Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 42

SOVIET
cOl1linued from page 17

flats of rough-cut lumber; old, thick,
wooden stage battens; and a corrugated
and warped deck with a slight (I :25)
rake. All were offset by complex
welded- frame set pieces for the ballet
SpartaclIs, forty-foot high Corinthian
columns for War and Peace, and a huge
belfry of real Russian bells for Boris
Codunov. The tight wing space, we
were told, "enhances acoustics," and a
single performance requires enough
electricity to serve a town with ten thousand people.
Dance
The "Red Arrow" express, a swift,
proud, overnight electric train to Leningrad, allowed us to anticipate the
Kirov Ciselle in our compartments while
sipping tea from glasses, served from
the built-in samovar in each coach.
Through the night, filled with cheerful
Russian cognac and debate, the snowy
villages shot by the windows. Arrival at
the quaint, pre-revolutionary" Astoria"
Hotel auspiciollsly introduced this Russian Venice with its fabulous Hermitage.
The Kirov Ballet, in its 199th season,
did not disappoint, with its first-rate,
old-fashioned scenery and good. modern lighting within the context of a treasured 19th-century theatre. Our Giselle,
E.V. Evteeva, Merited Artist of Russia,
deserved the prolonged curtain calls
delivered by the morning audience, primarily composed of young school
children.
But it was the Boris Eifman Ballet,
in a concert hall, where the creative
sparks flew. lelior, the ballet after Oostoevski, to Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, was danced, by Mikhailovski in
the title role. with an abundance of mad
energy. Although the generally good
lighting (considering the concert hall)
was plagued by missed cues and technical glitches, the unexpectedly great acting on the part of the dance company
propelled the story, and the frenetic
dancing hypnotized the audience. We
were astounded to learn, afterwards, a
closely guarded "state secret:" Osipenko, the prima ballerina, was forty-eight
years old!
Through spirited discu sions with
members of the Leningrad Maly Ballet
company, we learned of the Leningrad
Choreographic School, the oldest in [he
USSR, which trains dancers for five
40

Theatre Design &

Technolog~

courses. Students may live in a statesubsidized dormitory, and graduate with
guaranteed job opportunities. The
training system of Agrippina Yakovlevna Vaganova, responsible for a myriad
of international stars, is rigorously applied but is also under constant
improvement.
Tamara Tcheriponov, Honored Ar-

theatres in the city, plus others throughout the world. Ten to twelve-year-old
students are admitted only if they show
physical, medical, and artistic aptitude
on the basis of extensive testing. The
eight-year curriculum consists of classic,
folk, and historical dance; stagecraft,
fencing, and make-up; history of art,
music, and dance; and general education

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983