Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
A dancer, teacher, ballet master, director, choreographer... You can add talented, brilliant, outstanding to each of these words... Half a century Yuri Trayan serves the theater. He was the first who performed the roles of Don José in Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet – Rodion Shchedrin, the Prince in The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the Poet in Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Adam in The Creation of the World by Andrey Petrov, the title roles in Till Eulenspiegel by Eugene Glebov and Spartacus by Aram Khachaturian. He choreographed a number of ballets, including The Wings of Memory to the music by Vladimir Kondrusevich, Tristan and Isolde to the music by Richard Wagner, Vitaut to the music by Vyacheslav Kuznetsov. On our stage he renewed The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by Boris Asafiev, Cipollino by Karen Khachaturyan, Swan Lake Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Now he is working on the production of Anastasia by Vyacheslav Kuznetsov. Exactly 50 years ago, in September 1968, after graduating from the State Choreographic College, Yuri joined the ballet company of the Belarusian Bolshoi. But his first appearance on our stage was in 1958. He worked as very young artist of supernumeraries.
‘My mother started working as a costume designer in the Belarusian Bolshoi in 1957, so it is not surprising that I have been running around our theatre and falling asleep in the wings since I was 8 years old,’ the artistic director of ballet, People's Artist of Belarus Yury Trayan said. ‘But I was pretty soon "recruited" for a variety of children's roles. I even pronounced words from the stage, but, as a rule, only in the opera performances. For some reason such "great artists" didn’t appear in the ballet performances, so I was a little jealous of the dancers. So by the age of 10 I practically mastered opera. It was just an open book for me and I decided to enter the choreographic school, which was located in the Bolshoi. After all, the ballet remained a mystery for me and I decided to solve it. I was an extremely independent boy. I went to the entrance exams, successfully passed all the tests and I got accepted. But my first day of classes, when teachers turned my feet and forced to stand near the ballet bar, was my last day. I did not like it so much that I gave up lessons. Almost until the spring, the head of the choreographic school Claudia Kalitovskaya persuaded my mother to return me to classes in some way, and my mother, it should be noted, found the way: she promised to buy me a bicycle. I gave up. Then I gave up ballet two more times, for a variety of reasons. I was expelled from the Leningrad Choreographic School for hooligan behavior. Rather, they warned me: you should stay until the end of the school year and that’s all, you can go to Minsk. I did not wait. I packed my things and went home. ‘No ballet!’ I said and repeated it to myself all summer long, but on 31 August my legs led me to legendary Claudia Kalitovskaya, who said puffing a cigarette: ‘I knew you would come back....’ And in 25 years, already being the Honoured Artist, I sustained very serious injury of an achilles tendon. But I came back again…
Actually, I think fate was very favorable to me, I can't complain. I studied honestly and performed some roles on the stage. And when I came to the Bolshoi, there was just a change of generations, and I was very lucky that the theatre needed a new wave of artists. I was given a chance to dance something serious – and I did it, because of fright, probably (smiles). A year and a half later I became a soloist. And then, the national play After the ball by Heinrich Wagner on the eponymous story of Leo Tolstoy was performed on our stage with great success. So “after the ball” I received the title of the Honoured Artist of the Republic of Belarus. I was 21 years old. And until now, my "age limit" is not beaten: no one has not received such a honourary title at this age.
Unfortunately, the ballet is no longer a secret for me. This is a serious profession that requires effort, nerves, stress, great dedication and love of art, in particular – of dance. You should work incredibly hard to achieve something. Perhaps, only the person, who really loves ballet, can achieve something in this profession. I know for sure that the one who stopped, stopped devoted himself to the dance, will never hold back. He or she will definitely fall down. And it is very important that the hellish work was connected with some luck, because it is much easier and more enjoyable to do something with a good fortune.
On 21 September Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake will be performed on the theatre’s stage in honour of Yuri Trayan. Vyacheslav Chernukho-Volich will conduct.
The team of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus cordially congratulates the great artist, sensitive teacher and a wonderful choreographer Yuri Troyan on this anniversary date – 50 years of artistic life! We wish him health, inexhaustible energy, inspiration, creativity and new interesting performances on the stage of his native theatre!
