Moiseev's group. State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble named after Igor Moiseev

Moiseev made an irreplaceable contribution to the choreography of not only his country, but the whole world as a whole. He devoted his entire life to creativity and achieved unprecedented success in developing the skill of choreography. At the moment, it is difficult to convey all the talent of the master even with the most high-quality and diverse performances.

Igor Moiseev's ballet is a unique highly professional academic dance ensemble. He managed to convey different images and folklore of the peoples of the world in dance movement.

Start

The future artist learned to dance completely by accident. His dad sent him to a dance studio just so that the negative effects of the street would not show up on him. The boy showed his abilities quite quickly. Noticing this, his teacher, former ballerina Vera Mosolova, brought him to the ballet school at the Bolshoi Theater. Igor was immediately appreciated, and the main choreographer of the establishment took him under his wing. Igor very quickly developed in the dance field.

The big breakthrough in his career was staging a parade on Red Square. To do this, he involved school students. The performance was more than successful; it delighted many. After him, orders of the highest level simply rained down on Igor. Even Stalin admired his performances and helped with the space for the group’s work.

European folklore

A significant period in his activity was the study and creative interpretation of European folklore. Unable to travel abroad, Igor Moiseev’s ballet “Dances of the Slavic Peoples” was staged exclusively at home. To do this, the manager consulted many specialists. Success was not long in coming.

On tour in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Poland, the audience was simply captivated by the ensemble. The productions were so well done and the artistic meaning of the stage works was accurately conveyed. Even today, Igor Moiseev’s ballet is an invaluable example and school for choreographers in many countries.
Moiseev's creations have become a kind of choreographic tool used by different peoples. He staged the program “Peace and Friendship”, in which he collected images of dance folklore from eleven countries, including European and Asian. European countries followed the example of Igor Moiseev's dance performances and created their own choreographic groups.

Always first

At that time, the situation in the country was not very favorable for the development of creativity. Igor Moiseev's ballet was the first dance group that was given permission to tour abroad. The ensemble's performances were crowned with success, this was the first step towards international detente.

In 1955, the artists performed for the first time in London and Paris. And in 1958 they became one of the first domestic groups to show their performance in the USA. The successful tour in America was appreciated by the press and paved the way for the trust of the USSR.

As has been the case for many decades, the ballet by Igor Moiseev is sold out. The concert poster clearly shows this. The schedule of performances was planned for several years in advance.

Moiseev School

The Moiseevskaya dance school was unique and one of a kind. She was distinguished by her professionalism of the highest degree, virtuosity and excellent improvisation. The students of the great master were not just actors - they were highly educated universal actors. They flawlessly mastered any type of dance and amazingly embodied all artistic images.

The title of a dancer of the Moiseev school is the best recommendation in any country in a choreographic group of different directions. The creative path and the nature of the education of students are shown in the program “The Road to Dance”; it highlights in detail the entire path that the Igor Moiseev ballet has traveled. For this production the master received the Lenin Prize, and his ensemble was awarded the title Academic.

70 years of worldwide recognition

The stage activity of the group has lasted for more than 70 years, it was awarded the order. It is absolutely fair to call the ballet of Igor Moiseev the hallmark of our country. Tickets sold at the box office are sold out instantly.

For his invaluable contribution to the art of dance, Igor Moiseev was awarded an Oscar. And even after his death, today he lives in the heart of his ensemble, which maintains the appropriate level and is an impeccable example.

The team is located in the Concert Hall named after P.I. Tchaikovsky.

The main task set for the artists by the founder of the ensemble, Igor Moiseev (1906-2007), was the creative processing of folklore samples that were current in the Soviet Union at that time. For this purpose, the artists of the group went on folklore expeditions around the country. As a result, the ensemble's first programs appeared - "Dances of the Peoples of the USSR" (1937-1938), "Dances of the Baltic Peoples" (1939).

In the ensemble's repertoire, folklore samples received a new stage life and were preserved for several generations of spectators around the world. For this purpose, Igor Moiseev used almost all means of stage culture: various types and types of dances, symphonic music, drama, scenography, acting.

An important stage was the development and creative interpretation of European folklore. The program "Dances of Slavic Peoples" (1945) was created in conditions when Moiseev did not have the opportunity to travel abroad. The choreographer recreated examples of dance creativity, consulting with musicians, folklorists, historians, and musicologists.

With the direct participation of famous choreographers Miklos Rabai (Hungary), Lubusha Ginkova (Czechoslovakia), Ahn Sun Hee (Korea), Igor Moiseev created the program “Peace and Friendship” (1953), which for the first time collected examples of European and Asian dance folklore from 11 countries.

Since 1938, the ensemble has been in Russia and abroad. For a record number of tours, the ensemble is included in the Russian Guinness Book of Records. Since its first foreign tour (Finland, 1945), Igor Moiseev’s ensemble has been the unofficial Russian ambassador of peace.

