“Magic is art itself”: the world premiere of the ballet “Houdini” was presented in Kazan
At the IX StagePlatforma festival the ballet artists mastered the art of illusion, and on the stage levitation, disappearances and transformations took place
Harry Houdini became famous for being able to escape from the most hopeless traps. Now his tricks and biography have become material for a ballet performance. At the IX festival of contemporary ballet StagePlatforma in Kazan the world premiere of “Houdini” took place. In the production of Oleg Gabyshev classical dance neighbors with tricks, circus acrobatics and stage transformations. The basis of the libretto became the love story of the famous illusionist and his wife Bess, and one of the main characters of the performance becomes Fear, with which Harry Houdini is forced to constantly struggle. The main part in the premiere performance was performed by the festival producer Oleg Ivenko, the part of Bess — by Carolina Zaborne. Along with the premiere the audience was presented with last year's ballet “Poirot," and for the sake of this performance the competition commission of the “Golden Mask” flew to Kazan. Details — in the report of “Real Time.”
Personalities of the Kazan festival: from Milligan to Houdini
Over several years for the StagePlatforma festival a whole series of performances has already been created. The starting point for their creation became the biographies of famous people — real and fictional. “The Multiple Personalities of Billy Milligan," “Tesla," “Poirot," now — “Houdini”… Each hero gives the directors the opportunity to investigate a new theme and to search for unusual expressive means for the ballet stage. Each of these ballets is a discovery and a real magnet for spectators. The festival producer Oleg Ivenko tells:
— In each of these ballets for me there is something beloved. For example, in “Billy Milligan” — the struggle with depression and with the personalities. In “Tesla” — betrayal and finding inspiration in the form of electricity. In “Poirot” — detective resourcefulness; you are constantly vigilant and attentive to all the details. And Houdini — a master of acrobatics, an illusionist who fell in love with his assistant Bess, and we could not leave this story without attention.
In the program of the 2026 festival there are two performances: by tradition it is the premiere of the past season, “Poirot," and the world premiere of the current year — “Houdini.” By the way, the first evening of the festival was marked by the presence of very important guests: the expert commission of the national theater prize “Golden Mask” came to the viewing of “Poirot.” The performance passed the preliminary selection by video recording and was recommended for an in-person viewing. For StagePlatforma this is the first выход of a performance to such a stage of selection.
The festival takes place on the stage of the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theater named after Musa Jalil. The artists of its ballet troupe participate in the productions. The organization and financing of the festival is supported by the charitable foundation of “Tatneft” and the Ministry of Culture of Tatarstan.
How to weave illusion into the art of dance
At the base of the libretto is the love story of Harry and Bess. We see it through the eyes of Bess, who many years after Houdini's death conducts a séance in an attempt to contact her deceased beloved. Before us are recollections that appear in bright flashes. The most important milestones of the life of two people connected into a single whole: their meeting in the variety show, the beginning of joint work, the development of Harry's dizzying career, decades of writing the history of love…
A separate character of the performance becomes Fear in a terrible mask of death. It tries to shackle Houdini, not to let him take the next step, to stop him by all means. Thus before us are two personifications of the strongest human emotions — fear and love (Bess “is responsible” for it). Fear — in the connotation of death — in the end still wins, because Houdini died suddenly at 52, leaving Bess alone for many years. In the finale Death shatters the crystal ball. But we also see the victory of love — the whole story of Bess's recollections is built on this. And it is illustrated by illusions.
The author of the idea of the ballet and the producer, as always at StagePlatforma, was Oleg Ivenko. He also performed the main part on the evening of the premiere. Carolina Zaborne danced the part of Bess. On the second evening the main parts were given to Wagner Carvalho and Amanda Gomes. The part of Fear is performed by Anton Polodyuk.
The idea of the ballet “Houdini” turned out to be close to the choreographer Oleg Gabyshev even before the start of work: by his own admission, in childhood he was carried away by micro-magic and experimented with the appearance and disappearance of objects. The story of Houdini allowed him to transfer this enthusiasm into the professional sphere. For the production even a professional illusionist was attracted, and the artists of the ballet troupe had to work considerably to master the tricks. We see a shining coin that Harry and Bess playfully exchange during the birth of their love. We see a crystal ball materializing in Bess's hand when she tries to summon Harry's shadow. We see how colored handkerchiefs disappear and appear from the pockets of the heroes. We see a complex illusion when the heroes instantly change places in a tightly closed box.
However before us are not tricks for the sake of tricks. They become part of the narrative. Each serious illusion performed by the performers of the main parts designates a new chapter in the life of the characters.
— Tricks here are not an end in themselves. They symbolize definite stages in the life of the ballet heroes. This is the path of their development. All the more so since the story of Houdini and his faithful companion Bess is full of mystical, magical moments. Of course, they themselves created legends about themselves; truth and fiction are intertwined in them. But for the theater this idea became a real pearl, tells Oleg Gabyshev.
