Encyclopedia of the Chelyabinsk region. The ballet troupe of the Opera House was headed by the legendary choreographer Konstantin Uralsky Konstantin Uralsky choreographer biography

The new artistic director of the ballet troupe, chief choreographer of the Opera and Ballet Theater is a person of great magnitude. Konstantin Uralsky is the owner of the State Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation for achievements in the field of culture, laureate of international competitions. He is known in professional circles not only as a professional in restoring the classical ballet heritage, but also as an innovative choreographer. A true cosmopolitan, Konstantin Uralsky knows no boundaries for his creativity, successfully working on productions both in Russia and abroad.
Today he is personally invited to Astrakhan by Governor A. Zhilkin. The task set by the management for the choreographer is wonderful and great. To create a team and repertoire of the academic ballet theater for the Opera and Ballet Theatre. The status of the theater has grown by several orders of magnitude, it's time to match the artists.

MIRACLE TICKET: Konstantin Semyonovich, with your arrival in Astrakhan, many new ballet dancers have appeared in our troupe. Have you known each other before?
Konstantin Uralsky: I really have already worked with some of them. They are the soloist Alexander Zverev from Yoshkar-Ola, the leading ballet dancer from Samara Daria Klimova, Ulyana Batluk from Novosibirsk and Vladislav Borisov from Moscow. Many artists will come to Astrakhan from different cities and ballet schools of the country. So soon the composition of the ballet troupe of the theater will at least double. Imagine, in the ballet "Swan Lake" 32 white swans are dancing, i.e. for this production, about 35 women and the same number of men are needed.

MIRACLE TICKET: Ideally, how do you see the “Uralsky ballet” that you are currently working on?
Konstantin Uralsky: The durability of what will eventually be created depends on the correctness of my choice today. A new Theater is being born, and we all stand at its origins. This is a historic moment both for Astrakhan and for me personally. It is important to understand that the Theater is created where there are creative leaders and a cohesive team, and not where there is a big new building and far-reaching plans.
I select the actors for my troupe very carefully. In my creative team, everyone feels their need and the shoulder of a friend, and there is nothing that is considered to be ballast.

WONDERFUL TICKET: Will new numbers be added to ballet performances already familiar to Astrakhan, or will the repertoire of the ballet troupe be completely renewed?
Konstantin Uralsky: As for the repertoire policy, of course, it will soon undergo major changes. First of all, ballet performances from the classical heritage will be performed on the Astrakhan stage (“Don Quixote”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Swan Lake”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Giselle” - in a new edition). In addition, I plan to show my original performances in Astrakhan (for example, “Waltz of the White Orchids”).
The first big work of our troupe in the Opera and Ballet Theater will be “Swan Lake”. For the New Year, we are preparing a one-act performance for children “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, and in 2012 we will expand it to a full-length performance.

WONDER TICKET: Tell me, are there any absolutely new productions that will be staged for the first time in Astrakhan?
Konstantin Uralsky: Yes, I plan to stage new world ballet premieres on the stage of the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theatre. I love to surprise the audience! But until I begin to reveal the secret of what productions I am talking about now.
In addition, I will invite non-resident choreographers to the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theater to carry out original productions.

MIRACLE TICKET: Is the path from conception to staging a new ballet performance long?
Konstantin Uralsky: Very long. For example, 16 years have passed from the birth of the idea to the staging of my performance “Waltz of the White Orchids”. On average, 2-3 years pass from the day of conception to the birth of a performance. After the Idea has crystallized in the brain of the choreographer, the theater is connected to the project, acting as a producer. The development of the scenario plan begins, the work of the composer on the scores, the work of costume designers, set designers. The temporal calculation of all these creative processes goes on for years.
But those premieres, the name of which I cannot disclose now, will be staged on the Astrakhan stage, most likely in a year. By the time I received a job offer in your city, these performances were already in the final stages of preparation.

MIRACLE TICKET: Astrakhan is called the Caspian capital of Russia. Are you planning to organize here, for example, a large-scale ballet festival?
Konstantin Uralsky: We are already developing such developments. Together with the artistic director and chief conductor of the theater, Valery Voronin, they decided to combine two types of art in one big festival. This will be an original project for Astrakhan. But let me remind you that the primary task now is to create a new ballet troupe and a new repertoire for it.

