CHOREOGRAPHY
LET’S DANCE TOGETHER!
For the attention of the visitors of my website! I am planning to publish at this page most important facts about Choreography & Dance as an integral part of Artistic Gymnastics. This is why I would like to collect as much as possible photos, videos and articles about Choreography Art. All information are welcome and will be considered for the publishing on this page.
Thank you in advance ,
Vladimir Zaglada
November 10, 2020
Мне доставляет огромное удовольствие открыть раздел моего сайта , названный мной „ХОРЕОГРАФИЯ“, одной из самых последних публикаций на эту тему, опубликованной по материалам Второй Всероссийской научно-практической конференции с международным участием, прошедшей в городе Москве в 2020 году:
АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ И ТЕНДЕНЦИИ РАЗВИТИЯ гимнастики, современного фитнеса и танцевального спорта
Достаточно просто пройти по оглавлению данной публикации, и станет совершенно ясно, насколько актуальны сегодня многие аспекты хореографической подготовки, а прочитав некоторые лучшие материалы, убедиться в том, какое внимание хореографической подготовке уделяется в Российской Федерации и в лидирующих странах, развивающих виды спорта, в которых хореография является их неотъемлемой частью.
Именно, поэтому считаю необходимым опубликовать материалы конференции в полном объеме. Достаточно лишь пройти по ссылке. которая приведена ниже:
Редакционная коллегия:
М.Ю. Ростовцева, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент;
Л.А. Новикова, заведующий кафедрой теории и методики
гимнастики, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент;
Н.Ф. Сингина, заведующий кафедрой теории и методики
танцевального спорта, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент
Ю.К. Гавердовский, доктор педагогических наук, профессор кафедры
теории и методики гимнастики
Рецензент:
Леонтьева Мария Сергеевна
доктор педагогических наук, доцент
ISBN 978-5-6043178-2-2
Актуальные проблемы и тенденции развития гимнастики,
современного фитнеса и танцевального спорта: материалы всероссийской
научно-практической конференции / под ред. М.Ю. Ростовцевой. – М.:
РГУФКСМиТ, 2020. – 236 с.
В сборнике представлены материалы докладов участников
Всероссийской научно-практической конференции кафедр теории и
методики гимнастики и теории и методики танцевального спорта
РГУФКСМиТ. Рассматриваются медико-биологические и психологопедагогические аспекты занятий спортом высших достижений и
оздоровительным фитнесом, вопросы развития массового спорта, проблемы
совершенствования подготовки спортсменов в массовом спорте и спорте
высших достижений, вопросы совершенствования методики преподавания
гимнастики и танцевального спорта.
Материалы представлены в редакции авторов.
© НОУ, РГУФКСМиТ, 2020
©Ростовцева М.Ю., общая редакция, 2020D
December 27, 2020
Штрихи к портрету Елены Ивановны Капитоновой
Вот и пришло время загрузить в раздел моего сайта „Хореография“ то, что очень дорого мне и то, что знакомо мне не понаслышке, и опубликовано мной в моей книге“ One Coach’s Journey from East to West: How the Fall of the Iron Curtain Changed the World of Gymnastics“, опубликованной мной в США в конце 2010 года.
Работая в США на протяжении многих лет, я имел возможность оценить то, насколько важно каждому гимнастическому клубу не только понимать важное место хореографической подготовки, но и иметь в каждой школе высококвалифицированных хореографов.
Мне в этом смысле повезло, поскольку в динамовской школе Москвы, где я проработал около 20 лет, я имел возможность работать с заслуженным тренером России, Еленой Ивановной Капитоновой. Мы были с ней не просто друзьями, партнёрами и соратниками, а понимали друг друга, как говорится с полслова. Наша совместная работа навсегда осталась в моей памяти…
Тогда, когда готовился к публикации раздел, приведенный ниже, я много общался с Еленой Ивановной телефону, и успел взять у нее интервью, которое вошло в мою книгу. Это интервью, в значительной степени, дополняет портрет Великого спортивного хореографа современности, сделанный мной в книге моей жизни, написанной и опубликованной за рубежом.
