Ballet costume of the 19th century. From a long skirt to a "cloud of gas": the history of the tutu

In God we trust. All others must bring data.

Battle for the body or Men's ballet costume: from camisole and pantaloons to full nudity

Today it seems that the body in dance has always been open to the viewer: the less it is worn, the better. In fact, the ballet was born swaddled from head to toe. Everything was hiding and hiding, but the dance could not come to terms with such injustice. And the great battle began for the body, free from costume shackles.

For men in a ballet costume, it all started with such a bells and whistles that today it is impossible to even imagine how in such outfits one could not only dance, but simply move around the stage. But the dancers showed themselves to be real fighters for the complete liberation of the body from the rag shackles. True, the path that they had to travel to appear in front of the audience almost naked, only covering the "shame" with a fig leaf called a bandage, or even naked, turned out to be long, thorny and scandalous.

Skirt on the frame

What was a dancer in the early days of ballet? The artist's face was hidden by a mask, his head was decorated with a high wig with fluffy fluffy hair, the ends of which fell on his back. Over the wig was put on another incredible headdress. Suit fabrics were heavy, dense, generously whipped. The dancer appeared on stage in a skirt on a frame, reaching almost to the knee, and in high-heeled shoes. Mantles of gold and silver brocade were also used in men's attire, reaching back to the heels. Well, just a Christmas tree, just not glowing with multi-colored electric bulbs.

By the end of the 18th century, the ballet costume gradually began to change, becoming lighter and more elegant. The reason is the more complicated dance technique, which requires the release of the male body from heavy outfits. Costume innovations, as always, are dictated by the trendsetter - Paris. The lead performer now wears a Greek tunic and sandals, the straps of which wrap around the ankle and base of the calf of the bare legs. The dancer of the demi-character genre performs in a short camisole, knickers and long stockings, the dancer of the characteristic role - in a theatrical shirt with an open collar, jacket and pants. In the second half of the 18th century, such an important attribute of men's attire appears, which, by the way, has survived to this day, as a flesh-colored tights. This amazing invention is attributed to the costume designer of the Paris Opera Mallo. But this talented monsieur hardly imagined that in the 20th century his tightly knit product would turn into something elastic, seductively fitting not only the legs, but also the bulges between them. Why is a man's dignity, if it is, of course, a dignity tightly covered with a translucent fabric, will look extremely erotic, attracting the eager attention of some spectators who especially love ballet. But before that it was still far away.

Albert without pants

Everything went according to tradition and decency, until the great reformer of the ballet theater and a passionate admirer of the hot male body, Sergei Diaghilev, showed the world his entreprise - Diaghilev's Russian Seasons. This is where it all started - scandals, noise, hysteria and all sorts of stories associated with both Diaghilev himself and his lovers. After all, if earlier a ballerina reigned on the stage, and the dancer played the role of an obedient gentleman with her - he helped with rotation so that he would not fall, lifted him higher to show the balletomanes what was under her skirts, then Diaghilev makes the dancer the main character of his performances. And, as a rule, a dancer with whom he lives an active sex life.

To work on his ballets, Diaghilev attracts outstanding artists of our time. Some of them are also partial to the male body.

A loud scandal, connected not with Diaghilev's special sexual orientation, but only with a stage costume, erupted in 1911 at the play "Giselle", in which Vaslav Nijinsky - Diaghilev's official lover - danced Count Albert. The dancer was wearing everything that was required for the role - a leotard, a shirt, a short tunic, but there were no panties, which were mandatory for a dancer at that time. And therefore, Nijinsky's expressive hips appeared to the audience in their frank appetizing, which outraged Empress Maria Feodorovna, who was present at the performance.

The scandalous story ended with the dismissal of Nijinsky "for disobedience and disrespect" to the imperial stage. But the dance search for the artist did not stop, he continued his struggle for the freedom of the body in dance. In the same year, Nijinsky appeared in the ballet "The Phantom of the Rose" in a costume designed by Lev Bakst, fitting the figure like a glove. A little later, in The Afternoon of a Faun, the dancer Nijinsky appears on stage in such a bold leotard, which still looks modern and sexy today. True, all these revelations are already taking place outside the native, but stubborn Russia.

That sweet word is bandage

In the fifties, the wizard of dance, idolizing the body, especially the male, Maurice Bejart came up with a universal outfit for the dancer and dancer: a girl in black tights, a young man in tights and bare-chested. Then the young man's outfit is improved, and the young man remains in only one bandage.

What is a bandage? It's such a spiciness! Something like swimming trunks, but the buttocks are completely open, and between them there is a thin ribbon, which is not visible at all, because it is buried between the buttocks, revealing to the audience all their seductive charm.

Buttocks, elastic as two melons

But in the Soviet Union, as you know, there was no sex. He was not on the ballet stage either. Yes, of course, love existed, but pure - "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "Romeo and Juliet", but no frankness. This also applies to men's clothing. The dancer put on tight underpants, over them tights, and on top of the tights also cotton-wool pants. Even though you look through the most powerful telescope, you will not see any charms. All this disfigured the figure, was contrary to the aesthetics of dance, but correlated with the laws of the country of victorious socialism, where there is neither sex nor a naked body.

The phrase of the Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva, addressed to Maya Plisetskaya, who danced in the Carmen Suite with very open legs, sounds like an anecdote today: "Maya, cover your thighs, this is the Bolshoi Theater!" But it was the 70s. And is it not an anecdote that in the magazine "Soviet Ballet" the editor-in-chief personally looked at the photographs of the dancers. Since the bulges that are in the groin of men could be printed on the photo. And the Central Committee did not approve of such frankness. That's why the editor-in-chief was worried. And if she found a criminal photograph with a man's dignity clearly expressed on it, then the dignity was necessarily retouched.

Nevertheless, there were shameless daredevils in the Soviet fatherland who did not want to put up with such a uniform. They say that at one of the performances at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater, in 1957, the outstanding dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani appeared on stage in a very frank form: in white leggings worn directly on his naked body. Success has surpassed all conceivable limits. Sharp-tongued, the outstanding ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova, at the sight of the dancer, turned to those sitting with her in the box and quipped: "I see such a bouquet even without eyepieces!"

