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

Figure 4. The Legend of Ohrid, 1966, Macedonian National Theatre.
Source: Courtesy of Macedonian Opera and Ballet, Ballet Collection. Figure 5. Macedonian Story, 1993, Macedonian National Theatre.
Source: Courtesy of Macedonian Opera and Ballet, Ballet Collection.
well as the “dose” of folklore elements, differently. While
Kirbyos’ choreography was criticized for the absence of the choreography of Olga Milosavleva. Georgievski wrote:
authentic material, “It is logical that folklore alone cannot “To write a libretto for a Macedonian story is very easy
be requested in a ballet performance, although it carries a and very difficult at the same time, since of all the stories
national stamp, but a certain stylization is necessary, in this ours is most tragic, because the generator of our tragedy
performance in certain parts only costumes remind us that is still immanent in operation, and functions with the
10
a national ballet is in question.” 28(p.13) Georgi Makedonski’s help of the self-destruction syndrome.” The libretto
symbolically tried to present the “tragic fate” and the
choreography achieved a proper balance between both history of the Macedonian people. The ballet soon after the
ballet and folklore elements. “The successful harmonization premiere (due to a copyright dispute) was removed from
of the classical, character, and folklore elements enables the repertoire, but it still remains an intense impact on the
us to get a full and uniform performance with a strong Macedonian culture. Some of its parts are still performed
Macedonian mark. Choreographer Makedonski managed during concerts.
to fit the stylized folklore into music that does not abound
in many folklore elements.” 29(p.233) Labin and Doirana are included in this group of national
works, with two versions from 1958 and 1980. The first was
The first, in the true sense, Macedonian ballet, authored by Alexandar Dobrohotov, with Olga Milosavleva
Macedonian Story (composed by Gligor Smokvarski, as assistant choreographer. Milosavleva alone completely
inspired by the play of Anton Panov, Pechalbari) was choreographed the second one. The last in this group is
performed on the stage for the first time in 1953. Ohrid Slave Tashula composed by Stojan Stojkov staged in
Regardless of the criticism given by Kiril Makedonski 2004. Serbian choreographer Vladimir Logunov, due to his
about the music, he points out: “despite the weaknesses in inability to respond adequately to the task, made several
the ballet Macedonian Story, the author Gligor Smokvarski corrections immediately after the premiere. Lagunov
completely managed to create our musical atmosphere added traditional dance to the material. He integrated two
quoting Macedonian folk melodies.” 30(p.11) In the attempt Macedonian traditional chain folk dances (“Sitnoto” and
for the reconstruction of the work, one can notice the “Kopachkata” from the Pijanechki region) into neoclassical
need for and attempt of maximum approximation to the choreography. They were originally derived from traditional
term Macedonian folklore in the part of costume design folk dances. This, the most extreme example thus far, has
(almost authentic costumes, the dancers danced in opinci– shown the possibility of injecting complete parts (not
peasant footwear), but also in the part of the choreography. certain extracted elements) with pronounced original
“But there are omissions on the part of choreography. content versus parts that are staged in the framework of
In addition to the Macedonian dance steps in the ballet, (neo) classical stylistics. Logunov is the first choreographer
there are dance elements from the Serbian (the folk dance who made an integration in the Macedonian ballet between
of the girls at the beginning of the second scene, which is the traditional model (in its most original form) and ballet
actually musically influenced by Serbian folk music) and dance. This move opens up space for profound theoretical
Bulgarian folklore (the dance of the boy and the girl at the reasoning, but it is left for another text.
beginning of the first picture).” 30(p.11) Revival of Macedonian Despite having the smallest number of performances,
Story follows in the period of independence in 1993 this layer is defined as a hybrid, folklore letter in which the
(Figure 5). The music was preserved, but the dramatic
layer was re-created by Ljubisa Georgievski, who directed 10 Interview with Ljubisa Georgievski made on May 2014.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 7 doi: 10.36922/ac.2730