In 1958, the ensemble was the first of the Soviet groups to go on tour to the USA, which marked the beginning of cultural ties between the USSR and the USA.

In 1967, the first professional folk dance ensemble was awarded the title of academic. In 1987, the ensemble was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

The hallmarks of the group were the numbers “Partisans”, the naval suite “Yablochko”, the old city square dance, the Moldavian zhok, the Ukrainian hopak, the Russian dance “Summer”, and the incendiary tarantella. The ensemble's one-act performances, staged by Igor Moiseev using the means and techniques of world folk and theatrical culture, gained great success with the ensemble - "Vesnyanki", "Tsam", "Sanchakou", "Polovtsian Dances" to the music of Alexander Borodin, "On the Skating Rink" to the music of Johann Strauss, “Night on Bald Mountain” to the music of Modest Mussorgsky, “Spanish Ballad” to the music of Pablo di Luna, “Evening in a Tavern” to the music of Argentine composers, etc.

After the death of artistic director Igor Moiseev in 2007, the ensemble began to bear his name.

Today in the repertoire of the Folk Dance Ensemble, staged by Moiseev. These are dances, miniatures, choreographic paintings and suites, one-act ballets to the music of Russian composers and symphonists Alexander Borodin, Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky.

The ensemble includes a large group of ballet dancers and a symphony orchestra.

The artistic director - director of the group is People's Artist of Russia Elena Shcherbakova.

Since 1943, a studio school has been operating under the folk dance ensemble. In addition to special disciplines - classical, folk stage, historical, duet dance - the training program includes jazz dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, acting, playing the piano and folk musical instruments, history of music and theater.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The team is located in the Concert Hall named after P.I. Tchaikovsky.

In 1958, the ensemble was the first of the Soviet groups to go on tour to the USA, which marked the beginning of cultural ties between the USSR and the USA.

In 1967, the first professional folk dance ensemble was awarded the title of academic. In 1987, the ensemble was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

After the death of artistic director Igor Moiseev in 2007, the ensemble began to bear his name.

The ensemble includes a large group of ballet dancers and a symphony orchestra.

The artistic director - director of the group is People's Artist of Russia Elena Shcherbakova.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

On September 26-27, Tashkent will host one of the most anticipated cultural events, a long-awaited holiday for connoisseurs of the art of dance and music - the legendary State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble named after Igor Moiseev will perform on the stage of the Palace of Forums. 80 ballet dancers arrived to amaze Tashkent spectators with the beauty of dances of the peoples of the world.

On the eve of the charity concerts, we managed to talk with the artistic director of the ensemble, Elena Shcherbakova. She spoke about the history of the creation of the group, the repertoire, hard everyday life and tours, the creator of the ensemble - choreographer and choreographer Igor Moiseev, and shared her impressions of Tashkent, which she visited 36 years ago.

About the history of the ensemble and its creator

The ensemble was created in 1937. Igor Aleksandrovich Moiseev is a great choreographer, director, philosopher, creator of the genre of folk stage choreography, who brought folk dance to the professional stage and made it a professional art form based on his own unique choreography, which is subject to the laws of stage art. Igor Moiseev created his own school at the ensemble, which was founded in the most difficult times - at the very height of the Great Patriotic War, in 1943. Today, 99% of the ensemble’s artists are the best graduates of our school. This year, the school-studio at the ensemble will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

The red thread running through all of Igor Moiseev’s unique work is his philosophy of goodness, which today not only fully preserves, but also enhances Igor Moiseev’s Ballet - to bring goodness to people, regardless of political regimes, ethnicity, religion.

How future ensemble artists learn

We accept children from 12 to 14 years of age into the school, after the 8th grade of secondary school.

We do not focus on having children perform from the first year of study - they perform their first concert just before graduation, because the most important thing for us is to teach them the basics of classical dance, the basics of acting and, of course, the Moiseev school of dance. Without this, entering the big stage is impossible. Our main task is for students to understand that everything they will dance on stage is clear to the viewer. Every movement of the head, arm, leg should say something, tell something. There is no folk dance without a theme.

About the workdays of the “Moiseevites”

The Moiseevites have a six-day working week, with only one day off. Our working day begins at 10 am, with a classical dance lesson to prepare the artist for rehearsals and lasts until 15.00, and then from 19.00 to 21.00. Between our rehearsals, school classes are held in our halls. Unfortunately, she still does not have her own building.

About ballet dancers

There are a total of 90 ballet dancers in the ensemble, their average age is 23-25 years. But we have a unique artist, Rudiy Khojoyan, People’s Artist of Russia, holder of many orders and medals, who at 75 years old superbly performs the main role of “Father” in the Jewish suite “Family Joys,” staged specifically for him by Igor Moiseev in 1994. Rudiy Khojoyan is also an accompanist for all oriental and Caucasian dances in the ensemble. He is a teacher and tutor of the dance of the Argentine shepherds "Gaucho" - the hallmark of the ensemble.