In the footsteps of Chabukiani, another Kirovsky dancer followed, at that time not yet a ballet dissident and a world-famous gay, but just a theater soloist, Rudolf Nureyev. The first two acts of "Don Quixote" he danced in a traditional costume, permitted by the Soviet authorities - in tights, over which short pants with puffs were worn. Before the third act, a real scandal erupted behind the scenes: the artist wanted to wear only a white tight-fitting leotard over a special ballet bandage and no pants: “I don’t need these lampshades,” he said. The theatrical authorities dragged out the intermission for an hour, trying to persuade Nureyev. When the curtain finally opened, the audience was shocked: it seemed to everyone that he forgot to put on his pants.

Rudolf generally strove for maximum nudity. In Corsair, he went out with a bare chest, and in Don Quixote, an incredibly thin leotard created the illusion of bare skin. But at full power, the artist turned around already outside the Soviet homeland. So, in the "Sleeping Beauty", staged by him for the National Ballet of Canada, Nureyev appears wrapped in a floor-length cloak. Then he turns his back to the audience and slowly, slowly lowers the cloak until it freezes just below the buttocks.

For the ballet "Lucifer" designer Holston designed Rudolph a gold bandage with precious stones, which he decided to sew directly on the dancer. One can only imagine what feelings overwhelmed the designer, who buried his nose in Nureyev's crotch and felt the sweetest parts of his body! But Nureyev had no time for feelings - a few days ago he twisted his ankle and therefore yelled angrily at Holston: "Take my bandage and do whatever you want with it, but let me rest for at least an hour!" Holston was very offended, promising never to work with Nureyev again.

Nureyev was a pioneer in nudity in Leningrad, and in Moscow he was rivaled by Maris Liepa. Like Nureyev, he adored his body and just as resolutely exposed it. It was Liepa who was the first in the capital to take the stage in a bandage worn under a tights. His son, Andris Liepa, in the years when there were no taboos regarding the costume, appeared with a naked torso and in tights, which, it seemed, would burst in the most seductive places from overexertion.

Between the legs - coat shoulder

Theater artist Alla Kozhenkova says:

We did one ballet performance. During the fitting of the costume, the soloist tells me that he does not like the costume. I can’t understand what’s the matter: everything fits well, he looks great in this suit ... And suddenly it dawns on me - he doesn’t like the codpiece, it seems that it is too small. The next day I say to the dressmaker: "Please take the shoulder from the coat and insert it into the bandage." She told me: "Why? Why?" I told her: "Listen, I know what I'm saying, he will like it." At the next fitting, the dancer puts on the same costume and happily tells me: "You see, it has become much better." And after a second he adds: "Only it seems to me that you inserted a female shoulder, but it is small ... you need to insert a male one." I couldn't help laughing, but I did as he asked. The dressmaker sewed a shoulder from the raglan sleeve of a man's coat into the bandage. The artist was in seventh heaven with happiness.

Once a hare's foot was inserted, but now it is no longer in fashion - not the format, but the coat shoulder is what you need.

Everything is filmed

In fact, today you can’t surprise the audience with anything: neither a man in a tutu, nor the tightest leotards, or even a bandage. If only with a naked body... Today, more and more often, a naked body appears in groups that practice modern dance. This is a kind of bait and seductive toy. A naked body can be sad, pathetic or playful.

Such a joke was played in Moscow a few years ago by the American troupe Ted Shawn's Dancing Men. Young people appeared on the stage, modestly dressed in short women's dresses, reminiscent of combinations. No sooner had the dance begun than the auditorium went into ecstasy. The fact is that under the skirts the men were wearing nothing. The audience, in a mad desire to get a better look at the rich men's economy, which suddenly opened up to them, almost flew off their seats. The heads of the enthusiastic spectators twisted after the dance pirouettes, and the eyes seemed to be going out of the eyepieces of the binoculars, which in an instant stuck to the stage where the dancers frolicked heartily in their mischievous dance. It was both funny and exciting, stronger than any of the coolest striptease.

At the end of the 20th century, the body won over the costume in the struggle for its freedom. And it's natural. After all, what is a ballet performance? It is a dance of bodies awakening the bodies of the spectators. And it is best to watch such a performance with the body, not with the eyes. It is for this bodily awakening of the audience that the dance body needs complete freedom. So long live freedom!

It is rightly considered the highest stage of choreographic art, where the dance turns into a musical stage performance. This art form arose in the 15th-16th centuries, much later than dance. Initially, it was a court-aristocratic art. Dance is the main means of expression in ballet, but the dramaturgical basis, scenography, the work of costume and lighting designers are of no small importance.

Classical ballet is a story dance where dancers always tell a story through dance. The classic multi-act ballet is traditionally dedicated to myths, fairy tales, and historical themes. Genre performances can be heroic, comic, folklore.

The origin of the name is either the Latin ballo - “I dance”, or the French balleto, which has the same meaning.

Ballet is both a dance performance and a variety of theatrical and musical art, where expressive artistic images are created with the help of plasticity and choreography.

The theatricalization of dance began in Italy in the 15th century, when dance masters began to create court and ballroom dances based on folk dances.

First ballet

The first ballet performance, where dance, music, pantomime and the word were combined, was staged in France at the court of Catherine de Medici at the end of the 16th century. It was called "Circe and the Nymphs" and was staged by Baltazarini di Belgiojoso, a wonderful choreographer and violinist who arrived from Italy with his violin orchestra.

It was a production with an ancient plot, which laid the foundation for the development of French court ballet. Interludes, pastorals, masquerades and dance divertissement quickly became the highlight of court festivities.

Basic canons of ballet compiled by Pierre Beauchamp

Any dance basically has certain rules, and the dance turned into a ballet when the choreographer Pierre Beauchamp described the canons of a noble dance manner.

Beauchamp divided the movements of the dancer into groups - jumps, squats, various body positions and rotations. The basis of this type of dance art was the principle of eversion of the legs, thanks to which the body could move in different directions. The above movements were performed based on three hand positions and five foot positions.

Development of ballet

From that moment, the development of ballet began, which became an independent art in the 18th century.

The development of ballet schools begins throughout Europe, reaching Russia, where in 1738 the Russian Imperial Ballet was founded in St. Petersburg.

