Bolshoi
Underground

Photographer: Bruno Aveillan
Texts: Zoé Balthus & Stéphan Lévy-Kuentz
Pages: 200
Size: 22×28,8 cm
Publisher: Au-Delà Du Raisonnable
Edition : 2012

At the time of Bruno Aveillan’s photographs, in March 2010, Die Fledermaus, an operetta by Johann Strauss, is the preoccupation of all the artists and employees of the Bolshoi, then under renovation. This work by the Viennese composer entered the Bolshoi’s repertory for the first time in its history. Two days from the historic opening night, La Chauve-Souris haunts them in the only way possible. Completely. Each one of them is extremely aware of being a link in a complex and precious chain, the fragility of which cannot suffer imperfection. The effervescence mounts, they are all linked to one another, and yet each being has withdrawn into itself, their roles take up all the space owed to them.

This superhuman effort unfolds, imperceptible, invisible to the non-believer. And yet the inner energy is diffused from link to link, from the depths of every soul present, resonating chords, from echoing music and song, all around and on stage, in the upper floors, the corridors, the passage ways, the make-up rooms, the dance studios. The metamorphosis takes shape. A privileged guest to the rehearsals, Bruno Aveillan has extracted their very substance. Bolshoï Underground no one really ever knows the phoenix that is the Bolshoi.