In the end of 2006, Klaus Abromeit — a German choreographer, director, teacher, and expert in Baroque Dance — was invited to St. Petersburg to work on production of J. Mattheson’s opera “Boris Godunov” in the framework of the Earlymusic Festival. Instantly a group of enthusiasts and associates consisting of the Russian professional dancers emerged around him to get known as the Angiolini Baroque Ballet named after an outstanding ballet master of the 18th century who had also worked in Russia. The Angiolini Baroque Ballet initially positioned itself as a project laboratory to study graphic and iconographic heritage, mentality, stylistics and technique of stage, court and partially market-place dance of the 16th—17th centuries, rather than a full time troupe. Various projects of the Earlymusic Festival that took place in the last decade — from performance of the first Russian opera “Cephalus and Prokris” and samples of scenic reconstruction of school drama of the 17th century to stylized court ballet dance of the age of Louis XIV — would have never succeeded if it hadn’t been for the Angiolini Baroque Ballet. It is of no little interest that Klaus Abromeit has partnered with the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet lately.
The presentation which is to take place in the Shiryaev School Theatre will include the following:
- Results of the activity of the Angiolini Baroque Ballet from January 2007 to November 2018;
- Specificities of Klaus Abromeit’s work with graphic and iconographic sources and his unique approach to reconstruction of stylistics and technique of professional dance of the 16th-17th centuries;
- Examples of various interpretations when reconstructing vintage choreography;
- The concept of understanding stage dance, plastique and corporal expressivity as an essential part of the overall musical, scenic and conversational culture in Western Europe and Russia in 17th—18th centuries.
Fragments of works performed at the International Earlymusic Festival in different years will be shown in the course of the presentation.
