Cards on the table!
Radu Poklitaru presents the premiere of the ballet “The Queen of Spades” to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
On October 13 the «Kyiv Modern Ballet» theatre will present the premiere of the ballet «The Queen of Spades», on which the theatre’s principal choreographer, the renowned choreographer Radu Poklitaru, is working (the premiere is expected both offline and online on the stage of the capital’s ICCM).
In an interview with «TKK», Poklitaru told the story of his path to the new project…
Radu, in the case of «The Queen of Spades», what was the initial impulse for the birth of the new ballet – Pushkin’s text or Tchaikovsky’s music?
For many years, in the hidden corners of my creative treasury, I had kept the idea of creating a ballet production of «The Queen of Spades». So, if we are talking about the first impulse, it was the music of Tchaikovsky’s opera. Yet I did not manage to stage a ballet using the operatic score, because while creating the scenario and the musical montage I accidentally realized that the text was «getting in my way». So I had to abandon that idea, because I saw how the choreography was turning into a banal danced word-for-word translation, devoid of allegory and emotional independence. After several unsuccessful attempts to cope with this problem, I nevertheless decided to set aside the idea of creating a ballet-opera «Queen of Spades» for a long time…The creative epiphany came when I heard the Sixth Symphony performed by Nikolai Golovanov in a 1948 recording. It was then that my long-held dream of the ballet «The Queen of Spades» became real. The work was contradictory at first, but the contour of the future production gradually took shape when, to the Sixth Symphony, I added two more movements of Tchaikovsky’s Second Symphony, imbued with Ukrainian folk melos.
How will the new «Queen of Spades» surprise both the Kyiv admirer of your theatre and you personally?
I always approach staging a new ballet creatively and try to constantly search for something new so as not to repeat myself. This applies not only to me but to the entire creative team. The «Queen of Spades» project will be the third project we are creating in synergy with the author of the video content, the wonderful artist Olha Nikitina, and the sixth project in collaboration with costume designer Dmytro Kuriata.I will not reveal what know-how we will use in the new production. Since I myself do not yet know how it will work. So I hope that the technical innovations used in our «Queen of Spades», which are disguised under the abbreviation continuum of «augmented reality», will become a pleasant creative shock both for the viewer and for me, as the author of the ballet.
There are films and dramatic productions online based on Pushkin’s novella: did you have the desire to review such material before starting work?
You know, the large amount of material on the topic of «The Queen of Spades» both helps and gets in the way at the same time. So I try to come to the first rehearsal day of creating the new ballet «The Queen of Spades» with the baggage I already have, with the understanding of the work’s problematics that I have accumulated over my lifetime. For some reason I am convinced that the viewer who comes to the premiere will not re-read Pushkin in advance, listen to Tchaikovsky’s opera, or watch the productions and films. Most likely they will come having simply bought a ticket, so I want to be on the same wavelength as the viewer. Of course, I re-read Pushkin attentively several times… Of course, I did a great deal of research concerning the sources of the work’s origin. So I try not to read, watch, or listen to other works on this topic, because that sometimes gets in my way. That is the kind of «strange» choreographer I am.
A few words about the performers of the leading parts – Herman, Liza, the Countess – and the tasks you set before them?
Ballet is a traumatic art, so, as a rule, we do not say in advance who will perform this or that part. I am confident that everything will be fine and the pandemic will not become an obstacle to showing the premiere of the ballet. As of today, according to the plans, the part of Herman at the premiere will be performed by Vladyslav Detiuchenko, a young ballet artist. He is known to the Kyiv viewer as the performer of the first cast of the part of Khoma in the ballet «Viy». Vlad is a wonderful dancer and artist, a true find and pride of our theatre. He is also a choreographer. His style is completely different from mine, it is more radical, more contemporary, more Western. When I watch his productions I realize that I cannot stage like that. It is gratifying that we are all different.The part of Liza will be performed by Kateryna Kuznetsova. This artist has long held a leading place in the hearts of admirers of contemporary dance in our country and abroad. Katia is distinguished by an unusual natural organicity, by that which cannot be taught, by incredible coordination and the ability to convey the director’s concept as precisely as possible, through experiencing the image on stage. The part of the Countess will be performed by Olena Saltykova. In my view, the leader of the female ballet troupe of «Kyiv Modern Ballet». A ballerina who has incredibly good classical training. This is precisely what distinguishes her from the theatre’s other artists, who are high-level soloists in contemporary dance but do not hold a ballet diploma. Lena Saltykova came from a ballet theatre, and for me this was always a problem, because ballet people are often steeped in clichés. But she made an incredible leap in the field of contemporary dance and became absolutely multifaceted and many-sided. It is she who performs the part of the Countess, one of the leading parts in my «Queen of Spades». I want to say that your question is missing one more character who runs through the entire narrative in our ballet, who is mentioned very indirectly in Pushkin and in Tchaikovsky’s opera – this is Saint-Germain. Saint-Germain is an absolutely astonishing, enigmatic and at the same time mystical figure of European culture of the 18th and 19th centuries. It seems to me that if I expand this image in our production, it will benefit the ballet «The Queen of Spades», which we are now preparing. So I entrusted the part of Saint-Germain to Artem Shoshyn, Honored Artist of Ukraine. An artist who has performed all the leading parts in our repertoire, who, just like Vladyslav Detiuchenko, is a choreographer, but of the neoclassical direction. And this is also very interesting. Because my choreography, combining with the individuality of the artists, like fabric in a glass of dye, is dyed in those shades that are close to the creative individuality of this or that dancer. And if he is also a choreographer, then partly of his choreographic work as well.
Tell us about the new season of the «Kyiv Modern Ballet» theatre: projects, ideas, tours, festivals, what else?
First of all, in the new season we are preparing «The Queen of Spades», on which we have already been working for several months, and the production itself we plan to show on October 13 on the stage of the October Palace in Kyiv. Our viewers will be able to see the production both online and offline. The premiere of the production became possible thanks to the financial support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the Department of Culture (KCSA). Unfortunately, and not only for us, the touring palette has shrunk because of the pandemic. But we hope that the situation will improve and we will once again return to the international arena. And we will catch up on what we lost during the pandemic, since touring activity is one of the main directions of activity of the «Kyiv Modern Ballet» theatre. We will definitely try to prepare a chamber premiere for the second half of the season. In addition, no one has cancelled tours within Ukraine. Next summer we plan to travel to Odesa and hold our annual festival «Summer in the Modern Style».
Oleh VERHELIS, specially for “TKK”
