Ballet lovers Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 What a beautiful joy, after this continuous indigestion of Balanchine's , Forsythe's repertory, to watch the main classicals ! Only now we can appreciate these events, when the main repertory is not so frequent like in the past. What a sad situation !!! It is also a so big pleasure to see a huge audience after the quite empty hall during the "modern" repertory. Maybe this is mean that the main classicals are still the only to rise the true interest of the public in Russia ( and, we think, everywhere). We only hope that the today's ballet direction, will uderstand it ! ACT FIRST: Unfortunately, the main corps de ballet is now on tour in Cardiff so we have not seen the "cream" of them but ,in any case they danced well and precise all the first act. Good Marianna Yakovleva and Valeria Martiniuk ,among the "Giselle's friends". Very good and "ispired" also Pavel Moskvito on the role of Hans. Not really nice and convincing Sofia Gumerova in the main role. She is too tall ( and with a too short "ballet dress"), clumsy and with too faded features. Maybe she doesn't feel the role or maybe she simply needs of a good make up. Perhaps, no wonder if her dance-manner is " à la Balanchine" that have not really place here : too "nervouses" and agile mouvements of legs and arms without the right width. This is the new wrong tendency of the ballet direction. What to do if the theatre is losing his style dancing quite only a " stranger" repertory ? Her variation was not bad except of her insecure " tour-en-attitude". Her " mad scene" was also not convincing and even boring. Ilya Kusnetzov was also clumsy and technically faible in this act. His prince Albert was unpleasant, too cynic and sometimes absent. This is quite strange for him because, usually, he try to be very expressive everywhere ( sometimes too much till the parody). Fairly good the " peasants pas -de- deux " with Elena Sheshina and Vladimir Shklyarov even if with many technically mistakes in his variation and in her coda. SECOND ACT: The corps de ballet was very good and even during the whole act : good syncronism and precise lines as usual. Very nice and precise were also Ekaterina Kondaurova and Tatiana Tkacenko in "Monna" and "Zhiulma" . Gumerova seemed to feel more at ease in this act as Kusnetzov also. They danced well and with the right expressiveness ( even if his "cabrioles" in the variation, were quite poor). Victoria Tereshkina in the role of "Myrtha", was really superb. We think that it is really her best role at all .Her beautiful lines and amazing jump are really impressive here. Perhaps, to be ballerina of " second roles" is her holy place. Absolutely irritating and out of style, the last Kusnetzov's " jetes" to the Giselle's grave. They looked like funny gymnastic's exercises during the world competitions and they absolutely didn't give the impression of any pain or repentance as any mouvement has to , at this time. This is a further proof of a cheap taste of some dancers. Link to comment
Natalia Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Thank you very much for your review, BalletLovers. I was wondering how Gumerova performs as Giselle, as I cannot picture her in the role. Link to comment
Natalia Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 WAIT A MINUTE! I've just remembered something. Wasn't Daria Pavlenko supposed to be dancing Giselle at this performance (April 22)? This was one reason cited for her non-appearance as Juliet during the current Wales Millenium Center tour. Hmmm... I hope that Pavlenko is OK. Link to comment
Ballet lovers Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 WAIT A MINUTE!I've just remembered something. Wasn't Daria Pavlenko supposed to be dancing Giselle at this performance (April 22)? This was one reason cited for her non-appearance as Juliet during the current Wales Millenium Center tour. Hmmm... I hope that Pavlenko is OK. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We don't know. We don't think so. In any case it seems that with Pavlenko everything is O.K. Link to comment
Natalia Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 I checked my print-out of the April 2005 schedule & Pavlenko was indeed supposed to have danced Giselle on the 22nd. The current Mariinsky website shows Gumerova but it was originally shown as Pavlenko. I now see that Pavlenko is scheduled to danced Manon this Sunday, May 1...Easter Sunday in Russia. If any readers go, please post comments. (hint-hint) Link to comment