The early dancers had a hard time - they wore very complex costumes, heavy skirts made it difficult to move. But gradually the costume changed - ballet shoes lost their heels, ballerinas' robes became light and airy.

Choreographers taught dancers to express emotions with gestures and facial expressions, mythological plots were replaced by stories about distant lands, love stories and fairy tales. In this form, classical ballet has survived to this day as one of the fine arts of dance.

The evolution of the ballet costume
From the funds of the Museum of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater

The ballet costume is an ephemeral and at the same time powerful product of the world of fine arts, which is as ghostly and as powerful as dance, is the result of the mutual influence of these two arts. Artists see in it an ever-living source of creativity, their approach to this source changes, and time itself and the changing dance influence it. So what is the peculiar artistic and stylistic nature of the ballet costume, which follows from its multi-valued and complex structure? In order to answer this question and better understand our thought, let us turn to the past, to history, trace the dynamics of change, the evolution of the costume, as well as the forms and methods used by theater artists, because without the past one cannot understand the present and cannot look into future.

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The dance costume has come a long and difficult way. He did not immediately reveal his true and unique features to the world. In its primary form, it was closely associated with magical cults and religious rites, with a way of life. For a long time, it had stable forms that changed relatively little. Later, he concluded all the signs of belonging to the collective. Through the ornament, color, shape of the costume, gender, age, class, nationality were indicated.

Even at the beginning of the 18th century it is still impossible to talk about the established image of a ballet costume, just as it is impossible to talk about the formation of a school of classical dance. Only in XVIII century, dance receives a broader and more developed dramatic emotional basis, which contributes to the development of ballet art. By the second half XVIII century, ballet stands out as an independent genre, the first attempts to perform dances in front of the public appear - usually during palace celebrations. The dance is already becoming an art and the creation of a costume for it becomes part of the overall work on it. The palace, ceremonial ballet of that time is subject to the tastes and fashions of a gallant society. It is distinguished by strictly established pas, figures and elements. Following the court etiquette, diligently and awkwardly shuffling their legs, the dancers performed in long skirts, under whichthey put on framesso that the skirts open in a wide bell. High-heeled shoes, heavy headdresses, and wigs completed an uncomfortable costume that held back the development of dance technique for a relatively long time. In Russian fine arts, a part of the works of this time dedicated to dance has been preserved. In most cases, they resemble robes, as in the paintings of N. Lancre and A. Watteau. Costumes always turn out to be richer and more interesting than their roles, that is, those involved directly in the dance. Because the vast majority of the artist created the costume, completely unaware of the plot of the dance. The costume is not designed for the dancer, just as the dance itself is not designed for him. According to them, it can be seen that the dance consisted mainly of a change of graceful postures and body movements. Only M. Comargo, retaining her court style, shortened her skirt and discarded the heels, which made it possible to introduce a new movement into the dance - entrecha.

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However, the costumes of the characters wandering around the stage, despite the brilliant acting work, never go beyond their magnificent heaviness, extravagant sophistication, theatrical mannequin. In vain we would look for an outward resemblance to a dancer in the drawing of the costumes. Artists did not aspire to this. The costumes turn out to be internally motionless, deaf to the image, as if moved away from it. In essence, they remain for us only an image that resurrects the mores and customs of a bygone era.

Ballet is gradually establishing itself as a major independent phenomenon. Criticism XVIII century proclaimed it equal in a number of related arts. In the second half XVIII in. Petersburg and Moscow ballet is formed, after them the serf ballet appears in Russia. For landowners who lived in the wilderness, the theater became a means of entertainment. Major choreographers - Russian and foreign - work with serf artists. Separate artistic personalities appear, which attract the attention of artists. So, the costumes of T. Shlykova - Granatova are interesting. The artist tried to penetrate into the inner world of the heroine and find, guess in it the features of her future dance. However, in the costumes, sketchy, one-dimensional images often slipped through. It was not always possible for the artists to express and vividly show the characters of the characters, to sufficiently explore the pictorial possibilities of the ballet. And yet this period allows us to talk about the costume as a certain step in its development and the interaction of fine arts and dance.

In the first half XIX in. Russian ballet theater was preparing to become one of the best in the world. At this time, costumes were created for A. Istomina in the image of Flora, E. Kolosova in the image of Diana, F. Gulen-Sor in the image of Cinderella, E. Telesheva, A. Glushkovsky, N. Goltz. Attention is drawn to the reform of the ballet costume, made by C. Didlo, as a result of which a leotard was introduced, which gave greater freedom of movement. Gradually, Didlo enriches the female dance with new expressive possibilities, new elements of duet dance (adagio) are outlined, and wide variety of jumps and flights begin to be used. The art of the outstanding dancer of the Pushkin period, A. Istomina, reflected the skills of classicism and the harbinger of rising romanticism. The costume of Istomina - the goddess of flowers - Flora was marked by France by an unknown master. Making it, the artist, of course, wanted to look for a form, the development of the theme of a romantic costume. The semi-fluffy tutu emphasizes the perfection of the forms, while its flowing folds and wreath on the head give the costume an amazing decorative effect. However, real awareness of creative individuality this very peculiar subtle, elusive, mysterious style in ballet came later, but the motive on which Istomina's costume is based is connected with this mental penetration into tomorrow.

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A new page in the history of the development of the ballet costume opens with the advent of the La Sylphide, which marks the beginning of the era of romanticism. The creators of romantic ballets were interested in spiritual life, they were attracted by sublime characters, capable of feeling subtly and deeply. Romantic plots gave rise to new elements in the dance language. It was during this era that the ballerina stood on her fingers, or, as we now say, on pointe shoes, in order to give the viewer the impression of lightness, soaring above the ground, flight jumps and high lifts are introduced, many movements are formed that make the dance airy and light. Increased attention of choreographers to the romantic tonality of the image led to an increase in the skill of artists and an expansion of the means of expressiveness of the art of ballet costume. In white long tutus, whose graceful appearance remained imprinted on engravings and paintings, a thin, crystal image of the Sylph is born, personifying the elusive and fragile dream of the beauty of a girl who died from contact with a hostile world. Repeatedly returning to the stage, this image becomes more and more profound. But already at the beginning of his stage life, the transparent costume, made by the artist, is distinguished by the desire to unravel the theme, the actor's image, and the nature of ballet in general.

