Currently, he is a choreographer-repetiteur at the Bolshoi Theater, a professor at the Department of Choreography at GITIS, and artistic director at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. He staged several ballets, ballet films and choreographic numbers in dramatic performances.
MS: Mikhail Leonidovich, you happy man. Do you know why?
MS: Because it’s your 75th anniversary, and we’re not going to remember what happened, but to discuss your plans! Not everyone can boast that they celebrate such an anniversary with an active lifestyle.
ML: You can’t live without it! If you don't, you're dead! Of course, we all grow old, this is the law of nature, the law of God. Generations pass. What does “a generation has passed” mean? Gone are the ideals, tastes, and morals. This does not mean that we are better, it means that we are just different, since a lot of time has passed. Look (I’m philosophizing, but I’ll explain), for example, an apple tree: spring, summer, autumn, winter - winter closes everything, everything dies, and the apple tree that produces apples also lives and dies. Next spring - all over again, but the apples can be more bitter, sweeter, better or worse - like our children; this is the same apple tree. Our genes are our children, just slightly different people.
MS: The reason for our meeting was your production of “” in Naples. But we didn’t manage to meet in the summer, and now I’m very glad that I have the opportunity not only to talk about the production, but also to personally congratulate you on your anniversary.
ML: Thank you.
MS: Still, let's talk about this production. How did it go under the watchful eye of the Italian trade unions?
ML: The production went well. A very annoying, tough and, in my opinion, very wrong union in Italy. Yes, he protects people, but that’s not possible: I can’t hire the actor I want exactly when I need him - I have to warn him in advance. But how can I know in a week who I will need today, it still depends on rehearsal process, on how someone turns out this or that scene. And they say: “No, take it now.” Or here’s another example: my assistant is rehearsing a scene with the soloists, which they do quite well. Then the tutor wants to go through another stage with the same soloists, but the union prohibits this! And you have to repeat several times what is already clear, and there is less time for complex things. This is such stupidity. Maybe they are right in their own way. But this doesn't suit me. I’m used to working, as is customary in Russia, let’s say, the way I worked. I take what I need when I need it and whoever I see in the given role, even if he is a prime minister or a corps de ballet dancer. You cannot demand from the director something that is not in his plans. Or here’s another thing: the orchestra’s working day ends at 22:00 - and that’s it. And they are not interested in the fact that the performance is not finished, that the music still needs to play. Well, Alexey Bogorad managed to come to an agreement and settled this issue, otherwise they didn’t know what to do. There are such prohibitions that hit creativity very hard. Although I can’t say anything bad about Italians. The artists coped with the tasks perfectly.
MS: Was Leonid Lavrovsky’s production staged in Naples?
ML: I did Lavrovsky. But you understand what’s the matter: only the Bolshoi Theater and the Mariinsky can pull it off and stage it the way it was, one on one. And smaller troupes - the actors there, in general, are different in their emotional intensity. But the Italians managed. In the West, after all, everyone is a little dry: the back is set correctly and the technique is wonderful, but that plasticity, spirituality and that truth of emotions, the meaning of what they do on stage, are very often absent. In modern ballets it’s wonderful, in classical ballets I haven’t seen it. Well, I only saw it at Natalia Makarova's.
MS: Did you have to cut a lot?
ML: Of course! We did almost two acts there. The main pieces were left, although much had to be removed. But, I’ll tell you that despite all the genius, more than 70 years have passed since 1940 - and Lavrovsky himself made changes when I worked with him. Of course, some things need to be changed, according to the new time, but we must not lose the style of the performance and the meaning of what the choreographer wanted to do, in in this case- . But technology, of course, can change: time moves forward, and you can’t stand still so stagnantly. If there is a solution to the performance and the person does not violate it (and for this you need to have taste), then it can be done.
MS: Interesting topic you touched on. What do you think about ballet reconstructions?
ML: You know what the matter is: restoration is probably needed, but you need to have taste - this is the facet of talent. To restore ballets, you need to feel them and be able to do it. This worked for Leonid Lavrovsky, who made "". The performance he restored was considered best production in the world. Or “” - well done, I can’t say anything, very good, wonderful. He has understanding. And when they leave the same thing, classic solution, but for some reason they change the number of swans - this is wrong. It’s the same as making the Bolshoi Theater instead of eight columns one in the Art Nouveau style. This is stupid, it means there is not enough taste. Build new theater- and please, no one bothers you. Taste is also a talent. Grigorovich knows how to do this. He restored “Sleeping Beauty”, we called it “White Sleeping” - it didn’t work. Later he redid everything, and with Simon Virsaladze they turned out to be a brilliant performance.
