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dependent dancing parts as entrée, 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 dancing-musical 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.
However, the question remains open with respect to the nature of ballet expression. As a rule, a classical dance - variations of the main characters, their duets or big ensemble formations - is based on the presentation of the emotional and spiritual state of characters or the presentation of the general mood which is supposed to descend on the spectator: for example, triumphant - as in the ballet "The Flames of Paris", allowing the audience to unite inwardly with the revolutionary crowd. Or, just the opposite, meditative - as in the white act of "Giselle", describing the world of the Wilis: brides who die before their wedding day. Thus, it should be admitted that ballet is able to "infect" the audience emotionally, to immerse it into a certain emotional state. In this situation it will be fair to speak about an increase in the receptive activity of the spectator who is entitled to qualify the eventfulness of what is happening on the stage. It allows us to assert that classical dance in a pure form, without any impurities in the form of pantomime or character dance tends to performative (lyrical) eventfulness. Ballet performativity should not surprise us: generic connection of the dance with syncretic morphological structures has become a subject of research11. A similar connection can be traced in classical ballet. Besides, it can reveal itself at any level: from the plot to corps de ballet formations. At one time, one of the authors of the article considered the ballet "Giselle": special attention was given to the legend which served as a basis for both the libretto by T. Gautier and its literary basis (H. Heine)12. We have touched upon the possible mythological component of the ballet. In doing so we were assisted not only by macabre
themes of the romantic story, but also by corps de ballet formations of Perrot-Coralli-Petipa13, part of which we managed to reduce to meander (through the chess border of dipylon vases) as a symbol of an endless chain of deaths and revivals. In this sense the famous scene from the second act is significant: the scene where the Wilis are moving towards each other mutually piercing vis-à-vis rows. This direct indication of translational symmetry (translational motion) together with plane symmetry (reflection) could not but refer us to the meander at the level of mathematical abstractions. It was not difficult to do it because reflection in a plane can be reduced to turns. After the replacement of symmetry operations we singled out a meander from this dynamic construction, each element of the meander being determined by a point group along the axis of the second order, while in general it only lends itself to translation. When we sorted out the problem of symmetry elements and remembered what meander meant in mythology, the Wilis stopped playing the determining role, their place was taken by maenads universal for the European culture.
"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 ofY. 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 event-fulness 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 "Coppélia") 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 lie 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
1 Шмид В. Нарратология. М., 2008. С. 20-21.
2 Успенский Б.А. Поэтика композиции. М., 1970.
3 Тюпа В.И. Очерк современной нарратологии // Критика и семиотика. 2002. Вып. 5. С. 24.
4 Chatman S. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. London, 1980; Поселягин Н.В. Кинофильм как объект и не-объект нарратологии // Narrato-rium. 2012. № 2 (4). URL: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/article.html?id=2628907 (дата обращения 20.12.2016); Schmid W. The Selection and Concretization of Elements in Verbal and Filmic Narration // Beyond Classical Narration: Transmedial and Unnatural Challenges. Berlin; Boston, 2014. P. 15-24; Тюпа В.И. Нарратив и другие регистры говорения // Narratorium. 2011. № 1-2. URL: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/article. html?id=2027584 (дата обращения 20.12.2016).
5 Bernkopf A. Between Stage and Literature: Romantic Ballet's Narrative Strategies // Working with Stories. Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice: Proceedings from the 2nd ENN Conference. Kolding, 2011. P. 4-21; Foster S. L. Choreography and Narrative: Ballet's Staging of Story and Desire. Bloomington, 1996.
6 Foster S. L. Choreography and Narrative: Ballet's Staging of Story and Desire. Bloomington, 1996.
7 НоверрЖ.-Ж. Письма о танце. СПб., 2007.
8 Ryan M. L. Narration in Various Media // The Living Handbook of Narratology. Hamburg, 2012. URL: http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/narration-various-media (accessed 20.12.2016).
9 Маликов Е.В. Миф и танец. Опыт занимательной герменевтики. М., 2012. С. 35.
10 Ваганова А.Я. Основы классического танца. СПб., 2001.
11 Веселовский А.Н. Историческая поэтика. М., 2008.
12 Маликов Е.В. Миф и танец. Опыт занимательной герменевтики. М., 2012.
13 Маликов Е.В. Формообразование сценического континуума в классическом балете и кордебалетные построения как символическая основа локуса спектакля // Academia: Танец. Музыка. Театр. Образование. 2011. № 3 (23). С. 31-38.
14 Маликов Е.В. Мифопоэтическое пространство фантастического балета и его герменевтика // Вестник ТГПУ 2015. № 5 (158). С. 191-194.
15 Маликов Е.В. Герменевтический подход к балету «Лебединое озеро», или почему Зигфрид должен умереть в мифопоэтическом ландшафте указанного произведения // Вестник Томского государственного университета. Культурология и искусствоведение. 2016. № 3 (23). С. 64-72.
16 Ванслов В.В., Суриц Е.Я. Балет // Балет: энциклопедия. М., 1981. С. 42.
17 Поселягин Н.В. Кинофильм как объект и не-объект нарратологии // Narra-torium. 2012. № 2 (4). URL: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/article.html?id=2628907 (дата обращения 20.12.2016).
18 Schmid W. The Selection and Concretization of Elements in Verbal and Filmic Narration // Beyond Classical Narration: Transmedial and Unnatural Challenges. Berlin; Boston. 2014. P. 21.
References (Articles from Scientific Journals)
1. Tyupa V.I. Ocherk sovremennoy narratologii [An Outline of Modern Narratology]. Kritika i semiotika, 2002, vol. 5, p. 24. (In Russian).
