August, 18 , 2014. Issue No. 35

September 14 - the 239 theatre season at the Bolshoi Theatre will open with a production of the opera "Boris Godunov" Historic Stage - rehearsal day New Stage - rehearsal day Rudolph Nureyev and Ghislaine Thesmar in the ballet "Marco Spada", staged by Pierre Lacotte for the Opera Rome The choreographer Pierre Lacotte Newsletter

started yelling: "All Americans are killers". I told him that it was a historic film, based on the novel, and asked him why he was yelling. He continued to yell and scream, so I took him by the hand and took him outside before a scandal would have started. Then we met again and he asked if I had already danced "Le Spectre de la Rose". I said I had. Then he asked me if I could show him the choreography. I told him that I could. I explained to him that he should go not from this side, but from that side, and he would say: "Do not set a limit to my imagination". I told him: "This is not about your imagination, this is about doing what has been choreographed". I asked him once: "What do you want?" He said: "I want some coke, coffee and fruit juice". Claire Motte looked at me and said: "What do you think it means?" He was a kind of a spoiled child as the English say; he was rather spoiled. Next time he wanted to know what France is; I mean, not Paris, but France. So I took him to some friends of mine that had an amazing collection; they had Vlaminck and Renoir. When he walked in there, he named all the paintings; he already knew everything. Then he said: "You, the French, are not particularly musical; they say that sometimes you applaud after the first movement [of a symphony, a concerto or a sonata]". I said: "I have never heard anything like that". He said: "This is something that I was told". Then we went to a concert in Versailles. The concerto by Mozart was performed there, and people really started applauding after the first movement; I did not use to notice it before. He said: "Y ou see!" I replied: "Well, this is for the first time!" But he insisted: "No, I am right, you see, I am right". He was always right. We walked together; he wanted me to tell him what I know about ballet, about Marius Petipa and the ancient choreography that he had not known yet. Take "Swan Lake", for example, and the second act adagio: initially there were three people there, the Prince, the Prince's servant and Odette. - Did Egorova tell you all of that? - Y es, she did. So we talked about everything; moreover, when I saw him for the first time, I did not know how he danced, because we were just talking. He told me: "T omorrow you can come and watch the class, but we will not talk". I said: "OK". I came to watch the class. Dudinskaya gave the class, and I sat there and watched. When I saw Nureyev I told myself: "O-la-la, look at this will power!" And then he started dancing with such force and such virtuosity! He was young back then; later we decided to meet at the bar to chat. He came there and said: "So?" I replied: "So what?" He said: "So, you have already seen me dance; what do you think?" I said: "Are you waiting for a compliment?" He replied: "No, I am waiting to hear the truth". I told him: "If you want to hear the truth, listen: if you dance like you danced in class, you will have a triumph, only you should dance exactly like you did. If you are not so strong, there will be no triumph". Then he danced in the Shadow scene in "La Bayadere"; I was in the first row together with Claire Mott and Claude Bessy and another friend that we invited. Her name was Clara Sent, and she was married to the son of André Malraux, who was the minister of culture at that time. The performance started. He came onstage. I thought: "Oh my God!" - this is how much he wanted to dance! He danced such a solo. But instead of the solo from "La Bayadere" he performed a variation from "Le Corsaire". He had an absolute triumph. Then we came onstage and I saw that Dudinskaya and Sergeev did not want us to talk to him. I just felt that there was some tension. Once he told me about it himself: "I was told not to walk and not to go anywhere with you anymore, but I still want to do it". I said: "Rudolph, if you want something to happen…" He objected. I said: "Shall we ask for permission?" He said: "No, no, all of them are absolutely against this". I said: "Well, then let's not do it…" He said: "No, if you stop now, it means that you are not my friends". I said: "I just do not want you to have problems". Every time we went somewhere, KGB was there; those people walked behind us, they wanted to know where we went. Well, that was fine. We never talked about politics or anything like that; we talked only about music, dance and artistic things. Then the day of their departure came; what happened then, really is very interesting. I told him I would call him the next day. I called him and asked: "How are you?" He said: "I am very tired". I said: "W ell, should I go to the airport or not?" Claire Mott had left for Spain with the Paris Opera Ballet. He said: "Do as you deem