Konstantin Uralsky: “Every performance is life.” The ballet troupe of the opera house was headed by the legendary choreographer Konstantin Uralsky Awards and achievements
short biography
The creative life of Konstantin Uralsky began at the Bolshoi Theater, on whose stage he danced after graduating from the Moscow Choreographic School. Having chosen the path of a choreographer for himself, he entered the choreographer’s department of GITIS on the course of Professor Olga Tarasova. Then he took a desperate step - he left the Bolshoi troupe and went to the West (Germany, USA) to learn the forms of modern dance, echoes of which reached Moscow, but which was not taught in the USSR. In America, he was offered to lead the Iowa Ballet troupe as Artistic Director.
In 1991-1996. K. Uralsky directs the Iowa Ballet. He focuses on strengthening the ballet school and restoring a large number of classical ballets. Uralsky staged 15 original performances at the Iowa Ballet that aroused great critical interest, including “The Birds”, “My Reverie”, “Carmen Suite”, “More Than Two to Tango”, “Macbeth”, “Reflecting on Petrushka”, “Music of Albinoni”, “Doctor Zhivago”, etc. These works brought him fame in the USA.
In 1998 Konstantin Uralsky headed the ballet school in New York. He continues to engage in production activities and becomes the Artistic Director of the New York Ballet troupe. New productions “Moonlight”, “Silent Night”, “Wanderers on the Road” and others are being created for this group.
In 2006-2007 Konstantin Uralsky created for the Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after M.I. Glinka S. Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo and Juliet” and the world premiere of the ballet “El Mundo de Goya”, about the life of the Spanish artist Francisco Goya to the music of composer Valeria Besedina. Both performances aroused great interest among the public and professionals. The ballet “El Mundo de Goya” received five prizes at the Scene 2007 festival, including the prize for Best Choreography of the Year.
Since April 2008 K. Uralsky becomes the Artistic Director of the ballet of the Chelyabinsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after M.I. Glinka.
In 2008 K. Uralsky was awarded the state prize of the Government of the Russian Federation for achievements in the field of culture. The prize was awarded for the production of the ballet “El Mundo de Goya”.
Today K. Uralsky continues to stage performances in different countries of the world. His latest works are the premiere of the new ballet “Faces of the Russian Seasons” in Italy, at the National Academy of Dance in Rome, and the play “More Than two to Tango” at the National Theater of the Republic of Kosovo.
In 2010 Konstantin Uralsky staged a new ballet performance “Chekhov. Reflections” for the 150th anniversary of A.P. Chekhov.
Awards and achievements
Laureate of the Russian Government Prize
Laureate of International competitions
The main cultural news came from the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theater named after Glinka. The opera house management announced new high-profile personnel changes. Konstantin Uralsky, a choreographer who staged the famous ballet “El Mundo de Goya” on the Chelyabinsk stage a year ago, was appointed to the position of artistic director of the ballet troupe.
Even before the start of the press conference, it became clear to journalists that today they would clearly not limit themselves to the stated topic “about the creative plans of the theater.” The predictions came true: the theater's artistic director Denis Severinov left the main cultural sensation for dessert. “Our negotiations ended very recently, and we received consent and the appointment has already been made. Konstantin Semenovich Uralsky has been appointed to the position of artistic director of the ballet of the Chelyabinsk Opera House,” said Denis Severinov.
Nobody expected such a turn of events. However, Denis Severinov himself calls this appointment the logical conclusion of a long history. The theater's ballet troupe has been in a fever for several years now. A loud scandal was the termination of the contract with the theater's chief choreographer Valery Kokarev, whom the opera house's management accused of unprofessionalism. The description of the new artistic director contains only superlatives: Uralsky is not only a talented choreographer, but also a successful manager of the new generation. “This is a man who stuck, excuse the expression, his nose into everything connected with the work of the ballet, everything connected with the work of the theater, everything connected with the release of the play. Starting from working with ballet dancers, production departments and right up to the cleaning ladies,” says Denis Severinov.
The name of Konstantin Uralsky first appeared in the Southern Urals a year ago, when the Moscow choreographer staged the ballet “El Mundo de Goya” on the Chelyabinsk stage. The production received five prizes at the Scene festival, including the prize for best choreography of the year. The head of his own ballet school in New York, Konstantin Uralsky is ready to leave the world stage for a while. Uralsky called the main motive for accepting this appointment “the great creative potential of the Chelyabinsk troupe.” “I am happy to receive this troupe today and I hope that all of us together - both me, as a leader, and the city, since this is a theater of Chelyabinsk residents, and the entire region - will be able to create a very interesting and bright team,” says Konstantin Uralsky.
