Russian ballet on the pages of the magazine “Zhar-ptitsa” (1921–1926)

INTRODUCTION. Monthly literary and artistic illustrated magazine “Zhar-ptitsa”, published from 1921 to 1925. in Berlin, in 1926 – in Paris, is a successor to the traditions of such magazines of the early twentieth century as “World of Art”, “Golden Fleece”, and is of scientific value as an additional source of information on the study of the theatrical life of the Russian Abroad. The purpose of the study is to conduct a detailed analysis of the magazine’s articles related to the creative activities of representatives of Russian ballet in exile.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The basis is taken from digitized versions of the magazine, posted in the public domain on the website “Presidential Library named after B.N. Yeltsin”. All 14 “Zhar-ptitsa” magazines were analyzed. Both articles related to the activities of representatives of Russian ballet in emigration, as well as various types of illustrations: photographs, drawings, reproductions, etc., were studied in detail.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. It was revealed that in many issues of the magazine there are no articles devoted to Russian ballet, but there are photographs of ballet dancers in stage costumes and images, drawings related to ballet art, reproductions of sketches for ballet performances, which are also of scientific value in the reconstruction of ballet scenography, the study of this period of history. Four issues of the magazine “Zhar-ptitsa”, no. 1, no. 2, no. 10, no. 11, contain articles dedicated to the art of ballet: the work of M.M. Fokina, A.M. Pavlova, E.P. Eduardova, as well as B.G. Romanov and his choreographic group “Russian Romantic Ballet”.

CONCLUSION. Despite the abundance of scientific articles devoted to the periodicals of the first wave of Russian emigration, information related to the history of Russian ballet remains poorly studied. The co nducted research introduces into scientific circulation materials dedicated to Russian ballet, and placed on the pages of the periodical of Russian emigration – “Zhar-ptitsa”. It seems promising to further study the journals of Russian emigration for the analysis of articles related to the history of Russian ballet.

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