necessary". I said: "Well, if it will make you feel better…" He replied: "Well, it would make me feel better, but I do not know…" It was impossible to know people's reaction in advance. I told him I would come. So I came. For some reason I recorded that phone conversation; I do not usually do it, but I recorded that conversation, so I have this recording. - W as it at the airport Orly? - No, it was Le Bourget. I came to Bourget… Dudinskaya and Sergeev greeted me. Everything was wonderful. They asked me if I would go to London to watch "Giselle" starring Nureyev. I said: "I would really like to". They said how nice it was, and so on… W e had something to drink, and suddenly… Sergeev starts talking to him, and I see, that Nureyev turns green. I asked: "What has happened?" He replied: "This is a catastrophe, a total catastrophe! I have to return to Russia, I am not going to London, I am condemned to never leaving Russia again". I said: "This is impossible!" So I talked to Sergeev. I told him: "Well, you know, if you punish me because he walked with me, I am ready to sign all papers saying that we have never talked about politics or anything like that; we only talked about different artistic stuff". Sergeev said: "Well, everything he is telling you is not true; his mother is sick, so he has to go to Moscow. Then he will come back to London and join us". Nureyev said: "This is not true, it is a lie. They will put me in some small provincial city that I will never be able to leave. I do not want it, I will stay here, I do not want to leave!" It was necessary to think of something! He said: "Do not leave the room where we are, because there is a transit area over there, which is an international territory, and I do not know what to do there". So I stayed with him and I did not know what to do either. - He looked at me and hoped for something. Lombroso, Rogge and all other people who worked there said: "Monsieur Lacotte, please, do not stay here; look how sad and worried he is. There is nothing that you can do for him". Then some person came near me, and he kept looking at me (I did not know anyone there, remember). So he was looking at me and then he asked: "Is there anything that I can do?" I thought: "Oh, God, perhaps, he will save me?" So I took a pencil and a piece of paper and wrote Clara Sent's number and that she should have come at once. I did not know how to give him this piece of paper; I managed to slip it under his foot somehow. I looked at Nureyev, so no one was looking at me or at our shoes. That person picked the note and left; then he came back and said that he could not get through because the line was engaged all the time. The number was busy, and he had to go. I do not know where he was flying, but he said: "I cannot stay". What to do? As everything was happening, Nureyev was looking at me all the time. Suddenly I saw Jean-Pierre Bonnefous, who also came. He came up to me and said: "God, what a catastrophe! Nureyev has to leave; this is just a catastrophe for him. What shall I do?" I said: "Look, here is the phone number of Clara Sent, she should come immediately". Jean-Pierre could not get a hold of her either. Rudolph was just crying; it was absolutely terrible. The whole company was leaving for London, some people were laughing and some were crying; some were very sad. For some people it seemed that everything was OK, because he was jealous of all of them. So the company was leaving and he was about to stay. I was told: "Go away, monsieur Lacotte". He told me: "no, no, please stay; as soon as you leave they will take me to the transit area". I stayed and said: "W ell, he asks me to stay, so I will stay; I do not think this should be a problem". Half an hour must have passed; suddenly I saw Clara Sent wearing a scarf and glasses. She walks past me and asks: "What am I doing? What am I doing?" I told her: "Quickly, find a policeman that speaks French, because five minutes later it can be too late". She left, no one recognized her, then she came behind me and said: "Everything is fine; there is a policeman behind me, he just should tell him in English "I want to be free", and everything will be OK. I came to Lombroso and Jean and told them I was going to leave, but could not get close to Nureyev. But I wanted to tell him "good-bye", so I asked them to open that circle somehow. They opened the circle and made it quite big so that I would be able to fit. I gave Rudolph a hug and he asked me: "Please, do not leave! Do not leave!" I said: "We have arranged everything. Hug Clara; there is a policeman behind her. Y ou should tell him: "I want to be free", and this is it". He said: "Really?" I confirmed. I kissed him and he went to Clara, hugged her and screamed: "I want to be free". At this very minute lots and lots of French policemen came; well, this was it. Then there were various conversations with KGB. That day I returned home and saw KGB in front of my house; they were waiting for Nureyev. But Nureyev was not at my place; they were following me in his car. I called the