Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

October 2005 Tour to Berkeley


Recommended Posts

The Kirov/Mariinski will perform Sleeping Beauty from Tuesday 12, October through Sunday, 16 October at Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.

The casting on the website today is:

October 12: Diana Vishneva - Igor Zelensky - Uliana Lopatkina

October 13: Ekaterina Osmolkina - Leonid Sarafanov - Irma Nioradze

October 14 : Natalia Sologub - Andrian Fadeev - Olga Esina

October 15 (2:00PM): Olesia Novikova - Vladimir Shkliarov - Ekaterina Vostrotina

October 15 (8:00PM): Diana Vishneva - Igor Kolb - Uliana Lopatkina

October 16: Irma Nioradze - Andrian Fadeev - Olga Esina

http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents/...vents/kirov.php

(I'm not sure if Cal Performances will update the site if the casting changes.)

Link to comment

I just bought my tickets this morning. I am very excited to see the performance. I will be attending Sunday afternoon's final performance as this works best for me. I will see Nioradze - Fadeev - Esina (Lilac, I assume). Frankly, I would be happy to see any cast as I haven't seen the Kirov much in the last few years. I have (searching here) read some nice things about Andrian Fadeev. I believe I saw Irma Nioradze dance in Les Sylphides and thought her lovely...

Link to comment
I see that Alina Somova is now listed as Aurora for the 14th.  Esina is still the Lilac.

I'm almost tempted to buy tickets for that one, just to see what the fuss is all about. If I can afford them. :)

BalletNut - buy the tickets! Farce, like history needs witnesses! Did a miracle take place over the summer that we don't know about :mellow:?

(Personally, I'd pass on Somova. Pardon my French, (d----- to h---): Per her reputation, IMO if she couldn't handle O/O or Nikiya in Act 3 of Bayadere, there's a very strong possibility that she can't handle Aurora either).

Link to comment
I see that Alina Somova is now listed as Aurora for the 14th.  Esina is still the Lilac.

I'm almost tempted to buy tickets for that one, just to see what the fuss is all about. If I can afford them. :)

BalletNut - buy the tickets! Farce, like history needs witnesses! Did a miracle take place over the summer that we don't know about :mellow:?

(Personally, I'd pass on Somova. Pardon my French, (d----- to h---): Per her reputation, IMO if she couldn't handle O/O or Nikiya in Act 3 of Bayadere, there's a very strong possibility that she can't handle Aurora either).

I 've seen Somova once, at the so called "Kirov Spectacular" in DC this past January. It was also the only time I've seen Lopatkina. Somova is blonde, long legged and very pretty. She is also prone to Zakharova/Guillamesqe hyperextensions. At the performace I saw she & Sarafanov did the pas de deux from Le Corsaire. I found her dancing somewhat brittle, and it seemed like she had a phony smile plastered on her face throughout. Part of that may have been due to the too much too soon syndrome but in hindsight she may also have been terrified - turns out Sarafanov actually dropped her out of one of those overhead lifts, failed to get her up into another lift and then led her out to the front of the stage for a curtain call just as the curtain was coming down. She had to jump back at the last minute to keep it from coming down on her head.

Hopefully she'll be more relaxed dancing with Fadeev, but I think the bottom line is that if you like a neoclassical line & hyperextensions you will like her. If you like a classical line in the classics then you won't. If you're only planning to see one performance I wouldn't choose hers, but if you're going to catch a couple it could be interesting...

Link to comment

Frankly, I think I'd rather see Nioradze as Carabosse than Aurora.....

I've only seen her twice, as the Firebird (horrifying) and as Zobeide (stunning), when the Kirov did their Fokine program -- oh, yes, I also saw her as the ballerina in Rubies, in which she was overwrought but plausible....

Her Firebird was certainly a powerful individual, but the interpretation was so amped-up, hysterical, and her lines so turned-in and spiky it put me in mind of the Trockaderos....

Perhaps she can also do well-bred; it's possible....

Marc, what do you think?

Link to comment

Oh dear, Paul! :) Well, the great thing about Sleeping Beauty is that there is just so much else to enjoy, even if Aurora may leave something to be desired...This is why I prefer this ballet to Swan Lake! All the fairy variations, Blue Bird Pas de Deux, etc...One is able to see a variety of soloists dancing wonderful variations.

Link to comment

Gina, on the very same logic that you state, I once attended a SB despite an Aurora I was bound to dislike. Hey, it's not like Giselle (or your example, Swan Lake), dependent on the ballerina. There's plenty else going on . . . . .

Among those I went to see were three or four prologue fairies, Lilac, the Prince, and several of the wedding soloists. It was not enough. Sleeping Beauty needs an Aurora who can deliver the goods. It is like Giselle/Swan Lake.

