The choreographer and dancer Lev Ivanov entered the history of Russian ballet as the author of the world masterpiece - the dance of little swans. The Russian artist not only performed leading roles in classical productions. There were also characteristic roles in his repertoire. The well-deserved ballet teacher is called the reformer of world choreography.
In his work, Lev Ivanovich Ivanov has always considered the most important component of music. Therefore, all of his performances are remarkable for their striking harmony and imagery.
The path to the vocation
The biography of the future figure began in 1834. The child was born in Moscow on March 2. The boy was the eldest in the family. From an early age, he showed the ability to dance. The parents who saw his talent sent their son to the capital's ballet school. From there the talented student was transferred to St. Petersburg for education.
On a new dream, the teachers immediately appreciated the abilities of the beginner. He was also distinguished by perfect pitch and excellent memory. True, the teachers considered the hobby for music unnecessary: the student was distracted from studying other subjects. The stage debut took place in 1850.
The sixteen-year-old pupil danced the classical pas de deux in the ballet "Millers". The premiere was great, the aspiring artist constantly participated in productions. In 1852 the gifted artist was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg. At first, the newcomer was enrolled in the corps de ballet.
However, there he was immediately noticed by the leading ballerinas Andrianova and Smirnova. They appreciated the talent of the young man and chose him as their partner on stage. Lev performed characteristic and classical parts. There were also minor roles in his repertoire. He was transferred to soloists in 1956. Ivanov performed Colin in "Vain Precaution", was Phoebus in "Esmeralda", Konrad in "Le Corsaire".
The dancer was the first to perform the role of the fisherman Taor in the ballet The Pharaoh's Daughter to music by Caesar Puni, staged by Petipa. He also brilliantly performed the role of Solor in the ballet La Bayadere.
Successes and disappointments
At first, the artist's personal life also developed happily. His chosen one was the dancer Vera Lyadova, the daughter of a famous Russian composer. Young people became husband and wife. Soon Vera went to the operetta.
Her work was highly appreciated by her contemporaries. The artist was called the Russian operetta diva. From the moment of her recognition in a new field, the marriage cracked. The happy union fell apart.
Starting in the sixties, the artist began to work as a choreographer and began teaching. In 1872 he retired, but the theater management persuaded him to stay and continue his work. In 1882 Ivanov was appointed to the post of director of the St. Petersburg ballet.
Three years later he was transferred to Petipa as the second choreographer. The duties of Lev Ivanovich included the resumption of old performances, the staging of dances. Ivanov also created divertissements and staged one-act ballets for the Kamennoostrovsky Theater.
As a teacher, the choreographer led the senior class of the students of the school. In 1887 he presented his first performance, The Enchanted Forest. The production was created with a view to the premiere at the school.
New achievements
In the same period appeared "Harlem Tulip", "Cupid's Prank" and "Seville Beauty". Ivanov gained fame as an experienced professional. His staging of "Polovtsian Dances" for the opera "Prince Igor" by Borodin in 1890 was recognized as a triumphant one. Later, researchers called Lev Ivanovich's work preparation for a coup in a character dance.
The choreographer's work aroused great respect for Borodin's work. In the complex construction of his dance suite, the choreographer managed to convey the growing tension. The dance scenes in the Polovtsian camp were highly appreciated by critics. By the early summer of 1892, Petipa began work on the ballet The Nutcracker to music by Tchaikovsky.
However, he could not continue his activity. Ivanov replaced him. Lev Ivanovich was faced with a difficult task. The choreographer did his best to leave the aesthetics of his predecessor unchanged and to fulfill all the conditions of the script. Innovation in full force manifested itself in the action-deepening waltz scene of snowflakes.
This work was called the triumph of a major artist. It was the work of Tchaikovsky that gave the master the opportunity to determine the imagery, which became the reason for all the choreographer's further achievements. His failures or successes were completely dependent on the music. For him, she became the main component of the production.
Spring 1893 was the premiere of the school's version of the comic ballet The Magic Flute. In memory of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who passed away on October 25, the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters decided to stage Swan Lake. The management decided that the new ballet would find its fans.
The second picture staged by Ivanov was first shown in February 1894. At that time, Lev Ivanovich was working on his own, but he could not reject Petipa's brilliant idea of opposing the tender Odette to the temperamental Odile. However, it was Ivanov's “little swans” that made the performance famous.
Recognition of merit
The premiere took place in 1895, January 15. According to the choreographer, all winged creatures did not have to appear on stage in costumes with wings behind their backs. It was Ivanov who proposed the idea of rejecting huge and often inconvenient details. Contrary to the canon that existed before him, the choreographer replaced them with hand movements that he himself invented, imitating wing flaps.
All mass scenes also ceased to serve as a kind of decoration. Ivanov's ingenious find was the symbolic language of such phenomena, echoing the poses and gestures of the main character, as if reflecting Odette's experiences.
In 1896, a new work by the choreographer was presented, the one-act performance Acis and Galatea. In 1897 the public saw the ballet The Mikado Daughter in several acts. In 1899 he also completed writing his memoirs. In October 1900 the divertissement of the last act of The Little Humpbacked Horse was supplemented by Liszt's second rhapsody. Critics called her a choreographic poem. The success was explained both by the musical interpretation typical for Ivanov and by the characteristic symphonic dance.
The work became the last masterpiece of the master. The famous choreographer passed away in 1901, on December 11 (24).