If we are talking about the old ballet, then it has its own laws - they are, perhaps, a little naive, devoid of reality logical thinking on stage, but with their naivety (like children when they say something) they captivate you. And if the child had spoken in a sober, well-trained voice, it would have been completely different. Therefore, we must take into account that the productions of a hundred years ago are masterpieces of classical, romantic ballet, and make them philosophical works, such as Kant’s works, is meaningless. There are other performances for this. A ballet that is a hundred years old or more needs to be restored, something removed, something added, but the spirit of that performance must be preserved. And, of course, be able to dance well. There is a bad tendency among actors to simplify things. The same “Giselle”: let’s say, why do a double cabriole in Albert’s variation if you say that before, when they staged it, they did only one. This, in my opinion, is wrong. Technology is developing. And as in Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes”, it turns out: she couldn’t pick the grapes and said that they weren’t ripe. It’s the same with artists: you need to be able to do a double cabriole well. Yes, before there was a single one, but tomorrow someone will make a triple one - this will only be a plus.
Here's an example: I adore Italian neorealism in cinema - Giuseppe de Santis, Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini, of course, Vittorio de Sica; this is what we watched in the 1950s - brilliant! But, of course, the pace of films is different now, and it is more difficult to watch those films. But you will never say that this is a set of shots: this is a finished, highly artistic work, it’s just that time has passed, now there is a different rhythm. The same is true in our art. We can change something in the ballet, and this is a plus - a plus of the immediate impact of the actor’s energy on auditorium and the plus is that, if you have taste, you can “clean up” the performance, make it watchable for contemporaries, but not lose the spirit that was laid down by the director - plasticity, relationships between characters, brilliantly staged variations. And, of course, you should always dance better and better (technically, I mean).
MS: Obviously, the technology is different now, in demand in our time. But sometimes, when restoring a ballet, choreographers try to return the dancers to the style of performance that existed at the time of its creation...
ML: I can't agree. I always associate this with a good icon or a good painting: we pulled an icon or a painting out of the ground - and we should be delighted! How? It’s all covered in soil, but I can’t see its face... Skillfully cleaning it without spoiling it is another matter. Clean it skillfully and restore those colors - then it will be admired. It’s the same with us: it’s impossible now, in the 21st century, to perceive the play the way it was staged in early XIX or at the end of the 18th century. Some may be delighted. But the main thing is not to be bored. And here Yuri Nikolaevich Grigorovich is right that it should not be boring for more than five minutes at a performance, this cannot be done. A person needs an emotional blow, an emotional shock. Then you can sort things out at home, what was right, what was wrong... If you are affected emotionally, then yes! And because everything is correct, you can fall asleep at the performance. The meaning of art is to subconsciously influence the viewer, to excite him so much that he has vivid emotions; Negative moments can even occur on stage, for example a tragedy, but the emotion should greatly excite.
You see what's the matter: I love drama theater, ballet, choreographic, opera house- this is interesting. The technique must be strong and powerful. It's like in an opera - you can't help but hit the note that's written in the score. It’s the same in ballet - in dance there must be a takeoff. Spiritual together with physical, the execution of a powerful movement, masculine, strong, airy - this gives emotion to the viewer. And this lifts people’s spirits: the viewer doesn’t realize it, but his strength awakens: “I’m a man, I can do this too!” And when you are calm, beautiful, in a good suit, but have zero emotions - this is such a well-made robot.
MS: The scene at the balcony is just worth it...
ML: The scene is wonderful, but now very often it is danced incorrectly. The meaning of this scene, as Lavrovsky and Zhdanov once said, is that the artist should not stop. The whole point is in the excitement: she is 13 years old, he is 17, and only at the end, when there is an explosion of variation, should they rush. Like Michelangelo's fresco Last Judgment" V Sistine Chapel: not a single figure stands statically, all the figures are in an inclined position - they fly, their clothes fly off them, and the figures themselves, although they are powerful, are all in flight - this is how the sixth scene of the ballet goes. And at the end, only when he kneels in front of her, there is calm, and the curtain falls - the end of the first act. Conveying the meaning is the difficulty of execution.