Marc Haegeman Posted April 27, 2005 Share Posted April 27, 2005 I checked my print-out of the April 2005 schedule & Pavlenko was indeed supposed to have danced Giselle on the 22nd. The current Mariinsky website shows Gumerova but it was originally shown as Pavlenko.I now see that Pavlenko is scheduled to danced Manon this Sunday, May 1...Easter Sunday in Russia. If any readers go, please post comments. (hint-hint) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi all, Pavlenko would have danced Giselle on May 22, but was indisposed after the gala in Toronto (and also had very little rehearsal time, as usual....). She started rehearsing and will normally dance Manon on May 1 with Tsiskaridze. Let's not forget her website where there is a calendar of her performances. Link to comment
DancingGiselle Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 I'm going to have to disagree with Ballet Lovers a bit on this one. Giselle is one of my favorite ballets (hence my user name), so I always look forward to seeing it performed. Unfortunately, my first Giselle at the Mariinsky was a HUGE disappointment. It wasn't all terrible, but it was listless, boring, and chock-full of technical mistakes. Well, the first (and biggest) mistake wasn't technical -- it was a mistake in casting. I bought my ticket hoping to see Daria Pavlenko, but she was replaced by Ms. Gumerova, who was absolutely awful in the role. She danced very mechanically, and she had the stiffest shoulders and arms I've seen in a long time -- so not Giselle! She captured none of Giselle's innocent enthusiasm and regarded her partner (Mr. Kuznetsov) as simply another dancer on stage, not as the love of her life. When she knelt down to bring the fabric of Bathilde's dress to her face, she reminded me of a fashion designer critically examining the quality of the material... I know that I sound harsh in appraising Ms. Gumelova, but I've seen her dance two roles -- Kitri and Giselle -- and she was VERY miscast in both. I haven't seen her do any Balanchine or Forsyth or anything (although I've seen these performances at the Mariinsky) so I suppose I have yet to see her at her best... Otherwise, the rest of the cast was okay but everyone (with the exception of pavel Moskvito, maybe) made huge mistakes and in general danced very listlessly. The entire performance was, in a word, boring. I regret the fact that I convinced my friends (who know very little about ballet) to come. On the other hand, I saw quite a good performance of Giselle at the Mussorgsky the following night. It wasn't amazing, but it was about two hundred times better than this one... Link to comment
Natalia Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 On the other hand, I saw quite a good performance of Giselle at the Mussorgsky the following night. It wasn't amazing, but it was about two hundred times better than this one... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Who danced the Moussorgsky Giselle, DancingGiselle? I've seen Lomachenkova & Khabilulina in the title role, both ethereal, light, tender. In other words, easy-to-lift and very effective in Act II! Unlike Gumerova, who is rather big-boned and earthy. Link to comment
rita Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Who danced the Moussorgsky Giselle, DancingGiselle? I've seen Lomachenkova & Khabilulina in the title role, both ethereal, light, tender. In other words, easy-to-lift and very effective in Act II! Unlike Gumerova, who is rather big-boned and earthy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have seen two Mussorgsky dancers in Giselle, and I liked them both: Oksana Shestakova and Elena Kotsyubira. Link to comment
DancingGiselle Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 On the other hand, I saw quite a good performance of Giselle at the Mussorgsky the following night. It wasn't amazing, but it was about two hundred times better than this one... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Who danced the Moussorgsky Giselle, DancingGiselle? I've seen Lomachenkova & Khabilulina in the title role, both ethereal, light, tender. In other words, easy-to-lift and very effective in Act II! Unlike Gumerova, who is rather big-boned and earthy. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Irina Perren danced Giselle -- she was also very ethereal, light, and tender in Act II, and she had a rather good mad scene in Act I. One of my main problems with Gumerova was that her mad scene involved some painfully bad and muddled acting. I had explained the plot of the ballet to friends who had never seen it before, but during intermission they told me that I must have remembered it wrong -- there was no way that the end of Act I was supposed to be a mad scene. It was THAT unconvincing! Link to comment
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