MIRACLE TICKET: Governor of the Astrakhan region Alexander Zhilkin has repeatedly voiced information about the opening of a ballet school in Astrakhan on the basis of the Opera and Ballet Theatre. Can you tell me when this event will take place?
Konstantin Uralsky: The decision on its creation will be made in the near future, since the opening of a professional ballet school-college is a very topical issue today. The ballet theater must become a serious part of the new troupe of the opera and ballet theatre, and for this it must be provided with professional staff. The college will be needed both for training personnel and for popularizing ballet in the city.
In the future, I would like to see a department of choreography appear in Astrakhan on the basis of the Astrakhan Conservatory, for example. I would be happy to teach future choreographers and choreographers.

MIRACLE TICKET: Konstantin Semyonovich, and finally, could you explain once again the situation with the distribution of the repertoire between the old and new venues of the Opera and Ballet Theatre?
Konstantin Uralsky: In November and December, theater artists will work at two venues at the same time. Opera performances and children's subscriptions for which tickets are sold will take place on the old stage in Arcadia Park. And on the new stage of the Opera and Ballet Theatre, all creative troupes take part in a series of charity combined concerts. Tickets are not sold for these concerts, admission is by invitation only.
Already on November 26, we will show a new ballet repertoire at the "Ballet Evening" in two parts, tickets for which are already completely sold out. Our premiere will take place on the new stage of the Opera and Ballet Theatre.

short biography

The creative life of Konstantin Uralsky began at the Bolshoi Theater, on the stage of which he danced after graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School. Having chosen the path of a choreographer for himself, he entered the ballet master department of GITIS for the course of Professor Olga Tarasova. Then he took a desperate step - he left the Bolshoi troupe and went to the West (Germany, USA) to learn the forms of modern dance, the echoes of which reached Moscow, but which was not taught in the USSR. In America, he was offered to lead the Iowa Ballet troupe as Artistic Director.

In 1991-1996. K. Uralsky directs the Iowa Ballet. He focuses on strengthening the ballet school, restoring a large number of classical ballets. Uralsky staged 15 original performances at the Iowa Ballet, which aroused great interest from critics, among them The Birds, My Reverie, Carmen Suite, More Than Two to Tango, Macbeth, Reflecting on Petrushka, “Music of Albinoni”, “Doctor Zhivago”, etc. These works brought him fame in the USA.

In 1998 Konstantin Uralsky headed the ballet school in New York. He continues to direct and becomes Artistic Director of the New York Ballet. For this team, new productions of “Moonlight”, “Silent Night”, “Wanderers on the Road” and others are being created.

In 2006-2007 Konstantin Uralsky created for the Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after M.I. Glinka S. Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and the world premiere of the ballet "El Mundo de Goya", about the life of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya to music by composer Valeria Besedina. Both performances aroused great interest among the public and professionals. The ballet "El Mundo de Goya" received five prizes at the "Scena 2007" festival, including the prize for "Best Choreography of the Year".

From April 2008 K. Uralsky becomes the Artistic Director of the Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after M.I. Glinka.

In 2008 K. Uralsky was awarded the State Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation for achievements in the field of culture. The prize was awarded for the production of the ballet El Mundo de Goya.

Today K. Uralsky continues to stage performances in different countries of the world. His latest works are the premiere of the new ballet "Faces of the Russian Seasons" in Italy, at the National Dance Academy in Rome, the performance "More Than two to Tango" at the National Theater of the Republic of Kosovo.

In 2010 Konstantin Uralsky staged a new ballet performance "Chekhov. Reflections” dedicated to the 150th anniversary of A.P. Chekhov.

Awards and achievements

Laureate of the Government of the Russian Federation

Laureate of international competitions

Chief choreographer of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater about experiments, life in the USA and the search

Russian ballet is a brand that has developed over many years and is known all over the world. Respect for Russian dancers was born thanks to a strong technique, deep psychologism. Artistic director of the ballet and chief choreographer of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater Konstantin Uralsky spoke about experiments, life in the USA and the search.

Photo from the personal archive of K. Uralsky

Do the way you feel

I think that we do not decide our fate, only sometimes we foolishly miss the right “turns”. It happens that you are walking along the path of life, suddenly there is a crossroads, you do not pay attention to it, you move on. And he takes and again you come across. Here you are already thinking. I had many different moments when fate seemed to guide me. At one of the moments when I succumbed to the will of fate, I ended up on an internship in the USA.

I was then a beginner choreographer. When I arrived, I discovered a completely new world. Emotions are unforgettable. There are wonderful lines in the memoirs of the Russian dancer-choreographer Leonid Myasin, a participant in the Diaghilev Seasons. He describes how he sailed to New York from Europe on a ship. And an avalanche of freedom of thought literally fell upon him. An avalanche is an accurate description of what I experienced at first. In American culture, "freedom" is the key word. Do as you feel, as you see.