About the repertoire

We have preserved the entire repertoire of Igor Moiseev, which was performed in the last years of his life, and even increased it. Now our repertoire includes 200 unique numbers. We are constantly changing and updating the program - so, to the existing one we have added 7 new dances and one mini-performance - “Tango “Del Plata”” staged by Argentine choreographer Laura Roatta, which premiered in May 2018.

About the ensemble phenomenon

We have completely preserved all the unique heritage of Igor Moiseev, all the traditions laid down by the master, the Moiseev school of dance. Our performances are different in that everything that happens on stage is true. In addition, our artists have unique energy and the ability to ignite enthusiasm among the public. Even phlegmatic spectators at our concerts become temperamental. The ensemble of Igor Moiseev is the only group that has its own small symphony orchestra (32 people). All musical arrangements were written specifically for our orchestra. The repertoire includes unique one-act ballets staged by Igor Moiseev to the music of Russian symphonic composers - Borodin, Mussorgsky, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov.

About my own creative path

I joined the ensemble (1969) after graduating from the choreographic school at the Bolshoi Theater, now the Academy of Choreography. Having seen the ensemble while still a student, I decided for myself that if I didn’t get into the ensemble, then I wouldn’t dance and would immediately go to the pedagogical department of GITIS. I'm lucky. Igor Moiseev accepted me into the ensemble. Having worked for 23 years, becoming a soloist of the ensemble, before retiring, Igor Aleksandrovich invited me to try myself as a teacher at our school, and two years later, in 1994, he made me an offer to become the director of the ensemble. The time was very difficult, the 90s, perestroika, no one cared about art. But we managed to preserve the ensemble in its original form!

Elena Shcherbakova and Igor Moiseev

About art in the modern world

On November 2, 2018, it will be 11 years since our creator has been with us, but we are holding the bar to the highest level, everything is as it was under Igor Alexandrovich. Unfortunately, today there is a tendency to include pop elements and modern music in folk dances. I don't accept this. I am for the purity of the genre. I am for every nation to preserve and pass on folk dances from generation to generation. For me, folk dance and the word “show” are incompatible.

In addition, developing technologies are sometimes not the best companions for art, since they choke spirituality. People stop reading books - the Internet thinks for them.

Today decoration is very fashionable - a lot of lights, light decorations, costumes with sparkles. But among the people everything was different. The motto of the Moiseevites is a minimum of decoration - a maximum of performance.

About Tashkent and Uzbek dance

I am shocked by the beauty of Tashkent, like all our artists who are here for the first time. Oriental hospitality can be felt at every corner. It has been a long-standing dream to return the ensemble to Uzbekistan, and Gazprombank, Uzbekneftegaz JSC, and the International Oilfield Service Company Eriell Group were able to realize it, for which many thanks to them.

I was in Tashkent 36 years ago, during our tour, and this is a very long time, considering that we are promoting the culture of Uzbekistan around the world. The ensemble's repertoire includes an Uzbek dance with dishes, choreographed by Igor Moiseev back in 1937. Now he is a huge success. This year in Italy the audience gave the Uzbek dance a standing ovation.

Igor Aleksandrovich Moiseev. GAANT named after Moiseev is the world's first professional choreographic group engaged in the artistic interpretation and promotion of dance folklore of the peoples of the world, including Jewish, Mexican, Greek dances, as well as dances of the CIS peoples.

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5

✪ Ukrainian dance "Hopak". Ballet by Igor Moiseev

✪ "Apple". Ballet by Igor Moiseev.

✪ GAANT named after Igor Moiseev. One-act ballet "Night on Bald Mountain".

✪ Suite of Greek dances "Sirtaki". Ballet by Igor Moiseev.

✪ Choreographic picture "Football". GAANT named after Igor Moiseev

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History of the team

The Igor Moiseev State Academic Theater was founded on February 10, 1937, the day when the first rehearsal of a troupe of 30 people took place in the Moscow house of the choreographer at 4 Leontyevsky Lane. The task that Moiseev set for the young artists was to creatively process and present on stage the samples of folklore of the USSR existing at that time. To this end, the ensemble members went on folklore expeditions around the country, where they found, studied and recorded disappearing dances, songs and rituals. As a result, the first programs of the dance troupe were “Dances of the Peoples of the USSR” (1937-1938) and “Dances of the Baltic Peoples” (1939). Since 1940, the ensemble had the opportunity to rehearse and perform on the stage of the Tchaikovsky Hall, and it was this theater that became the ensemble’s home for many years.