IN Bolshoi Theater A gala concert took place in honor of the anniversary of Mikhail Lavrovsky. Dancer, choreographer, teacher - for more than a quarter of a century he was the leading soloist of the country's main theater, a star of the first magnitude. Critics wrote about him: “Lavrovsky knows how to convey on stage passion, persistence, authority and the depth of love, the power and nobility of emotions.” During the anniversary evening, the master not only accepted numerous congratulations from students and colleagues, but also presented a gift to the public - he danced a part in the ballet own composition. Report by Valeria Kudryavtseva.
As soon as Mikhail Lavrovsky appears backstage, artists surround him. Congratulations via Skype from all over the world, photo as a souvenir - with a living legend. According to the artists, taking part in the evening of the famous dancer, choreographer and teacher is happiness and responsibility.
“His uniqueness is that he madly loves life, madly loves people, madly loves creativity,” says prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater Marianna Ryzhkina. - I had the opportunity to work as an assistant during the production of the play. And there I watched how the artists were fascinated by how Maestro Lavrovsky conveyed the choreography, emotion and meaning of what was happening.”
Anniversary evening The son, Leonid Lavrovsky-Garcia, also a choreographer, directed for his father. Main idea- conversation about the present and the future, without looking back to the past.
“I didn’t want to do a eulogy for a living person. A birthday needs something joyful. This is when they come, look and wish for 100 years of life and creative success. And Lavrovsky, despite 75 years and prosthetic joints, still rules us all on a war horse and with a saber. And we happily help him in this matter,” noted director Leonid Lavrovsky-Garcia.
For the evening, fragments from Lavrovsky's productions were re-staged - "Fantasy on a Theme of Casanova", "Russian Ballerina", "Nijinsky" - in an updated cast, in new costumes. For the Prime Minister Big Ivan Vasilyeva is the first experience of working with Lavrovsky. Nijinsky dances.
"First of all, he a real man. A real man - both on stage and in life. And he is a very emotional person, an emotional artist. And this leaves a mark for life,” said Ivan Vasiliev, the premier of the Mikhailovsky Theater.
One of the intrigues of the evening is a look into the future - a fragment from the upcoming production of the opera-ballet “Amok” based on the philosophical novel by Stefan Zweig. Director - Leonid Lavrovsky-Garcia, choreography - Mikhail Lavrovsky.
“Maybe I’ll be able to stage it as a teacher, but I won’t go on stage myself, of course. You can dance as much as you like, but you can’t watch, that’s what,” shared the Bolshoi Theater choreographer and People’s Artist of the USSR Mikhail Lavrovsky.
And, despite self-irony, in the finale of the evening Mikhail Lavrovsky will still appear on stage - in an excerpt from the ballet "Nijinsky" - in the role of Sergei Diaghilev.
It is worth taking a closer look and understanding, and recognizing that in theatrical history there are not many large ones in the world famous artists, whose names are firmly associated with major famous theaters. Until now, megastars, as a rule, are famous in their own right and do not serve in repertory theaters. This was probably the reason. And repertory theater as such, if you look for it, you will find it more often in Russia, in the Soviet Union, in general, here.
We have had and still have such artists who not only served, but most importantly, they made their theater famous, where they performed, perhaps, only for a few years. Among the names of those who made the glory of the Bolshoi Theater is Mikhail Leonidovich Lavrovsky. The legendary dancer, who was the Bolshoi's premier for a long time, turned 75 today. A real anniversary! Svetlana Astretsova reports.
After leaving the stage, Mikhail Lavrovsky did not part with ballet. At the Bolshoi Theater, where he was once both a soloist and choreographer, he now teaches classes as a teacher-tutor.
“I tell my students that a copy, no matter how good, is a repetition. The original, individuality and personality are always interesting in everything, to me personally, so they must find their own face,” notes People’s Artist of the USSR Mikhail Lavrovsky.
“A dancer of virtuoso technique, enormous charm and unbridled temperament,” Grigorovich himself spoke of Lavrovsky. He performed the main roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. I didn’t just dance each one, I felt like I was living my own story.