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The initial development of the ballet costume entered the history of art as an interesting, but unfortunately little explored page. And the names of the artists in most cases remained unknown to us, such was their unenviable fate.

Artists are leaving, with a sad elusiveness, time is taking them away. They are replaced by others, already professional masters. Before us is again unfolding a wide range of ideas and problems that occupied the minds of those who thought about the paths and destinies of ballet art. Theatrical and decorative art is now distinguished into a kind of independent area. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves, ahead of events, but try to understand what a professional artist can give to ballet?

The costume in ballet is the second shell of the dancer, something inseparable from his being, a visible element of his theatrical image, which must merge with him. The costume is the main means for enriching the expressiveness of facial expressions, gestures, and of course, above all, the movement, plasticity of the artist, it is a means to make the entire figure of the performer more understandable and sounding in line with the ballet image he creates. Not every artist can be a set designer, create costumes for a ballet performance, and not every set designer can work on any choreographic work. Here, close points of contact are needed between the artist and the choreographer, the artist and the dancer. The artist-scenographer, by the nature of his work, must be better prepared for the perception and analysis of a ballet performance than an ordinary artist, he must contribute to the discovery of the performance and, above all, the image of characters, which sometimes slip away during perception due to the well-known conventionality of the art of choreography. The artist must predict. He must express his concept, and if it is artistic, it will resonate with the majority.

There are artists who work on a ballet costume as painters, and there are as sculptors. Some people are attracted by color, decorative beginning, others are interested in the volume of the image, naturalism in the transfer of all shades of the costume. Such a division, of course, is rather arbitrary, because ballet is a synthesis of many arts. This synthesis is determined not only by the fact that fine art is a component of a choreographic work. Although each of these arts has its own expressive means and possibilities, in this case they are related in their common ideological and artistic tasks. However, the qualities of the two arts are determined by their dialectical opposites. On the one hand, ballet is the most unconditional art, because it is an action, a dance of a real person in a real stage setting. A sketch of a costume, on the other hand, is always originally an image, always a show, a view of it on the plane of the sheet, only after that it can get a second, already real life, directly in a ballet performance. Therefore, a sketch of a costume, whether it be an artist who thinks pictorially or sculpturally, should eventually have the ability to impress with its integrity, be aesthetically perceived precisely in this capacity, be a prototype of a future performance, which should be clearly detected, adequately reflected in our psyche, causing an appropriate emotional reaction. . How great is the significance of all kinds of joints between different arts, the ballet costume remains a specific branch of art history, the task of which also includes a special study of it as a work of independent artistic value.

A costume design often goes beyond the usual set design, is perceived not only as an illustration or detailed material, but also as a work of art focused on emotional perception, on empathy with the image outside of its connection with the ballet performance. No wonder theater and art museums around the world collect and store them as unique exhibits. They also become the property of art historians, because any costume, regardless of the expressive and visual means used by the artist, carries scientific information. Each detail, carefully worked out, designed to preserve the character and spirit of the performance and the entire era, acquires an important ethnographic and educational value. So, the ballet of the era of M. Taglioni is, of course, a legend for us now. Time, it would seem, has completely erased the details, the details of her dance. However, according to the sketches of costumes, we are trying to restore this legend of bygone years. Looking at the elements of the costume, the pattern of poses, the nature of the movement, we are trying to comprehend what we have seen, to understand the events of one or another type of ballet pas, dance technique, we are trying to find the answer to our questions.

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One of the careful custodians of theatrical, including ballet, relics is the Bolshoi Theater Museum (SABT). His main collections tell about the stages of formation and development of Russian ballet from the end XIX in. to the present day. The pages of the pictorial chronicle of the main events of the classical dance of the Moscow ballet school are connected with it.

Interesting collection of end costumes XIX early XX century, representing examples of scenography of that time. Here are the works of A. Benois, K. Korovin, V. Dyachkov, E. Ponomarev, K. Waltz, A. Arapov, G. Golov.

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As you know, the beginning of the new century was marked by a new stage, a revolution took place in the development of Russian ballet, a decisive leap into a new quality. Ballet - the art of moving images, must free itself from academicism, must find its own stylistic path - this is the idea that was in the air at the beginning of the century and that artists began to ardently defend and propagate. The costume, in essence, a new amazing artistic quality of a ballet performance, immediately won a firm place among the expressive means of A. Gorsky and M. Fokine.

Already their first choreographer's works showed how great is the importance of fine arts, how much artistic design, along with musical, brings with it to the performance. This will allow them to embrace the idea of ​​Russian ballet in an immeasurably greater range, with greater depth and give M. Fokine a reason for his own statement: “How much richer, more varied and more beautiful it would be, if the dormant forces in it woke up, broke the vicious circle of traditions, breathed in the pure air of life, came into contact with the art of all times and all peoples and became accessible to the influence of all the beauties to which only a dream has risen. man!"

In the compositional structure of the ballets "Petrushka", "Pavilion of the Armada", "The Rite of Spring", "The Firebird", "Don Quixote", "The Little Humpbacked Horse", "Corsair" and others, one can feel the choreographers who think with the help of complex combinations and visual images. Even a cursory look at sketches of costumes by different artists allows you to see something in common and, above all, a free flight of imagination. The choreographer gives his characters and artist the opportunity to escape from the oppressive realm of monotony.

Ballet for the artistic direction "World of Art" has always been an impetus for creativity. The quests of the artists included in this group: A. Benois, L. Bakst, B. Anisfeld, A. Golovin, N. Roerich and others are distinguished by breadth and diversity and are one of the most characteristic features of those years. Paradoxically, the design of the ballet has become, paradoxically, a “balletization” of graphics and painting. Sometimes we find in the paintings of the "World of Art" who are not at all dedicated to ballet, an image that anticipates the dance, those of its properties that seem to be imprinted only in a live dance. And their sketches of costumes are always livelier and more mobile than those that we have seen before. Artists wake up an actor, an improviser in a costume, make the costume live and play "from the inside". There are already minutes of creativity for them on paper, as on the stage there are minutes of acting inspiration. The costume flies and dances in the space of the stage together with the artist, becoming one of the characters. He experiences the same feelings as the characters. He not only fixes their state, but he himself is in this state.