To achieve maximum expressiveness of the dance performance, Igor Moiseev used all means of stage culture: all types and types of dances, symphonic music, drama, scenography and acting. In addition, Moiseev took as a basis the principle of equality of the ensemble’s artists; from the very beginning, the group did not have soloists, leading dancers or corps de ballet - any participant could play both the main and secondary roles in the production.

An important stage in the creative development of the group was the development and updated interpretation of European folklore. The program “Dances of Slavic Peoples” (1945) was created in unique conditions: not being able to travel abroad, Igor Moiseev recreated examples of dance creativity, consulting with musicians, folklorists, historians, and musicologists. On tour in 1946 in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, the audience was amazed at the accuracy of the productions and the true artistic meaning of the ensemble's stage works. With the significant participation of famous choreographers and folklore experts Miklos Rabai (Hungary), Lubusha Ginkova (Czechoslovakia), Ahn Song Hee (Korea), whom Igor Moiseev involved in their work, the program “Peace and Friendship” (1953) was created, where for the first time they collected samples of European and Asian dance folklore from eleven countries.

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Folk Dance Ensemble under the direction of Moiseev toured Siberia, Transbaikalia, the Far East, and Mongolia.

In 1955, the ensemble became the first Soviet group to go on foreign tours to France and Great Britain. In 1958, the ensemble was also the first of the Soviet groups to go on tour to the USA.

The quintessence of the creative path of the Moiseev GAANT was the class-concert “The Road to Dance” (1965), which clearly demonstrates the path of development of the team from mastering individual elements to creating full-scale stage canvases. In 1967, for the program “The Road to Dance,” GAANT was the first folk dance ensemble to be awarded the title of academic, and Igor Moiseev was awarded the Lenin Prize.

Despite the fact that in 2007 the ensemble lost its leader and ideological inspirer, the Moiseev GAANT continued to perform and tour around the world. For its concert activity, which has lasted more than 70 years, the ensemble was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples. GAANT is the only ensemble of its kind that has performed at the Opera Garnier (Paris) and La Scala (Milan). In terms of the number of tours, it is listed in the Russian Guinness Book of Records as an ensemble that has visited more than 60 countries. .

For the best performance of 2011, the ensemble was awarded the Grand Prix of the Anita Bucchi Choreographic Prize (Italy), and at the premiere program on December 20, 2011, as part of the triumphant Parisian tour, UNESCO awarded the ensemble the Medal of Five Continents.

Orchestra

In the first years of the ensemble's existence, concerts were accompanied by a group of folk instruments and a group of musical national instruments under the direction of E. Avksentyev. Since the late 1940s, in connection with the expansion of the ensemble’s repertoire and the appearance of the “Dances of the Peoples of the World” cycle in it, a small symphony orchestra was created with the involvement of a group of national instruments. The main credit for its creation belongs to conductor Samson Halperin.

Today, the ensemble's concerts are accompanied by a small symphony orchestra of 35 people. Original arrangements of folk melodies over the years were created by conductors Evgeny Avksentyev, Samson Galperin, Nikolai Nekrasov, Anatoly Gus, and musician Vladimir Zhmykhov.

The orchestra's artists also take part in the ensemble's productions. For example, in the suite of Moldovan dances “Hora” and “Chiokirlie” a violinist in national costume plays on stage. “Kalmyk Dance” is accompanied by the sound of a Saratov harmonica, while the orchestra artist is dressed in a tuxedo. The one-act ballet “Night on Bald Mountain” begins with the appearance of a stage orchestra in national Ukrainian costumes.

Studio school

The “Studio School at the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble under the direction of Igor Moiseev” was formed in September 1943 as a training group under the ensemble. It trains artists and is the main source of personnel for replenishing the troupe. The training program includes special disciplines: classical dance, folk stage dance, duet dance, jazz dance, gymnastics, acrobatics, acting, playing the piano and folk musical instruments, history of music, history of theater, history of ballet, history of painting, history ensemble.

In 1988, the school received the status of a secondary specialized educational institution.

Repertoire

The ensemble's repertoire consists of about 300 choreographic works created by Igor Moiseev since 1937. Based on genre, all dances are divided into choreographic miniatures, dance paintings, dance suites and one-act ballets. Thematically, the dances are combined into the cycles “Pictures of the Past”, “Soviet Pictures” and “Across the Countries of the World”. The list shows the most frequently performed choreographic numbers.

Choreographic miniatures

Two kids fighting
Estonian “Polka through the leg”
Polka-labyrinth

Dance paintings

Football (music by A. Tsfasman)
Partisans
Tobacco
Skomorokhs (music by N. Rimsky-Korsakov)

One-act ballets

Polovtsian dances (music by A. Borodin)
At the skating rink (music by I. Strauss)
Night on Bald Mountain (music by M. Mussorgsky)
Spanish ballad (music by Pablo di Luna)
Evening at the tavern

Suite of Russian dances

Girls coming out
Box
Grass
Male dance
General final