45 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

Thal - re. Somova in Etudes - White Nights 2005 was two weeks ago...that's what I meant.  Somova debuted in the full Etudes on/about June 30, 2005, just before she hopped on a plane to come to DC!  Every week, she seems to show up in a new ballet, back home.

re. Yana Selina - She's firmly in place at the 2nd-soloist level (one of the two flower girls in Don Q, for example) and I don't see her moving beyond that.  She's wonderful in what she does.  She has not been pushed beyond that in a while.

Elena Vostrotina must have a small injury or is being stiffled for other reasons.  She was originally scheduled to dance the matinee Medora in DC and ended up dancing only as one of the six demi-solo 'rose-holding girls' in the Jardin Anime scene (along with Iosifidi, Kondaurova, Selina, Androsova and one other who I did not recognize).  Tkachenko beat Vostrotina out for the Sat matinee Medora debut opportunity!  Now I wonder if Vostrotina's July 21 London Odette/Odile may be in jeopardy?  Whatever may be going on, we wish her health & no injuries!

NN

[Thalictum]

No, I made a mistake Natalia, I meant White Nights 2004 and I've
changed it in my post.  If my friend still has the program I'll try to check it. It's listed on the electronic affiche without any casting.

Mashinka, Scherbakov will dance 1 of the 4 Mercutios in London (apparently!).

[Mashinka]

Quote

Mashinka, Scherbakov will dance 1 of the 4 Mercutios in London (apparently!).

Thanks for that information, now I have to discover which out of the four he will/may appear in.  

I think looking at the list of dancers they're bringing this year; I'll be concentrating on catching the talented ones stuck at middle level, rather than the favoured members of the Kirov crèche.

[Thalictum]

Very good, idea, Mashinka, it's the people like Scherbakov who are indeed "stuck," who work hardest at proving themselves and creating something original and unusual onstage.  The abuse they suffer at the hands of the company even seems to give them a different emotional depth.

[Mashinka]

Natalia, last night Yana Selina danced the Neapolitan Dance with Maxim Khrebtov.

I was delighted to see Islom Baimuradov in the Spanish Dance and also spotted Nikolai Zubkovsky (uncredited) in the Hungarian Dance - I'm hoping he'll be cast in the drum Dance in Bayaderka next week.

The performance was wonderful with Lopatkina appearing as scheduled with Korsuntsev, who partnered her well.  Tonight is another good cast: Tereshkina and Kolb.  

Tomorrow evening it's Somova as Odette/Odile and I shall be going to the Coliseum to take a look at a new radical Swan Lake being danced by the Australians.

[Natalia]

Did anyone attend any of the programs subsequent to Swan Lake?

Romeo & Juliets?

Forsythes?

Balanchines?

La Bayadere - Soviet version (beginning today)?

Please post impressions!

[Cygnet]

FYI:  Latest cast change alert!

"La Bayadere"
7/28 Eve -  Dasha & Sarafanov -( ?? :mellow:)
7/29 Mat. - Victoria & Korsakov
7/29 Eve. - Diana (Covent Garden debut as Nikiya) & Fadeyev
7/30 Mat. - Victoria & Korsuntsev
7/30 Eve. - Uliana & Zelensky

(PS:  Dasha danced O/O on 7/22 with Kolb.  They were according to one review
I found , triumphant).

[Cygnet]

p.s.
"La Bayadere"
7/28 Eve -  Dasha & Sarafanov -( ?? :mellow: well, they've stuck it to her again)


[Edited to highlight what Cygnet added to her original message, directly above. - Natalia]

Edited by Natalia, 28 July 2005 - 12:19 PM.

[Natalia]

Thanks for these updates, Cygnet!  The positive spin to this is that Pavlenko gets the first Bayadere and, hence, will be the lucky lady being reviewed as Nikiya (as London critics usually receive comp tix to only the first-night of a particular ballet).

Related to this....I notice that the critics reviewed the second Forsythe performance & not the first. Then again, the "first night" for that program was the second performance, as the Forsythe bill premiered at the Sunday matinee.