2. Poselyagin N.V. Kinofil'm kak obyekt i ne-obyekt narratologii [Film As an Object and Non-Object of Narratological Studies]. Narratorium, 2012, no. 2 (4). Available at: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/article.html?id=2628907 (accessed 20.12.2016). (In Russian).
3. Tyupa V.I. Narrativ i drugie registry govoreniya [Narrative and Other Registers of Speaking]. Narratorium, 2011, no. 1-2. Available at: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/ article.html?id=2027584 (accessed 20.12.2016). (In Russian).
4. Malikov E.V. Formoobrazovanie stsenicheskogo kontinuuma v klassicheskom balete i kordebaletnye postroeniya kak simvolicheskaya osnova lokusa spektaklya [Formation of Scenic Continuum in Classical Ballet and Corps de Ballet Constructions As Symbolic Basis of the Performance Locus]. Academia: Tanets. Muzyka. Teatr. Obrazovanie, 2011, no. 3 (23), pp. 31-38. (In Russian).
5. Malikov E.V. Mifopoeticheskoe prostranstvo fantasticheskogo baleta i ego germenevtika [Mythopoetic Space of a Fantastic Ballet and Its Hermeneutics]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, 2015. no. 5 (158), pp. 191-194. (In Russian).
6. Malikov E.V Germenevticheskiy podkhod k baletu "Lebedinoe ozero", ili pochemu Zigfrid dolzhen umeret' v mifopoeticheskom landshafte ukazannogo proizvedeniya [Hermeneutic Approach to the "Swan Lake" Ballet, or Why Siegfried Must Die Within the Mythopoetic Landscape of This Work]. Vestnik Tomskogo
gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Kul'turologiya i iskusstvovedenie, 2016, no. 3 (23), pp. 64-72. (In Russian).
7. Poselyagin N.V. Kinofil'm kak obyekt i ne-obyekt narratologii [Film As an Object and Non-Object of Narratological Studies]. Narratorium, 2012, no. 2 (4). Available at: http://narratorium.rggu.ru/article.html?id=2628907 (accessed 20.12.2016). (In Russian).
(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)
8. Schmid W. The Selection and Concretization of Elements in Verbal and Filmic Narration. Beyond Classical Narration: Transmedial and Unnatural Challenges. Berlin; Boston, 2014, pp. 15-24. (In English).
9. Bernkopf A. Between Stage and Literature: Romantic Ballet's Narrative Strategies. Working with Stories. Narrative as a Meeting Place for Theory, Analysis and Practice: Proceedings from the 2nd ENN Conference. Kolding, 2011, pp. 4-21. (In English).
10. Ryan M. L. Narration in Various Media. The Living Handbook of Narratology. Hamburg, 2012. Available at: http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/narration-various-media (accessed 20.12.2016). (In English).
11. Vanslov VV., Surits E.Ya. Balet [Ballet]. Balet: entsiklopediya [Ballet: Encyclopedia]. Moscow, 1981, p. 42. (In Russian).
12. Schmid W. The Selection and Concretization of Elements in Verbal and Filmic Narration. Beyond Classical Narration: Transmedial and Unnatural Challenges. Berlin; Boston, 2014, p. 21. (In English).
(Monographs)
13. Schmid W. Narratologiya [Narratology]. Moscow, 2008, pp. 20-21. (In Russian).
14. Uspensky B.A. Poetikakompozitsii [A Poetics of Composition]. Moscow, 1970. (In Russian).
15. Chatman S. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. London, 1980. (In English).
16. Foster S. L. Choreography and Narrative: Ballet's Staging of Story and Desire. Bloomington, 1996. (In English).
17. Foster S. L. Choreography and Narrative: Ballet's Staging of Story and Desire. Bloomington, 1996. (In English).
18. Noverre J.-G. Pis'ma o tantse [Letters on Dancing]. Saint-Petersburg, 2007. (Translated from French to Russian).
19. Malikov E. V. Mif i tanets: opytzanimatel'noygermenevtiki [Myth and Dance. Experience of Entertaining Hermeneutic]. Moscow, 2012, p. 35. (In Russian).
20. Vaganova A.Ya. Osnovy klassicheskogo tantsa [The Basics of Classical Dance]. Saint-Petersburg, 2001. (In Russian).
21. Veselovskiy A.N. Istoricheskayapoetika [Historical Poetics]. Moscow, 2008. (In Russian).
22.Malikov E.V. Mif i tanets: opyt zanimatel'noy germenevtiki [Myth and Dance. Experience of Entertaining Hermeneutic]. Moscow, 2012. (In Russian).
Kseniya Vorotyntseva - completed postraduate education in the Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences; currently an art scholar.
Research interests: theoretical poetics, narratology, semiotics, modern fiction, fine arts, dance.
E-mail: [email protected]
Evgeniy Malikov - a lecturer in University College of Information Technology (Moscow State University of Technology and Management).
Research interests: formal languages, semiotics, hermeneutics, mythology, dance, culture.
E-mail: [email protected]
Ксения Александровна Воротынцева - выпускница аспирантуры Института филологии СО РАН, арт-критик.
Область научных интересов: теоретическая поэтика, нарратология, семиотика, современная литература, изобразительное искусство, танец.
E-mail: [email protected]
Евгений Валерьевич Маликов - преподаватель Университетского колледжа информационных технологий Московского государственного университета технологий и управления.
Область научных интересов: формальные языки, семиотика, герменевтика, мифология, танец, культура.
E-mail: [email protected]