Towards the end of the 52nd theater season, an event occurred that the artists themselves gave their own definition - the stage climax. The theater's ballet troupe was headed by the legendary choreographer Konstantin Uralsky, known for his avant-garde productions not only in Russia but also abroad. What this appointment will bring to the Chelyabinsk theater, time will tell. One thing is clear: change is at hand.
Chief choreographer of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater about experiments, life in the USA and search
Russian ballet is a brand that has developed over many years and is known throughout the world. Respect for Russian dancers was born thanks to strong technique and deep psychologism. Konstantin Uralsky, artistic director of the ballet and chief choreographer of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater, spoke about experiments, life in the USA and search.
Photo from the personal archive of K. Uralsky
Do as you feel
I think that we do not decide our fate, only sometimes, out of stupidity, we miss the right “turns”. It happens that you are walking along the path of life, suddenly there is a crossroads, you don’t pay attention to it, you move on. And he takes it and comes across you again. Now you're starting to think about it. I had many different moments when fate seemed to guide me. At one point, when I succumbed to the will of fate, I found myself on an internship in the USA.
I was an aspiring choreographer then. When I arrived, I discovered a completely new world. The emotions are unforgettable. There are wonderful lines in the memoirs of the Russian dancer-choreographer, participant of the Diaghilev Seasons, Leonid Myasine. He describes how he sailed to New York from Europe on a ship. And an avalanche of freedom of thought literally fell on him. An avalanche is an accurate description of what I experienced at first. In American culture, “freedom” is a key word. Do as you feel, as you see.
However, in order to invent, you need to have a good foundation. If there is no good knowledge, then there is nothing to build on. Any innovation can only be based on a good school. If we talk about choreography, then only having a very strong conservative school behind you (and many European ballet schools are quite conservative) can you develop and break out of the framework.
I spent many years of my life in the USA. The formation of my language was influenced by the study of modern dance schools: jazz dance and modern dance. But I remain a classical ballet choreographer. And, of course, the people around me.
With virtually no experience, I headed the Iowa Ballet. We had various productions, but we did everything quickly and clearly. The economy of the capitalist world does not allow spending years on rehearsals; everything needs to be done at a pace. You also need to be able to present yourself and promote yourself. In the states, all cultural projects are supported by sponsorship funds, which can only be obtained by proving that your product is better than others. For this reason, I even went to school for marketing and PR. In general, I am always ready to learn.
I'm always looking for a middle ground. Working at Ballet Iowa, first of all, I learned how to communicate with people. There was simply no such thing as “they owe me.” It was necessary to act only with convictions; it was necessary to interest and inspire people. This law still applies in my work today. Each artist in my troupe is an individual.
Small troupes are rare in Russian theaters. Often, large numbers of people are used to create scale. But try to create a crowd if you only have 20 people on stage? Here you already need to compose, come up with diagrams, draw the arrangement of compositions in which a feeling of mass character will be born. I searched and staged compositions, remembering the experience of my teachers. The ability to work with small numbers of people is very valuable, so today I teach my students how to put 15-17 people on stage and make the audience believe that there was a crowd.
The path to your own style
Once, in one of the residential areas of New York, I came across a luxurious ballet hall, which was left from a Russian teacher. The room was empty. And I didn’t miss this “turn” - I took over the hall, recruited a team and everything started to roll. This is how my dance school appeared in New York. Russian ballet is highly respected all over the world, so there were no problems finding students. For me it was one of the most interesting periods of my life.
In this hall I composed my famous productions - “Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto”, “Waltz of the White Orchids”. An interesting feature of the place was that there was a residential apartment above the ballet hall. I lived in it, so I had the opportunity to go down and work at any time of the day. By the way, returning to Massine’s memoirs, I’ll make a small remark: in his book he says that he had a long-standing dream of having a house with a ballet hall so he could practice whenever he wanted. Over time, this dream of his came true - he had a large house with a hall on Long Island. So, my hall with an apartment upstairs was also on Long Island.
In the states, I really missed a large repertory theater with a large hall and orchestra. I missed the “Russian dancer” and really hoped that my experience would help him develop. Today I can say that I was not mistaken. And an example of this is the Astrakhan ballet troupe that I assembled. My message was not to “poach” experienced artists from other theaters, but to make my own team of young dancers. Therefore, I invited graduates of leading ballet educational institutions: from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk, Ufa. From them the basis of our ballet troupe was created. Of course, I had to work a lot with beginning artists, but I love working with young people. This troupe is unique in its own way, the artists are about the same age. Over six years of work, we have raised strong dancers and developed our own style. The assistant choreographers who came to Astrakhan at my invitation helped me a lot with this. I am especially grateful to the former dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, a wonderful teacher Yuri Romashko.