Simultaneously with the comprehension of the essence of the image, its inner world, the "world of arts" were looking for the external pattern of the role. They always attached great importance to the intonation of gestures and facial expressions, rightly believing that only an organic combination of physical action and a pose pattern can convey the content of the image. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the pictorial, plastic side of the costume has become a striking feature of their scenography. That is why the sketches of costumes by L. Bakst, A. Benois, S. Sudeikin, A. Golovin, with their refined sophistication, "mermaid" aesthetics of outlines, linearity of painting, were so consonant with the very ballet of the turn of the century, striving for emancipation of movements and stylization of poses. The line of the "World of Art" is as light as the figure of the dance. M. Fokin noted that the costume reform and the dance reform are inseparable. Ballet teaches the artist to see the plasticity of the body, and the sketch of the costume, in turn, opens up for the dancer the enormous expressive possibilities of his body. And not only the music of the lines, rhythms and patterns of the costume are in tune with ballet, but the ballet itself is close to the aesthetic consciousness of the artists of the World of Art, which lives with the greatest passion, often turning into spontaneous sensuality.

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The general line of the artistic orientation of the "World of Art" does not prevent us from revealing the personal creative achievements of various artists. The museum of the Bolshoi Theater stores sketches of costumes for only one artist - a member of the World of Art group - A. Benois and K. Korovin, who are not formally part of the association, but who were a constant participant in exhibitions in this direction. And yet they both deserve the most interested attention.

These are rare masters: serious, subtle, with a very peculiar individual vision of the world, the deepest plastic culture, a subtle understanding of the very essence of the poetics of the ballet image.

A. Benois is represented by the design of one ballet "Petrushka", but with this ballet he entered a new bright page in the decorative art of the end XIX early XX century, because here he acted not only as a decorator, but also the author of the libretto.

It was A. Benois who owed the success of the Russian Ballet Seasons in Paris. Critics wrote a lot about the plastic organization of costumes and scenery, about the amazing beauty of the pictorial solution of the performance. Looking now at the sketches of the artist, one recalls the expressive and precise statement of T. Drozd: “A brilliant erudite and inventor, in each of his works for the theater, he seemed to create a new, really unreal world, saturated with characters, generated by unbridled fantasy and truly “harmonious” imagination.”

Undoubtedly, the work of Benois in "Petrushka" was to a greater extent aimed at achieving external expressiveness, staginess in the transfer of images of the ballet - the "crowd". The theme of ballet, of course, influenced the poetics of visual design. Numerous sketches for "Petrushka" reveal before us the wonderful world of the author's libretto, with its intoxicating bitterness and sweet pain. In each costume, a certain social and moral type, generated by the era, clearly emerges. Here is the toy, but dramatic world of the main characters - Petrushka, Arapa, Ballerinas and images of a juicy, colorful folk booth: street dancers and magicians, organ grinders and gypsies, mummers and artisans, coachmen and cabbies, hussars and merchants. Observing, fixing, bringing together - in a holistic panorama, as if insignificant random details, Benois will give the images of the costumes his own author's "timbre" of sound. They also showed his ability to convey psychological states, the relations of the main characters and the diverse nuances of the folk psyche. Through the entire performance, the artist spent a certain emotional state, preserved from one design option to another (1911 and 1921). The Ballerina's costume captivates with immediacy, the charm of just awakening femininity, innumerability, which indicates the natural plasticity of T. Karsavina. In Petrushka's costume, an awkward, lonely image of V. Nijinsky is born, and the Arap costume, in contrast, immediately draws the appearance of a lazy and stupid hero. It can be said that the sketches of the costumes of the main characters are, as it were, opposed to the crowd, while the costumes of the crowd are formed into a chaotic row, almost devoid of any logic whatsoever, a composition of dark on light. However, they live in complete unity, complementing and enriching each other. This becomes the visual model for the design of the ballet performance by A. Benois

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K. Korovin, unlike Benois, formally departs from the aesthetics of the "World of Art", he seeks to create his own world of ballet costume, with his own principles, his own figurative elements, his own, if you like, melody. The "World of Art" fascinated him with the desire to create a synthetic ballet theater, the desire for the unity of dance and painting, the consciousness of the image, when the costume is built on the expressiveness of the plasticity of gesture, the widespread use of pantomime. These features are in the works of Korovin. However, he will make color and color, bright colorful spots the center of the composition of his ballet costumes. Korovin's painting is completely different, more magnificent, more diverse and pulsating, bearing an impressionistic beginning. This is an artist of a stormy, truly indomitable temperament, an artist of bright passions and open emotionality, intermediate feelings, he does not seem to know. K. Korovin's costumes have become a true decoration of the museum. The museum contains the artist's works for more than ten ballets, the most diverse in style, uneven, asymmetrical in rhythm. In this natural, unpredictable course of a whole kaleidoscope of costumes, in the free neighborhood of moods, as well as in the diversity of pictorial solutions from the ardent colorful passions of Don Quixote, the brilliance of oriental luxury of Corsair to the romantic Schubertina and the fabulous Scarlet Flower - poetics ballet creativity of the artist, his mood and thought.

Basically, Korovin worked on each of his designs together with V. Dyachkov. I. Grabar wrote about him: “Dyachkov was a doubly master. Far from being approximate and slovenly gag, his drawings are already a great art in themselves, exciting and pleasing with their pictorial characteristics, delicacy of lines and coherence of bright colors. The heads of his characters are not just spots and common places, but real portraits of characters, which make-up artists can easily and fun to work on. The fairy tales of his costumes, bows, buckles, hats, shoes are felt not only with spots, but also tangibly; it doesn’t cost anything for a tailor to accurately obtain the desired style from them.

Such a serious, mutually enriching collaboration between two artists, the history of art almost never knew. It was a huge job of turning a flat sketch on paper into a three-dimensional costume. Their works are deeply peculiar in their organic combination of talents. Getting to work, they first of all sought to comprehend the inner world of the hero, to find and evoke in themselves those spiritual movements with which the image lives. Therefore, the costumes of heroes they recreate for Raymonda 1908, Salambo 1909, Corsair 1911-1912, Gudula's Daughters 1902, The Firebird 1919, Schubertiana 1913, Don Quixote 1906 acquire great strength emotional impact.