The work on the tricks required separate preparation from the artists. The team turned to a professional illusionist who helped select techniques suitable for stage performance. It was necessary to take into account not only the spectacularity but also the possibility of reproducing each element without failures. The choreography included manipulations with objects, passes and elements of acrobatics. For the ballerinas this became an especially serious test.
Oleg Gabyshev separately notes that while working on the performance it was important for him not to lose the boundary between the two genres. Even the most effective circus elements must remain subordinated to dance.
— Ballet is priority for us, and if I tried to go beyond this line, I was brought back. We have a ballet with magical elements that make the spectator think. The first impression always evokes an emotion, and this is the main thing, explained the choreographer.
“Magic is art itself”
For the visual solution of “Houdini” Leonid Alekseyev was responsible — the set designer and costume designer. He also designed last year's “Poirot," but in the two performances he used different artistic reference points. For the detective story the starting point became the era of Art Deco: oriental motifs, kimonos, tunic dresses and the new femininity. In “Houdini” the artist turned to recollections of the time when tricks and circus magic were part of mass culture.
The central element of the design became the portal, which must change the emotional perception of space. It refers to the circus world, but as the action develops it can become a place of the appearance of anxiety and fear.
For Leonid Alekseyev it is important not simply to filigree demonstrate technical techniques but to achieve that the spectator ceases to notice the boundary between the real and the artificial — that a real magic happens.
— I separate two types of tricks — some can be bought in any magic shop. The other — magic. I wanted to show the effect of magic, when you simply stop thinking about how it is done. You lose the feeling of the unreal. Artificial water becomes real, and flight becomes possible, he tells.
However behind the stage ease stand quite concrete engineering solutions. The decorations are made on the basis of metal welded constructions that allow expanding the possibilities of the stage and creating the effects of levitation. For their development calculations of loads and the participation of specialists were required. According to the artist, in total about 40 people work on the production part, and the preparation of the festival takes about half a year.
In Leonid Alekseyev's idea magic is not so much a successfully performed trick as a state in which the spectator for a time loses the customary reference points.
— Each time when I am asked how this is done, I want to answer with the words of David Copperfield: “It is simply magic.” One does not want to reveal the secrets. After all, magic is art itself. This is the feeling when a person stops understanding where he is. To make it so, to invent the recipe — this is the most difficult task for an artist! he smiles.
How magic sounds
The musical solution of the performance became the debut of the composer Lyaisan Abdullina in the ballet genre. Instead of a literal stylization for the 1920s the composer chose a freer solution. In her musical language minimalism and jazz are united, dixieland and the stylistics of soundtracks to the first sound Hollywood films. There are also special techniques responsible for creating a mystical atmosphere: thus, for the effect of a magical “rain” orchestral chimes, cymbals, violin pizzicato and harmonics are used. The music turned out astonishingly expressive and cinematic. Perhaps to invite Lyaisan Abdullina — a student of Elmir Nizamov — turned out to be a successful idea.
Oleg Gabyshev also notes the fact that it was precisely the female view that turned out to be decisive here. After all, the image of Bess — a woman who is next to the great illusionist — received a completely unique intonation in the score. This line — tender and bright, timid and anxious, mystical and desperate — sounds astonishingly truthful and harmonious. Here there is no artificiality — there is a pure and real feeling.
— It seems to me that Lyaisan felt this story in a special way. After all, behind every great man stands a woman. And therefore the music here has a feminine shade. Although it is very many-sided — there are also masculine motifs, and jazz, and drums, and circus motifs. It does not let either the spectator or the choreographer get bored. All these accents are very interesting. When we heard this music live with the orchestra and choir — we understood: this is what is needed, noted Oleg Gabyshev.
In the production eight musicians of the orchestra and eight artists of the choir are involved. Oleg Ivenko separately thanked the theater director Raufal Sabirovich Mukhametzyanov for the possibility of attracting additional forces. According to the producer, the expansion of the musical composition is one of the indicators of how much the festival has changed during its existence.
The tenth anniversary of StagePlatforma: Agatha Christie again
The next festival will become an anniversary one for StagePlatforma — the project will turn ten years old. Oleg Ivenko has already decided on the future production: he intends to continue turning to the works of Agatha Christie. But in honor of the anniversary Ivenko has conceived a ballet in two acts: it will be “Murder on the Orient Express.” And this time he plans to take on also the directing with the choreography.
At the same time the plans of the team are not limited to Kazan. Oleg Ivenko counts on the productions of StagePlatforma being able to be seen in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Another trip is already designated more concretely: in 2027 the festival team intends to bring “The Multiple Personalities of Billy Milligan” to Kazakhstan. To the current showing, according to the producer, representatives of other theaters came, considering the performances for possible further showings.
StagePlatforma is gradually turning from a festival venue into a project that counts on the independent life of its productions beyond Kazan too.