Astrakhan is my city
It’s hard for me to say which of my productions is the best. Each has its own charm and its own difficulties. Each one is loved in its own way.
I don't like the word "innovation". Because art is a constant search. If there is no search in the artistic concept (it doesn’t matter whether you are an artist, composer, director, choreographer), then your entire idea is a stillborn child. For me, every performance is life. This is the world into which I plunge myself and into which I try to immerse the artists, and then the audience. For example, in Waltz of the White Orchids we see Paris at a certain period in history. To create the right atmosphere, it was necessary to use everything - music, language, literature. It was necessary to live in that era.
I spent days listening to French music of that time, getting used to the paintings painted by artists of this period. Before the production, I made a special trip to Paris. I remember asking my wife to leave me alone. I stood on the bridge for a long time and smoked. I tried to remember every detail, to absorb the world around me in order to convey it to the viewer. I am sure that dance technique is only part of a big job.
Interestingly, an exhibition dedicated to the “Waltz of the White Orchids” was recently held. It is located in the creative space “TeleLeto”. I feel very good about such places. In a sense, this is even symbolic for me - in New York I often visited the SoHo district (former industrial zones), where today creative spaces are being created, developing thanks to young people. So, the dominant style of premises there is just a loft. In Astrakhan, I love walking along Fioletova Street, where all the old buildings are now finding new life.
For me, this is a signal: usually such changes are associated with young people, with creative people. I liked the reaction of the audience to the exhibition of the play, and I hope that it is not the last. Vaulted ceilings evoke thoughts of the Middle Ages. Maybe we’ll do something unusual based on the theme of the play “Andrei Rublev”...
I love Astrakhan very much. I came here with the mindset that this might be the point where I would want to stay and live. And so it happened. I like that this is an old Russian city with incredible architecture and a combination of styles. From the window of my office I see both the Kazan Church and the domes of the Assumption Cathedral. It is very expensive for me. I love multinational culture and am glad that I am surrounded by different, different people. My youngest daughter, for example, has three best friends, and they are all of different nationalities. How great it is to celebrate national holidays with friends. I am sure that Astrakhan is my city.
Russian ballet is a brand that has developed over many years and is known throughout the world. Respect for Russian dancers was born thanks to strong technique and deep psychologism. An exhibition dedicated to the play “Waltz of the White Orchids”, staged by world-famous director Konstantin Uralsky, opened in the creative space “TeleLeto”. How and where was the choreographer’s language formed? Why did he exchange the states for Russia? And what attracts him most to Astrakhan? Read our brave interview.
Reference: Graduated from the Moscow Academic Choreographic School (now the Moscow State Academy of Choreography), the choreography department of RATI-GITIS (course of Professor O.G. Tarasova). He began his career as a dancer at the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. He improved in the art of modern dance in Germany and the USA. In 1991-1997 Konstantin Uralsky, at the invitation of the American side, directed the Iowa Ballet (USA). In 1998 he opened his own ballet school in New York. At the same time, the artistic director of the New York chamber ballet. Since April 2008, Konstantin Uralsky became the artistic director of the ballet of the Chelyabinsk Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. Glinka. Since September 2011, artistic director of the ballet and chief choreographer of the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater.
I don't think we decide our fate Only sometimes, out of stupidity, we miss the right “turns”. It happens that you are walking along the path of life, suddenly there is a crossroads, you don’t pay attention to it, you move on. And he takes it and comes across you again. Now you're starting to think about it. I had many different moments when fate seemed to guide me. At one point, when I succumbed to the will of fate, I found myself on an internship in the USA.
I was an aspiring choreographer back then.. When I arrived, I discovered a completely new world. The emotions are unforgettable. There are wonderful lines in the memoirs of the Russian dancer-choreographer, participant of the Diaghilev Seasons, Leonid Myasine. He describes how he sailed to New York from Europe on a ship. And an avalanche of freedom of thought literally fell on him. An avalanche is an accurate description of what I experienced at first. In American culture, “freedom” is a key word. Do as you feel, as you see.
However, in order to invent, you need to have a good foundation. If there is no good knowledge, then there is nothing to build on. Any innovation can only be based on a good school. If we talk about choreography, then only having a very strong conservative school behind you (and many European ballet schools are quite conservative) can you develop and break out of the framework.
