Ballet scenes in the operas of M. I. Glinka in the reviews of his contemporaries

The article discusses the problem of ballet scenes in the operas of M. I. Glinka, "A Life for the Tsar," and "Ruslan and Lyudmila," in the context of choreographic art of the 19th century. The author documents the composer's growing interest in dance and ballet theater, the place and significance of ballet scenes in opera productions of that time. The critical responses that emerged in the press after the premieres of Glinka's operas, containing judgments on the staging of the ballet scenes, are analyzed in the paper. As a result of the analysis, the author concludes that critics who highly appreciated the music of the dance scenes were critical of their choreographic embodiment, while those who focused on the ballet were dissatisfied with the music. Additionally, the author pays attention to the method of broad interpretation of opera music through the creation of folk dances based on it. As a result, the author concludes that the objective understanding of the significance of ballet scenes in Glinka's operas became possible only with the passage of time, but their practical influence on ballet and dance scenes in Russian operas in the second half of the 19th century is undeniable.