“He was developed as a dancer so powerfully that he had all the means of expressiveness in dance that I could only imagine,” says People’s Artist of the USSR Lyudmila Semenyaka.
When Mikhail Lavrovsky is asked about his favorite characters, he does not hesitate to name Albert in Adan’s “Giselle” and Spartacus in Khachaturian’s ballet of the same name. According to him, it was the most accurate hit in the images.
The party of the legendary slave leader became business card Lavrovsky. In 1970, he received the Lenin Prize for this role.
“Lavrovsky by nature has such stiff muscles, which were very suitable for this performance. He was the second performer - behind Vasiliev. However, he had better physical endurance,” emphasizes Honored Artist of Russia Valery Lagunov.
In 1978, there was a turn in fate. Lavrovsky becomes choreographer. He has a lot of choreographic fantasies to his credit: be it the tragedy of Vaslav Nijinsky, the adventures of Casanova or one of the first Russian jazz ballets “Porgy and Bess”.
“To create your own language, you need to work every day, stage every day, then you will develop your own style - what language you speak to the audience. You take Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Hugo and convey this work as you feel it,” says the people USSR artist Mikhail Lavrovsky.
Now Mikhail Lavrovsky is passionate about synthetic productions - at the intersection of plastic, vocal and drama. He dreams of staging Jean Anouilh's play "The Lark" and organizing an evening of his ballets on the Bolshoi stage in the spring.
The Sunday evening broadcast of the Culture TV channel is dedicated to Mikhail Lavrovsky. Tomorrow at 21:20 see the program. And after it - a film-ballet of the Bolshoi Theater. Recorded in 1975. A tragic story Count Albert's love for the peasant woman Giselle was embodied by Natalya Bessmertnova and Mikhail Lavrovsky.
MOSCOW, May 5. /Corr. TASS Olga Svistunova/. On Thursday, a gala concert was held on the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theater in honor of the 75th anniversary of the famous dancer and choreographer, people's artist USSR Mikhail Lavrovsky. The hero of the day himself also took part in the celebration dedicated to him. He performed in the ballet "Nijinsky" of his own composition. The audience gave a standing ovation.
"Honoring our outstanding masters, we invite them to take pride of place in the central box,” said the head ballet troupe Bolshoi Theater Mahar Vaziev, but Mikhail Leonidovich Lavrovsky refused. He will appear as a dancer." After these words, the head of the Bolshoi Theater ballet invited the main character of the holiday to the stage.
“The most valuable thing for an artist is public recognition,” Lavrovsky said. “That means I’m still in demand,” he added, promising that “the evening won’t be tiring.”
Evening in an atmosphere of delight
The two-act concert really went off in one breath. The program included ballets staged in different years by the hero of the day himself, as well as fragments of performances in which he once shone as a dancer. The audience enthusiastically received a fragment from the ballet "Spartacus", where main party performed by the Prime Minister of the Bolshoi Theater Mikhail Lobukhin. The magnificent Grand Pas from Don Quixote, in which the leading soloists of the Bolshoi Ekaterina Krysanova and Vladislav Lantratov performed, also received a stormy reaction from the audience.
However, the main content of the evening consisted of ballets choreographed by the hero of the day himself. In the first part, “Fantasy on a Theme of Casanova” was shown to the music of Mozart. In the second - the number "Russian Ballerina" from the ballet "The Peacock Tree". The audience also reacted with interest to the presented episode from the opera-ballet "Amok", which Mikhail Lavrovsky is currently working on.
The evening has ended one-act ballet"Nijinsky" to the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, choreographed by Mikhail Lavrovsky, who himself performed the role of Diaghilev. The part of Nijinsky was performed by virtuoso dancer Ivan Vasiliev. The success of the concert was confirmed by the final ovation, which lasted more than 15 minutes.
From the biography of Mikhail Lavrovsky
Mikhail Lavrovsky’s entire life is connected with the Bolshoi Theater, where he has been serving for 56 years. Having joined the renowned troupe in 1961, he immediately became a prominent representative of an outstanding generation ballet dancers, including Vladimir Vasiliev, Ekaterina Maksimova, Natalia Bessmertnova, Maris Liepa. They were, first of all, his comrades, colleagues and stage partners.
