Valentin Elizaryev. Flight Towards Life. How Ballet Is Born

Valentin Elizariev’s ballets formed a new type of ballet dramaturgy, based on a continuous action, musical-polysphonous choreographic images, metaphorical nature, and a variety of plasticity, as well as the juxtaposition, contrast, and harmony of individual scenes—unified by all the components of the performance. The author of the book interviewed stars of the world of art who learned and worked with Valentin Elizariev. In the book, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Boris Eifman, Rodion Shchedrin, Heinrich Mayorov, Nina Ananiashvili, Andris Liepa, and many others tell about how his ballets were born, the essence of ballet art, and the nature of creativity.