Tahor

I am delighted Natalia that you have seen the light! Irina is one of the finest classical Ballerinas in the world today, and as someone who has watched her endlessly on UK tours, I can say that without doubt she deserves the status of Prima. Of course all the hype is marketing to sell dvds and performance tickets - that is just commercial reality, the company is run as a business. But behind all that hype there is a glorious artistic talent fully deserving of the title. Quite frankly, the earlier comments that she would be a good corps dancer are an insult, and anyone that has actually seen her dance on stage that knows anything about ballet would not think such a thing. You have a very high standard for a corps dancer if you really believe that, which would put most dancers in the world out of a job. For all those that have seen her, she really is a great Prima Ballerina, a true artist, the best Odette-Odile there is right now. It was the loss of the main companies that they did not take her.

Yes Carbro, thanks for that information which I am perfectly well aware off, I have been watching Russian Ballet long enough to know this and agree with what you say. Perhaps you are not familiar with this particular company, but the point here is that this dancer IS the company (with Irina) to a very large extent, it is not as simple as one dancer not appearing out of a very large group of principals. The point I was making was actually to highlight this dancers absence on the 05-06 UK tour, and the poster references was to illustrate the irony. I am not so much concerned about the issue of dancers marketed verses dancers appearing, I am more concerned with the issue of this specific dancer missing the tour, absent from the company etc. Bring Back Yuri!!!!!

Gloukhikh / Mirov - More than Just the Poster Please! Russian dancers are often advertised on tours yet never for one reason or another show up – it seems to be an Anglo-Russian tradition! The recent loss of a great principal Russian male to the UK has been noticed. Where is Yuri Gloukhikh / Mirov hiding, the beautifully elegant partner of Irina Kolesnikova from the Tachkin ballet company? He was seen on posters all over the UK, but sadly did not grace a single stage here on the recent tour. I feel sure other readers may have noticed and lamented his absence, I heard many people in theatres asking where he was. Yuri is a supremely elegant dancer, a temperament rarely seen anywhere now; the refinement of his second act Giselle for example, seen here in the UK, was quite extraordinary and stunningly beautiful. Gloukhikh and Kolesnikova were absolute perfection together. Rarely has there been such poetry on stage between a great Ballerina and her Prince, and watching the two of them dance together was a magical experience for many of us. Great things are going on sometimes on these regional tours with smaller companies, this artist was a supreme example. Can we have him back please?! No doubt his appearance in the UK having fallen foul to balletic political intrigue, let us hope that Yuri, Tachkin himself, the impresario and all else involved can sort the situation out and give us the live version next year rather than just the poster! His absence is noticed, he is missed, and we need him back, please. Ironically the tradition of Russian male dancers appearing on tour posters but never on the tour itself has a long and proud tradition in the UK. Rather as happened with Gloukhikh does anyone remember the posters of Tsiskaridze outside the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2001…?

Irina is in my view now one of the greatest Ballerinas of our age. She has matured into a supreme artist, and I think based on current form there would be no reason at all while she would not be able to do very well within the Kirov theatre.The difference is there she would be one of many prima ballerinas, with the Tatchkin, she is supremely THE Prima, she has no rivals. Irina possesses a complete mastery of her strong technique, which now enables her to focus on the interpretation of roles completely. Her Act 4 Swan Lake is heartbreakingly beautiful with her "broken wings", her Odile is just out of this world - they are the most evil eyes I have ever seen, and her mastery of technique allows the seduction of Seigfried to be totally convincing. I urge all ballet fans to rush to see this extraordinary dancer, she is a secretly concealed gem, her fame is not as wide as deserved.But the Tatchkin company is where we should want to see her, for it is there that she is partnered by the great Yuri Gloukhikh, a dancer of the rarest sensitivity, noble quality and elegance. Theirs is truly an extraordinary partnership, go discover this and I think that whilst you may be left wondering why Irina is not in the Kirov, you will at the same time be glad that the partnership between her and Yuri exists and that it has been allowed to develop to reach these artistic heights.

Mikhail, Yes I did see the Ratmansky Cinderella in St Petersburg, and thought it truly awful!! Horrible choreography. Those awful season variations for the boys with those punk hairstyles. The corps de ballet sitting on steps at the back of the stage swinging their head from side to side to the music!! Most of the dancers hated this chreography too. I never saw Lea so can't comment on that. It is really beyond my understanding how you can compare the work of a master chreographer like Petit with an amateur like Ratmansky. They are not in the same class.

Gosh, I'm shocked to hear Queen of Spades described as in any way "lousy". How odd. It is a fantastic ballet, a masterpiece in my opinion. And I have, by the way, seen it live at the Bolshoi, not just on video......Ballet is an art of the theatre after all, not of the TV and I sometimes despair at arm chair critics that judge ballets from videos.... I in fact found the choreography not only to be extremely inspired, but also extremely sensitive and intelligent in it's use of Tch's 6th. Never did I detect any hint of un-musicality, quite the opposite in fact. Petit was inspired in his use of the music to invoke mood and character throughout the piece. I don't quite see the argument that is being played that just because the jury didn't give the choreographer the choreographer prize means that by default they do not think it great choreography, even through they gave prizes to the interpreters. This is rather like saying that if an Oscar jury gives an award to an actor for best portrayal within a certain film, but does not then also give the Director of the same film the award for best Director, that they are automatically saying the film is a badly directed film even if it was well acted. You cannot make such a loose generalisation. It is rarely possible and never advisable in any awards ceremony to give one particular work all the awards. It may well be that this jury felt they had to reward one or two aspects of what they recognised as a great theatrical triumph, and choose to reward the great interpreters of the lead roles. And who can blame them? Tsiskaridze was extraordinary in this role, truly amazing.It was a blazing success, and Leipa was not far behind him either.