Нарративный компонент в искусстве балета: к постановке проблемы

There are two main approaches to the definition of narrativity in modern humanitarian sciences. In the framework of the first approach a text is defined as narrative depending not on the presence of a mediating instance but on the character of the world described, which is supposed to contain a certain change of the situation. Thus, according to the conception of W. Schmid, narratives include not only the texts narrating a story by means of a narrator, but also the texts which do not have any mediating instance: the so-called “mimetic narrative texts” - film, ballet, pantomime1. In the framework of the second approach to the definition of narrativity the presence of the mediating instance - narrator - becomes the main marker. The point of view category2 comes to the foreground because eventfulness is determined, first of all, from the position of intentionality3. According to this more strict understanding of narrativity, cinema, opera, music, ballet cannot be referred to the category of narrative texts.

Let us try to determine to what extent the analytical mechanism of narratolgy can be applied to such a kind of art as classical ballet. It should be noted that from the point of view of narratology borderline phenomena more than once turned out to be in the centre of researchers’ attention4. For example, the narrative potential of film and dramatic discourse arouses considerable interest. As regards ballet, there have been no attempts in the Russian science to study it from narratological position. Western scientists seem to be more active in this respect5.

In the course of time professional dancers took the place of aristocrats. The middle of the 18th century was marked by large-scale reforms initiated by J.-G. Noverre. The French choreographer defended the necessity to transform a vapid ballet performance into a complete performance with a story action and characters. In his theoretical paper “Lettres sur la danse”7 Noverre denoted the tasks of pantomime: it is supposed to narrate a story with the help of gestures. He demanded in particular that actors should take off their masks: vivid facial expression was to enhance the story effect. Besides, Noverre introduced the notion of ballet d’action or action ballet which narrated a story and in this it differed radically from the court dance.

The conception of action dance put forward by Noverre (its rapprochement with story development) and transformation of ballet performances into a complete comprehensive performance determined the classical ballet development up to the end of the 19th century. In the English-speaking ballet studies there is a special term - “story ballet”. The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the return on the stage of a “plotless ballet” (i.e. ballets with no story line). The impetus in this direction was given by “Ballets russes” of S. Diaghilev, in particular by the productions of M. Fokine, for example, “Cho-piniana”. It should be noted that the same plotlessness is characteristic of neoclassical performances of G. Balanchine created later. Besides the revival of plotless ballets, there was another curious tendency in the classical dance of the 20th century: rapprochement of ballet with drama theatre and the emergence of dramatic ballet. Such performances can be exemplified by the works of a British choreographer K. MacMillan (“Mayerling”) and his Soviet counterpart L. Lavrovsky (“Romeo and Juliet”). The phenomenon of dramatic ballet deserves a separate consideration which is unfortunately not the aim of the given article.

Our short digression in the history of classical dance shows that ballet studies have formed a conception of gradation or various extent of ballet narratization. On the whole, the ability of a dance to narrate a story or not to narrate it at all remaining “plotless” should not be challenged. However, to what extent is it justified to apply the methods of narratological analysis to a ballet performance?

Like cinema, classical ballet is an intermedial discourse. Syncretism of the means of classical ballet art communication deserves special mention: they are such means as symphonic music, dance, pantomime, stage sets, lighting, literary basic text and individual role interpretation. A number of researchers (including S. L. Foster mentioned above) believe that the language of communicating story events is a pantomime - a system of gestures in which plasticity of human body is the main means of creating an image. Pantomime that dates back to ancient times came to classical ballet from street theatre festivals (performances of rope-walkers and jugglers, various fair entertainments) funding ballet as a kind of theatre arts along with the court dance. M. L. Ryan believes that pantomime helps to show the development of relations and interaction between people because, in the opinion of the researcher, inner life can be translated into plastic language, though the narrative potential of gestures performed on the stage is limited as compared to the cinema, for example - due to the coincidence of the narrated time with the time of the narration itself (in the cinema the ellipsis is made with the help of montage)8. However, a real master needs only one gesture to give an appropriate tinge to the personality of a character. For example, that was the case of the choreographic version of “Giselle” by Y. Grigorovich where the gamekeeper presents a “practical” gift instead of a “romantic” one (game instead of a flower). This act should be referred to index signs, but it seems to us that the term “discursive gesture”9 introduced by one of the authors of the given article is more exact in defining the function of such an action.

Besides the pantomime a stage performance consists of character dances and classical numbers proper. Character dance also dates back to street theatre: it is determined by the presence of everyday common gestures. This kind of dance flourished in the 19th century when romantic ballet dominated. As a rule, a character dance helps to recreate the everyday world as opposed to the irreal universe of sylphs, naiads and dryads. As for the classical dance, it is of a more abstract character and it tells spectators about its noble origin - the world of court dance and social interaction of high society. However, iconic gestures can be discovered here as well. Yet, the most famous ones should be referred to the “high” sphere, i.e. the sphere which is considered to be connected with aristocratic character. Pas de cheval (“step of the horse”), pas de chat (“step of the cat”) - these movements refer to noble and predatory animals.

