The perfection of «Spartacus»
I’ve been
thinking a lot before writing this post but then I decided: «I’m impressed TOO
much to keep it all inside!». So I’m gonna tell you about the gorgeous,
exciting, beautiful, amazing ballet «Spartacus» composed by Aram Khachaturian
and choreographed by Yury
Grigorovich.
At the
beginning, I wanna say that I’m not an expert of this entire ballet thing and I
can’t call myself a ballet lover. I mean I like this art form but I don’t enjoy
it as much as I enjoy opera. I like a particular ballet if I like its music. Usually
I watch 2-3 ballets a year at my local theatre of opera and ballet. As a rule
they are premieres or with invited famous dancers (from The Bolshoi Theatre,
for example). This year I’ve broken a record…I’ve literally attended 7 ballet
performances! Wow!!! I’ve rewatched most of them but there were some new ones
for me including «Spartacus»!
I expected that «Spartacus» would be strong, manly and powerful as I’d heard that for many male dancers Spartacus was a dream role! Though the plot doesn’t sound so impressive: Crassus, Roman commander, returns to Rome with victory and slaves including Spartacus and his lover Phrygia. The main heroes are parted by Crassus and suffering Spartacus wants to release himself and his beloved one. With the help of other slaves he wins a battle, Spartacus and Phrygia are together again. Crassus is humiliated but his concubine and lover Aegina lifts his spirit for revenge. At the end there is a final fight between Crassus and Spartacus where the last one dies. Simple, isn’t it? But this turned out to be an unforgettable experience for me!
The Bashkir
State Opera and Ballet Theatre brought this masterpiece in my city cause,
unfortunately, our local ballet cast is not yet capable to dance this ballet
(lack of strong male dancers:(((). Of course, I wanted to see what this is all
about, why it’s so popular among people.
Three hours
of «Spartacus» raced by in a blur. I think I was not breathing for that whole
time as I was captivated by everything: music, choreography, atmosphere! And
I’m still impressed SO MUCH!!! It’s really shocking for me as I’ve never thought
that ballet can be so touching and energetic at the same time! The orchestra
was amazing. The musicians playing percussions and brass instruments rocked
that night like never before!:) The music itself is so different but always
intense even in lyric scenes, I had goose bumps during the whole action! Yury
Grigorovich’s choreography is unexpected, passionate and beautiful! I couldn’t
take my eyes off of every gesture and movement. It’s all perfectly done with
bright, colorful costumes and set designs that was another surprise for me!!!
Don’t forget that it’s an opera lover who is talking about it here:).
Spartacus and Phrygia. "Spartacus". Photo by BKJournal
Again I
wanna mention that I’m not a specialist but, in my opinion, Bashkir dancers did
a good job (of course, I don’t compare them to dancers of The Bolshoi Theatre).
At least I felt their characters’ emotions and it all looked very believable!
Poor Spartacus became sweaty after 2 minutes on stage (all these high jumps and
lifts…who wouldn’t?) I mentally wanted to help him to wipe his face and back with
a towel:). And he played the role very sincerely; I especially like Adagio
scene with Phrygia. When they were dancing, the first thought that came to my mind
(and also as I found out to my Mom’s mind:)): «What a man! He is ideal! He is
strong, honest, faithful, loving! Where can I find someone like him in real
life?)))». The dancer who played his enemy, Crassus, was not so impressive for
me at first but later he showed what he could do (in the scene of his defeat he
was good!).
Aegina. "Spartacus". Photo by BKJournal
In the female cast Aegina was a queen!!! She was so elegant and
seductive and the ballerina herself is very beautiful. In the solo parts
everybody was enchanted by her charm and power over men! Phrygia is different. She
is a loving and kind woman and maybe because of that her character looks less
impressive in this piece. The corps de ballet didn’t rest either. A big number
of crowd scenes made them work hard during the performance and made the
audience applause more and more!
Crassus and Aegina. "Spartacus". Photo by BKJournal
We love
opera cause it’s full of drama and pure emotions! The ballet «Spartacus» has
the same! That’s why I recommend it to all opera lovers and to not opera lovers
as well, you won’t regret it!:)
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