The design of the ballets: The Golden Fish 1903, The Little Humpbacked Horse 1901, The Scarlet Flower, The Nutcracker 1914 can be combined into a kind of group. What unites them is not a single plot and characters, but an internal fairy-tale children's theme. This theme would subsequently receive deep understanding and ethical scope in the work of other artists in the Soviet period.

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The ballet costume of the Soviet era certainly deserves the most serious attention. This period can be safely called the most significant and fruitful in the history of theatrical and decorative art. The ballet costume, having accumulated vast experience in comprehending dance images, of course, gave impetus to its further continuation. Artists of the Soviet theater develop the traditions of A. Benois, L. Bakst, A. Golovin, N. Roerich and others.

V. Khodasevich, M. Bobyshev, F. Fedorovsky, V. Dmitriev, M. Kurilko, P. Williams, V. Ryndin, S. Virsaladze learned a lot from the World of Art. Thus, they rely on the unity and commonwealth of ballet and painting. Their work cannot be considered in isolation from the choreographer's concept. But on the other hand, understanding the image of the costume is impossible without relying on their own worldview. They have the fortunate ability to precisely “tie” a suit to a specific space and time. The means for this is the plasticity and the psychological pattern of the role. Knowledge of the Party and close ties with it are one of the main sources and stimuli of their creativity.

In the ballet costume, the artists also managed to solve some important dramatic moments by means of images. Their work has already turned into an invaluable chronicle of the Soviet ballet. Considering the largest collection of costumes by Soviet artists, which belongs to the Bolshoi Theater Museum, we tacitly acknowledge their superiority, their special status in the hierarchy of scenographic culture.

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The world became more complex, later new performances and images appeared. It is up to the masters of the ballet costume to comprehend them and display them in art in their entirety and versatility. They work in a variety of perspectives: generalized monumental and chamber psychological, lyrical and tragic, historical documentary and parable-metaphorical. One can trace how these masters, from performance to performance, from sketch to sketch, not only grow in professional skills, but also show passion for their subjects and develop their own style and manner of drawing, a way of organizing the image of a ballet costume.

History of the ballet tutu. Photo – thevintagenews.com

A ballerina in the mind of any person is certainly represented in a tutu.

This stage costume has become an integral part of classical ballet.

However, this was not always the case. The modern image of a ballerina, before being finally formed, has undergone a lot of changes and has come a long way.

Many may be surprised, but until the second half of the 19th century, ballerinas performed on stage simply in elegant dresses, which differed little from those in which the spectators came.

It was a dress with a corset, a little shorter than usual, rather bulky. Ballerinas always performed in heels. The share of ballerinas was a little facilitated by the new fashion for antiquity. By the way, mythological plots began to be used in ballet, for example, Cupid and Psyche.

Ladies began to wear airy, translucent dresses with a high waist. They were even slightly wetted so that the fabric fits the body better. Tights were worn under the dresses, and sandals were worn on the feet.

But over time, the technique of ballerinas became more complicated and lighter clothes were required for the stage. First, the prima abandoned corsets, then shortened the skirts, and the dress itself began to fit like a second skin.

Who invented the pack

For the first time in a ballet tutu, Maria Taglione appeared before the audience on March 12, 1839. On this day, there was the premiere of "La Sylphide", in which the ballerina performed the main part of the fairy fairy.

For such a role, an appropriate outfit was required. It was invented for the daughter of Filippo Taglioni.

According to one version, the clumsy figure of Mary became the impetus for the creation of the later classical ballet clothes. To hide the flaws, Taglioni came up with a dress that gave the whole appearance of the heroine airiness and grace.

The dress was created according to the sketches of Eugene Lamy. Then the skirt was sewn from tulle. True, in those days the tutu was not at all as short as it is now.

The next "transformation" of the pack happened a little later. But at first the ballet world took even such a modest attire with hostility.

The tutu was especially not to the taste of ballerinas with not very beautiful legs. But the delight of the audience and art critics, who admired the airiness of the dancers, knew no bounds. Not the last role in this was played by a pack. So this costume took root, and then became a classic.

By the way, there is a legend about Maria Taglioni. When she passed the border with Russia, the customs officers asked if she was carrying jewelry. Then the ballerina lifted her skirt and showed her legs. Maria was the first to take pointe shoes.

How the tutu got accustomed in Russia

Tsarist Russia was conservative and did not immediately accept the novelty. This happened only half a century later. But it was in our country that the pack changed again.

The innovator was the prima of the Bolshoi Theater Adeline Dzhuri in the early 1900s. The capricious lady did not like the long skirt in which she was to pose for photographers. The ballerina just took the scissors and cut off a decent piece of the hem. Since then, the fashion for short packs has gone.

How else has the pack changed

Although since the beginning of the 20th century the tutu has acquired the shape and form that we know to this day, people have always experimented with it. In productions, such as Marius Petipa, the ballerina could dress up in costumes of different styles.

In some scenes, she appeared in the usual "civilian" dress, and for solo parts she put on a tutu to demonstrate all her skills and talent. Anna Pavlova performed in a long and wide skirt.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the ballet tutu from the 19th century returned to the stage. Only now she was called differently - "shopenka". And all because Mikhail Fokin dressed the dancers in his Chopiniana. Other directors at the same time used a short and lush tutu.

And since the 60s, it has turned into just a flat circle. Whatever the pack is decorated with: rhinestones, glass beads, feathers, precious stones.

What are packs made of?

Ballet tutus are sewn from a light translucent fabric - tulle. First, designers create a sketch. Of course, the features of the figure of each ballerina are taken into account, and therefore the sketch of the dress for each dancer is different.

The width of the tutu depends on the height of the ballerina. On average, its radius is 48 cm.

One pack takes more than 11 meters of tulle. It takes about two weeks to make one pack. With all the variety of models, there are strict rules for tailoring.

For example, neither zippers nor buttons are ever sewn onto packs, which can come off during a performance. Only hooks are used as fasteners, but in strict sequence, or rather, in a checkerboard pattern. And sometimes, if the production is particularly difficult, the tutus are sewn up by hand on the dancer before going on stage.

What are the packs

The pack has many names. So, if you hear the words “tunic” or “tutu” somewhere, know that they mean the same pack. Now let's figure out what types of packs are.