А пока, поскольку многие мои зарубежные читатели, друзья и коллеги очень хотят узнать больше о легенде Советской и Мировой Хореографии, Елене Капитоновой, я публикую точную копию раздела об этом выдающемся хореографе на английском языке…
Below is an excerpt from my book, published in the USA in 2010, „One Coach’s Journey from East to West: How the Fall of the Iron Curtain Changed the World of Gymnastics“
[…] The Choreographer – A Key Member of the Coaching Team Or a “Gift of Fate”?
There is no doubt in my mind that the success of Russian gymnasts has always been closely tied to Russia’s longstanding choreographic tradition. I do not know of a single gymnastics school even in the most remote Russian backwater that did not have a professional choreographer on duty. It didn’t matter whether boys or girls were being trained – the choreographer was considered an indispensible member of the staff. In fact the way things were done in the super-bureaucratic Soviet Union, the center (Moscow) determined a uniform personnel structure for every category of factory, school, clinic, etc. For gymnastics schools, the choreographer was always on the organizational chart.
For example, in our Dynamo-Moscow coaching school, at various times there were four highly qualified choreographers working in the men’s and women’s divisions: Yelena Kapitonova, Nadezhda Kornelyuk, Olga Teplova, and Tatyana Lanovaya. They worked with different age groups and taught the children to move beautifully and control the working of their muscles.
Without taking anything away from the other choreographers listed above (they were all brilliant in their work with the boys and girls), I would nevertheless like to focus on one of them – Yelena Kapitonova, who made a real difference in my life. For me, this box on the organizational chart was a real “gift of fate”!
As I described in Part I, the hour-and-a-half show entitled “We Are Russians from Russia with Love” that was created by Yelena Kapitonova and me together with a team of coaches and athletes from Dynamo-Moscow was performed by the USSR delegation to the 1991 World Gymnaestrada. There were three performances: two one day and a third on the next, all of which received calls for encores.
The show was exceptionally successful. After the second performance, the capacity crowd rose to its feet in applause. Although I had been the senior producer and director of the program and had written the script and Yelena Kapitonova had been the main stage director and had choreographed all the dance numbers, we did not go out onto the stage. We were completely taken by surprise when the lighting engineers illuminated the director’s box and showed all of us who had put together this unforgettable gala and brought it to Amsterdam from Russia with love.
From the author: I am not using a photos at this time. Just , please, read the text…
The left-hand photo above shows Yelena Kapitonova at work. The center photo shows a young Olga Mostepanova working on a floor routine choreographed by Yelena Kapitonova. The photo to the right is of special interest. It shows a typical work day for Yelena Kapitonova being filmed by an unknown cameraman (he can be seen reflected in the mirror). There were hundreds of such cameramen filming her work to learn lessons in choreography. But unfortunately all these tapes fell into private hands and were never published by the Gymnastics Federation or the Dynamo Society, where she worked for about 30 year
It saddens me that so little has been written about her work and her personally. This is why I feel compelled to acquaint the reader with one of Russia’s finest choreographers – Yelena Ivanovna Kapitonova.
Digression No. 7: Yelena Kapitonova – A Born Choreographer, The Person You Had to Learn From, And An Object of Envy
Strange as it might seem, despite her brilliance and beauty, Yelena Kapitonova remained largely in the shadows. Many people felt that the reason for this was that her professional renown was somewhat eclipsed by that of her legendary husband, Viktor Kapitonov, cycling champion of the Rome Olympics. I beg to differ. In my opinion, back then, when Yelena Ivanovna was the person everyone had to learn from and imitate, she was an object of incredible envy. She was envied for everything: for her famous husband, for the fact that she was financially well off, and for the fact that she was spectacularly beautiful. It brings to mind a popular song by the rock group Bely Oryol (White Eagle), “It’s Just Not Right to Be So Beautiful.” She was not just a top-notch professional choreographer, but she was the embodiment of feminine pulchritude and possessed unbelievable charm!
Nobody was ever able to figure out how old she was. What Yelena Kapitonova was and still is today is someone who stages brilliant floor routines for dozens of famous Soviet and Russian women gymnasts. I consider myself fortunate for having worked with this top choreographer for approximately 20 years.
