Ballet in one act. Choreography and libretto by Georgy Kovtun.
Maurice Ravel's "Boléro", which is nowadays a musical business card of many symphony orchestras, was initially supposed to be a choreographic piece. It premiered on the 22nd of November 1928 at the Paris Opéra during the Ida Rubinstein event. The composer recalls: "In 1928, Ms Rubinstein commissioned me to write “Boléro” for an orchestra. It is a dance in moderate tempo, absolutely immutable melodically, harmonically and rhythmically. Moreover, the rhythm is continuously repeated by a snare drum. The only variable element is the crescendo of the orchestra". The piece became so popular that it assumed a significant position in the repertoire of many theatres worldwide. “Boléro” has already had one choreographic iteration on the stage of the Odessa Opera. Natalia Barysheva and Mykhaylo Petukhov (now – the theatre’s ballet pedagogues) once told us the story of Galatea with Ravel’s music. The choreographer was also Georgy Kovtun.
The “Boléro” tells the story of a strong-willed girl and two men in love with her. Both caballeros are temperamental and handsome, so the girl has a tough choice to make. How will the story end? It is up to the spectator to decide.