I spent many years of my life in the USA. The formation of my language was influenced by the study of modern dance schools: jazz dance and modern dance. But I remain a classical ballet choreographer. And, of course, the people around me.
With virtually no experience, I headed the Iowa Ballet. We had various productions, but we did everything quickly and clearly. The economy of the capitalist world does not allow spending years on rehearsals; everything needs to be done at a pace. You also need to be able to present yourself and promote yourself. In the states, all cultural projects are supported by sponsorship funds, which can only be obtained by proving that your product is better than others. For this reason, I even went to school for marketing and PR. In general, I am always ready to learn.
I'm always looking for a middle ground. Working at Ballet Iowa, first of all, I learned how to communicate with people. There was simply no such thing as “they owe me” there. It was necessary to act only with convictions - it was necessary to interest and inspire people. This law still applies in my work today. Each artist in my troupe is an individual.
Small troupes are rare in Russian theaters. Often, large numbers of people are used to create scale. But try to create a crowd if you only have 20 people on stage? Here you already need to compose, come up with diagrams, draw the arrangement of compositions in which a feeling of mass character will be born. I searched and staged compositions, remembering the experience of my teachers. The ability to work with small numbers of people is very valuable, so today I teach my students how to put 15-17 people on stage and make the audience believe that there was a crowd.
Once upon a time, in one of the residential areas of New York I came across a luxurious ballet hall, which was left over from a Russian teacher. The room was empty. And I didn’t miss this “turn” - I took over the hall, recruited a team and everything started to roll. This is how my dance school appeared in New York. Russian ballet is highly respected all over the world, so there were no problems finding students. For me it was one of the most interesting periods of my life.
In this hall I composed my famous plays– “Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto”, “Waltz of the White Orchids”. An interesting feature of the place was that there was a residential apartment above the ballet hall. I lived in it, so I had the opportunity to go down and work at any time of the day. By the way, returning to Massine’s memoirs, I’ll make a small remark: in his book he says that he had a long-standing dream of having a house with a ballet hall so he could practice whenever he wanted. Over time, this dream of his came true - he had a large house with a hall on Long Island. So, my hall with an apartment upstairs was also on Long Island.
In the states I really missed the big repertory theater with a large hall and orchestra. I missed the “Russian dancer” and really hoped that my experience would help him develop. Today I can say that I was not mistaken. And an example of this is the Astrakhan ballet troupe that I assembled. My message was not to “poach” experienced artists from other theaters, but to make my own team of young dancers. Therefore, I invited graduates of leading ballet educational institutions: from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Perm, Novosibirsk, Ufa. From them the basis of our ballet troupe was created. Of course, I had to work a lot with beginning artists, but I love working with young people. This troupe is unique in its own way, the artists are about the same age. Over six years of work, we have raised strong dancers and developed our own style. The assistant choreographers who came to Astrakhan at my invitation helped me a lot with this. I am especially grateful to the former dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, a wonderful teacher Yuri Romashko.
It’s hard for me to say which of my productions is the best. Each has its own charm and its own difficulties. Each one is loved in its own way.
I don't like the word "innovation". Because art is a constant search. If there is no search in the artistic concept (it doesn’t matter whether you are an artist, composer, director, choreographer), then your entire idea is a stillborn child. For me, every performance is life. This is the world into which I plunge myself, and into which I try to immerse the artists, and then the audience. For example, in Waltz of the White Orchids we see Paris at a certain period in history. To create the right atmosphere, it was necessary to use everything - music, language, literature. It was necessary to live in that era.
I've been listening to French music for days of that time, got used to the paintings painted by artists of this period. Before the production, I made a special trip to Paris. I remember asking my wife to leave me alone. I stood on the bridge for a long time and smoked. I tried to remember every detail, to absorb the world around me in order to convey it to the viewer. I am sure that dance technique is only part of a big job.
It is interesting that the exhibition dedicated to the “Waltz of the White Orchids” was located in such an unusual place. I feel very good about creative spaces. In New York, I often visited the Soho area - former industrial zones, where today creative spaces are being created, developing thanks to young people. So, the dominant style of the premises there is loft. I love walking along Fioletova Street, where all the old buildings are now finding new life. For me, this is a signal: usually such changes are associated with young people, with creative people. I like TeleLeto and I hope that this exhibition based on my production is not the last. Vaulted ceilings evoke thoughts of the Middle Ages. Maybe we’ll do something unusual based on the theme of the play “Andrei Rublev”...