But perhaps the most notable aspect of her career is that this exceptional beauty was exceptionally self-reliant. By nature and by habit she always reminded me of Rudyard Kipling’s “Cat Who Walked by Himself.” The party bosses in charge of gymnastics in the old days were dying to “tame” Yelena Kapitonova, but she was not someone who would ever be found “eating out of someone’s hand” and you couldn’t make her do something by dangling out some treat.
Unfortunately, I have seen very few major publications about Yelena Kapitonova, but it would not be correct to say that she’s been forgotten: she enjoyed great authority among top-level gymnastics coaches and athletes and was regularly invited to work with the Soviet National Team. And as paradoxical as it may sound, it was specifically because of her excellent work that she was hidden from the view of outsiders, foreigners first and foremost. She was not often sent to work with them. More often they came to work with her. People came to learn from her, to gain experience, to put together floor exercises, and generally to work in the kitchen of a master chef. But the powers that be were not terribly generous with overseas trips. Under communism the thinking went, “We need you here, and the country cannot squander its priceless personnel resources.” This was a very convenient excuse. How quickly they (the priceless personnel resources) were later “squandered” – the very ones who weren’t let out during Soviet times.
But it is truly not my style to brand the past and present governmental gymnastics bureaucrats as villains. And I’m not going to “cry into my hanky” and sigh wistfully over the days when we were building socialism and communism. For those who had power under communism very little has changed, and they still seem to get what they want. But while we’re on the subject of Yelena Kapitonova and her great choreographic achievements, I would like the entire world of gymnastics to know as much as possible about the coaches who worked in the sports schools and actively collaborated with the Soviet national teams. It was their work, hammered out on Ozero Krugloye, that was proudly branded “Made in the USSR.”
In talking about Yelena Ivanovna, I have to mention her beautiful, almost coquettish, manner of speaking: she had a way of aspirating when she pronounced words and even softened certain consonants that we have in the Russian alphabet, ch and sh, that was almost like purring. But sometimes (very rarely) she was able to “show her teeth”: she did this only when her sense of justice was offended. But the thing I most valued about Yelena Kapitonova was that in all the years she was creating true masterpieces of floor routines, she always remained a very modest woman. You just had to love and respect her for what she was doing – and for who she was.
Unfortunately, not long ago her husband Viktor passed away. I knew him well and could see what a “rock” this former Olympic champion and strong, willful person was for Yelena Ivanovna. The most treasured thing remaining for her now is her children, Yulichka and Volodya, who have already grown up and now have children of their own. They know how many hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of miles their father Viktor had to pedal before becoming the cycling legend of the Rome Olympics and how many hundreds of thousands of hours it took their beloved mother working at the ballet bar and on the mat to become a world class choreographer
AN UNSCRIPTED CONVERSATION ON CHOREOGRAPHY WITH A MASTER
Yelena Kapitonova is a true professor of choreography. This was confirmed for me recently by a conversation I had with her over the telephone. It is hard to express the joy our telephone reunion brought to us both as people who had worked together at Dynamo for 20 years but are now 10 years older than when we last saw one another. But that’s not the point. The point is the professionalism exhibited by Yelena Ivanovna and how much thought goes into every word that comes out of her mouth. From the very beginning of our discussion about the place of choreography within the system for training female gymnasts, she noted that the choreography applied in artistic gymnastics is different from the choreography applied in ballet, and despite the deep roots gymnastics shares with ballet and dance, gymnastics choreography is entirely unique.
The reader will understand that this was not exactly an interview, since any interview usually has some predetermined script, some agenda. But with Yelena Kapitonova there was no question of scripting the interview. This had to be an improvisation on a theme, and everything said by Yelena Ivanovna is included here as her own original thoughts.
Here are a few excerpts of this very interesting and instructive conversation with one of the best gymnastics choreographers and stage directors of Russia, Yelena Ivanovna Kapitonova, sharing her expertise after approximately 30 years teaching choreography at Dynamo-Moscow’s Olympic Reserve School:
Vladimir Zaglada: Yelena Ivanovna, as is well known, placing great burdens on the musculoskeletal apparatus of 7- or 8-year-old girls can overburden children and even lead to changes in the spine. I would like to ask you a question related to this point: working with little children do you assign them complex ballet exercises, or do you follow the old principle – everything in its own time?