police and asked for a guard. They gave me one so I was secured. I had Clara Sent's phone number, and I knew where Nureyev was. He used to say all the time: "Mother, my dear mother! What will she think! She will think that I have left my country; this is very bad". But he did not plan anything beforehand; he never dealt with anything beforehand. If he had decided everything beforehand, it would have been so easy; he should have gone to the police station, in order to not do it at the last minute at the airport. He did not plan to leave; he decided to stay only because they had done such things. - W as it because Dudinskaya and Serggev? When they said that he had to come back to Russia? - Y es, it was. Then there was a huge scandal in the press; of course, newspapers and major French magazines reported about it. I was asked many questions; they were ready to pay me, but I refused. I said: "I do not need anything; I will not do anything, and I do not need to be paid". They tried to frighten me and to write nasty things. I said: "You can write whatever you want. I am not here to create financial or other problems". - And then he started working with Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, didn't he? - Y es, he did. But he had nothing, not even a pair of shoes; all his bags left and he had nothing at all. He had no photographs and no ancient engravings that I gave him; he even had no shoes. I gave him my shoes. There even was a small painting that was made especially for me. Of course, I came to watch his performances. August, 18 2014 Newsletter

- When did your creative cooperation begin? - Much later. Then I started watching all his performances, and of course I met with him. Once we left the theatre after the performance and he said: "Listen, it looks like a film about Nijinsky is being shot; I want to know who the producer is, because I want to be in this film as well". I had an English friend who called me; he was also a producer, and his name was John Sutro. He told me: "Pierre, I am coming to Paris, can we have some breakfast together? My wife would be very happy as well". I was friends with he, too, so the three of us were having breakfast, and during that breakfast I told him: "Listen, John, they say a film is being made". He said: "Yes, it is, and I am the producer". I told him: "John, Nureyev is dreaming to perform this part. I think this is such a wonderful opportunity". He did not know Nureyev. I asked for our seats and we came to watch the ballet he was in; then a small scandal happened. They whistled and threw some money… you might have heard about it… He danced not the main part, but the part of the Bluebird. - W as it at Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas? - Yes, it was, at Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. He thought that the whole communist party were against him. It was impossible to hear the orchestra either: he danced without music. John Sutro was with me, as well as his wife. I warned Nureyev that we would come to his dressing room afterwards. So we came backstage. Remo Durante, who was the director and de Cuevas's nephew, said: "Who are all those people? What are they doing here? This is not allowed". They told him that we wanted to talk to Nureyev. He said that if we wanted to talk to Nureyev we had to talk to him. I said: "Listen, he left Russia because it wanted to be free; it you make it dif ficult for other people to communicate with him, I do not think he will stay with your company for long". Rudolph was so mad that he even did not come. My friends told him: "You know, we will not discuss it with you; we are not happy with the way you talk to monsieur Lacotte, nothing will come out of it". Then we left. After that an article appeared in the press; it said that Marquis de Cuevas said it was better for Nureyev not to communicate with Lacotte, because Lacotte had a bad influence on Nureyev. After that Nureyev did not communicate with me for five years; he did not talk to me at all. Over those five years he never greeted me even once. I thought it was impossible. I do not mean that I did something for him… Well, this is the way it was. It is incredible, but this is life. Later, when Ghislaine returned to the Opera and we staged "La Sylhpide", Rolf Liebermann called me and said: "Pierre, could you come right now? I need to talk to you". I came, and he said that Nureyev had just left his place and wanted to dance in "La Sylphide". Nureyev also said that Pierre would never agree, because he did not talk with him anymore. I said I would think about it. Rolf said: "What would you like to do?" I said: "Well, we really do not talk anymore; he has a terrible character, but at the same time one must admit that he is a great artist". Liebermann said: "What do you suggest?" I said: "OK, I will agree, but only on some certain conditions: for the whole month he will work together with me and Ghislaine, he promises not to change the costumes or the choreography, and in this case I will agree. Otherwise I will