Tribute to Serge Lifar
A legendary choreographer from Kyiv
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DATE:May 8
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AT:3 p.m.
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STAGE:the Golden Foyer
As part of this year’s European Festival: Ukrainian Spring, the Royal Swedish Opera presents two performances in the Golden Foyer on May 8. The first of these has a ballet theme and is dedicated to the legendary Ukrainian choreographer Serge Lifar. Lecture, master class and performance by soloists from the Royal Swedish Ballet.
Natalia Bilous, researcher and director of the Serge Lifar Museum in Kyiv, talks about Serge Lifar’s life, the historical context and his move to France. Clairmarie Osta, étoile dancer at the Paris Opera, and Nicolas de Riche, ballet director at the Royal Swedish Ballet, talk about Lifar’s dance aesthetics and share personal memories. Soloists from the Royal Swedish Ballet perform selected choreographies by Serge Lifar.
Serge Lifar (1905–1986) was one of the most influential dancers and choreographers of the 20th century. Lifar played a crucial role in the reconstruction of French ballet. During his more than three decades as ballet master at the Paris Opera, he created over 200 works, strengthened the company and established neoclassicism as a new artistic direction. For his efforts, he was awarded the Legion of Honour and many other awards and prizes. Serge Lifar's unique style, artistic vision and passion for ballet shaped a new era in the art of dance.
Lifar was born in Kyiv with roots in an old Cossack family. Although he celebrated great triumphs in Paris, he always carried his homeland in his heart and dreamed of returning. He only saw Kyiv once again, in 1961, but his memory lives on in his hometown and his legacy is carried on, on the world's dance stages.
All excess proceeds go to the Ukrainian Institute.
»Not even the beautiful, radiant Paris could make me, a Kyiv native, forget the majestic Dnipro River.«
With
Natalia Bilous
Clairmarie Osta
Nicolas Le Riche
Dancers from the Royal Swedish Ballet
NN, piano
Presented in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden and Institut français de Suède.
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Serge Lifar - one of the most influential dancers and choreographers of the 20th century -
Natalia Bilous, researcher and director of the Serge Lifar Museum in Kyiv -
Clairemarie Osta -
Nicolas Le Riche, artistic director of the Royal Swedish Ballet
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