Yelena Kapitonova: Well, first of all, Vladimir Yefimovich, let’s settle the question of what we mean by “little children” and what would be a good time to begin serious choreographic training. Today at Dynamo we begin classes in choreography at age 5, and we consider 7 or 8 to be when intensive choreographic training begins.
As I see it, when choreography classes start and how extensive they are depends largely not so much on the ages of the young gymnasts, but on how well the selection process for gymnastics immersion groups was conducted. Only a multi-factor selection process focused on children’s natural physical and mental potential, their attention span and discipline in general gymnastics classes, as well as the initial motivation for studying gymnastics will make it possible to map out both the type of choreography classes and how extensive they are.
VZ: Yelena Ivanovna, do you consider exercises at the ballet bar to be an essential part of choreographic training from the moment children are first introduced to choreography?
YK: Of course I do, Vladimir Yefimovich! This is why in Russian we use the word stanok and not just ballet bar [baletnaya perekladina], as one often hears it called in American gymnastics. Therefore the most important thing in my opinion is not even when we start to use it, but how. Personally, I recommend doing all exercises facing the mirror from the very first introduction to the bar, which ensures that children stand correctly at the bar and will help them develop the correct posture. And for me as a choreographer it is always easier to correct the process when there is effective feedback.
VZ: I understand that Americans do not worry too much over terminology and tend to call a spade a spade. But I can’t help but draw an analogy with the factory stanok [lathe] designed to make manual labor easier. So for me, the ballet stanok [bar] is a piece of specialized equipment that makes it easier to develop basic dance skills. And what do you, Yelena Ivanovna, include in your definition of “basic dance skills” and where do your preferences lie: with stability of the body and legs, turnout, the ability to maintain a strong point, the position of the pelvis in relation to the floor, fluid control of the arms and wrists, and perhaps the position of the head in relation to the body?
YK: Well, Vladimir Yefimovich, that’s quite a list! Everything you included is part of choreographic training, but not all of it comes at the beginning stages, but over the course of many years of regular study of choreography. You have to work on that, and work hard! It would be very simple, for example, to point out that a slightly raised chin in conjunction with an extended (not contracted!) neck and open (not slouching) shoulders as the correct position of the head in relation to the body is the most important detail of literally every lesson in choreography. But as important as this position is, it is obviously not enough to simply position the children in it and endlessly hammer it into them like some sort of panacea. I repeat – you have to work more and talk less!
Like a sculptor, for the very beginning you have to literally shape the correct pose with your own hands and only then demand that the children execute it immaculately. In this connection I again recommend the use of exercises that start facing the mirror.
VZ: This reminds me of the rigid linear program in which exceptionally simple exercises must be performed flawlessly. Do you, Yelena Ivanovna, when you are teaching choreography to small children, always use many repetitions of very simple exercises from the choreographic school or do you allow them to indulge a bit of fantasy when they dance?
YK: To tell you the truth, I have never thought about what kind of program the choreographic school that I use in my practice belongs to. Please note – I don’t say “my choreographic school,” since what we are using was created by many generations of ballet and gymnastics choreographers.
It was they – coaches of gymnastics, tumbling, and rhythmic gymnastics – who needed years, after taking the schools of ballet and dance as their foundation, to create a completely unique sort of choreography – sports choreography. While, as in ballet, it features music and the movement of the human body that we call dance, sports choreography is distinguished by its multi-functionality. It not only prepares a gymnast to dance on the floor mat, infusing complex tumbling combinations with elements of choreography, but it also creates a choreographic base for the execution of balance beam exercises.
But that isn’t the most important thing either. As I see it, the most important thing is that gymnastics dance fortifies and inspires the body of the gymnast, sometimes even concealing certain superficial defects. When you are watching a powerful, elastic, pliable body exploding skyward, do you really think about the fact that the gymnast’s legs are short or long? You appreciate the line of the body and how beautiful it is in motion. Everything else is forgotten.
But let’s return to your question. I really do devote a lot of attention to extensive repetition of simple choreographic exercises at the bar. But I believe that children are children and sometimes you do need to let them relax a bit and dance or, as you put it, “to indulge a bit of fantasy.” After all, we mustn’t deprive them of the pleasure of being children a little longer.
