Photos: Gleb Osipov, Alexander Gulyaev
BY THE POSITION OF THE AMAZING “CHOPENIANS” ON THE MUSIC FREDERIC CHOPIN OPENED THE LONELY WAITED “RUSSIAN SEASONS. XXI CENTURY” IN THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - ABU DABI. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE REGION OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND such a young state, as EMIRATES AFTER dizzy success in the Parisian theater "CHAMPSELYSEES" and London "COLISEUM", after a speech in a major city RUSSIA, BELARUS AND UKRAINE Diaghilev Festival "BALLET RUSSES" HELD IN UAE ON STAGE THEATER OF THE FIVE-STAR HOTEL “EMIRATES PALACE”. NOW, ABOUT EVERYTHING ORDER ...
It all started with the fact that in April 2011 Andris Liepa, a famous Russian dancer, choreographer and producer, the head of his father’s Charitable Foundation, Maris Liepa, was inspired by the idea to show the local audience the best ballet performances from the performances restored by him and his team the legendary philanthropist and art patron Sergei Diaghilev.
And already on September 22, 2011, the Maris Liepa Charitable Foundation under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nakhayan bin Mubarak Al Nahayyan and with the support of the embassy Text: Elena Olkhovskaya Photos: Gleb Osipov, Alexander Gulyaev of the Russian Federation in the UAE, as well as Gazprom, Olympic City, Pearl Revival Committee, "M Premier" and the Russian Council of Entrepreneurs in Dubai and the Northern Emirates presented the brilliant Ilze Liepa and Nikolai Tsiskaridze in "Russian Seasons of the XXI Century."
The program of this amazing evening included a theatrical performance, an exhibition of paintings by contemporary artists, a gala dinner and a charity auction held by the Bonhams auction house. The event’s media sponsors were Russian Emirates and Russian Radio Publishing House in the United Arab Emirates.
The ballet "Chopiniana" to the music of F. Chopin, the pearl of "Russian Seasons" by Sergey Diaghilev, was not chosen for this evening by chance, it was in it that Maris Liepa once danced the part of the Young Man. On the evening of the Emirate "Chopeniana" stars of the Bolshoi performed - People’s Artist of Russia, State Prize Laureate Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Honored Artist of Russia Marianna Ryzhkina, International and All-Russian Competition Laureate Angelina Vorontsova. The next gift to the ballet dancers was Polovtsian Dances from Igor Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, where the daughter of Marisa Liepa, world ballet star, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, People’s Artist of Russia, State Prize laureate Ilze Liepa appeared in Polovchanka’s part.
An integral part of all the performances of the project “Russian Seasons of the XXI Century” are the artists of the Kremlin Ballet Theater (artistic director - People’s Artist of Russia, Moscow Prize Laureate Andrei Petrov), who also took to the Emirates Palace stage that evening. Between the main fragments from the performances, Russian folk dance was performed by Ilze Liepa, as well as specially prepared dances of the White and Black pearl queens, dedicated to the evening's sponsor - the emirate company Pearl Revival Committee.
“I am absolutely sure that this evening of Russian ballet in Abu Dhabi will be another occasion for common joy, strengthening our friendship and mutual understanding between cultures. We in the UAE have a unique opportunity to enjoy the work of some of the most talented and famous Russian classical ballet dancers in the world scenes, "said Sheikh Nahayyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the UAE, in his welcoming address, opening the evening.
“This is our first performance in the United Arab Emirates, and we consider it a great privilege to give a performance to such a multinational audience of spectators living in this amazing country. We have prepared a wonderful repertoire for you and we hope that it will help show all the skill of our artists on this beautiful stage. We also hope that the UAE audience will appreciate the fragments we selected from outstanding ballet performances, and of course, we hope to turn Diaghilev's “Russian Seasons of the XXI Century” into a traditional annual event yatie for all fans of Russian ballet in this country "- said Andris Liepa.
Recall that the Maris Liepa Charity Foundation for the Promotion of Choreographic Art was founded in 1996, the year of the 60th birthday of the legendary Russian dancer, choreographer and teacher Maris Eduardovich Liepa (19361989). The whole world choreographic community and ballet lovers celebrated this event. Many of his plans and ideas remained unfulfilled and unfulfilled, so it was decided to create a structure - a public charity fund, for the fullest possible realization of creative plans.
The aim of the foundation was to preserve, maintain and develop traditions in the field of culture and choreography. Maris Liepa was an excellent teacher who brought up a large number of artists. Maintaining young ballet dancers and students of choreographic schools, providing them with the opportunity to perform and attracting them to serious work in new performances has become one of the goals of the foundation.
In addition to teaching, Maris Liepa for many years collected materials on the Russian Seasons in Paris and was fascinated by the idea of restoring the masterpieces of Russian choreography, which were presented at the beginning of the century by philanthropist and philanthropist, the founder of Ballets Russes Sergey Diaghilev (1872-1929) having a huge impact on the development of world culture. Maris Liepa was the first to return the audience to Mikhail Fokin’s ballet, which didn’t go to Russia: in 1966, Maris Eduardovich restored Vision of the Rose and danced its premiere on the Bolshoi Theater tour in Cuba, and then at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR.
Love for the restoration of performances came to Andris Liepa from his father. In 1989, while working in the ballet troupe of Mikhail Baryshnikov, he met with the granddaughter of Mikhail Fokin - Isabelle Fokina, and, starting work on the restoration of three masterpieces of choreographic art - "Parsley", "Firebird", "Scheherezade", in 1992 he invited Isabelle to Moscow. The project for the restoration of ballets was called "The Return of the Firebird," since Mikhail Fokin's dream was to someday return to Russia, at least in the form of performances. In 1993, the Kirov Theater was returned to its original name - Mariinsky, and the Firebird symbolically returned to Mikhail Fokin's native and beloved theater.
That is why today one of the main tasks of the foundation is to attract public attention to lost or forgotten masterpieces of choreographic art.
The fund is run by the children of Marisa Liepa, successors of the traditions of the ballet dynasty of Liepa - People's Artist of Russia Andris Liepa and People's Artist of Russia Ilze Liepa. The artistic director is Ekaterina Liepa, the executive director is Elena Ulyanova. Artists of the Foundation Anna and Anatoly Tender. For each project, volunteers and volunteers are involved.
Today the Maris Liepa Foundation is considered one of the most interesting cultural and production centers. His work is widely covered by the media. The geography of the fund is very wide. He organizes and conducts events not only in Moscow and other cities of Russia, but also abroad. Moreover, not only in Europe, but also in the East.
Many viewers probably didn’t even immediately understand how lucky we all were. We in the UAE got the opportunity to see the best dancers in the best ballet performances of all time, which once, at the beginning of the 20th century, were applauded by Gabriel Chanel, the Russian aristocracy and representatives of the ruling houses of Europe. And if you spent the whole evening in Abu Dhabi closely following what was happening on the stage of the theater at the Emirates Palace Hotel, then at some point, you probably wondered what country and century was happening ...
It was a pleasant observation that among the spectators on the evening of September 22 there were many well-known and wealthy members of the Emirate society, with whom we listened to Chopin, watching the airy and completely weightless ballerinas literally hovering over the stage ...
It remains to once again express infinite admiration, gratitude and sincere love to Andris and Ilze Liepa, and to all those who supported their unique project and the desire to restore for future generations that was created by geniuses, alas, already gone XX century.
