And who created this bright, stylish and powerful ballet that shocked the audience in Minsk this time? The excitement during the intermissions and after the performance was so intense that it was impossible to talk to the audience. Many of them spoke with interjections: it’s a masterpiece! amazing! we watched it in one breath, Kolb is a creator, and how many allusions and metaphors... 

The super curtain for the performance is mesmerizing

For those who do not know, let us introduce the author of the performance, giving him the floor. Igor Kolb, the main ballet master of the theater, Honored Artist of Russia, the choreographer of the evening of one-act ballets «Dances» and the author of the libretto and choreography said the following about his work:

— The intertwining of three phenomena without which life itself is inconceivable: the physical beginning, the mental and the inevitable finale. Like milestones on the path of human existence, they form an unbreakable chain, from inception to completion. In order to emphasize this trinity, this deep interconnection, three names appeared, which would not just designate certain stages of life, but would become peculiar symbols of these beginnings. «Bolero» acts as a metaphor for physiology. «Dance of Death» is a dialog with the inevitable. «Carmen» embodies the soul impulse: love, being the brightest emotion, turns into tragedy. And the three deaths in the finale are not accidental... Body, soul, death...

Addressing these three dimensions reminds us that life is not a series of isolated moments, but a holistic trajectory, where each point is filled with meaning...

The evening of one-act ballets also turned into an evening of French music — the magical music of Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saëns and Georges Bizet sounded. The conductor was Artem Makarov, Сhief Сonductor of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus, People’s Artist of Bashkortostan. We would like to add that soloists of the opera theater — Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus Oksana Volkova and Daria Gorozhanko — also took part in the performance, continuing the idea of the directors.

The image of a growing thistle became the leitmotif of the scenography of the performance. It is like a symbol of contradictory beauty — prickly but mesmerizing. Like the growing rhythm of «Bolero», this flower, like a living character, grows through the action, reflecting the story of the Player in «Dance...» and the tragedy of Carmen: the thistle attracts and wounds, and its withering in the finale becomes a metaphor for the death of passion. Production designer Olga Melnik-Malakhova transferred the flower’s thorns and petals to the stage — they are a tragic harmony: beautiful and doomed.

The dark mask, veil, apple, butterflies and cage have also become recognizable symbols in the scenographic history of the play. These elements form the visual and semantic basis of the production, reflecting its key themes of life and death, struggle and its doom, temptation and transformation.

Scenes from the play «Carmen»

The scenography uses a modular set system. Yes, a whole story is born, and yet — in each ballet it is different. One character — movements to color and light — in «Bolero». In «Dance of Death» more hazy shades dominate. «Carmen» is full-color, lively, more domestic story — in the scenery and costumes.

The main roles in the ballets are performed by leading soloists of the Bolshoi Ballet of Belarus: Anton Kravchenko, Marina Vezhnovets, Yuri Kovalev, Lyudmila Khitrova, Andrei Bariev, Elizaveta Musorina, Alina Rudenko, Vladimir Ruda, Denis Shpak, Diana Bagatova, Alexander Misiyuk, Konstantin Belokhvostik, Vladislav Koliada, Alexandra Chizhik, Ivan Kamyshov and others.

Igor Kolb, the chief choreographer

We would like to add that the following people also worked on the staging: People’s Artist of Belarus chief choirmaster Nina Lomanovich, lighting designer Evgeny Lisitsyn, computer graphics and video designer Viktoria Zlotnikova.

Elena Likhtarovich