The unique "Firebird" by Shcherbakova. Anya at the forefront of Russian ballet
The Firebird is a bright and colourful ballet by I.F. Stravinsky on a fairy tale theme, which was written by order of S.P. Diaghilev for "Russian Seasons". The plot of the Firebird is based on Russian fairy tales about Koschey the Immortal, as well as Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the gray wolf. In addition, choreographers add to the ballet performance dances of captive girls from the work of F. Sologub “Night Dances”.
Surprisingly, many interesting facts are associated with the ballet Firebird. So, for example, Igor Stravinsky is the third composer who started writing the ballet score, as the two previous ones, A. Lyadov and N. Cherepnin, could not cope with this order. As a result, Diaghilev was forced to look for a new composer and the choice fell on Stravinsky, Igor Fyodorovich himself noted in his memoirs that this was a very flattering offer, to which he immediately agreed, despite the limited time.
link to Firebird in ballet: https://youtu.be/fzCe7EozFJI
Ballet programs on ice are not surprising for the Tutberidze team (recall, Alina Zagitova's Olympic programs - the Black Swan and Don Quixote, as well as last year's Carmen program), so when I evaluated the music for Anya's free program, it was clear that the coaching staff cope with their task.
In addition, Daniil Gleikhengauz is the son of the Bolshoi ballerina Lyudmila Shalashova, who, unfortunately, passed away last year, so he was accustomed to ballet culture since childhood, and Lyudmila Borisovna’s participation in working with the Khrustalniy skaters was expressed not only in choreographic training of pupils, but also in the study of the characteristic ballet movements and their implementation in the ballet productions of Khrustalniy, so the ballet aesthetics werr always successfully transferred to the ice.
Shcherbakova’s free program combines the music of the French composer Eric Satie performed by Roland Pentinen and pieces from the ballet The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky. We are used to seeing Anya in gentle and lyrical images, so this program became a kind of experiment for the skater, which, at least for me, Anya coped with perfectly.
In addition to beauty and charm, Shcherbakova conquered the fans with incredibly complex program content, which she complicated during the season - Anya performs a cascade of 4 Lutz - 3 Toeloop, 4 Lutz, 4 Flip, two 2 Axels, 3 Lutz - 3 Rittberger, 3 Flip - Euler - 3 Salchow, 3 Lutz, and all this with incredible skating, and even with a surprise in the middle of the program. This surprise is the transformation of the dress, of course, perhaps the best transformation of the season.
If we talk about music for her free program, then for the introductory part of the program, Gnossienne No. 1 by Eric Satie, the famous French composer and pianist, who was one of the ideological inspirers of the French Six, a creative association of young musicians of the 1910-20s in Paris, was chosen different in creative settings, but unanimously striving for novelty and simplicity at the same time, as well as from the entire musical heritage of that time, only two composers remain revered: Sati and Stravinsky.
By the way, Sati and Stravinsky were well acquainted, spoke positively of each other's work and admitted to the significant mutual influence of their music. Consequently, the combination of their musical works within the framework of one program is stylistically quite justified. At the same time, from a purely tactical point of view, Gnossienne No. 1 with its simplicity and leisurelyness (the name itself: Gnossienne No. 1 - Lent translates as "Gnosian No. 1 - Slow") allows Anna to accelerate before the jump without spending too much energy on acting out the numerous musical accents that filled her program at the climax.
link to ballet 'Gnossienne in Blue' performance https://youtu.be/62ib6SmLkGU
Too much has been said about Anya's dress, so I won’t repeat myself, I only note that this is really a great idea, which the costume designer and the skater herself were able to realize 100%.
In my opinion, this is one of the best free programs for women this season. Interesting, beautiful, unusual, technically, there will not be enough epithets to describe the emotions that this production gives us. It is a pity that we can see her on big ice for the last time at the World Championship. It is hoped that Anya will skate it cleaner than ever before and will put a beautiful point to the end of the season.
link to Anna skating https://youtu.be/xoj3xTld4UQ
What program do you remember the most this season?
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