VZ: I am sure that our discussion is of great interest to the readers of my book. And those who are well acquainted with your name as that of a world famous choreographer of floor routines that have brought glory to more than one generation of Soviet and Russian gymnasts will find it pure pleasure following the continuation of today’s conversation about the staging of floor routines.
Here is the first question I would like to ask you: I would like your opinion on how much time goes into putting together a floor routine for gymnasts of various ages and levels (I am not talking so much about gymnasts‘ sense of music and dance as about their actual technical level)? Also, does a gymnast’s ability to learn affect the time it takes to put together a floor routine? As far as I know, you never liked to choreograph floor routines for, pardon the expression, klutzes. How do you feel about this now? In America the saying “You can do it!” has become a catch phrase and an answer to the question of whether everyone can manage this, and it would be helpful to know whether or not you buy into this. Sometimes there’s a great temptation to just say, “No! You weren’t born for gymnastics!”
YK: As for the question of how long it takes to put together floor exercises, it is hard to give a hard and fast answer. Some children learn floor routines in just a few sessions, while for others it takes much longer. Often, it depends not just on the abilities of the gymnast, but even more on how well prepared the choreographer is for this task.
Floor exercises have to be prepared extremely painstakingly, from putting together the music and the dance cuts all the way to learning all the tumbling combinations and their place within the floor routine. This is where choreographers can display their ability to be patient and work with any contingent of gymnasts. Of course it is very nice to work with girls who are real “dancers,” who understand musical rhythm and tempo and who will soon be outdancing their choreographer.
But sometimes you run into cases of girls who, as the saying goes, “take a long time to harness, but ride like the wind.” This is also an interesting and perhaps the most gratifying category of gymnast when it comes to working on floor routines. And if someone has a completely tin ear and doesn’t move as one might wish? Believe me, Vladimir Yefimovich, that for me such cases (especially as I’ve grown older) only get more interesting, and you know why? Because if I succeed in teaching such a gymnast and arrange a great floor exercise for her, how will it make other, more talented girls feel who don’t like to work so hard?
VZ: Yelena Ivanovna! Who among the gymnastics choreographers of the former Soviet Union who worked with the Soviet national gymnastics teams do you personally consider to be stars on an international scale: Lydia Sokolova, Galina Savarina, Natalya Marakova, Galina Milyakina?
YK: Vladimir Yefimovich! You yourself know all these choreographers and can form your own conclusions. But I am not about to rank anyone who was great in her own way and who had her time to shine. When someone is in fashion or, as they say today in Russian, is the “trump card” is not the same as being the best. For me, they are all good in their own way and each of them made their own inestimable contribution to the cause of developing Soviet gymnastics choreography.
VZ: Yelena Ivanovna! I will ask you several questions at once and you will choose the question you want to answer:
- Which of the coaches you worked with do you feel were the wisest and most knowledgeable?
- How well did they understand the place of floor exercises and choreographic training in the overall system of gymnastics training?
- How highly did they value your personal contribution as a choreographer (as opposed to as an assistant coach) in cultivating the abilities and shaping the image of their gymnasts?
YK: Again, it is very hard for me to answer questions about how, on the one hand, I perceive the personal coaches of the girls of the Soviet national team, just as it I don’t quite feel comfortable talking about how they personally perceived me as a choreographer. Nevertheless, I will say that in my opinion such coaches as Innokenty Mametyev, Vikenty Dmitriev, Boris Shakhnovich, Vladislav Rastorotsky, Viktor Gavrichenkov, Lyubov Miromanova, and our Dynamo coaches Elvira Saadi, Natalya Tokareva, and Lydia Gorbik-Tkacheva were always extremely attentive to the work of those who choreographed their floor routines.
Believe me, putting together new floor routines was always a treat for all the coaches and gymnasts. I have to say that I think perhaps the person most interested in my work was Vladimir Aksyonov, Olga Mostepanova’s personal coach and the head coach of the women’s division of the Dynamo SDYuShOR [Specialized Child-Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve]. He understood very well that the regular study of choreography helps to strengthen gymnasts‘ bodies and greatly expands their motor capabilities. Vladimir Aksyonov felt that putting together floor routines was a sacred undertaking, and I can honestly say that he really trusted me in this. I cannot say whether he thought of me as an assistant or an equal partner. The most important thing was that we all derived pleasure from our joint effort and this can be seen in the results achieved by Olga Mostepanova in her floor routines. And weren’t you, Vladimir Yefimovich, despite your high position at Dynamo, an assistant to him – the personal coach of one of the superstars of the 1980s? Nobody knows what he thought of us all!
