We had a wonderful private backstage tour of the Mariinsky Theater!

     The Mariinsky Theater was developed on site of an old circus. In fact, the current building maintains the location of the original “Big Top.” After a huge fire in the circus, a man went to Alexander II to convince him to build a theater, and it only took him 7 minutes to convince him!  The circus was retrofit for operas and ballet productions to be more profitable. Here is a model of the inside of the theater:

     During the “Great Patriotic War” (The name Russians give to WWII because 26 million people in Russia lost their lives — and most of them were civilians. The number is still growing as more mass graves are discovered).  During the war, the Theater was ransacked. Years later, a group of Theater patrons from London helped to restore it.

    The large chandiler in the center of the theater used to be an oil lamp, and it was quite dangerous to sit under as hot oil could drop on viewers in the cheap seats.  How interesting that in theaters today, these orchestra level seats are the most expensive, but the balcony seats are less expensive.  When this Theater was developed, it was in the 2nd balcony (where the Imperial Box was located) that the best sound could be heard.  We got to sit in the Imperial Box in the Theater as we learned about its history:

     There are only 1608 seats in the theater which is relatively small compared to the Bolshoy in Moscow that has 3000 seats.  The small number of seats led to competition for tickets and people would have to book a year in advance to see a show.

     The most amazing thing we learned about the theater was that the stage is sloped up and to the back giving it a 3D effect and helping the people in the back of the theater to view the whole performance. This stage adaptation made it incredibly hard to dance on, though.  That is why, as you’ll read later in the section about the Ballet School, Russian dancers train on sloped floors from a very young age (pictured here).

     When European dancers came to the stage, they would often fail to perform perfectly on it as they were unable to adapt to the severe angle. Conversely, Russian ballerinas had a hard time performing on flat stages around Europe!

     Back stage, there were separate changing areas for men and women.  As we went back stage one of the first things they showed us was the mirror in which performers would look at themselves just before making their entrance.  It is believed that this large mirror “can make your dreams come true.”  That is a fact for the ballet dancers who perfectly graced the stage, but those who messed up even once on stage would never be invited back.

     We learned stages used to be made out of rough hewn wood dampened with water for grip (which we imagined would be hard on delicate ballet shoes). While this damp floor was helpful for grip at the beginning of a show, by show end, the floor had become dangerously slippery, so the wet ballet floor passed out of fashion. Instead, we saw boxes of rosin on sides of the stage. One can only imagine how many famous dancers have used these same rosin boxes before entering for their performance!

     There is a large arched brick wall in the back stage area that supports the ceiling of the building as it has since the first days of the original circus building. While it gets in the way of many shows, the theater is able to use it as an architectural feature in other shows. Because the wall cannot be moved they have to work with what they’ve got.

     In the backstage area of the theater, our guide showed us the “Road of Life.”  This is small railroad track upon which manual push carts are used to bring props to and from the stage between shows.  Everything in the theater has to be carted in and out by hand in this manner — there are no mechanical or electrical systems used for this labor intensive work.  It is a massive undertaking.  But it explains why the theater has to be open for 24 hours a day as employees and volunteers set up for the shows.

     A tiny catwalk that was built into the back wall where it meets the ceiling is all that connects the two sides of the backstage.  So if a performer had to exit stage right and their next entrance was on stage left, they had to go up a series of narrow stairs, across the harrowing “bridge of the Devil” and down another set of narrow stairs on the other side. Even more notable, performers would accomplish this circus-like feat while fully dressed in their elaborate costumes: full, stiff tutus for ballerinas still wearing their pointe shoes or the ornamented, full skirted dresses of the opera divas whose dresses alone can weigh several hundred pounds! It would not be for the faint of heart!

     We were privileged to see a +200 year old bell that hangs back stage. They call it the “Oldest artist of the Mariinsky Theater.” It is used as a signal for people to take their seats and to start the show.  And during Russian Operas, the bell continues be used as a musical instrument.

