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Alexander Gorsky, a contemporary of Marius Petipa, is known for restaging Petipa’s classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and The Nutcracker. Gorsky “sought greater naturalism, realism, and characterization” in ballet. He valued acting skills over bravura technique ( a showy display of skills such as many turns or high jumps.) His interpretations of ballets were often controversial and he often used artists outside the dance world to create sets and costumes. Gorsky gave continuity to the plots of Petipa’s ballets and removed excessive choreography that did not relate to the story.

Early Life
The Russian ballet choreographer Alexander Gorsky was born August 6th 1871 outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. When he turned eight his parents hoped to send him to the School of Commerce and his sister to the Imperial Ballet School both in St. Petersburg. After being accepted to the School of Commerce he went along with his sister to the Imperial School of Ballet. Officials of the school insisted he also be a student there as well as his sister. His parents accepted and Alexander became a student at the Imperial Ballet School

Early Career
Gorsky was taught by Platon K. Karsavin, N. I. Volkov, and the popular Marius Petipa. Upon graduation of the ballet school he joined the company and moved up in rank from corps de ballet, coryphée (a dancer who performs in small ensembles), to solo dancer. He danced roles in La Fille mal gardee, The Magic Flute, and Flora’s Awakening. In 1895 Alexander Gorsky developed a friendship with V.I Stepanov who was creating a system of dance notation. Upon Stepanov’s death Gorsky made it his duty to teach Stepanov’s notation and was appointed to teach it at The Imperial Ballet School

In 1900 Alexander Gorsky was nominated to be premier danseur( principal male soloist) of the St. Petersburg Ballet only to be moved to the Moscow Ballet as regisseur (manager) eight days later. What was meant to be a temporary move became permanent. The school was creating many talented students but the company was a mess and lacked leadership. Alexander Gorsky was manager, choreographer, and a teacher to the Moscow Ballet( Known today as The Bolshoi Ballet). In his teaching he used “ free dance movements in contrast to the academic, frozen forms” of previous classical ballet style. He was inspired by Isadora Duncan who was famous for rejecting ballet and believed dance should be a natural expression of the soul.

Choreography
Alexander Gorsky choreographed, restaged, and revived many ballets. He created many of his own ballets but it was his restaging of Marius Petipa’s ballets that have become more established well known ballets. Some say he paved the way for Michel Fokine’s work Some of Gorsky’s ballets were Gudule’s Daughter, Salammbo, Etudes, Dances of the Nations, Eunice and Petronius, and Love is Quick. Of the Moscow Ballet’s classical repertory Gorsky revived La Fille mal gardee (Petipa) seven times, Swan Lake (Petipa/ Ivanov)five times, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, and Raymonda. He also revised The Nutcracker and The Humbacked Horse by Lev Ivanov

Don Quixote
The largest change that Gorsky made to Petipa’s choreography was the action of the corps de ballet. Instead of being a moving background as the corps often is, they became an important part of the drama. They bustled around the stage breaking the symmetry and lines typical of Petipa. Their movement was often culturally relevant, playful, and realistic of a group of people. (Souritz 31) Some fans of ballet thought the new version was a masterpiece and rushed to Moscow to see it. Others such as Alexander Benois thought it was a mess “typical of amateur performances .”  However  “the dynamic, stormy rhythm, and easy lighthearted gaiety  of Don Quixote, as we know it today are due in great part to Gorsky ”

Swan Lake
By 1920 Gorsky had made several versions of Swan Lake. Swan Lake had been changed many times and was considerably different from Petipa’s and Gorsky’s St. Petersburg Ballet’s version. He redid the pheasants’ waltz from the first act, added character dancing, lost the straight geometric lines of Petipa, and ended the first act with the dancers carrying torches (Souritz 116). The second act was also changed to be more dramatic. The swans ran in circles and in confused flocks and in a way critics found intolerable. In the third act, the waltz of the prospective brides, originally danced by the corps de ballet, was given to the soloists.