VZ: Yelena Ivanovna! I completely agree with you and I will also refrain from evaluating Vladimir Aksyonov – a rather well-known personality, but full of contradictions. I have already written quite a bit about him in my book and without anything negative, believe me. He was a wise man, and in the “precapitalist period” he was ideally suited to the Soviet Dynamo machine in terms of his mentality, origins, work ethic, and his own brand of communist education. It (the Dynamo machine) fit him perfectly. But by the early nineties he could sense the winds of change and left to serve the British Queen. And as it turned out he left until such a time as things would settle down in Russia and people would again start building socialism. I do not want and do not have the right to reproach Vladimir Aksyonov for that. After all, although I spent a bit more time under Russian capitalism, I also finally broke down and went abroad. But it is time to return to matters of interest to my readers – to floor routines and to choreographic training as an integral part of overall gymnastics training.
Question: What do you, personally, focus on when you select music and decide on a style of floor routine: do you want to conceal something or is it the other way around – do you want to emphasize something? For example, do you want to raise a tall gymnast high and keep a short one low, or do you stretch those who are stretched out and force them to jump more and be more dynamic? Do you give “klutzes” a chance to be themselves and surprise the world through more difficult tumbling, or do you push them through any means possible to attain a particular standard?
YK: Well, first of all, it seems to me that you are grossly exaggerating about Vladimir Filipovich Aksyonov “going abroad for a long time.” He recently came to Moscow and as far as I know he’s even planning to come back to work at Dynamo. And how about you, Vladimir Yefimovich? Are you planning to return to Moscow? After all, we do miss you here. Believe me – I’m being completely sincere.
But I will try to answer your questions. There’s nothing to hide and furthermore there’s nothing to show off! Floor routines have to be designed based on the principle of just the right proportion of all components: dance elements, jumping and tumbling combinations, plastique, and visual effects. Too much of any of these components can lead to a lusterless floor routine. This is why you have to strive to have someone flexible, while remaining flexible, show herself off in tumbling and work on increasing the level of difficulty, and have a girl who lacks extension and seems a bit wooden jumping high, so that she will stretch out as quickly as possible, and get someone who lacks the ability to “act” during floor routines to start acting like a star of the stage.
VZ: How well you put it, “to start acting like a star of the stage”! In this connection I have to say that your floor routines were always distinguished by a conceptual dynamism. You created an image based on a scenario you had already conceived and you had the gymnast bring that image to life. But what, in the end, is the archetypical Kapitonova style?
YK: You’ve hit a nerve there, Vladimir Yefimovich. I have always idolized the inimitable Marilyn Monroe. I liked everything about her: her extraordinary beauty and amazing femininity, the way she walked and talked. Specifically this way of talking – it was soft, captivating, and charming – as were her movements – flowing and extraordinarily elegant – that inspired the idea of creating an original floor routine composition on this theme. The brilliantly executed, coquettish floor routines of the Moscow gymnast Raisa Bichukina made such an impression on the world of gymnastics that after that this style was given the name “Coquette” and I was sort of considered the founder of this in artistic gymnastics.
VZ: Esteemed Yelena Ivanovna. I have probably tired you with all these hours of conversation. I promise not to overload you with so many questions anymore. I can say with certainly that your answers are priceless not only to me, but to all the readers of my book interested in choreography and the technology involved in putting together floor routines. Thank you for being you and I wish you all the best, our dear professor of choreography!
On that note, my conversation with Yelena Ivanovna Kapitonova – an outstanding Russian choreographer – was concluded. But her choreography continues. It lives on in the floor routines she has created and those being created today within the walls of the Dynamo gymnastics club where she has worked for so many years[…]
PHONE CALL ON NEXT DAY AFTER …
Unfortunately, I was the first person who got this very sad news about the death of the one of Greatest choreographers ever… I talked on the phone with her daughter Yulia right on the next day after the funeral. Thanks to Queen Elizabeth (Rewriting Russian Gymnastics) for writing this tribute to my friend, colleague and amazingly beautiful woman which will never be forgotten ! The Artistry was inside of her, a Beauty was on her face , a Charm was a part of her job and light was always being seen even through the dark!
