Творчість Миколи Васильовича Гоголя в театрі й танці
Creative Work of Nikolai Gogol in Theatre and Choreography

Summary/Abstract: Тhe article investigates the characteristics and problems of the Ukrainian national theatre as well as literary contributions by N. B. Gogol in nurturing his creative principles of theatre and choreography. Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) was born in the village Velyki Sorochyntsi in the Poltava Oblast (province). He was a Russian-language writer; the literature fame came to him after the book of collected stories "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" (1831–1832). It is full of Ukrainian humor, folklore and ethnographical material, romantic mood and lyricism. Apart from literature Nikolai Gogol was fond of theatre and ballet, as dictums of the writer affirm in his article "Peterburgskiye zapiski 1836 goda" (St.-Petersburg’s Notes of 1836), as well as in the preparatory variant of this article "Peterburgskaya stsena" (St.-Petersburg’s Stage), and also in the "Selected Passages from the Correspondence with Friendsю On theatre, one-sided viewpoint of theatre, and unilaterality in general". As a follower of realistic life reflection in this type of art Nikolai Gogol wrote that the basis of ballet is made not by sets and costumes luxury, but by the dance in which nature of people should be uncovered, its life and life conditions as well. Dance is artistic work in which life and working activity of a person are revealed in a perfect artistic form. Also, choreographers ascertained that working activity of a person depends on dance. We can find interesting thoughts according to this in the works of a famous French ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre. In the article dedicated to a ballet performance Nikolai Gogol criticized his contemporary ballet for insufficient saturation by action. He considers that "efficiency" of ballet will strengthen when it is based on comic plots. All the most significant statements of critics concerning ballet were centered on the articles from the "Severnaya pchela" (Northern Bee) pages. The newspaper reflected the complications of the Russian ballet practice without breaking the limits of narrow ballet problems. It is non-accidentally that "Severnaya pchela" exactly monopolized ballet criticism in the 1830s. With that, new ideas in the culture (Romanticism) gradually consolidated in the critics’ consciousness. This understanding was occurring slowly. The criticism of romanticism could stand firm on the ground only with the victory of the romantic method in the artistic practice. Having come to St.-Petersburg Nikolai Gogol immediately got into the centre of the public literary life of the city. Here he was keen on a general aspiration of leading Russian literary society for folk character in respect to find the differences, peculiarities of life, characters, poetry of not only Russian people, but other Slavic peoples as well. The Ukrainian topic broadly penetrates his writings. In the letters from St.-Petersburg to his mother he asked her to describe peasant dress, clothes of the girls, garland etc. in details. Also, the peculiarities of the Cossack dress were interesting for him. He was interested in the Ukrainian wedding ceremony in details, in different superstitions, customs, national holiday of Kupala Night, games of round dances, shchedrivky, koliadky in Christmas tide and on the New Year Day. Nikolai Gogol has a great interest for the native land. Long since Myrhorod was the centre of Myrhorod Cossack Regiment which had especially distinguished itself during the national liberation movement led by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. People of Myrhorod were fighting at Korsun, Zbarazh, Zamost, Pyliava, and Berestechko with great fortitude. At that very moment the Myrhorod Regiment was led by Matvii Hladkyi who, according to the national legends, became the prototype of glorious Taras Bulba – truly a national hero. In time Nikolai Gogol became a renowned founder of critical realism in the Russian literature and theatre. The Nikolai Gogol’s creative work considerably influenced the development of the Ukrainian national theatre and its stage direction. In early 1874 Mykola Lysenko’s operetta "Rizdviana nich" (Christmas Night) was staged at the Kyiv Opera Theatre for the first time. It was accomplished in ethnographic and reliable manner by Mykhailo Starytskyi together with the conductor Ippolit Altani. Mykhailo Starytskyi worked attentively and carefully with every performer, helping to show the characters truthfully and persuasively, with the help of vocal and scenic means. As Volodymyr Loskyi remembered such deep producer’s work was a new and progressive business of that time opera stage because most of producers only "cheated" performers trying not to collide them together in a performance. Mykhailo Starytskyi demanded some deep life truth, reliable psychological and everyday details from opera actors. Together with Volodymyr Loskyi the producer persistently looked for a scenic image of Patsiuk (Rat) who is depicted differently in the opera, compared to that of in Nikolai Gogol’s narration.

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