The classic tutu is a pancake-shaped skirt. By the way, the soloists are directly involved in the creation of their costume. They can opt for a tutu shape that can be parallel to the floor or with a slightly dropped skirt.

"Shopenka", a long skirt, I also sew from tulle. This form of skirt is very good for creating mythical characters or inanimate creatures.

The advantage of such an outfit is that it hides insufficiently tightened knees and other shortcomings, but it draws attention to the feet.

Another type of dress that does not go out of ballet use is a tunic. His skirt is single-layer, sewn more often from chiffon. In this dress, the role of Juliet is played.

Why do we need tutus during rehearsals

For rehearsals of ballet performances, tutus are sewn separately. They are easier to put on and take off than those in which ballerinas go on stage.

So, all parts of a stage costume can be sewn together, while for rehearsals a bodice is not needed, but only a skirt with panties is used. Also, rehearsal packs don't have that many layers.

A rehearsal tutu is a must. After all, dancers should immediately see where the tutu will interfere, where it can ride up or be hurt by a partner. And the director will be able to form a dance pattern.

The tutu is so firmly entrenched that it is used not only on the ballet stage. True, outside of her pack serves for comic numbers of variety artists and even in the circus.

Continuing to explore the Internet for a match to the search word "ballet", I stumbled upon my favorite resource Gey.ru, the inhabitants of which, as it turned out, are very fond of ballet. And they give him a lot of attention.
Here is what I discovered on the most interesting (and discussed more than once) topic of ballet costume.

Men's ballet costume: from camisole and pantaloons to full nudity

For men in a ballet costume, it all started with such a bells and whistles that today it is impossible to even imagine how in such outfits one could not only dance, but simply move around the stage. But the dancers showed themselves to be real fighters for the complete liberation of the body from the rag shackles. True, the path that they had to travel to appear in front of the audience almost naked, only covering the "shame" with a fig leaf called a bandage, or even naked, turned out to be long, thorny and scandalous.
Skirt on the frame
What was a dancer in the early days of ballet? The artist's face was hidden by a mask, his head was decorated with a high wig with fluffy fluffy hair, the ends of which fell on his back. Over the wig was put on another incredible headdress. Suit fabrics were heavy, dense, generously whipped. The dancer appeared on stage in a skirt on a frame, reaching almost to the knee, and in high-heeled shoes. Mantles of gold and silver brocade were also used in men's attire, reaching back to the heels. Well, just a Christmas tree, just not glowing with multi-colored electric bulbs.
By the end of the 18th century, the ballet costume gradually began to change, becoming lighter and more elegant. The reason is the more complicated dance technique, which requires the release of the male body from heavy outfits. Costume innovations, as always, are dictated by the trendsetter - Paris. The lead performer now wears a Greek tunic and sandals, the straps of which wrap around the ankle and base of the calf of the bare legs. The dancer of the demi-character genre performs in a short camisole, knickers and long stockings, the dancer of the characteristic role - in a theatrical shirt with an open collar, jacket and pants. In the second half of the 18th century, such an important attribute of men's attire appears, which, by the way, has survived to this day, as a flesh-colored tights. This amazing invention is attributed to the costume designer of the Paris Opera Mallo. But it is unlikely that this talented monsieur imagined that his tight-knit product would turn into something elastic in the 20th century.
Albert without pants
Everything went according to tradition and decency, until the great reformer of the ballet theater and a passionate admirer of the hot male body, Sergei Diaghilev, showed the world his entreprise - Diaghilev's Russian Seasons. This is where it all started - scandals, noise, hysteria and all sorts of stories associated with both Diaghilev himself and his lovers. After all, if earlier a ballerina reigned on the stage, and the dancer played the role of an obedient gentleman with her - he helped with rotation so that he would not fall, lifted him higher to show the balletomanes what was under her skirts, then Diaghilev makes the dancer the main character of his performances.
A loud scandal, connected not with Diaghilev's special sexual orientation, but only with a stage costume, erupted in 1911 at the play "Giselle", in which Vaslav Nijinsky - Diaghilev's official lover - danced Count Albert. The dancer was wearing everything that was required for the role - a leotard, a shirt, a short tunic, but there were no panties, which were mandatory for a dancer at that time. And therefore, Nijinsky's expressive hips appeared to the audience in their frank appetizing, which outraged Empress Maria Feodorovna, who was present at the performance. The scandalous story ended with the dismissal of Nijinsky "for disobedience and disrespect" to the imperial stage. But the dance search for the artist did not stop, he continued his struggle for the freedom of the body in dance. In the same year, Nijinsky appeared in the ballet "The Phantom of the Rose" in a costume designed by Lev Bakst, fitting the figure like a glove. A little later, in The Afternoon of a Faun, the dancer Nijinsky appears on stage in such a bold leotard, which still looks modern and sexy today. True, all these revelations are already taking place outside the native, but stubborn Russia.

That sweet word is bandage
In the fifties, the wizard of dance, idolizing the body, especially the male, Maurice Bejart came up with a universal outfit for the dancer and dancer: a girl in black tights, a young man in tights and bare-chested. Then the young man's outfit is improved, and the young man remains in only one bandage. But in the Soviet Union, as you know, there was no sex. He was not on the ballet stage either. Yes, of course, love existed, but pure - "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "Romeo and Juliet", but no frankness. This also applies to men's clothing. The dancer put on tight underpants, over them tights, and on top of the tights also cotton-wool pants. Even though you look through the most powerful telescope, you will not see any charms. Nevertheless, there were shameless daredevils in the Soviet fatherland who did not want to put up with such a uniform. They say that at one of the performances at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theater, in 1957, the outstanding dancer Vakhtang Chabukiani appeared on stage in a very frank form: in white leggings worn directly on his naked body. Success has surpassed all conceivable limits. Sharp-tongued, the outstanding ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova, at the sight of the dancer, turned to those sitting with her in the box and quipped: "I see such a bouquet even without eyepieces!"
In the footsteps of Chabukiani, another Kirovsky dancer followed, at that time not yet a ballet dissident and a world-famous gay, but just a theater soloist, Rudolf Nureyev. The first two acts of "Don Quixote" he danced in a traditional costume, permitted by the Soviet authorities - in tights, over which short pants with puffs were worn. Before the third act, a real scandal erupted behind the scenes: the artist wanted to wear only a white tight-fitting leotard over a special ballet bandage and no pants: “I don’t need these lampshades,” he said. The theatrical authorities dragged out the intermission for an hour, trying to persuade Nureyev. When the curtain finally opened, the audience was shocked: it seemed to everyone that he forgot to put on his pants.
Rudolf generally strove for maximum nudity. In Corsair, he went out with a bare chest, and in Don Quixote, an incredibly thin leotard created the illusion of bare skin. But at full power, the artist turned around already outside the Soviet homeland. So, in the "Sleeping Beauty", staged by him for the National Ballet of Canada, Nureyev appears wrapped in a floor-length cloak. Then he turns his back to the audience and slowly, slowly lowers the cloak until it freezes just below the buttocks.

