Current Events
Exclusive Interview
with
Yuri Fateyev, Deputy Director of the Mariinsky Ballet Theatre, given to Anastasia Koshkina, A-RCCF Program Manager, on January 22, 2012 after the closure of the Mariinsky tour in Washington, DC.
In Washington, DC the Mariinsky Ballet presented three Fokine ballets 'Chopiniana', 'Scheherazade', and 'The Firebird' in the program 'The Russian Seasons' at the Kennedy Center on January 17-22, 2012.
Questions and answers will be marked by first initials: questions by Anastasia Koshkina (AK), responses by Yuri Fateyev (YF).
AK: This is your 10th visit to Washington, DC..
YF: Well, I have been to Washington many more times than that, but the Mariinsky Ballet is coming for the 10thtime in a row..
AK: Is the American public different in any way? Are your American tours different, are they special?
YF: In the U.S. the audience is more relaxed, I think. They react more freely, sometimes more naively – sometimes they laugh in places where it is not customary to laugh, but they react in a genuine manner, and if they like something they never grudge applause; they give a strong reaction. It is always pleasant, it wins you over. Only American audiences stand up after a performance expressing their gratitude. This is the main difference. Another difference is their unfailing interest. The Americans long for classical culture because they don't have too much of it, that is why they strive to come to the theater, strive to see ballet and they understand, in their own way, the art form of classical ballet.
AK: When you plan to come to the U.S. do you experience any particular emotions? Through these years has the U.S. become special for you?
YF: For instance, take the Kennedy Center. The Mariinsky Ballet is here for the 10th season. Indeed, the KC has become familiar, everything is 'known' – what the stage is like and what the conditions are – rehearsal schedules, accommodations – everything becomes habitual, in the good sense of this word. It is very comfortable to work at the Kennedy Center – how the performances are set up and run. The pace is so familiar, there are no surprises, which is good because no one needs unnecessary surprises. It is most important for any company and any director to be sure that you will put on a performance of good quality.
AK: Not many people are aware that the Russian choreographer Michel Fokine spent 23 years of his life in the U.S. (AK: Fokine came to the U.S. in November 1919 and died in 1942, at the age of 62. His final resting place is in Hartsdale, New York). What was his contribution to the development of the American ballet and dance?
YF: I read books about Fokine's life in America, but I think he failed to make a really meaningful contribution. All of the ballets that made him famous were created in Russia or for Diaghilev's 'The Russian Seasons'. But what did he do in the U.S.? Yes, he lived a respectable life, was well-off, staged something...
Photographs by Paolo Galli
AK: Staged musicals on Broadway..
YF: Yes, indeed, but who knows about it now? What did he leave behind in the U.S.? Very little. As opposed to the performances that he created for Diaghilev or at the Mariinsky Theatre, which are still in the repertory. And we have already celebrated the 100th anniversary of 'The Russian Seasons'. Just look at the Fokine repertory at the Mariinsky Theatre, we have Chopiniana', 'Petrouchka', 'Scheherazade', 'The Firebird', 'Le spectre de la Rose', 'Carnaval', 'The Dying Swan' – that is a large repertory that Fokine left at the Mariinsky Theatre.. Plus, 'Polovtsian Dances' from Borodin's opera 'Prince Igor' which we often show as a separate divertissement.. And this is the best memory.. Therefore, I think his major contribution was made at the beginning of the century..
AK: What can explain this? Does the fact that there was no school of classical ballet in America at that time factor in?
YF: Yes, of course.
AK: So you think that if the situation with the American ballet had been different than he could have achieved more?
YF: Yes, I think so. A musician should have an instrument, similarly, a choreographer should have an instrument to play on – his dancers. But if he does not have dancers.. What was the first thing that Balanchine did? He opened his school, created his company. But he started from scratch. The American girls who came to his studio were too athletic and he did not know what to do with them. That is why we have this particular style, 'Balanchine style'.. Though it was not his style initially – he was a 100% Petersburgman and he had the classical ballet school within him.. but the 'material' was such, therefore his style was transformed by the dancers who interpreted his choreography. All this morphed into the Balanchine school style, more athletic, more powerful in some instances. He wrote about those Americans who came to him in 1933 and for whom he choreographed 'Serenade'. He described how athletic and sporty they were.. There was a cult of sport in America at that time, a cult of musical, of the cinema. The synthesis of all these art forms influenced Balanchine greatly. It also influenced Fokine because he staged musicals. But he failed to realize himself as a choreographer of academic classical theater because there was no 'material' to work with.. But Diaghilev faced the same problem while working on ‘The Russian Seasons’ because so much depended on funding. Diaghilev did his best to ‘house’ his company in Monte Carlo during winter. Then he found a British lord, a publishing tycoon, who sponsored their season in a theater. Then he found another lord, a collector, who also sponsored them. But all this was little money, it only helped them to make their ends meet. In order to work, to create new works, to attract public’s attention and to earn money they needed money to live at the bare minimum.. And Fokine had a similar problem, I think.. He had to earn his living..
AK: You previously mentioned that he liked luxury cars and enjoyed his wealth..
YF: Right. He was well-off, he bought new cars, used technological novelties..
AK: Participated in various galas and led an active social life..
YF: Right, because he had such an opportunity. Thanks to the interest of the Americans in dance, Fokine had an opportunity to teach. Apparently, that gave him an opportunity to be well-off, but this did not bring any fame. While Diaghilev was in the opposite situation: he barely made his ends meet, but ‘The Russian Seasons’ were famous worldwide..
AK: A starving artist phenomenon..
YF: Exactly. A starving artist. An artist should be hungry, then he creates..
AK: In the Mariinsky Theatre repertory there are 8 Fokine ballets. What motivated your choice to bring these three ballets to Washington?
YF: It is our ‘standard’ evening. It has this name ‘The Russian Seasons’. Initially it had ‘Chopiniana’, ‘Scheherazade’, and ‘The Firebird’. Sometimes we change the compilation and put ‘Petrouchka’ instead of another work. However, I believe the set of these three ballets, ‘Chopiniana’, ‘Scheherazade’, and ‘The Firebird’ is most representative of both the company and Fokine’s choreography.
AK: Having finished your run in Washington, can you comment on the audience’s reaction? Did they accept these ballets warmly? Did they relate to them?
YF: I believe the American public would have a better answer to this question, but we had a very positive reaction. Firstly, these ballets look very beautiful, the sets are very beautiful. The music is very different, which is also important. And all three ballets are unlike one another. The first one, ‘Chopiniana’, was choreographed by Petipa, then we have modernist Stravinsky with the ‘Firebird’, and then oriental ‘Scheherazade’. I think this is a very interesting collection and it looks beautiful.
AK: What are you showing next year in Washington?
YF: In fact, we are coming this year again – in October we bring ‘Cinderella’ staged by Alexey Ratmansky. Then we skip 2013 and come again in 2014. My guess is that it is going to be a classical ballet, most likely “Swan Lake’.
* If you would like to know more about Michel Fokine and his life in the U.S. you might want to consult:
• Fokine's own memoirs 'Fokine, Memoirs of a Ballet Master'
• 'Michel Fokine' by Dawn Lille Horwitz
• 'Michel Fokine in America, 1919-1942' by Dawn Lille Horwitz
• 'Michel Fokine and His Ballets' by Cyril W. Beaumont