The Floor Exercises she made were not just an Artistic Gymnastics Routines! It was small gymnastics spectacles during which any spectator ( just a Fan or professional) cannot say a word or even take a breath until the very end of this amazing Art!
For me and ( I believe ) for hundreds of my compatriots and gymnasts from around the World Elena Kapitonova is still alive and will live in our hearts and her unforgettable Floor Exercises FOREVER!
BEST STUDENT OF ELENA KAPITONOVA AND HER RESPONSE:
Olga Mostepanova Да, Владимир Ефимович, Вы прекрасно написали о Елене Ивановне и я согласна с каждым вашим словом сказанным о ней с любовью. Мне очень повезло и я благодарна Мирозданию что наши пути пересеклись.., мы много работали вместе и результат и был волшебным. Она ушла, но ее искусство хореографии продолжает радовать нас!
Yes, Vladimir Efimovich, you wrote about Elena Ivanovna and I agree with your every word said about her with love. I was very lucky and I am thankful to the universe that our paths crossed, we have worked a lot together and the result was magical. She left, but her art choreography continues to please us!
ПОСЛЕСЛОВИЕ К ПОРТРЕТУ ЛЕНОЧКИ КАПИТОНОВОЙ
Самым лучшим послесловием к портрету выдающегося спортивного хореографа современности, Елены Ивановны Капитоновой, считаю одно из самых виртуозных исполнений легендарного Чардаша Монти уникальным скрипачом David Garrett’s. Этот Чардаш был в арсенале Елены Капитоновой, и вольные, составленные на эту музыку, радовали любителей спортивной гимнастики своим зажигательным ритмом и заставляли сердца всех видевших эти вольные упражнения биться ещё сильнее:
Обещаю своим читателям, что приложу все свои силы для того, чтобы собрать лучшие композиции вольных упражнений, составленных на музыку музыкальных произведений, вошедших в мировую классику.
January 15, 2021
ARTISTRY & CREATIVITY, CHARM & SHARM THAT’S ALL WE NEED!
Below I presented a couple Floor Routines performed by Super Star from my Dynamo Moscow Gymnastics Club, Olga Mostepanova.
I know that the best Floor Routines were created not just by Soviet / Russian Choreographers. The World’s Treasures of the Floor Excercises were created by the great choreographers from over the World.
Forgive me guys, that at this time I am focusing you on the work of the Master of Choreography from my Russian „Dynamo Moscow“ Home Club, Yelena Kapitonova.
Don’t ask me why!? Because this Metre of Choreography really deserved to be count as THE BEST among World Artistic Gymnastics Choreographers. Unfortunately, this announcement not made yet and we don’t have the records about it!?
Let’s start the little presentation from my big thanks to the owners of YouTube chanals for the opportunity to watch Floor Excercises which become the part of the History of the Artistic Gymnastics.
The first Floor Excercises don’t have a video recording, but this is an example what kind of great music compositions were used by Soviet/ Russian choreographers in order to produce the best Floor Routines dominated in the World’s Arenas within many decades:
Olga Mostepanova, FX, choreographer Yelena Kapitonova;
The last Floor Routine performed by Olga Mostepanova is the best example of the „Kapitonova Dancing Style“ which characterized with very exact dancing steps and movements which feets to the music perfectly!
Yes, it was a real Classical Jazz Dance which can be affordable not to the many Choreographers and performers as well! Olga Mostepanova was the one young lady who danced on the Floor as a professional Jazz Dancer since she was on age of 12 years old!
But it is not the end of the collection of the Floor Excercises which I would like to put to the page dedicated to the Art of Floor Excercises. For sure, you can get an opportunity to watch and discuss the Best Floor Excercises performed by the World Stars of the Art of Artistic Gymnastics!
For the attention of the visitors of my website:
Please, send me using my email address your suggestion what kind of Floor Routines you prefer to watch? Or , even send me the link to your preferable Floor Excercises composition exsisting on YouTube.