Between the legs - coat shoulder
Theater artist Alla Kozhenkova says:
- We did one ballet performance. During the fitting of the costume, the soloist tells me that he does not like the costume. I can’t understand what’s the matter: everything fits well, he looks great in this suit ... And suddenly it dawns on me - he doesn’t like the codpiece, it seems that it is too small. The next day I say to the dressmaker: "Please take the shoulder from the coat and insert it into the bandage." She told me: "Why? Why?" I told her: "Listen, I know what I'm saying, he will like it." At the next fitting, the dancer puts on the same costume and happily tells me: "You see, it has become much better." And after a second he adds: "Only it seems to me that you inserted a female shoulder, but it is small ... you need to insert a male one." I couldn't help laughing, but I did as he asked. The dressmaker sewed a shoulder from the raglan sleeve of a man's coat into the bandage. The artist was in seventh heaven with happiness.
Once a hare's foot was inserted, but now it is no longer in fashion - not the format, but the coat shoulder is what you need.
Nureyev was a pioneer in nudity in Leningrad, and in Moscow he was rivaled by Maris Liepa. Like Nureyev, he adored his body and just as resolutely exposed it. It was Liepa who was the first in the capital to take the stage in a bandage worn under a tights.
Man or woman?
But the most interesting thing is that men in the twentieth century tried not only to expose their bodies as much as possible, but also to cover them up. Some especially liked the women's ballet costumes. A real shock was caused in Russia by the creation of Valery Mikhailovsky's Men's Ballet, whose artists, in all seriousness, performed the women's repertoire in the most real ladies' outfits.
- Valery, who came up with the idea to create such an unusual troupe? I ask Mikhailovsky.
- The idea belongs to me.
- Now it is difficult to impress the public with something, but how your, so to speak, female-male dances were perceived ten years ago, when the team appeared. Have you been accused of homosexual shocking?
- Yes, it was not easy. There were all kinds of gossip. Nevertheless, the audience welcomes us with pleasure. And there were no accusations of homosexuality. Although everyone is free to think and see what he wants. We are not going to convince anyone.
- Did something similar exist in the world of dance before your male ballet?
- There is a Trocadero de Monte Carlo company in New York, but what they do is completely different. They have a crude parody of classical dance. We also parody ballet, but we do it, owning a profession.
- You want to say that you have mastered the technique of female classical dance to perfection?
- In general, we did not initially try to replace a woman in ballet. A woman is so beautiful that it is not worth encroaching on her. And no matter how elegant, refined, plastic a man is, he will never dance the way a woman dances. Therefore, women's parts should be danced with humor. What we are demonstrating.
But first, of course, it was necessary to master the female technique.
- And what is the size of your young men's shoes? Male or female?
- From forty-one to forty-three. And this was also a problem - there are no women's ballet shoes of this size in nature, so they are made to order for us. By the way, each of the dancers has their own name block.
- How do you hide your manhood - muscles, chest hair and all sorts of other juicy details?
- We do not hide anything and do not try to mislead the public; on the contrary, we emphasize that not women, but men speak before them.
- And yet, someone can be deceived. There must have been a lot of funny episodes?
- Yes, that was enough. It was, it seems, was in Perm. The guys, already made up, in wigs, are warming up on stage before the start of the performance, and I stand backstage and hear the conversation of two cleaners. One says to the other: "Listen, have you ever seen such hefty ballerinas?" To which she replies: "No, never, but do you hear what bass they are talking about?" - "Yes, what is there to be surprised, all smoky."
- Did any of the male viewers offer your artists a hand and a heart?
- Not. True, once one spectator who paid a lot of money for a ticket came backstage and demanded that they prove to him that not women but men were speaking in front of him, they say, looking from the auditorium, he did not make out.
- And how did you prove it?
- The guys were already undressed, without packs, and he understood everything.
Everything is filmed
In fact, today you can’t surprise the audience with anything: neither a man in a tutu, nor the tightest leotards, or even a bandage. If only with a naked body... Today, more and more often, a naked body appears in groups that practice modern dance. This is a kind of bait and seductive toy. A naked body can be sad, pathetic or playful. Such a joke was played in Moscow a few years ago by the American troupe Ted Shawn's Dancing Men. Young people appeared on the stage, modestly dressed in short women's dresses, reminiscent of combinations. No sooner had the dance begun than the auditorium went into ecstasy. The fact is that under the skirts the men were wearing nothing. The audience, in a mad desire to get a better look at the rich men's economy, which suddenly opened up to them, almost flew off their seats. The heads of the enthusiastic spectators twisted after the dance pirouettes, and the eyes seemed to be going out of the eyepieces of the binoculars, which in an instant stuck to the stage where the dancers frolicked heartily in their mischievous dance. It was both funny and exciting, stronger than any of the coolest striptease.
Our former compatriot and now international star Vladimir Malakhov performs completely naked in one of the ballets. By the way, when Vladimir still lived in Moscow, he was severely beaten in the entrance of his own house (so he had to have stitches on his head) precisely because of his non-traditional sexual orientation. Now Malakhov dances all over the world, including completely naked. He himself believes that nudity is not shocking, but the artistic imagery of the ballet in which he dances.

At the end of the 20th century, the body won over the costume in the struggle for its freedom. And it's natural. After all, what is a ballet performance? It is a dance of bodies awakening the bodies of the spectators. And it is best to watch such a performance with the body, not with the eyes. It is for this bodily awakening of the audience that the dance body needs complete freedom. So long live freedom!
The article is taken from the information resource www.gay.ru.