The  Legend of Ohrid – Reception of Balletization of the Dance Tradition

Amra Latifić

doi:10.5937/newso2158173L

Amra Latifić Singidunum University in Belgrade, Faculty of Media and Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/newso2158173L

Keywords: ballet, balletization, folklore, folk dance, modernistic, postmodernistic, anthropological, syncretism

Abstract

The paper discusses the interpretations of the choreographic aspects of different versions of the performance of the ballet The Ohrid Legend by Stevan Hristić. In the choreographies of this ballet, ballet vocabulary is combined with folklore motifs, using the principle of balletization of folklore. This choreographic approach has produced a pluralism of opinions on the ballet critical scene – from the modernization of folklore elements to views that the work still belongs to the traditional ballet choreographic structure. Pluralism of opinion provides an opportunity to open new approaches in the interpretation of the choreography itself. In this paper, an anthropological approach is treated, based on the intersection of different styles of play.

Author Biography

Amra Latifić, Singidunum University in Belgrade, Faculty of Media and Communications

Amra Latifić was born in 1980 in Belgrade. She graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, department for Russian language and literature, as well as from The Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, department for Acting. She got her PhD in 2006 in the field of interdisciplinary studies from the Rectory of the University of Arts in Belgrade, with a topic taken from Russian avant-garde art. She published the following books: Paradigms of Russian avant-garde and postmodern art (Čigoja štampa, 2008); The idea of acting: performative artecosmism (Čigoja štampa, 2011), Cosmopolitan shine of the Belgrade white ballet (Čigoja štampa, 2018); A life without compromise for art and peace. Jelena Santic: essays, records, comments (Fondacija „Jelena Šantić“; Grupa 484; Istorijski Arhiv Beograda, 2021). She translated from Russian a book by Mikhail Esptein Sola Amore (Center for media and communications, 2010). She published numerous professional papers in the sphere of art in national and foreign magazines, took part in many forums and international festivals in the sphere of culture and art. She developed professionally in Russia and Italy. Now she works as an Associate Professor on the Faculty of Media and Communications of the Singidunum University in Belgrade, where she teaches subjects related to visual communication, culture, art, acting, and public performance.