Ivanov, Lev

Ivanov, Lev (lyĕf ēvä`nôf), 1834–1901, Russian dancer, teacher, choreographer, and ballet-master. Ivanov was assistant to chief ballet-master Marius Petipa at the Imperial St. Petersburg Theatres and was instrumental in the development of the classic romantic ballet in Russia. When Petipa fell ill, Ivanov created the choreography for The Nutcracker (1892) to the music of Tchaikovsky. After Tchaikovsky's death, the previously unsuccessful Swan Lake (1877) was revised with choreography by Petipa and Ivanov, each doing alternate acts in varying styles. His other major works include revivals or stagings of La Fille Mal Gardée, The Enchanted Forest, The Magic Flute, and Cinderella. Ivanov sought a closer relationship of dance and music, thereby influencing the work of later choreographers, including Michel Fokine.

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Ivanov, Lev (Ivanovich)

(born Feb. 18, 1834, Moscow, Russia—died Dec. 24, 1901, St. Petersburg) Russian dancer and choreographer. He joined the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg in 1852 and became lead dancer in 1869. In 1885 he was appointed assistant ballet master under Marius Petipa. He is best known for his choreography of The Nutcracker (1892) and parts of Swan Lake (1895), which he based closely on the structure and emotional content of the music rather than emphasizing virtuoso technique.

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Ivanov, Lev Ivanovich 

Born Feb. 18 (Mar. 2), 1834, in Moscow; died Dec. 11 (24), 1901, in St. Petersburg. Russian ballet dancer and choreographer.

Upon graduating from the St. Petersburg Theatrical School in 1852, Ivanov was accepted into the Imperial Ballet, where he became premier danseur in 1869. He was the first to perform the roles of Gyges in Pugni’s Le Roi Candaule and Basil and Solor in Minkus’ Don Quixote and La Bayadere. In 1885 he became assistant balletmaster of the Mariinskii Theater, working with M.I. Petipa. In 1887, Ivanov staged the ballets The Enchanted Forest by Drigo and The Tulip of Harlem by Schell in the Romantic tradition. Exceptional musicality allowed him to create outstanding models of the symphonic treatment of the dance, both character (the Polovetsian dances in Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, 1890) and classical (dance of the snowflakes in The Nutcracker, 1892, and Acts II and IV in Swan Lake, 1895, both by Tchaikovsky). The poetic quality of the characters was embodied by Ivanov in perfect choreographic form. His work represents the highest point of the academic style in the history of Russian ballet.

REFERENCE

Krasovskaia, V. Russkii baletnyi teatr vtoroi poloviny XIX veka. Leningrad-Moscow, 1963. Pages 337–401.

V. M. KRASOVSKAIA