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Step 4 - Jigsaw groups 1, 2 strat working together to do the tasks of groups 3, 4 and vice versa

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Step 4 - Jigsaw groups 1, 2 strat working together to do the tasks of groups 3, 4 and vice versa

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Step 3 - at this stage every member of the Jigsaw group teaches the material of his chunk to his mates and they do the tasks together.

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Step 3 - at this stage every member of the Jigsaw group teaches the material of his chunk to his mates and they do the tasks together.

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Step 1 - Divide into 4 Jigsaw groups of 4 people. 

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Step 1 - Divide into 4 Jigsaw groups of 4 people. 

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Read the text about classical ballet and prepare 10 multiple choice questions to it.

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After the Romantic ballet era, the next major development in ballet occurred in Russia. Russia had a long folk-dance tradition and in the 18th century, landowners had maintained serf dance companies. Dancing was also regularly taught in the military academies.

The students at the Imperial Russian Ballet schools in St Petersburg and Moscow and the dancers of the Maryinsky (Kirov) Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet were highly privileged and regarded as members of the royal household.

Marius Petipa

Classical ballet developed in the late 19th century when Marius Petipa was ballet master in St Petersburg. Classical ballet is a mixture of the French style of Romantic ballet, the techniques developed in Italy in the late 19th century, and Russian teaching. When most people talk about ballet they think of Petipa's ballets, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

Like most theatre in the 1890s, classical ballets were spectacular, realistic and performances lasted a full evening. The story was an excuse for exciting dancing, with the corps de ballet used as a decorative background, and the narrative told in formal mime gestures. The ballerina always danced on pointe, whether she was an Indian temple dancer, Egyptian slave, Spanish gypsy or swan princess. The other
dancers appeared in national dances, like the Czardas from Hungary or Spanish flamenco.

Petipa's ballets were meticulously planned and he gave detailed descriptions to both dancers and composers. He worked closely with Tchaikovsky to create the music for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. Petipa would specify exactly how many bars of music he needed for each section of the dance. Much ballet music was tuneful, simple and often repetitive.

The ballet school and companies in St Petersburg and Moscow were part of the Royal Household and under the direct patronage of the Czar.

Training lasted seven to eight years. The students were boarders and received a full academic education as well as dance training. A dance career was regarded as a vocation rather than a job, and the students lived in convent-like austerity. Girls and boys only met in class and were not allowed to speak to each other. The girls' uniform was a blue ankle-length serge dress, old fashioned even in 1902, with a white fichu crossed around the bust and a black apron on weekdays, white on Sundays.

Swan Lake

Today, Swan Lake is one of the most famous and popular of all ballets, yet the first version in Moscow in 1877 flopped. Choreographer Wenzel Reisinger, used to making dances to simple rhythms and easy tunes, simply could not cope with Tchaikovsky's elaborate, symphonic-style score.

Now, Tchaikovsky's familiar music is one reason for the ballet's enduring popularity. Most versions today are based on the St Petersburg 1894 production, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, which is regarded as one of the greatest ballets of all time.

The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow mounted another version choreographed by Alexander Gorsky in 1901and this formed the basis of later Bolshoi productions.

The St Petersburg 1894 Petipa/Ivanov production became established in the West after Ninette de Valois brought it into the Vic-Wells Ballet repertory in 1934.

Almost every ballet company in the world has the ballet in its repertory, but almost the only thing in common is the score, and the story of the doomed love of Odette, the swan princess, and Prince Siegfried.

Some contemporary versions of the ballet have a completely new choreography, such as Matthew Bourne's famous all-male version.

The Nutcracker

Rudolf Nureyev produced The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet in 1968. Although he based it on the version he had known in St Petersburg, Nureyev rechoreographed most of the ballet.

He gave it a distinctly adult twist, with Freudian overtones, and added nightmare sequences. One problem with traditional productions is that the heroine is a child, Clara, and the ballerina only appears at the very end of the ballet in a single pas de deux.

In Nureyev's version, the character of Clara was still a child, but was danced by a leading ballerina. This made the role more interesting and allowed him to add new pas de deux and solos.

He himself performed the sinister Drosselmeyer in Act I, who is transformed into the Prince in Act II.

Nureyev was famous for his elevation: the ability to jump. He created harmonious patterns in the air just as much as on the ground.

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After the Romantic ballet era, the next major development in ballet occurred in Russia. Russia had a long folk-dance tradition and in the 18th century, landowners had maintained serf dance companies. Dancing was also regularly taught in the military academies.

