USSR Ballet on the Way to the Choreodrama in the Optics of Art Criticism

The purpose of the article is to analyze the critical discourse of the avant-garde searches of the choreographers of academic theatres of the 20s years of 20th century in the USSR through the prism of the formation of choreodrama. Methodology. The article analyzes critical approaches to assessing choreographer’s searches, compares them; chronological and typological methods are also applied. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the approaches of critics to the examination of experiments on the academic ballet scene of the 20s years of 20th century in the USSR in the aspect of the features of choreodrama formation were traced; the main causes and consequences of the transition to choreodrama were identified. Conclusions. Polyphonism of the critical discourse of the 1920s of 20th century in the USSR manifested itself in various approaches to assessing the search for the form of a new performance by choreographers who proposed a dance symphony (“The Greatness of the Universe”, F. Lopukhov), a modern revolutionary theme in a propaganda and poster form (“Red Whirlwind” F. Lopukhov; “Tornado” K. Goleizovsky), the development of the inner dance potential of the ballet performance (“Pulcinella” F. Lopukhov), the creation of large forms with the enrichment of the choreographic vocabulary by acrobatic movements (“The Ice Maiden” F. Lopukhov), the formative searches from the choreographic plasticity (“Joseph the Beautiful” K. Goleizovsky), an eccentric interpretation of classical heritage ballets (“The Nutcracker” F. Lopukhov). However, none of these artistic decisions was recognized by promising critics, the methods of creating performances were not supported as strategic directions for the development of modern ballet art in the USSR. Among the leading critics of ballet there was no unity in the key issue – the attitude to choreography as the main expressive means of ballet theater. I. Sollertinsky was an apologist for the struggle with classical dance as a relic of the past, sought to dramatize ballet; A. Piotrovsky advocated a synthetic spectacle (a combination of ballet, opera, drama); A. Gvozdev’s views from the definition of dance as a source of innovation evolved to the recognition of the substantiveness leading role, rejection of abstractness. Potentially choreodrama, which is based on a literary work, met the basic requirements of socialist realism (realism, nationality, concreteness). In the conditions of the dramatic content dominance over the form, the development of which is facilitated by music, there was a withdrawal of music in ballet to the background.