Besides, the language of classical dance - the so-called ABC of ballet - is strictly codified. There are five foot positions, three arm positions and basic pas which serve as a foundation for numerous combinations10. A pas may be preceded by preparation - a preparatory movement for the performance of battements, pirouettes and jumps determined by the laws of bio-kinetics. The pas in themselves do not possess any semantics. In our opinion, such independent dancing parts as entree, adagio, variations and coda serve as original lexemes. Taken consecutively, they constitute a rigid structure of pas de deux - a peculiar syntagma. Sometimes it may include variations of soloists: this dancingmusical form is called grand pas (for example, the final acts of the ballets “Don Quixote” and “Paquita”). Among canonic dance forms there are also pas de trois, pas de quatre or pas de six, which consist of dances of three, four or six soloists respectively. It should be noted that in the long term it may be worth trying to single out the laws of performance syntax: to consider the alternation of corps de ballet formations, variations and pas de deux.

“Giselle” was not the only ballet where a ’’mythopoetical” approach could be applied. The role of the spindle in the arrangement of time in the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” is significant. We have analyzed the mythological roots of this “sacred subject”14 by considering it not only as Ananke’s attribute, but also as a deflowering symbol in the mythology of dying and resurrecting gods -it is in this way that the spindle was used in “The Sleeping Beauty” in the Mikhailovsky Theatre by N. Duato, it is in this way that the spindle was described by J.-C. Maillot in his “La Belle” (Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo). “Swan Lake”, too, in spite of its “literary character” turned out to be surprisingly close to the myths about cosmogonic twins15, which was however fully revealed only in the choreographic version of Y. Grigorovich. The choreographer supplements the female couple - Odette/Odile (originally, these parts were danced by different ballerinas, but with time they came to be performed by one and the same ballerina) with a male couple - Prince Siegfried and the Evil Genius (initially -Rothbart). Thus, from a real character (an owl whose wing is torn off in the end) Rothbart turns into Prince Siegfried’s alter ego.

On the whole, it is possible to speak about an extremely strong connection between classical ballet and myth and about the formation of a special eventfulness correlated with the myth and demanding a considerable activity from the recipient: such eventfulness immerses him in the eternally topical present. By the way, it is facilitated by the absence of the time distance between the level of the narrated world and the level of the narrating: as it was mentioned above, everything takes place on the stage here and now in the presence of the audience.

The low narrativity of classical ballet may be confirmed by its attachment to the verbal basis. As a rule, the creators of a classical ballet follow a certain plan: first, they write a libretto, i.e. a scenario which is often based on a certain literary work. For example, one can mention “Der Sandmann” by E.T.A. Hoffmann (ballet “Coppelia”) or “Cipollino” by G. Rodari (ballet “Cipollino”). Then, on the basis of the scenario the composer writes music which enriches the libretto with musical images. In its turn, the musical dramaturgy becomes the basis for the creation of choreography. At the same time, the choreographer can set the chronometry and metrorhythm of separate scenes: for example, we can mention the cooperation between Petipa and Tchaikovsky in creating the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty”16. Another evidence of low ballet narrativity is a libretto for spectators, which is enclosed in the programme. As a rule, it is shorter than the libretto written by the scriptwriter and includes only the main events of the story.

Let us make preliminary conclusions. In the framework of the broad approach to the understanding of narrativity ballet may be considered to be an audio-visual narrative expression only with certain reservations. A ballet performance demonstrates a rather weak degree of narrativization: the story tracing is ensured by the pantomime - a system of gestures capable of translating the verbal discourse (libretto) into the plastic one.

In the framework of the narrow approach we are inevitably faced with the point of view problem because the right to qualify eventfulness belongs to a certain consciousness. For example, as N. Poselyagin noted, in case of cinema narrative expression it is possible to speak about the existence of two point of view systems - that of a cameraman and a diegetic one. A cameraman’s point of view is a position from which the image in the frame is taken (depending on the angle of film shooting). A diegetic point of view is a viewpoint devised by the scriptwriter and director and depending, first of all, on the montage17. Is it possible to single out a similar point of view system in a ballet performance?

The whole stage is before the eyes of the audience. In fact, it is the spectator who chooses what will appear in the focus of his attention: someone from the soloists or corps de ballet formations. Thus, the creators of a ballet performance are restricted in their abilities to direct the attention of the audience to a certain component of the scenic action (at least, as compared to the authors of a film). At the same time, the role of light design should be noted: projector rays pick out a certain soloist and focus the attention of the audience on him. The costumes are used in a similar way (the costumes of soloists are more bright-coloured and richly decorated or white, on the contrary) though it is up to a concrete spectator to give a final qualification of the eventfulness. W. Schmid notes that in film “the mind born origin - and therefore the subjectivity and possible unreliability - of the views can be indicated by certain techniques as black-and-white picture, defamiliarizing shade or strange blow up”18. In ballet we are often faced with different means of expressing a point of view. For example, a number of landmark ballets, such as “La Bayadere” and “Giselle”, include the so-called “white act”: it immerses the audience in the inner world of the character, conveys his thoughts, feelings and dreams. Thus, the character’s subjective point of view unfolds before the audience. It becomes obvious not only thanks to a special colour design: a change in the state of consciousness (for example, in “La Bayadere”) is marked by means of pantomime - according to the role, the dancer pretends to be smoking a hookah and then by means of gestures he shows that he is falling asleep. The white act in “Giselle”, which according to the Western tradition is often performed as a dream of Count Albrecht (and not as an encounter with ghosts), also “makes headway” with the