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Read the article about the development of Russian ballet and
make up 10 true and false statements to the text.

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To mark World Ballet Day 2020, Madeleine Cuckson charts the course of Russia's most graceful art, from its origins in Imperial Russia, through the turbulence of the USSR, to its enduring cultural influence today.

The origins of ballet in Russia stretch back two hundred years - in the 17th and 18th century ballet flourished under Peter the Great, who reigned from 1682-1725. Peter the Great viewed ballet as one of the mediums via which Russia could challenge the West through art and culture - his ambition ignited a cultural revolution in Russia. From here Russia would go on to become the most internationally influential ballet-powerhouse, home to the talent behind the Ballets Russes, and training dancers of the likes of Nijinsky, Pavlova, Taglioni and Nureyev - world renowned figures, some of whom are household names to this day.

Empress Anna Ivanovna (Peter the Great's niece) who was fond of ostentatious events, appointed French dancer Jean-Baptiste Lande as the dancing-master of the Military Academy in 1734. The following year, Lande staged his first ballet and in 1738 opened the Imperial Theatre School in St Petersburg's Winter Palace, followed by the acclaimed Mariinsky Ballet in the 1740s which thrives to this day. Lande - a pioneering Frenchman in Russia, paid little attention to native Russian folklore in the narratives of his choreography. Technique and performance subject-matter were mainly taken from traditions and sources overseas - primarily focused on classical mythology. At this point, the Mariinsky Ballet was home to great international dancers, including Christian Johansson and Marie Taglioni but more rare were high profile Russian dancers.

Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi Ballet did not achieve international acclaim until Moscow became the capital of Soviet Russia in the 20th century, having previously been competing with the Mariinsky Ballet. In 1900 with the appointment of choreographer Alexander Gorsky as master at the Bolshoi, his influence curated a newfound signature style for the company. From this period came new and restaged productions that are recognised worldwide, including Swan Lake with music by Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. The Bolshoi was now Russia's leading ballet troupe and Russia was at the forefront of an international movement, bringing unprecedented depths to the artform by incorporating drama.

Among notable figures trained and celebrated in Imperial Russia was Anna Pavlova (1881-1931). Pavlova took the ballet scene by a storm, despite her unusually slight physique for a dancer of her time, Pavlova is said to have possessed an innate quality of movement that cannot be taught. After training at the Imperial Mariinsky Ballet, Pavlova rose to fame through celebrated performances including Giselle and perhaps most pivotally hersolo performance of The Dying Swan, choreographed for her by Mikhail Fokin in 1905. Pavlova did contribute for a short period of time to the Ballets Russes, however she is said to have found Stravinsky's avant-garde scores too unusual. Leaving the Imperial Ballet in 1913, Pavlova founded her own dance company, her forte was not to innovate but to take classical dances from imperial Russia across the world - performing well known Mariinksy ballets, including Don Quixote and Giselle.

The Soviet era brought fundamental changes to ballet in Russia. With the necessity to conform to Soviet realism, the trajectory of Russian ballet shifted drastically. The fall of imperialism posed a serious threat to ballet, which from its inception had existed as an aristocratic cultural form. In keeping with the aristocratic social system, traditional ballet narratives often followed that of princesses, princes, romanticised flute playing shepherds and peasants. Ballet dancers themselves were also under threat - they now represented the 'old world' of aristocracy, many had guaranteed pensions, lived comfortable lives and up until now were completely removed from the day-to-day lives of so many Russians.

Far from Soviet visualisation of modernity was Russian ballet in its current form. With a sudden lack of state support and contempt for the aristocratic lifestyle that Russian ballet represented, the threat to the freedom of ballet sparked the mass emigration of highly skilled ballet personnel to central Europe, including Nijinsky (who became the principal dancer of the Ballets Russes), as well as Anna Pavlova. With them they took crucial knowledge of ballet practices, leaving behind a technical and artistic void.

Under Soviet rule, the Bolshoi Ballet company was required to depict uncomplicated moral themes. Notable ballets were still produced, including: The Red Poppy, Romeo and Juliet and Ivan the Terrible. Soviet Realism required strict compliance - in part for this reason, impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (1909-1929), which was argued to be the most influential ballet company of the 20th century, could not have achieved the groundbreaking heights that it did had the company been situated in Russia, hence its residence in Paris. Diaghilev and his circle were attracted to ballet for its anti-realist qualities, with a focus on romantic dreams and mystical realms, a vehicle of escapism to ancient times, often drawing from traditional Russian folklore. Using dancers from the Imperial Ballet (Mariinsky), Diaghilev elevated the careers of many performers, not limited to dancers. A significant reason for the Ballets Russes' success was Diaglev's collaboration with artists - these collaborators pose as a 'who's who' of the 1920's: including Chagall, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Debussy and Matisse.