Vladimir Zaglada
January 21, 2021
BROADWAY DANCE: JUST A VERY SPECIAL CHOREOGRAPHY OR THE BEST EVER AMERICAN CREATION IN THE HISTORY OF DANCE !?
I borrowed from internet the page presented a Broadway Dance using a step-by-step pictures of the poses created by Bob Fasse, one of the Legends of the Broadway Choreography. This is just one step towards to the Magical Broadway Spectacles which presented to the audience an amazing combinations of the Dance and Music, Art of the Singing and incredible abilities of the performers to do that together, as a group of Dancers, performers and singers!
I am not a big specialist in Dance, but I do have my own opinion and thoughts about Broadway Dance. I was so impressed watching the Broadway Spectacular Show two times in my Life: one time watching the Broadway Show in Vienna, Austria and another one in the Heart of the New York, in the BROADWAY!
Yes, it was a super show known across the World as „Chicago“, choreographed by Bob Fasse, which will be forever in the History of the American & World Show known as THE BEST EVER !
So, it is time to collect more information about this amazing Real American Creation and to try to apply this kind of Dancing Art to the practice of Artistic Gymnastics and other Artistic Sport activities required stylish, impressive and very accomplished technique and methods of movements.
I will keep collecting the information about Broadway Dance and asking all my readers to help me to collect an interesting thoughts, videos and complete articles about this amazing Dance Direction.
Thank you in advance. Please , send me an emails, because at this time, for safety reasons I am working without possible comments.
IT IS TIME FOR RUSSIAN COMMENTS
На фото выше представлена очень простая, но совершенно изумительная подборка наиболее интересных поз, характерных для Бродвейского Танца, к которым была приложена рука гениального Bob Fasse – хореографа, танцовщика, актёра, режиссёра и продюссера легендарных мюзиклов „Кабаре“, Чикаго“, „Весь Этот Джаз“, получивших самые престижные награды, включая премию „Оскар“ за режиссуру мюзикла „Кабаре“.
Именно Bob Fasse создал уникальный стиль Бродвейского Танца, ставшего легендарным в истории танца, джаза и всего американского искусства.
Уверен, что небольшой видеоролик Бродвейского спектакля „All THAT JAZZ“ даст полное представление о роли Bob Fasse как одного из создателей неповторимого Бродвейского Танца, и конечно же его очень узнаваемой хореографии, неудержимый темп и джазовый ритм которой, заставляет сердца зрителей биться в этом ритме, и замирать вместе с героями шоу, создающими уникальные музыкально- танцевальные шедевры.
Искренне рад, что имеется реальная возможность посмотреть этот видеоролик и ощутить Бродвейский Пульс таким, каким его создавали Bob Fasse и другие легенды этого неповторимого жанра!
March 28th, 2021
Не могу не вернуться к теме, начатой мной в разделе “ Хореография и Танец“. Ниже я загружаю небольшое слайд-шоу, сделанное мной и показывающее ряд танцевальных стилей и жанров, используемых при составлении вольных упражнений в женской спортивной гимнастике.
В данной видео- презентации ряд танцевальных стилей представлен очень кратко в виде всего нескольких характерных поз, специфичной мимики и шарма конкретного танца.
Правда, об Аргентинском Танго можно говорить часами, не говоря уже о том, что смотреть его лучших исполнителей, можно бесконечно!
В данный момент я ограничиваюсь лишь некоторыми позами этого поразительного танцевального стиля, оставляя за собой право написать о нем специальный раздел с использованием мнения о нем выдающейся российской гимнастки Ольги Мостепановой. Олечка Мостепанова, после окончания спортивной карьеры, и работая тренером супер-клуба „Динамо – Москва имени Михаила Воронина, не просто увлеклась Аргентинским Танго , но и входит в число его лучших российских исполнителей.
Итак, смотрите маленький ролик, сделанный мной с использованием очень хорошей программы „Power Director“:
Надеюсь, что маленькая презентация под названием “ What a wonderful Dance!?“ понравится всем, и Вы напишите мне свои отзывы и пожелания.
В свою очередь, обещаю что многие танцевальные жанры, не представленные в данном видео, а именно, наиболее популярные танцы народов Мира, найдут свое достойное место на моем сайте.