Traditional complex of Les Kurbas' symbolism (on the material of haivkas from the old Skalate village in the Ternopol region)

The purpose of the article. The article is devoted to the characterization of traditional elements of the outstanding actor and director’s symbolism, the Ukrainian theater reformer, Les Kurbas, to describe traditional approaches in the process of his stage theatrical plays as the basis of the Ukrainian innovative theater. The methodology of the investigation consists in combining the analytical and synthetic method with the historical-typological method, which enables to investigate the symbols of Les Kurbas’ native village altitudes, which directly or indirectly reflected on the creative thinking of the director in his performances staging, and to use the method of semiotic analysis to prove that in the basis of motion plastic is the entire combination of conditional gestures with naturalistic initial gestures. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the fact that the article has been proposed by the author for the first time, it comprehends the Ukrainian haivkas connection with the symbols in the creative work of Les Kurbas, proves that the traditional folk ethno cultural factors cultivated the creative talent of Les Kurbas, enriched his ethno-cultural understanding and helped to create unsurpassed scenic images. Conclusions. It has been proved that choreographic movements in the Old-Scalate hayivkas have been founded figures predominantly based on the symbolism of pre-Christian beliefs. The most visible motor elements are the style of walking in a circle, a snake, two rows, and a variety of gestures. Symbols of movements in hayivkas, which have long been used in the nativevillage of Les Kurbas, became an integral part of the formation of the innovative principles of his theater. Syncretic images, metaphorical stage action, cluster-symbol of individual characters have become important factors in theatrical Les Kurbas’ staging.