One of Diagilev's most crucial partnerships, a man who helped to solidify the overall characteristic aesthetic of the company's performances in its initial years, was Russian born artist Léon Bakst. Baskt's artistic style was highly expressive, using bold colours to depict exotic sets and costumes - the 1909 production of Cleopatra saw enormous painted backdrops of Egyptian architecture and equally dazzling costumes to match. Bakst rejected the traditions of imperial ballet, with ballerinas who wore pink satin shoes and tutus no matter the narrative subject. Instead, Bakst drew from many cultures and experiences gained through travelling, adding a unique energy to each fantastical character and story performed. Through such integral collaborations, Diaglev sparked European intrigue in Russian art and culture, showcasing Russia's immeasurable talent.

Perhaps one of the most enigmatic figures of Russian ballet is Vaslav Nijinky - the former principal of the Ballets Russes. Born in 1889, Nijinsky, at the age of 19 was proclaimed to be the greatest male ballet dancer the world had seen, with the ability to jump to unfathomable heights. There is no video footage of him dancing, as Diagilev prohibited any filming of the Ballets Russes' productions and indeed once Nijinsky was dropped from the company (following his marriage to Ramola de Pulszky and subsequent betrayal of former lover Diaghilev), Nijinsky pursued his own dancing and choreographing career and he too was averse to any performance being captured on film.

Perhaps most extraordinary about Nijinsky was his capacity to communicate entirely through physicality, finding words an insubstantial means of reference - he is reported to have held discomfort with verbalisation. Stravinsky, the celebrated Russian born composer and conductor once wrote of Nijinsky's 'ignorance of the most elementary notions of music'. The complex nature of Nijinsky's means for communication and specified knowledge made him at once hold the capacity to communicate universally and dually lack the ability to communicate at all. He allegedly refused to give any more than one word explanations to his dancers as corrections and instead tirelessly danced for them, demonstrating through practical explanations which could not translate to words.

A more contemporary icon of Russian ballet is Rudolf Nureyev - born in 1938 on a Trans-Siberian train, Nureyev would go on to be one of the most beloved figures of the Soviet ballet circle and later be regarded by some as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation. Nureyev hit headlines when he defected from Russia in 1961 after performing in Paris - marking the first defect of a Soviet artist during the Cold War. Nureyev was perhaps most recognised for his iconic dancing partnership with Margot Fonteyn (the former Royal Ballet prima ballerina), their partnership was not easy at first and Nureyev was said to make unrealistic demands of Fonteyn in rehearsals.

An unlikely pairing in many ways, Fonteyn was 19 years Nureyev's senior and moving towards retirement - however the two possessed an otherworldly chemistry when performing. Nureyev made a significant contribution to the reappraisal of male ballet and is said to have remoulded the role of the male dancer (who's focus had previously been supporting the female ballerina) into allowing male dancers to take the limelight and the audience's primary focus. Nureyev was an actor in his performances perhaps as much as he was a dancer - embodying the shift in ballet technique and narrative which began to take place in the 20th century. With his unusual ability to demand the attention of any audience, Nureyev achieved celebrity status in the West.

Despite the initial training of international ballet talent in Imperial Russia, within the last two centuries innumerable figures of ballet talent have poured from Russian training institutes. Today, dancers like Natalia Osipova - the current principal dancer of The Royal Ballet in London who trained at the Bolshoi Ballet, hold the torch of a skill and precision unique to Russia, allowing this craft to be admired internationally. There is no doubt that Russia has retained its reputation as the revolutioniser of ballet and although art and performance in Soviet Russia generally remained within the country's borders, the Ballets Russes' international presence and knock-on effect on worldwide ballet showcased the integrity of Russian ballet. Ballet is malleable, making it the perfect story-telling vessel - reinforcing its resilience and power to communicate meaning through movement, enduring the test of time.

About the author

Madeleine Cuckson is an English Literature and Drama graduate from The University of Manchester. Since finishing her studies, Madeleine has worked in both the post-production film and experiential design industry - private and charity sector. Madeleine has a specific interest in Russia's arts and cultural history with a current focus on performance and the Ballets Russes.

