28 replies to this topic

[Kevin Ng]

It seems that nobody has mentioned here the several etoiles of Paris Opera Ballet who I think are among the greatest danseurs in the world today - Laurent Hilaire, Nicolas Le Riche, Manuel Legris.  What star quality they all have, especially the first two.

[Estelle]

Kevin, of course I agree with you!   (But I'd put Legris as high as Le Riche, and even
higher than Hilaire). I'd also list Charles Jude (recently retired),
and among younger dancers, Jean-Guillaume Bart seems
very promising (and perhaps also Yann Bridard and
Herve Courtain).

[Lillian]

I agree about Armand. I was in class with him in France and I have never seen such a natural dancer. His turns are incredible. He stays up on demi-pointe at the end of six pirouettes. He looked so blasé in class. And talk about gorgeous - like a young Oliver Reed. This was in 1985, so he must have been quite young. I later saw him as Paris at the London Festival ballet's Romeo and Juliet. He was much better up close!

[Kevin Ng]

Tay, if you are so keen about Patrick Armand, who is now a principal of English National Ballet (ENB), you should follow the company's performances in Britain.  I saw a lot of his performances in London in the 1980s when he was with ENB before he joined Boston Ballet.

I last saw him perform Siegfried during the ENB's tour to Hong Kong, and was quite impressed.  However I have always found his line too lumpy for my taste.  I prefer a danseur noble with a purer line, such as those I have mentioned above.

[Paquita]

I've never seen Vladimir Malkhov  perform live before, but he's supposed to be quite good. Has anyone here seen him?
Aleksander Antonijevic is a rising star in Canada. He can perform very difficult leaps and turns, but also has a really clean line & extension and overall technique. He's a leftie dancer, so in a lot of choreography he's been forced to do triple pirouettes and stuff on his 'bad' side, so he is now very strong on both sides.

[Estelle]

Is Patrick Armand a relative of the teacher and former dancer
Colette Armand?

[Manhattnik]

Malakhov is a very great dancer, and a great stylist. He works his roles out very carefully, and you get the feeling he always knows exactly who his character is, and what he should be doing, at any moment. It's a treat to watch him, not just for his technique and lovely line, but because of the many subtle and carefully realized details with which he'll reward the observant.

In some ways, he makes me think of a super-charged Ivan Nagy. (I guess I'm showing my age here...)

However, having said that, I must also admit that Malakhov's technique can be somewhat lacking in the truly difficult stuff. He sometimes reaches a level where, if he goes beyond it in difficulty, the poise and grace go away, however briefly. It's jarring, and, while on most onther dancers, Malahkov's slight lapses at the top end of the technical spectrum would still be quite an accomplishment, for Malakhov, well, I always find myself wishing he'd be so perfect through the entire spectrum of his technique.

[Lillian]

Estelle I believe that may be so. I remember hearing both his parents were dancers and teachers.

[Kevin Ng]

Angela and Manhattnik, I agree that Malakhov is one of the greatest male dancers today.  I was told that he is the favourite and highest paid guest star in Japan.

I can still remember my first viewing of Malakhov in London in the summer of 1988, when he danced Siegfried with the Moscow Classical Ballet of which he was then a member.  He had such an effortless high jump.  I saw his Siegfried again in 1990 when Moscow Classical returned to Sadler's Wells in London.

I saw relatively little of him in recent years.  I saw him once with ABT in New York in 1996.  Last year (1998), I saw him in "Giselle", "Etudes", and "La Sylphide" Act 2 with ABT.  His Albrecht was most moving.  I can still remember one highlight of his amazing virtuosity.  In his Act 2 solo, it was unforgettable to see Malakhov, after each cabriole, land on the ground arching his body so far backward - I hadn't seen this step from any other danseur before.

I read in the Japanese monthly "Dance Magazine" that Malakhov is to dance Giselle with Alessandra Ferri in Tokyo in early Sept.  However, since I don't know Japanese, I cannot figure out with which ballet company they are dancing.