were entering the 1st year of the high school.
There were two classes: one by Golovkina and another one.
I mean, the best of the best were accepted to Golovkina's class, and others, not so good, went to another one.
I was accepted to Golovkina's class. At first, it was okay,
but then I went close to being expelled.
My coach thought I didn't have any perspective,
she did not attend to me.
And we began to fade,
me and my colleague, just the two of us who have been accepted.
We started to fade. It was everywhere: in the pair dance, in the classical dance in the first place.
But in other disciplines, like folk dance and character dance, I was good.
I always got As. In dramatic art, too, in historical dance - only As.
They also said I was too short, I had small feet...
No chance, they said.
From As I went to Cs, then even worse, and they thought of expelling me.
My mother didn't know what to do. She was upset, of course.
She believed in me, thought I would do well, and I did quite the contrary.
And I was transferred to the other class.
After my first lesson there I came to the coach and burst in tears. I just couldn't help it,
I saw that I couldn't do anything.
I couldn't make even 2 pirouettes, I'd fall on the floor.
Just nothing, I could do nothing. It was hard.
We two came to the coach, started to say something, and we were in tears.
We said: sorry that we're so bad, but we will work, we'll try hard to catch up with the others.
And he said: "It's ok, guys, it's ok." Clapped us on the shoulder and said we would work.
A. Adam, "Le Corsaire"
When we were in our second year, we've finished the curriculum of the 3d year.
We were allowed to visit the Bolshoi Theatre master classes.
I went to Lavrovsky's and Vladimirov's master classes, fell in love with these lessons, spoke with the dancers.
Many dancers knew me and would come to see my performances. It was very nice.
They always came to see my "La Fille Mal Gardee" in college.
Our dancers, People's Artists and all, they'd come and congratulate me.
It was so great, I felt like part of the company without yet being its member.
It's a rare case when the hall is opened, and we can sneak a glance into the stalls.
They're vacuum cleaning it, preparing for the performance. It's the premiere night.
You just have to make a deep sigh.
And breathe it in.
This air, this smell of dust, these spirits - I believe they exist in here.
The most difficult time was when I didn't know where I'd be assigned.
I had offers from the Moscow Classical Ballet, the Kremlin Ballet, the Stanislavsky Music Theatre.
And Vyacheslav Gordeev has called me to his Russian Ballet.
And when Golovkina said: "Well, Medvedev, the Bolshoi offers you an engagement, too. What will you choose?"
I was sitting and thinking: "What's there to choose?", and I said: "The Bolshoi, of course."
And she's like: "Sure thing!" And it went from here.
L. Minkus, "La Bayadere"
As a child, I was fond of drawing and painting, but later I stopped doing it.
I practised martial arts, and I loved it, it's my hobby even now.
But my profession is more important.
The injuries I get at trainings, sparrings... it's a sport, after all.
Though ballet is kind of a sport, too.
V. Soloviev-Sedoy, "Taras Bulba"
I have a wonderful daughter, in May she'll be 5.
She comes to see my performances, "Cipollino", "The Nutcracker".
Even "The Swan Lake", though it's not a kids' ballet.
But she loves this music, she hums it. It's a happiness.
I always look into the future with confidence and hope for the best.
There can be downs, they were. There were seasons when I didn't know what to do, I had almost no work in the theatre.
I was stripped of my parts, left behind when the company went on tours.
I did have some hard moments in my life.
But I made it. My family was with me, and Valery Lagunov, and Lavrovsky, they always supported me.
They showed me the right path. You must always fight to the end.
For the flowers they give you.
Thanks, see you again!