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An Introduction to Russian Ballet: Everything you need to know, from 1734 to today - Pushkin House

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To mark World Ballet Day 2020, Madeleine Cuckson charts the course of Russia's most graceful art, from its origins in Imperial Russia, through the turbulence of the USSR, to its enduring cultural influence today.

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Read the article about the history of Russian ballet and make up 10 questions to it.

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Introduction video credit: Ballerina Performing a Choreography video of Mart Production and A Ballerina dancing in an old house video of Antoni Shkraba from Pexels

The text below is the excerpt of the book The Great History of Russian Ballet (ISBN: 9781646993925), written by Evdokia Belova and E. Bocharnikova , published by Parkstone International.

Dancing has been popular in Russia from time immemorial. The Slavs had many rituals and entertainment dances, dating back as far as the pre-Christian period. Most of these dances were accompanied by songs, and this link with singing imbued Russian dance with its richness of meaning and emotion; its soft, singing "plastique"; and the smoothness and continuity of motion that later made the Russian school of ballet unique. Russian professional ballet originated in the second half of the eighteenth century, brought to Russia by dance masters from Italy, Austria, and France. Russia, with its own rich folk dancing traditions, proved to be fertile soil for the development of ballet. In addition to learning the techniques taught by foreigners, Russians introduced their own intonations to foreign dances.

This watercolor by Friedrich Hilferding, the set designer at Count Sheremetev's peasant theater at Kuskovo, depicts a scene from Giuseppe Solomoni's staging of An American Ballet or the Vanquished Cannibals (1798, Kuskovo). The scene is typical of eighteenth-century ballet: against a backdrop depicting a park, the female dancers (in heavy, long crinolines that did not allow graceful or free movements) pair off with the male dancers (wearing brocaded cuirasses, short tonnelets, and helmets that are luxuriantly decorated with feathers). Both male and female dancers wore highheeled shoes.

On February 13, 1675 (according to most sources) the first Russian dance performance, The Ballet of Orpheus, was staged near Moscow in the village of Preobrazhenskoe, which belonged to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It is believed that the music for this ballet was written by the German composer Heinrich Schuetz, while the ballet was staged by Nicholas Lim, a Swedish engineer who also trained the performers. Lim danced the role of Orpheus and, among other things, he performed "the dance with two moving pyramids". A strict ceremonial order was observed in the theatre of that period: the Tsar sat on an armchair placed upon a piece of red cloth in the centre of the hall; the most distinguished boyars sat on benches along the wall behind the Tsar's seat, and the rest of the spectators sat along the sides of the hall and, sometimes, even on the stage itself. The Tsar's wife and daughters watched the performance through a grate from a special room in the back of the hall. Subsequently, other ballets were staged, but their titles are unknown today.

This sketch by L. Lelong brings to life the rare exotic flavor of Fokine's Shéhérazade.

After Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died, there were no ballet performances in Russia for many years. However, the reign of Peter the Great brought new fashions in clothing and social behaviour, as well as in methods of education and upbringing. An interest in forms of entertainment that were popular in Europe, such as balls and the ballet, also developed under Peter. The Tsar himself was fond of dancing, and he set the tone by dancing in public with his wife Catherine. These balls, at which dances previously unknown in Russia (such as the minuet, the polonaise, and the anglaise) were performed, paved the way for the development of stage dance and court ballet. Specialists were needed to teach these new dances. In 1734, the French dance master Jean-Baptiste Landé was invited to teach at the Russian court. Having danced to acclaim on the stages of Paris and Dresden and having choreographed ballets in Stockholm, Landé taught the Russian nobility to dance and staged ballets at the imperial court.

He highly esteemed the inherent ability of Russians to dance, and, on his initiative, professional ballet training in Russia was begun. The first dance school in Russia opened in St. Petersburg on May 4, 1738: this school later became famous as the Leningrad Ballet School and is now the Vaganova St. Petersburg Academy of the Russian Ballet. Originally, the school was housed in two rooms of the old Winter Palace. The first enrolment comprised six girls and six boys from the families of court employees. Two different European schools formed the sources of ballet education in Russia.

Russian Ballerina Maria Alexandrova and Vladislav Lantratov in the Firebird pas de duex.

