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Arts & Communication 75 years of Macedonian ballet (1949 – 2024)

Macedonia ballet
repertoire

Classical ballet Innovative experimental National performances -
performances performances hybrid folklore performances

Figure 1. Classification of the three types of letters or performances in the repertoire of the Macedonian ballet

In the Macedonian case, the meaning of contemporary
poetics was connoted as a process of modernization
conceived in the broadest social context. The inability to
directly obtain information and to trace the new modern
dance from the West was offset by modeling a repertoire
relying on its own experiences and understanding of the
contemporary. Various ways were sought to achieve this.
Staging the works of Diaghilev’s repertoire was one of the
options to “modernize the repertoire.” Scheherazade (1953),
Les Sylphides (1957), Thе Firebird (1961), Tamara (1966), Figure 2. Koneski’s Constellation, 1988. Macedonian National Theatre.
and Petrushka (1967) were staged from the beginning until Source: Courtesy of Macedonian Opera and Ballet, Ballet Collection.
the late 1960s, after which this tendency was abandoned. 3
The intent was later realized through the introduction of Another aspect of this dance production modeled
music that belonged to contemporary and popular genres within the national theater MNT in the period of The
(contemporary, jazz, electronic, rock) to initiate adequate Socialist Republic of Macedonia is interesting. This type
reflection in choreography. Experiments were also made of writing was intended to be contemporary, but at the
with a mix of different media. In Koneski’s Constellation same time, it was non-corrective, non-subversive, and
(1988), the poetic words of one of the most prominent socially unengaged. Modern choreography (Martha
Macedonian poets, Blazhe Koneski, created an amalgam Graham, Doris Humphrey, Helen Tamiris, and Anna
with music made by Ljubomir Brangjolica and a dance Sokolow) featured topics that commented on reality:
structure made by the choreographer Olga Milosavleva the dance was always a replica, a fixator, an amplifier of
(Figure 2). The procedures that followed, especially in current situations. As Julia Foulkes pointed out, analyzing
the last decades of Yugoslavia, were contemporary and the second generation of modern dancers: “This break
somewhat innovative, but the composition of the dance of the modernists in dance was less formal and more
did not exceed the limits of an established pattern. One revolutionary than the passing of a silver loving cup
of the main reasons was that one of the pivotal blocks at a gala performance. The esthetic issues involved
was missing as a factor in the formation of this kind of large, serious questions and ideals about American
scene—education. The aspiration for dance modernization society” 21(p.15) . Unlike the critical attitude expressed in
of choreographic expression was a variation on classical the performances of American choreographers, the
ballet esthetics. Critic Djipunova notes, “Beyond this, it is Macedonian contemporary scene was concerned with the
clear that contemporary trends in ballet art in Macedonia dance composition versus the content. Through this line
have their own tradition.” 20(p.144) The author writes about of the (Macedonian, socialist) performative body, the state
the occurrences in the period of The Socialist Federal demonstrated its own openness and “democratic capacity,”
Republic of Yugoslavia. Modern trends (innovative and but it did not allow the expression of a critical position,
experimental letter), had their own tradition, but they did that is, there was not an intention to do so in these
not have their own postulated lexical base. In other words, works. A curiosity of this group is It is a Man in 1981,
4
the modern techniques on which modern dance rests were where composer Ljubomir Brangjolica offered electronic
unknown not only for the choreographers, but also for the music as a sound base. However, in the scenario, the
performers with classical ballet education.
3 In the period that followed, no work from the Russian ballet 4 Details for the engaged and recreation forms in Macedonian
of Diaghilev was staged until 1997 when Les Sylphides was performance in Dimitrov, Slavčo and Biljana Tanurovska –
staged and Scheherazade in 2006. Kjulavkovski, 2017 .
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Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 4 doi: 10.36922/ac.2730