Link to comment

Yes, Paul, Irma Nioradze would be on much better grounds as Lilac than as Aurora. I rather liked her as Lilac Fairy, but yeah, that was ten years ago and it's somewhat surprising she is listed now.

As a friendly reminder to anyone, please remember preliminary Mariinsky casts are liable to change and what is announced here now, won't necessarily be what you will actually see!

Just think like Gina and be happy to see any cast. :)

Link to comment
As a friendly reminder to anyone, please remember preliminary Mariinsky casts are liable to change and what is announced here now, won't necessarily be what you will actually see!

Just think like Gina and be happy to see any cast.  :tomato:

Marc, I think that is probably wise advise. I've sort of been toying with the idea of traveling from NJ to Detroit, I'd like to see Visneva/Zelensky/Lopatkina, but I'm thinking it's a long way to travel for something so chancy.

And It's not like I'd like to see the Sergeyev version for it's own sake. It can understand why some love it , but I'm not one of them.

Richard

Link to comment
As a friendly reminder to anyone, please remember preliminary Mariinsky casts are liable to change and what is announced here now, won't necessarily be what you will actually see!

Just think like Gina and be happy to see any cast.  :tomato:

Marc, I think that is probably wise advise. I've sort of been toying with the idea of traveling from NJ to Detroit, I'd like to see Visneva/Zelensky/Lopatkina, but I'm thinking it's a long way to travel for something so chancy.

And It's not like I'd like to see the Sergeyev version for it's own sake. It can understand why some love it , but I'm not one of them.

Richard

I want to see the same cast as you in Detroit, but I am going to role the dice since I only live an hour from downtown Detroit.

Link to comment

From Diana Vishneva's website:

Oct 28 2005 Berlin: STAATSOPER The Sleeping Beauty

Oct 26 2005 Berlin: STAATSOPER The Sleeping Beauty

Oct 15 2005 San Francisco: Berkeley, Zellerbach The Sleeping Beauty

Oct 12 2005 San Francisco: Berkeley,Zellerbach Hall The Sleeping Beauty

Oct 8 2005 Los Angeles: Music Center The Sleeping Beauty

Oct 5 2005 Los Angeles: Music Center The Sleeping Beauty

I tend to believe her site--she turned up for every listed performance in NYC this Spring. Naturally, especially in such a physical endeavor as ballet, things can change. Hopefully, the site hasn't been updated in a while (her last personal responses seem to have been entered at the end of July): so one can hope for the opening night performance in Detroit (as reported in the Detroit News on September 17).

http://www.vishneva.ru/eng/

Link to comment
Her site matches the listed casting at the L.A. Music Center's web site.  The casting for all performances is listed there under Dance and it seemed to me that the casting roster was quite similar to the Berkeley dates........

Yes, except the Music Center still shows Sologub cast for 10/7 , which is unlikely since the Berkeley casting is more recent & it shows Sologub replaced by Somova. Also - no sign of Pavlenko in LA.

Well, I've never seen either Kirov production of Sleeping Beauty live, and cheap airfares from NY to LA have helped me decide to make the trip out for the 10/5 and 10/6 performances. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the opening night casting will hold,and that Pavlenko will show up as the Lilac Fairy on the second night!

Link to comment

Extensive casting is up on the Cal Performances site:

http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/presents/.../kirov_cast.php

The Opening Night casting (Oct. 12) sounds identical to the LA Opening Night, which is discussed on this thread.

The King

    Vladimir Ponomarev

His Queen

    Elena Bazhenova

Princess Aurora, their daughter

    Diana Vishneva (10/12; 10/15 E)
    Ekaterina Osmolkina (10/16 M)
    Alina Somova (10/14)
    Olesia Novikova (10/13 and replaces Irma Nioradze for 10/15 M)

Prince Desire

    Igor Zelensky (10/12)
    Leonid Sarafanov (10/13; 10/16 M)
    Vladimir Shkliarov replaces Andrian Fadeev (10/14)
    Anton Korsakov (10/15 M)
    Andrian Fadeev replaces Igor Kolb (10/15 E)

Bridegrooms of the Princess

    Alexander Kurkov, Maxim Chaschegorov replaces Ruben Bobovnikov, Dmitry Semionov, Vladimir Shkliarov

Lilac Fairy

    Uliana Lopatkina (10/12; 10/15 E)
    Olga Esina (10/14) and replaces Irma Nioradze (10/16 M)
    Elena Vostrotina (10/15 M) and replaces Daria Pavlenko (10/13)

Tendernees Fairy

    Ksenia Ostreykovskaya (10/12; 10/13)
    Daria Sukhorukova (10/14; 10/15; 10/16)

