The National Opera of Ukraine is hosting a festival of ballets staged by the noted Ukrainian choreographer Anatoly Shekera on May 6-17.
This master of choreographic modeling passed away three years ago after staging 17 ballets and 9 choreographic scenes in operas on the Kyiv stage alone. The festival program includes his best productions, Romeo and Juliet, Spartacus, Swan Lake, and Coppelia, all considered masterpieces of Slavic choreography. In fact, these ballets are included in the national company’s repertoire on every concert tour abroad. Several generations of dancers have gone through the Shekera school. In his productions every performer polishes his/her dramatic and choreographic skills. His renditions are kept alive by his widow, Eleonora Stebliak, former ballerina who was the first to dance as Juliet and Frigia, currently a ballet teacher and coach.
“The language of eurhythmics has extraordinary power,” reads an entry in the choreographer’s diary. “It is important to stir the dancer’s imagination, pay more attention to the music, and proceed from it. The main question is, Why does the audience need this performance today? A ballet company has a broad diapason, incorporating folk dances, music hall, ballroom dance, even elements of physical training and acrobatics, so-called free eurhythmics, and so on. Classical ballet assimilates all this variety, using it as a means of enriching and developing its own inner laws.”
Monographs and hundreds of praise-filled reviews have been written about Romeo and Juliet and Spartacus. The former won a gold UNESCO medal as the best rendition of Prokofiev’s music. Aram Khachaturian visited Kyiv to attend the premiere in 1977. The composer described Shekera’s production as “a profoundly philosophic fable.” The ballet is very dynamic with the soloists and corps de ballet performing sophisticated parts, requiring utmost dedication from the cast. Both productions remain very popular. Anatoly Shekera’s last work, Delibes’ Coppelia, proved to be just as interesting: a dream about an ideal and a puppet turned into a living being by the magic power of true love.
Anatoly Shekera would have been 68 years old on May 17. The date will be commemorated by his version of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. This is an undying tale about the victory of good over evil and the invincible strength of love. The phenomenon of Shekera’s ballets is probably explained by the fact that they have never been items on a choreography museum’s display. They are not archaic. His productions are in remarkable harmony with today’s throbbing rhythm of life, never leaving the audience without true excitement.
