X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Flames of Paris


Anastasia Goryacheva

In 2009 she player a role of Swanilda in Coppélia and a year prior to it participated in the Alexei Ratmansky's productions such as Flames of Paris where she played a role of Adeline and Zina in the Limpid Stream.

Flames of Paris

Flames of Paris (original Russian title Plamya Parizha) is a classical ballet with music by musicologist and composer Boris Asafyev based on songs of the French Revolution, and originally choreographed by Vasily Vainonen, with design by Vladimir Dmitriev.

The original production and choreography was reconstructed in 2008 by Alexei Ratmansky for the Bolshoi Ballet and is available on DVD with Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova (Bel Air Classiques).

The choreography is mostly classical, but for the part of Therese, for example, Vainonen chose Leningrad character dancer, Nina Anisimova: she danced only character dances, displaying strong, expressive folk movements which symbolize the energy and the spirit of the crowd.

In composing the choreography for this rich four-act ballet, Vasily Vainonen drew upon many different sources, as did the composer Boris Asafiev: The Flames of Paris blends classical and character dancing, court music and popular songs, solo performances and huge group scenes.



see also