not". After lunch I went to the Opera for some rehearsal, and saw Nureyev coming towards me. I was looking in a dif ferent direction, as usual, and suddenly he ran to me, hugs me and says: "Hello! Do you know what I was asking for?" I said that I did. He said: I agree, I will work for a month and I will not change anything; when do we start?" I said we would start whenever he wanted. He said: "T omorrow". I said: "OK, let it be tomorrow". We started rehearsing and became friends again. We never remembered anything and never discussed it. So he danced in "La Sylphide". He liked it so much, that he asked me for permission to dance in this production in Rome, so I staged the production in Rome. Then he wanted to take this production to New Y ork; he danced everywhere and called me. We arranged for a contract with the Boston Ballet; I staged this ballet in Boston and then it was also performed in New York. - Did he dance with Ghislaine? - Y es, of course. - W as it then that you started talking about "Marco Spada"? - W ell, it was right after. - How did this idea of "Marco Spada" appear? - W ell, the administration of the theatre in Rome suggested it. There was some kind of anniversary; I do not remember, which death anniversary of Auber, but it was some kind of jubilee, so the director of the Opera Rome called me and said: "Monsieur Lacotte, we know that you are very good at reviving old ballets; perhaps you would be interested in coming to Rome and reviving the ballet "Marco Spada"? I said: "I do not know "Marco Spada". The director said: "We will send you the music and you will listen to it". I listened to the music and was thrilled by it. I agreed. Then they explained to me, what parts there were in this ballets. I said there would be Carla Fracci, there would be Ghislaine and then, what was this artist's name… Anton Dolin, right! When Nureyev told me that he would like to dance in this production as well, he put his signature on a piece of paper, as I already have told you. - W ell, you have told me, please, tell the others as well. - W ell, after one of the performances of "La Sylphide" in New York Rudolph, who had never done it before, invited us for dinner. W e came to the restaurant and he asked: "What are you doing next?" I said that I was staging Marco Spada in Rome. He asked: "What is "Marco Spada"? Tell me the plot, please". I started telling him the plot and saw how interested he was. He said: "Well, this is the part for me, why don't you call me?" I said: "This part is for you, Rudolph, but one day you are in New York, the second one - in London, the third - in Australia. How can the cast of a totally new production star a person that is never there? This is impossible!" He said: "Well, if sign a statement, saying that I will be there to work on it?" There was a paper tablecloth on our table; he tore a piece of it and wrote: "I, Rudolph Nureyev, promise to work at the Grand Opera for a month in order to rehearse the part in the ballet "Marco Spada". Unfortunately, I lost that piece of paper. I called Opera Rome administration and they said that was fine and they would take Nureyev. - Did you work with him in Rome later? - Y es, we did every day for a month and a half. - W as "Marco Spada" a success from the very beginning? - It was a huge success, a tremendous success. But he really was incredible, and he really did love this part very much. This really is a very important part. This is a double story about a noble man and a bandit; this was something that he liked very much. Then there is this dramatic death. The character is very interesting. We worked with a very positive attitude, and everything was very good. Later, when he came back as the Head of the Opera, he said: "First of all, I want to have "Marco Spada" here". But there was no money, so he rented the set and the costumes in the Opera Rome and we had about 20 performances. Then the set and the costumes left, but there still was no money for "Marco Spada". He was just furious; well, at least he was happy that he had already danced this part in Paris. Then I staged this ballet for Les Ballets des Monte Carlo, in Nancy, and now brought this ballet here, to the Bolshoi Theatre. - Nowadays we are the only theatre where this production is on. - Y es, you have exclusive rights. - Did you change anything for us? - Y es, I did. I. I added a solo, added more characters so that the whole company will have something to do; I even added a bit of music. This made me really happy. As for the set and costumes, I did the same that I had done earlier in Rome. - How did you find the new cast? What do you think about the artists? - Oh, they are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I am incredibly lucky. I have five main parts in this ballet, and I have five artists for broadcasts. Other artists are very good as well. But Hallberg (Marco Spada) is just extraordinary! His daughter Angela (Obraztsova) is wonderful, Marchesa (Smirnova) and Frederici (Chudin) are wonderful as well. I think that Igor Tsvirko is a very, very good dancer; he performs the part of Pepinelli, the captain of dragoons. I am really very lucky. Evgenia Obrazstova and Semyon Chudin in the ballet "Marco Spada"; the Bolshoi Theatre Historic Stage August, 18 2014 Newsletter