"Serious" dance (based on the minuet) was taught by Landé and, later, by his students; comic dance was taught by Antonio Rinaldi (known as Fossano) and his wife, Giulia Rinaldi. The rigid canons of the French school and the grotesque virtuosity of the Italian merged organically in Russian performance practice. Landé's students were so successful that, in 1742, his first graduates were invited to perform at court celebrations of the coronation of Empress Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great. The most outstanding of Landé's students were Andrei Nesterov, who became the first Russian ballet teacher, and Aksinia Sergeyeva. A dance class was formed in Moscow in 1773 at the Moscow Orphanage, where young orphans were kept at state expense. Their first teachers were the Italian dancers Filippo Beccari and his wife, and they were later taught by the Austrian teacher and ballet master Leopold Paradisi. Graduates from his classes included a number of excellent dancers, such as Arina Sobakina, Gavrila Raikov, Vasily Balashov, and Ivan Yeropkin. This is the beginning of the Moscow Ballet School. In both the Moscow and the St. Petersburg schools, all students were obliged to study music, singing, dancing, painting, and drama. Only during the course of these studies did school authorities assign students to particular specialities according to their professional promise. Nineteenthcentury Russian dance incorporated the best stage traditions and teaching techniques of Western European ballet, having received them first hand.

Maya Plisetskaya's first attempt at choreography was Anna Karenina, based on the novel by Lev Tolstoy.

The best ballet masters of the time, including Franz Hilferding, Gasparo Angiolini, Charles Le Picq, and Giuseppe Canziani, came from Europe to work in St. Petersburg. Their conceptual and creative approach was similar to that of Jean-Georges Noverre, the greatest reformer of the ballet theatre. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Russian ballet passed through the same stages of development as European ballet. In the eighteenth century, ballet was considered a part of opera. Sometimes it was used as an inserted divertissement (a set of related dances) or as an interlude (a scene between acts with its own scenario). Sometimes ballet came at the end of a performance and repeated the plot of the opera. It was only in the 1760s that ballet became an independent genre with multiact performances. From that time, on a par with the other arts, ballet developed along the general lines of the Theatre of Classicism....

To get a better insight into the The Great History of Russian Ballet, continue this exciting adventure by clicking on Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Australia, Amazon French, Amazon German, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Italy, Amazon Spain, Amazon Canada, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Amazon Netherlands, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google, Apple, Overdrive, Scribd, Bookbeat

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The Great History of Russian Ballet - Parkstone International

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The text below is the excerpt of the book The Great History of Russian Ballet (ISBN: 9781646993925), written by Evdokia Belova and E. Bocharnikova , published by Parkstone International . Dancing has been popular in Russia from time immemorial. The Slavs had many rituals and entertainment dances, dating back as far as the pre-Christian period.

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You have to deal with the text concerning a revolutionary ballet that would be called modern ballet today. Do the task after the video.

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The Rite of Spring has one of the richest and strangest production histories in modern ballet. View photos of some vivid performances through the years here.

The ballet is particularly famous for its unsettling opening scene, a version of which you can watch here. You can also listen to the full score here along with a graphical score to guide you through the different instruments playing.

Stravinsky himself talks about his process of inspiration, doubt and determination in his autobiography, which you can preview here. You can read Stravinsky's candid remarks about working with Vaslav Nijinsky, the choreographer and dancer. While the combination of Nijinsky's wild choreography and Stravinsky's eerie score made The Rite of Spring even more radical, Stravinsky voiced his doubt over Nijinsky's moves. Reminiscing about the choreography in his autobiography, he wrote of "Nijinsky's lack of consciousness of what he was doing in creating it." Perhaps, it was this inharmonious relationship that elevated the strangeness of the final production. Read more about the colorful life and radical art of Nijinsky here, who as this article argues was "the embodiment of a new kind of dancer"

Another key collaborator was the costume and set designer Nicholas Roerich. View some of his distinctive sets for The Rite of Spring here. Then, visit this page for a detailed discussion of his weird and wonderful costumes.

The entire production caused immediate shock on opening night - but the political and cultural shockwaves radiated through the years. This article offers much insight into the effects and legacy of the ballet which turned the genre on its head.

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The ballet that incited a riot - Iseult Gillespie

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Ballet is typically thought of as harmonious, graceful and polished- hardly something that would trigger a riot. But at the first performance of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," audience members were so outraged that they drowned out the orchestra. People hurled objects at the stage, started fights and were arrested.

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Step 2 - Each Jigsaw group has to work on 4 chunks of material for every memeber of the group. At this stage you work individually.

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Step 2 - Each Jigsaw group has to work on 4 chunks of material for every memeber of the group. At this stage you work individually.