[Cygnet]

Thanks Natalia for fixing my post!    The Battle of the Bayaderes should be very interesting.

[Kate B]

Natalia, on Jul 28 2005, 05:46 PM, said:

Did anyone attend any of the programs subsequent to Swan Lake?

Romeo & Juliets?

Forsythes?

Balanchines?

La Bayadere - Soviet version (beginning today)?

Please post impressions!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw Romeo and Juliet on Saturday night, and the first Forsythe on Sunday.  I'm going to La Bayadere on Saturday night.

I loved R&J - I always do - and from what I could see (last minute ticket, row S of the amphitheatre ) - Evgenia Obratsova was a perfect Juliet.  She was very light, very expressive, beautiful lines...

Forsythe was great.  I love Forsythe as a choreographer, and I thought it looked as though the Kirov were enjoying performing his work.  It was very exuberant, and I particularly enjoyed Approximate Sonata.  I thought that Tatiana Tcakencho (sp...?) should have got a bouquet - she really worked well in the show.

I am so excited about La Bayadere.  It will be my fourth Kirov Bayadere and in my opinion they are the absolute best at it because it is so fantastically over the top.

[Natalia]

Kate B -

I agree with you about Evgenia Obraztsova's Juliet. WOW!!!  All of the 'spin' that I had heard from my St Petersburg friends about her being the 'new Ulanova' in R&J is absolutely true. Not only does Obraztsova hit perfect classical positions but, more importantly, she has the dramatic ability to melt the heart of even the most jaded balletomane.  Gorgeous blonde youth with absolutely-perfect proportions. No bells-and-whistles frills; no hyper-extensions. She is Ulanova reborn.

Vishneva & Golub (and Dumchenko - not on this tour) are all lovely and passionate in the role...but there is only one true Juliet and her name is Evgenia Obraztsova. I feel so privileged to have been there to experience her London triumph.

WOW! WOW! WOW!  A thousand times WOW!!!!

Natalia Nabatova

Edited by Natalia, 29 July 2005 - 11:39 AM.

[Kate B]

La Bayadere on Saturday - I took a friend who'd never seen it and she was amazed.  This being my 4th Kirov Bayadere, I was rather blase but totally fell in love with Tatiana Tchakenko (I can never spell this right...)  She was amazing, fantastic, technically perfect.  I'd noticed her in the Forsythe last week and want to see more of her for sure.  

All the other things you'd expect from La Bayadere happened.  Solor was a fantastic jumper.  The Gold idol was unfortunately a bit puny.  I prefer them big, beefy, with big jumps.

My main disappointment was the missing 4th Act.  I'd been telling my friend there were loads of treats in store, and she'd been suitably impressed with the entrance of the shades and the Gold idol and the fakirs and the incongruous red Indians and all those crazy kinds of things. I'd left my programme at home, thinking I knew what version was going to be performed.  After Solor's dream I said to her, this isn't the end, but then the orchestra left and I realised that the Gods weren't going to get cross, and I felt it was a bit of an anticlimax.  But also the story didn't make enough sense!

It was a very good performance of La Bayadere though.  I do love the Kirov.

[Natalia]

Thanks, Kate B. Tkachenko has really been coming into her own lately.  She danced her first Kitri in DonQ at the Mariinsky, in late June, just before dancing her first Medora/Le Corsaire at the Kennedy Center.  Even though she doesn't possess the 'classic Vaganova Goddess' look -- she looks like the "junior" version of U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, IMO! -- she *is* a technical powerhouse and is one of the most musical among the current crop of Kirov ballerinas.  Tkachenko is definitely a good one to watch!

[Kate B]

Natalia, on Aug 2 2005, 02:46 PM, said:

Even though she doesn't possess the 'classic Vaganova Goddess' look -- she looks like the "junior" version of U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein, IMO!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think that's totally fair (I had to Google to find out who Diane Feinstein was) - but I can see what you're getting at.  Tkachenko is very attractive, in a wholesome kind of way.