- Is this the choreography by Joseph Mazilier? It looks like nothing remained… what remained there from Mazilier? - W ell, Mazilier choreographed a great number of grand classical ballets, for example, "Le Corsaire" and "Paquita". He was the partner of Marie Taglioni; she was the one that he created "La Sylphide" with at the Paris Opera for. I know this choreographer, but he left nothing. This is why I created the choreography all over again, just like the set and the costumes. - Can you explain for ballet experts what is so special about Mazilier and how is his style different from Petipa's style? - Yes, I can. Mazilier was interested in pantomime very much, while Petipa liked choreography more. They said that he was a good ballet artist, I mean, a good dancer, but not an artist; he was very musical, he had a feeling for the choreography, the ensemble, the solo and the development of an adagio. This is where they were very different from each other, because Mazilier wanted the ballet artists to be actors. W e can see the same in "Marco Spada" and in "Paquita", and in "Le Corsaire", of course: those are dramatic parts. The difference is not as much about the language, but rather about the concept. The school is the same, naturally. - Is there anything that the Russian school added? - The Russian school adds something that is, perhaps, the most important; it adds the heart. For me Russia is about its people, who are very sophisticated; it is about very clever people with great and unique characters and sense of humor; it is about people that know how to love. If a Russian loves you and is friends with you - this is forever. But when they know that people love them back in the same way, or that people want to work together with them, this is something incredible. I was very lucky. First of all, there was "The Pharaoh's Daughter", where I had a chance to work together with Svetlana Zakharova, Nina Ananiashvili, Mr., Filin and Alexandrova; this was a great experience, and now feels like heaven. - Is this the great school and madam Egorova for you? - Even more than that. I was brought up by a very open-minded family; they were very open to everything. They were very communicative. We had a library at home. There was Russian classical literature; it was at a very early age that I started reading T olstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Gogol. I learned about operas by Tchaikovsky, with the Russian music, the wonderful concepts of Stravinsky's new arrangement for the orchestra and the music by Prokofiev. Everything started in my childhood. I have loved Russia since my childhood. There was a kind of wall, and I used to think that I need to get of the other side of the wall. The first time when we came Ghislaine was invited to dance in "Giselle" in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad). I was nervous, because Nureyev never talked to me about everything. I came to Russia for the first time in 1972 and was nervous that I would not get my visa, but finally I got it. For me it was very emotional; it was a real joy. I could not sleep at night, I just walked and walked. I had a map of the city and sometimes people even stopped me and told me: "What are you doing? Go back to your hotel". I said: "No, no". They replied: "Oh, so you are French? Please, go". So I went. - Where did you live? - At that time I lived in "Astoria". - Did you walk near the Mariinsky Theatre? - Of course, I did go to the Mariinsky; this is a place where the walls are talking by themselves. I was told about so many things that happened there. I was so passionate about it; it was a real pleasure. - Did you meet with Sergeev and Dudinskaya that time as well? - Yes, I did, but they behaved as if we had not met before. They did not want to remember what happened. This was very strange. Ghislaine danced a lot. She traveled around the country and was everywhere; I was only in Saint Petersburg. Unfortunately, my mother passed away then, so I had to return to Paris immediately. But what emotions did I have after my first contact with Russia, when I walked into the Hermitage, and saw all those palaces and rooms! And Petipa's classes! - Y ou mean, at the ballet school? - Y es, this was incredible. You know, I walked down Rossi street and stopped by the V aganova School (this school existed long before Vaganova, so I do not know why it is named after Vaganova now; Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon and other choreographers, who came to Russia and introduced it to the classical dance, used to work there as well). Suddenly I saw a little boy there. It was very emotional, because I heard the same music that played when I had a class with Ricco, and the movements are the same as well. I suddenly felt that there is a certain connection and that the traditions remain. 