After her 1984 tour, the lead ballerina of the National Theatre, Ruta Adamkute, never returned from New York to Moscow: a phone call from the middle of Swan Lake alerted her to a tip-off and a criminal case. For the next 35 years of dance (Alla SigalovaHaving received the pseudonym Myers, she broke off all relations with her homeland – and during this period she achieved the status of one of the main figures of world ballet. In 2021 – all in the same New York – after the premiere of another production, the choreographer is dissatisfied with the project, cancels it in his heart and suddenly accepts the offer of the director of the National Theater Igor Korneev. (Fedor Bondarchuk) to return to their main stage and perform there. When Myers arrives, he discovers that much has changed: his ex, Andrei Pronin. (Igor Gordin) – now art director, ex-best friend Alla (Irina Apeksimova) – his wife, their son Elijah (Peter Raykov) is the prime minister. But one thing remains the same: Myers is immediately surrounded by “important people” who find it necessary to explain to him what can and cannot be done in the theatre.
Considering some of the production hell Bale went through from his first announcement two years ago to his screen appearance, it would be interesting to find out how many of these same monologues about “the possible and the impossible” have had a chance to listen to their author, Evgeny. Sangadzhiev, who made his debut in the same way two years ago Webcam drama “Happy End” with Lena Tronina. There was a certain number because they started filming the series in September 2021 with Ingeborga Dapkunaite in the lead role. As a result, Dapkunaite was not in the project, but Pugacheva remained on the credits. And the originally announced John Malkovich disappeared somewhere.
It must be assumed that three years ago, “Ballet” was conceived as the ideological heir to “Happy End,” another bodily drama more about liberation and self-discovery (Myers doesn’t know what to stage on stage in the first episodes. National). But in the words of the hero Bondarchuk (who, by his own admission, does not like ballet), a lot has changed since then: the approach, the people and the country. Against this background, the series is seen primarily as a political statement, and the title “2021” becomes an extremely important statement.
From the main actress change “Ballet” lost something, but I want to believe, something gained. Seagalova, of course, does not have the charm and charm of Dapkunaite, but she needs to get used to the role less: despite her experience in the cinema (Soviet-Turkish movie analogy “My Love, My Sorrow”, crime comedy “Diamond Sky”), first of all, she has 40 years of experience He is a choreographer and choreographer. Together with their late husband, the artistic director of the Pushkin Theater Roman Kozak, they basically did what Sigalova did in the ballet with the heroine – the renewal and modernization of the national theater.
Needless to say, it’s at least terribly beautiful: Igor Kiselev’s camera impeccably moves (Golden Mask-winning choreographer Vladimir Varnava, you can see him in the frame) in a flawless scene (National Theatre, of course, Bolshoi, his Bolshoi outside and Mikhailovsky MAMT) with inside “play”). However, it is Sangadzhiev who is responsible for the success, demonstrating quite obvious talent even in the “Happy Ending” – here he only confirms this (at the end of the first series, he passed a little, but certainly did not fall below the bar set at the beginning). Unlike the recently completed “Actresses”, shot by the same studio of Bondarchuk and Alexei Kiselev, which also tries to fix the lives of artists, “Ballet” primarily tells a story and does not give up on an aimless set. workshop anecdotes and horror stories. What kind of story is not yet clear, but I want to know for sure. One thing is for sure: with the name Sangadzhiev in the credits, you should not hope for a happy ending.