     We walked up about 10 flights of narrow stairs to arrive in the attic space — below the bigtop, above the audience — where a massive expanse of wooden planks form the floor for the decor department.  This is where the backdrops and set pieces are painted on cloth and paper on the floor.

     Elsewhere in Europe backdrops are painted vertically, and they can’t imagine how Russian artists can get their perspective correct as they paint on the floor.  But they showed us another catwalk that artists can ascend to get a birds-eye view of their work as they paint.  This would be exhausting work as they went from canvas to catwalk time and time again.  In addition, there are no elevators in this old building, so 700 kilo backdrops have to be carried by hand down the 10 flights of stairs — back-breaking team-work!

Joy’s impressions: “I thought that it was incredible that people had to bring gigantic rolls of sketches up the narrow staircases.  Also, I was amazing that they painted sets horizontally and after every single flower was painted, for example, they had to go up high to see if it was ok. On the way up the stairs I peaked into the costume room and saw a pink dress with a tutu that had golden threads throughout it and gems.”

     We were disappointed to find out that all the students were on break preparing for exams so we didn’t get to see anyone dance at the school.

     We started our tour of the Vaganova Ballet School (established in 1738) in the connected Russian Ballet School Museum which was established in 1957.  We may not have seen the current classes of dancers, but we did see pictures of famous ballet dancers, their costumes and personal effects, and historical theater posters dating back to the Ballet School’s earliest dance stars.

      The most impressive display case we saw were the signed pointe shoes of prima ballerinas.  It showed us pointe shoe styles throughout history.

     We learned that students staying in this boarding school don’t have to pay for their academic and artistic instruction, but they do have to go through an intensive audition process. Only the most promising dancers are admitted. Students have both academic uniforms and dance uniforms.  There is also a special dorm for visiting dancers.

     Vaganova Academy has been the training ground for some of ballet’s most famous dancers, choreographers and instructors for centuries. World-famous dancers like Anna Pavlova, Rudolph Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov all owe their fame and careers to the Vaganova Academy.

     Russia’s complex political history has been a threat to it’s accomplishments in the fine arts. At various points in Russian history, many dancers have sought out political asylum in Europe and the Americas — including the entire ensemble of the Ballet Russes in the late 1920’s and, more recently, such famous dancers as Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Of course, this has benefitted the world dance community as Agrippina Vaganova’s ballet training system then became more widely taught as Russian dancers immigrated and established ballet academies of their own.

     After the museum, we ascended the stairwells with framed listings of the graduating classes since the school’s first graduates in 1739. Hallways were lined with class photos and portraits of Vaganova Ballet’s amazing dancers and academy staff. We got to see the historical rehearsal hall where students perform their final exams before their exacting instructors:

     All the classrooms have sloped floors so that dancers of all ages learn to dance on the Russian stages. We also learned that classrooms have big windows so that children who watch the rehearsals can be inspired to attend the school, and so that students learn to perform in front of audiences.

     The Ballet School also has medical facilities with a doctor and massage therapist for the dancers.

     The Folk show at the Palace was surprisingly entertaining and the quality was higher than we expected.  The musicians played exceptionally well, some of the singers were very talented and the dancers clearly loved their craft. We learned that, similar to the ballet academy, Russia also has several academies for the study of Russian folk dance and music.

     Many of the dances displayed relationship and courtship rituals — men and women playing hard to get, or flirting with each other in playful dance.  The Russian men’s acrobatics made our girls’ mouths drop — they had never seen that kind of dance before!

     The girls each purchased a Russian-made wool shawl at the performance. During the performance, the women wore a wide range of shawls, costumes, and headdresses.  Each showed how Russian truly was a huge country with cultural influences from East to West.  Some of the headdresses looked like something you might see in Thailand.

     It was interesting to Nicole and I that the female dancers would often let out a high pitched “screech” or expressive whistle that reminded us of Hawaiian and Tahitian dance as well as Mexican and South American dance.  We wondered how many cultures around the world use this kind of expression of joy in their cultural dances.