20 years ago, when I was a little boy, I did the same movements as well. France and Russia have always had some kind of connection, even though it seems like they are not together. This was wonderful. I also remember when Ghislaine was dancing the part of Giselle at one of the rehearsals, and there was something that she cannot do. Gusev was there as well; then I say something, the interpreter interprets (I was asked to show something, so I did). I say: "You can do it this way, that way or that way". Gusev says: "How do you know? This is the way we used to do it earlier, before Sergeev changed the choreography". I reply: "Well, I know it because I used to work with Egorova at some point". He says: "Did you work with Egorova? Did you know Kschessinskaya as well?" Me: "I did know Kschessinskaya as well". We talked with him for about thirty minutes. 30 minutes later he says: "We need to ask for permission to communicate". I said: "You and I are communicating already". This was incredible; this was just great! - When did you first come to the Bolshoi Theatre? Did you come here together with the Paris Opera? - Y es, I did come here with the Paris Opera; after I had staged "La Sylphide"., we were invited here. The company danced at the Mariinsky Theatre. For me "La Sylphide" symbolizes tremendous happiness; Ghislaine danced the premiere with MichaГ«l Denard. It was an incredible success, and then we came to Russia, to Moscow. W e danced "La Sylphide" in Moscow as well. Ulanova was there, but I did not know Ulanova at that time; I did already know Vasiliev, who had already visited us together with Maximova, when they danced at the Opera, I also knew Plisetskaya. It was funny after the premiere of "La Sylphide", because on one side there was one group - Ulanova, Vasiliev and Maximova, Bessmertnova and Grigorovich - and on the other side there was Plisetskaya, she was there by herself. Ghislaine asked me: "Whom should I go to?" I told her to go to Ulanova, since she was the oldest, and because everyone said she should go to her. She hugged Ulanova first. - W as it backstage? - Yes, it was backstage. We greeted everyone. Ulanova was a wonderful person. She met with Ghislaine in Paris and used to come to our place. Once she asked: "Does your TV work? My does not, but I rest against the TV when I practice at home!" She was very nice; very nice. Ghislaine was in Cuba at the same time with her, and she practiced with Ghislaine there. When Ghislaine was doing "Giselle" here, she helped at the rehearsals all that time. - It was a great pleasure for our artists to work with Ghislaine as the ballet "Marco Spada" was being staged. - Sure. When I staged "La Sylphide" at the Stanislavsky Theatre, she also came and helped. This story with Russia really is some love story. - The first time I met you was long ago; it was in Saint Petersburg at the Plisteskaya's competition. You and I were at the Saint Petersburg Theatre Museum together; you showed me some pictures. You also said those were pictures of the ballet "The Pharaoh's Daughter", which was incredible. I did not know anything about it back then, but a couple of years later I read that the new ballet "The Phraroh's Daughter" was about to premiere at the Bolshoi. Did you first hear about "The Pharaoh's Daughter" from Egorova? - Yes, I did. She talked a lot about it; she talked about many of her parts. She kept telling me about it. When Nureyev came to the Paris Opera, he said there were two theatres - Opéra and Opéra-Comique - and he told me it would be great if I staged "The Pharaoh's Daughter". I agreed and said that I knew a bit about this ballet from the historic point of view, I knew that Lyubov Egorova danced in this ballet. We discussed this project for a long time, and then he said: "You know, this is too expensive, we will not be able to do it". Then Vasiliev called me and suggested to come and stage "The Pharaoh's Daughter" here. - Did you conduct any research before you started working? - A little bit. It seems to me that Russia, me myself and Ghislaine are some parts of a love story. W e have never been disappointed. Of course, when it comes to organization, there are certain points that seem a little weird, and it looks like a novel written by Dostoevsky. But this is something that one expects from Russia. I do not think that there will be perfect order in Russia and so on, but this is a part of life as well; this is a part of love, passion and anxiety. But at least there is something that I can relate to very much. It absolutely feels like home in Russia. - You have staged such ballets as "La Sylhpide", "The Pharaoh's Daughter", "Undine", "Marco Spada"; recently you have staged "The Three Musketeers"; are there ballets that you like more than others? Or do you like your recent production more? - W ell, I would say that it is like in a family. Y ou love all your children, but there are one or two that you love more. It is obvious that from emotional point of view it is "La August, 18 2014 Newsletter

August, 18 2014