However, in order to invent, you need to have a good foundation. If there is no good knowledge, then there is nothing to build on. Any innovation can only be based on a good school. If we talk about choreography, then only having a very strong conservative school behind us (and many European ballet schools are quite conservative) can one develop, break out of the box.

I have spent many years in the USA. The formation of my language was influenced by the study of modern dance schools: jazz dance and modern dance. But I remain a choreographer of classical ballet. And, of course, the people around me.

With virtually no experience, I headed the Iowa Ballet. We had various productions, but we did everything quickly, clearly. The economy of the capitalist world does not allow you to spend years on rehearsals, here everything needs to be done at a pace. And you also need to be able to present yourself, promote. In the states, all cultural projects are supported by sponsorship funds, which can only be obtained by proving that your product is better than others. For this, I even went through the school of marketing and PR. In general, I am always ready to learn.

Always looking for the golden mean. While working at the Iowa Ballet, I first learned how to communicate with people. There was simply no such thing as “I owe it.” It was necessary to act only with convictions, it was necessary to interest, inspire people. This law still applies to my work today. Each artist in my troupe is an individual.

Small troupes are rare in Russian theaters. Often, large numbers of people are used to create scale. And try to make a crowd if you only have 20 people on stage? Here it is already necessary to compose, come up with schemes, draw the arrangement of compositions in which a feeling of mass character will be born. I searched, put compositions, remembering the experience of my teachers. The ability to work with a small number of people is very valuable, so today I teach my students how to put 15-17 people on stage and make the audience believe that there was a crowd.

The path to your own style

Once, in one of the sleeping areas of New York, I came across a chic ballet hall, which was left from one Russian teacher. The room was empty. And I didn’t miss this “turn” - I occupied the hall, recruited a team and everything started spinning. So my dance school appeared in New York. There is great respect for Russian ballet all over the world, so there were no problems finding students. For me it was one of the most interesting periods of my life.

In this hall, I composed my famous productions - "Rakhmaninov's Second Piano Concerto", "Waltz of the White Orchids". An interesting feature of that place was that there was a residential apartment above the ballet hall. I settled in it, so I had the opportunity to go down and work at any time of the day. By the way, returning to Myasin’s memoirs, I’ll make a small remark: in his book, he says that he had an old dream of having a house with a ballet hall to practice when he wants. Over time, this dream of his came true - he had a large house with a hall on Long Island. So, my hall with an apartment upstairs was also on Long Island.

In the states, I really missed a large repertory theater with a large hall, an orchestra. I missed the "Russian dancer" and really hoped that my experience would help him develop. Today I can say that I was not mistaken. And an example of this is the Astrakhan ballet troupe, which I gathered. My message was not to "poach" experienced artists from other theaters, but to make my own team of young dancers. Therefore, I invited graduates of leading ballet educational institutions: from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk, Ufa. From them the basis of our ballet troupe was created. Of course, I had to work a lot with young artists, but I love working with young people. This troupe is unique in its own way, the artists are about the same age. For six years of work, we have raised strong dancers, developed our own style. In this I was helped a lot by assistant choreographers who came to Astrakhan at my invitation. I am especially grateful to the former dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, a wonderful teacher, Yuri Romashko.

Astrakhan is my city

It's hard for me to say which of my productions is the best. Each has its own charm and its own difficulties. Each one is loved in its own way.

I don't like the word "innovation". Because art is a constant search. If there is no search in an artistic concept (it doesn’t matter if you are an artist, composer, director, choreographer), then your whole idea is a stillborn child. For me, every performance is life. This is the world in which I plunge myself and into which I try to immerse the artists, and then the audience. For example, in "Waltz of the White Orchids" we see Paris in a certain period of history. To create the right atmosphere, it was necessary to use everything - music, language, literature. We had to live in that era.

For days I listened to the French music of that time, got used to the paintings painted by the artists of this period. Before the production, I made a special trip to Paris. I remember asking my wife to leave me alone. I stood on the bridge for a long time and smoked. I tried to remember every detail, to absorb the world around me in order to convey it to the viewer. I am sure that the dance technique is only part of a big job.

Interestingly, an exhibition dedicated to the "Waltz of the White Orchids" was recently held. It is housed in the creative space TeleLeto. I am very fond of such places. In a sense, this is even symbolic for me - in New York I often visited the Soho area (former industrial zones), where today creative spaces are being created that develop thanks to youth. So, there the dominant style of the premises is just a loft. In Astrakhan, I love walking along Fioletova Street, where all the old buildings are now taking on a new life.