I love Astrakhan very much. I came here with the mindset that this might be the point where I would want to stay and live. And so it happened. I like that this is an old Russian city with incredible architecture and a combination of styles. From the window of my office I see both the Kazan Church and the domes of the Assumption Cathedral. It is very expensive for me. I love multinational culture and am glad that I am surrounded by different, different people. My youngest daughter, for example, has three best friends, and they are all of different nationalities. How great it is to celebrate national holidays with friends. I am sure that Astrakhan is my city. 
At the Bolshoi Theater, as a lighting designer, he takes part in opera and ballet performances and in the creation of artistic and lighting design for concert programs.
As a lighting designer, she designed the performances “Classical Symphony” to the music of S. Prokofiev (choreographer Yuri Posokhov, 2012) and “A Guide to the Orchestra for Young Listeners” by B. Britten (director Igor Ushakov, 2013), as a designer in adapting the lighting design, she took part in the production of the ballet Apollo Musaget by I. Stravinsky (choreography by George Balanchine, lighting concept by Ronald Bates, 2012).
As an assistant to the lighting designer, she took part in productions of the ballets “La Sylphide” by H. S. Levenskold (staged by Johan Kobborg, 2008), the Grand Classical Pas from the ballet “Paquita” by L. Minkus (staged by Yuri Burlaki, 2008), “Russian Seasons” by L. Desyatnikov (choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, 2008), “Coppelia” by L. Delibes (staged by Sergei Vikharev, 2009), “Young Man and Death” to the music of J. S. Bach (choreography by Roland Petit, 2010), “And then a millennium of peace” by L. Garnier (choreography by Angelin Preljocaj, 2010), “Chroma” by J. Talbot and J. White (choreography by Wayne McGregor, 2011), “Symphony of Psalms” on music by I. Stravinsky (choreography by Jiri Kylian, 2011), “Dream of dream” by music by S. Rachmaninov (choreography by Jorma Elo, 2012), “Hamlet” by music by D. Shostakovich (choreography by Radu Poklitaru, director - Declan Donnellan, 2015); operas “The Queen of Spades” by P. Tchaikovsky (directed by Valery Fokin, 2007), “Carmen” by J. Bizet (directed by David Pountney, 2008), “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by M. Glinka (directed by Dmitry Chernyakov, 2011 ).
She took part in the international projects “Kings of Dance” and “Reflections”, worked on tours of the Netherlands Dance Theater, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne troupe, Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, the American Ballet Theater and other ballet troupes at the Bolshoi Theater.
She took part in Bolshoi Theater tours throughout Russia and abroad.
She took part in the international project “Kremlin Gala - Ballet Stars of the 21st Century” and in many other opera and ballet festivals.
She collaborated with private Russian ballet companies.
As a guest lighting designer, he works in theaters in Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, Minsk, Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Astrakhan and other cities.
She has collaborated with choreographers Vladimir Vasiliev, Georgy Kovtun, Nikolai Androsov, Larisa Alexandrova, Sergei Bobrov, Yuri Posokhov, Konstantin Uralsky.
Among the works of recent years:
At the Chelyabinsk Opera and Ballet Theater named after M.I. Glinka:
Grand pas from the ballet “Paquita” (staged by Yuri Burlaka, 2009)
At the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theater:
“The Queen of Spades” by P. Tchaikovsky (production by Sergei Bobrov and Yuliana Malkhasyants, 2009)
“The Rite of Spring” by I. Stravinsky (choreography by Sergei Bobrov, 2010)
“Red Poppy” (choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev, 2010)
At the Buryat State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater and the Irkutsk Musical Theater named after. N.M. Zagursky:
"The Flying Dutchman" by R. Wagner (directed by Hans-Joachim Frey, 2012)
At the Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater:
“Swan Lake” by P. Tchaikovsky (edited by Konstantin Uralsky, 2012)
“Romeo and Juliet” by S. Prokofiev (choreographer - Konstantin Uralsky, 2013)
“Waltz of the White Orchids” to music by M. Ravel (choreography by Konstantin Uralsky, 2013)
“The Nutcracker” by P. Tchaikovsky (choreography by Konstantin Uralsky, 2013)
“Don Quixote” by L. Minkus (production by Konstantin Uralsky, 2014)
At the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus:
“The Flying Dutchman” by R. Wagner (directed by Hans-Joachim Frei, 2013 - the performance received the National Theater Award of the Republic of Belarus in the category “Best Opera Performance”)
At the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theater:
“Anyuta” by V. Gavrilin (choreography by Vladimir Vasiliev, 2015)
Among the works in the drama theater: “The Last Idol” by A. Zvyagintsev (Maly Theatre, director Vladimir Dragunov, 2013).