Nikiforova, Larisa V. Gods in the Clouds: “The Tableau Aesthetics” and the Ballet of the Catherine the Great Epoch

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa200-2-23
Title Gods in the Clouds: “The Tableau Aesthetics” and the Ballet of the Catherine the Great Epoch
Author email nikiforova_lv@list.ru
About author Nikiforova, Larisa Viktorovna — full doctor, professor. Vaganova Ballet Academy. Ul. Zodchego Rossi, 2, 191023 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
In the section Russian Art in the 18th–19th Centuries DOI10.18688/aa200-2-23
Year 2020 Volume 10 Pages 255–265
Type of article RAR Index UDK 73/76:792.8 Index BBK 85.103(2)1+85.335.42 (2)
Abstract

“The tableau aesthetics” in relation to the theatre means the resemblance of a mise-en-scène to areal or imaginary painting and the resemblance of the acting techniques and facial expressions to a sculpture or painting. It also involves the general principle of the “pictorial vision” of the stage. “The tableau aesthetics” characterizes the invention of ballets and the actors’ dancing skills — many choreographers, starting from the Jean-Georges Noverre, advised the dancers to imitate good pictures or statues. The other side of the interaction between the theatre and visual arts was defined by P. Francastel as a “material sign”. He wrote about the transfer of the theatrical property of the sacred representations from performance to the picture.Clouds made from cotton, fabric, or wood, which masked the theatrical machinery were among such props. It allowed the ‘saints’ to ascend above the earth or descend from heaven. The motif of Gods in the cloudsis the most obvious and recognizable for the understanding of interactions between visual arts and theater in 18th-century Russia. The paper presents the 18th-century Russian allegorical paintings, on which clouds have a great similarity with theatrical props. The direct interaction between performing and visual arts has been analyzed on the painting “Allegory of Victory over the Turks” by Heinrich Buchholz (1777, The State Hermitage Museum), which most probably shows us the fragment of the scenography of the ballet “The New Argonauts” (1770, choreographer Gasparo Angiolini).
Keywords
Reference Nikiforova, Larisa V. Gods in the Clouds: “The Tableau Aesthetics” and the Ballet of the Catherine the Great Epoch. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 10. Ed: A. V. Zakharova, S. V. Maltseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova. — Lomonosov Moscow State University / St. Petersburg: NP-Print, 2020, pp. 255–265. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa200-2-23
Publication Article language russian
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