For me, this is a signal: usually such changes are associated with young people, with creative people. I liked the reaction of the audience to the exhibition on the play, and I hope that it will not be the last. Vaulted ceilings evoke thoughts of the Middle Ages. Maybe we will do something unusual on the theme of the play "Andrei Rublev" ...

I love Astrakhan very much. I came here with the mindset that maybe this is the point where I want to stay and live. And so it happened. I like that this is an old Russian city with incredible architecture, a combination of styles. From the window of my office I see both the Kazan Church and the domes of the Assumption Cathedral. It is very expensive for me. I love multinational culture and I am glad that I am surrounded by different, different people. My youngest daughter, for example, has three best friends, and they are all of different nationalities. And how great it is to celebrate national holidays with friends. I am sure that Astrakhan is my city.

Konstantin Uralsky, after graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School (now the Moscow State Academy of Arts) in 1978, was admitted to the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.

In 1990 he graduated from GITIS (RATI) with a specialization in choreography (course of Professor O.G. Tarasova). In parallel with his studies at GITIS, Uralsky studied modern trends in choreography in Germany and the USA.

In 1991 he accepted an invitation to lead the Iowa Ballet Company, USA. Konstantin Uralsky has directed the Iowa Ballet for 6 years, during which time he has restored a large number of ballets from the classical repertoire and created 15 original performances that have aroused great interest among audiences and critics. Among them are "Birds", "My Reverie", "Carmen Suite", "More Than Two to Tango", "Macbeth", "Thinking about Petrushka", "Albinoni Music", "Doctor Zhivago" and others.

in 1998 Konstantin Uralsky became the Artistic Director of the chamber ballet "Ballet New York". At the same time, in 1998, he opened his own ballet school in New York. For the new team, productions of "Moonlight", "Christmas Dances", "Wanderers on the Road", etc. are being created.

In 2006 he was invited to the Chelyabinsk State Opera and Ballet Theater to stage S. Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. After the success of the performance, he receives a second invitation, and together with the composer V. Besedina, in 2007 creates the world premiere of the ballet "E lMundo de Goya" about the life of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. The performance aroused great interest among the public and professionals. The ballet "El Mundo de Goya" received five prizes at the "Scena-2007" festival, including the prize for the best choreography of the year.

Since April 2008, Konstantin Uralsky has been the artistic director of the Chelyabinsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after Glinka.

In 2008, for the ballet "El Mundo de Goya" Konstantin Uralsky was awarded the State Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation for achievements in the field of culture.

Among the performances staged at the Chelyabinsk Theater are the bright works "Fire Bird"

I. Stravinsky, "Chekhov. Reflections" to the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky.

In September 2011, he received an invitation from the government of the Astrakhan Region to lead the ballet troupe of the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theater that was being opened. Konstantin Uralsky becomes the artistic director of the ballet and the main choreographer of the theater.

In December 2012, the new ballet troupe of the Astrakhan State Opera Ballet Theater opened with the premiere of the ballet "Swan Lake" in a new production by Konstantin Uralsky.

In recent years, Uralsky has staged a ballet to the music of the Second Piano Concerto by Sergei Rachmaninov and the ballet Waltz of the White Orchids based on the works of E.M. "," Piaf. I do not regret anything "and a major world premiere - the ballet" Andrei Rublev ".

Among the productions: in the USA: The Birds, My Reverie, Carmen Suite, More Than Two to Tango, Macbeth, Reflecting on Petrushka, Albinoni Music, Doctor Zhivago, Moonlight”, “Silent Night”, “Wanderers on the Road”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “The Nutcracker”, “Rachmaninov second”, etc.

In Russia: "Waltz of the White Orchids", "Romeo and Juliet" by S. Prokofiev, the ballet "El Mundo de Goya", "Chekhov. Reflections”, “Firebird”, “Rakhmaninov's Second Piano Concerto”, “The Nutcracker”, “Don Quixote” by L. Minkus and others.

Konstantin Uralsky staged the performances "Little Night Serenade", "Rakhmaninov's Second Piano Concerto" (Ukraine), "Doctor Zhivago" (Bulgaria), "Faces of the Russian Seasons" (National Dance Academy in Rome), "More Than Two to Tango" ( National Theater of the Republic of Kosovo), "Rhythms of the Sun" (Bolivia). He continues to stage performances in different countries of the world, working equally successfully with both classical material and modern works.