However, such a path was destined for Mikhail Lavrovsky by fate itself. His father is the famous choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky, the same one who staged the choreographic masterpiece - the ballet "Romeo and Juliet", where the main female part was danced by great Galina Ulanova. The son not only continued family tradition, but also managed to prove that nature does not always rest on the children of outstanding people. While still a student at the Moscow Choreographic School, he gained international recognition, impressing audiences and critics with his performance at the Parma Festival in Italy.
Soon people started talking about Mikhail Lavrovsky as a dancer of virtuoso technique, enormous charm and unbridled temperament. At the Bolshoi Theater, where he served as a soloist for over a quarter of a century (1961-1988), Lavrovsky was a star of the first magnitude. He danced the main roles in Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and The Flames of Paris.
For his performance of the role of Spartacus in the ballet of the same name, Lavrovsky was awarded in 1970 the highest national award at that time - the Lenin Prize. A few years later, his artistic gift was awarded the USSR State Prize. Mikhail Lavrovsky has firmly established the title of one of the best classical dancers of our time.
Having completed his artistic career, he did not part with ballet and took up the post of teacher-tutor at the Bolshoi Theater. He is also artistic director Moscow State Academy of Choreography. In addition, he opened his own choreographic school, and also showed himself in the field of choreography. Mikhail Lavrovsky has created more than ten original ballets, including Porgy and Bess, Nijinsky, Fantasia on a Theme of Casanova, Richard III. Epilogue.
It is worth taking a closer look and understanding, and recognizing that in the theatrical history of the world there are not many major famous artists whose names are firmly associated with large famous theaters.
Until now, megastars, as a rule, are famous in their own right and do not serve in repertory theaters. This was probably the reason. And repertory theater as such, if you look for it, you will find it more often in Russia, in the Soviet Union, in general, here.
We have had and still have such artists who not only served, but most importantly, they made their theater famous, where they performed, perhaps, only for a few years.
Among the names of those who made the glory of the Bolshoi Theater is Mikhail Leonidovich Lavrovsky. The legendary dancer, who was the Bolshoi's premier for a long time, turned 75 on October 29. A real anniversary!
After leaving the stage, Mikhail Lavrovsky did not part with ballet. At the Bolshoi Theater, where he was once both a soloist and choreographer, he now teaches classes as a teacher-tutor.
“I tell my students that a copy, no matter how good it is, is a repetition. The authenticity, individuality and personality are always interesting in everything, to me personally, so they must find their own face,”
– notes People’s Artist of the USSR Mikhail Lavrovsky.
“A dancer of virtuoso technique, enormous charm and unbridled temperament”,
– Grigorovich himself spoke about Lavrovsky in this way. He performed the main roles in “Don Quixote”, “Swan Lake”, “Sleeping Beauty”. He didn’t just dance each one, it was as if he lived his own story.
“He was developed as a dancer so powerfully that he had every means of expressiveness in dance that I could only imagine,”
– says People’s Artist of the USSR Lyudmila Semenyaka.
When Mikhail Lavrovsky is asked about his favorite characters, he does not hesitate to name Albert in Adan’s “Giselle” and Spartacus in Khachaturian’s ballet of the same name. According to him, it was the most accurate hit in the images.
The party of the legendary slave leader became Lavrovsky’s calling card. In 1970, he received the Lenin Prize for this role.
“Lavrovsky by nature has such stiff muscles, which were very suitable for this performance. He was the second performer - behind Vasiliev. However, he had better physical endurance,”
– emphasizes Honored Artist of Russia Valery Lagunov.
In 1978, there was a turn in fate. Lavrovsky becomes choreographer. He has a lot of choreographic fantasies to his credit: be it the tragedy of Vaslav Nijinsky, the adventures of Casanova or one of the first Russian jazz ballets “Porgy and Bess”.
“To create your own language, you need to work every day, stage every day, then you will develop your own style - what language you speak to the audience. You take Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Hugo and convey this work as you feel it,”
- says People's Artist of the USSR Mikhail Lavrovsky.
Now Mikhail Lavrovsky is passionate about synthetic productions - at the intersection of plastic, vocal and drama. He dreams of staging Jean Anouilh’s play “The Lark” and organizing an evening of his ballets on the Bolshoi stage in the spring.