help of pantomime: the hero comes to Giselle’s grave and after laying flowers there he sinks into sleep. During this act Count Albrecht can he down on the grave a few more times, as if reminding that all those things that happen around are nothing more than his dreams.

In the above-mentioned “Swan Lake” choreographed by Y. Grigorovich the conflict is completely transferred to the inner world of the hero. The appearance on the stage of black and white groups of swans can be interpreted as the struggle of light and dark ideas in Prince Siegfried’s soul objectified with the help of the dance. The inner world of heroes can also be described by means of music. For example, we can mention the famous “swan” theme in “Swan Lake” by P. Tchaikovsky which is played during Odette’s dance. If this tune is played in her absence, it symbolizes the reminiscences of the prince, for example.

Is it possible to speak about an exegetic event and a point of view with respect to a ballet performance? According to N. Poselyagin’s conception which seems to be convincing to us, in filmic narrative such eventfulness is created by means of montage. Let us run the risk of assuming that in ballet the alternation of musical numbers can be the analogue of montage. It is not for nothing that ballet performances are referred to the category of the musical theatre: it is music, as we have already mentioned, that is the basis of creating a synthetic action (verbal libretto does not go together with a ballet performance). It should be noted that before the appearance of classical ballets of the 19th century the musical basis of dancing action consisted, as a rule, of popular hits - musical themes and songs well known to the public. Thus, music was given specific index functions. During the period of classical ballet astounding growth and flourishing music to ballet performances was often far from being a complete all-embracing piece of art. New fragments, often written by other composers, were incorporated into the musical texture (“Giselle”). Or it could be the other way round: “superfluous” fragments were removed from a certain composition. Thus, in modern productions of “The Sleeping Beauty” by P. Tchaikovsky there is usually no entr’acte (interlude) for the violin, and “Swan Lake” has been “canonized” to a still lesser extent (suffice it to compare the compilation of V. Burmeister with the more or less well-known “formal” version of the ballet). Symphonism in ballet appeared much later - in the middle of the 20th century, though “The Nutcracker’ by P. Tchaikovsky and “Raymonda” by A. Glazunov are considered to be the first really “serious” (i.e. approaching the ideals of academic music) ballets.

An example of eventfulness formation on the basis of exegesis with the help of musical montage is the ballet “The Nutcracker” by P. Tchaikovsky. This ballet is made up of separate numbers practically not connected with each other musically. Nevertheless, their alternation creates the effect of an increase in meaning - similar to the montage effect in a film. Thus, the second act of the ballet “The Nutcracker” begins with a divertissement: a specific dance presentation of characters. The number of each of them is unique in terms of music, it does not repeat or develop the previous one. It is followed by “Waltz of the Flowers”, which has a special mood - full of spring spirit and joyful. Then comes pas de deux of the main characters, Marie (Clara) and Nutcracker

Prince, where one can hear pathetic, even tragic notes. In this way the author of the music unveils before us the story of growing up and parting with hopes, leaving a peculiar children’s paradise. The ballet ends with “Final Waltz and Apotheosis”, once again getting together the divertissement characters: as if it could enable the heroine to cast the last glance at her child dream. The fact that it is the music that becomes a specific mediator of events is proved by the fact that, as a rule, it is the composer who is considered to be the author of a ballet (in spite of the fact that a ballet performance, as we have already mentioned, is a synthetic action). Here we can mention, for example, the ballet “Swan Lake” by P. Tchaikovsky or the ballet “Don Quixote” by L. Minkus. In case the music is not created specially for the ballet, but compiled from already written pieces of music, a choreographer is often considered to be the author of the ballet: the ballets of G. Balanchine or K. MacMillan can serve as examples here. Thus, as a rule, a composer is an abstract author in ballet and eventfulness at the exegetic level is created by means of musical montage. And the whole audience is likely to be an abstract “addressee”. It should be noted that, judging by the layout of auditoriums in many theatres of the world (with an invariable royal box or tsar’s box), historically the monarch was considered to be an ideal spectator of a ballet performance.

Undoubtedly, everything that has been mentioned above is just the first approach to the problem. However, in spite of the fact that ballet is characterized by a low degree of narrativization, we believe that an attempt to discover narrative elements is productive and opens new prospects for further research.

Translated by I. Zhukovskaya.

NOTES

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