Vivacity Fairy

    Tatiana Tkachenko

Generosity Fairy

    Yulia Kasenkova

Courage Fairy

    Yana Serebriakova

Lightheartedness Fairy

    Yana Selina

Diamond Fairy

    Viktoria Tereshkina (10/13; 10/15 E)
    Tatiana Tkachenko (10/15 M)
    Irina Golub (10/14; 10/16 M)
    Ekaterina Osmolkina (10/12)

Sapphire Fairy

    Yana Serebriakova

Gold Fairy

    Yulia Kasenkova

Silver Fairy

    Daria Sukhorukova

Carabosse Fairy

    Igor Petrov (10/12; 10/14; 10/15 E)
    Roman Skripkin (10/13; 10/15 M)

Catalabutte

    Andrey Yakovlev

Galifron

    Andrey Yakovlev

Servant

    Islom Baymuradov

Princess Florina

    Irina Golub (10/15 M)
    Yulia Bolshakova (10/12)
    Sofia Gumerova (10/13; 10/14)
    Ksenia Ostreykovskaya (10/16) and replaces Daria Pavlenko (10/15 E)

The Blue Bird

    Anton Korsakov (10/12; 10/16)
    Vasily Scherbakov (10/13; 10/14)
    Dmitry Simeonov (10/15 E)
    Maxim Chaschegorov (10/15 M)

The White Cat

    Yana Selina

Puss in Boots

    Anton Lukovkin

Little Red Riding Hood

    Elena Yushkovskaya replaces Yevgenia Obraztsova

Wolf

    Nikolay Zubkovsky

Maidservant

    Lira Khuslamova

Huntsman

    Anton Lukovkin

Maids of Honors

    Daria Sukhorukova, Yana Serebriakova, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Elena Vostrotina (10/13; 10/14; 10/16)
    Daria Sukhorukova, Yana Serebriakova, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Olga Esina (10/12; 10/15)

Young Ladies

    Elena Yushkovskaya, Yevgenia Obraztsova, Yana Selina, Svetlana Ivanova

Nereids

    Elena Vostrotina, Olga Esina

NOTE: Casting is subject to change.

Edited based on the casting insert in the Cal Arts/Berkeley Program on 12 October.

Link to comment

I travelled to Berkeley to see Sleeping Beauty and was quite disappointed on the whole. From the audience reaction, I expect this to be a very small minority view.

"Where's the Plie?"

If I had one overriding thought throughout last night's performance of Sleeping Beauty, that was it. I saw dancer after dancer with long, pencil-thin legs looking superb in sousous and bouree -- and in arabesque once the position was attained -- but feeling two-dimensional when movement and transitions were called for.

An exception was Uliana Lopatkina, whose beautiful and expressive arms and neck, and fluid epaulement gave her an authority that not even Vishneva had. (She didn't have to plie -- she was so alive above the waist.) As a character, though, I thought there was zero chemistry between her and Vishneva, and I found Lopatkina's Lilac Fairy rather static and distant. I am sure this is partly because of the way the role was truncated in the scenes that mattered to the story and characterization -- mitigating Carabosse's curse and leading Desiree to the vision and then to the sleeping Aurora.

When I read that Sergeyev's production reduced the mime, I had mistakenly assumed that this was primarily from the second act, around the Vision Scene. What I was not prepared for was the incomprehensible curse scene in the Prologue. Carabosse strutted around the stage like a caricature that a young boy would make of an overbearing, spinster teacher. In this condensed version of the curse, there was neither buildup -- Aurora would grow up, Aurora would grow into a beautiful young lady, Aurora would dance away at her debut (doesn't sound so bad, maybe Carabosse is not so bitter after all...) and then she'll prick her finger on a spindle and GOTCHA die -- nor any indication of whether the bad thing coming would be a hurricane, nuclear explosion, disappearance, or some unnamed disaster. Would the court be destroyed? There was not much indication that Aurora herself was the target.

The curse was "mitigated" by a series of arabesques on the diagonal, with the Lilac Fair pointing at Carabosse and Carabosse backing downstage. It looked like a power struggle, with the Lilac Fairy winning the battle, but with an enfeebled "I'll be back" Wylie Coyote exit by Carabosse. (Accompanied by bent over addled followers in black, and silly bat-like creatures who had as much power as a stuffed toy.) Besides a coherent story line, what was missing was sense that the Court both underplayed the power and importance of Carabosse's curse and then defied fate. The demand that the Lilac Fairy make it all better, and the bittersweetness of her inability to remove all consequences was nowhere to be found. In this production, the King and Queen promptly forgot the curse -- no extra security to protect Aurora; the only character who remembered it was Catalabutte, who tried to grab the bouquet that was presented by the unknown crone. The rest of the Court had amnesia.

Around the Vision Scene there was little development. The Lilac Fairy appears in a flowing lilac "nightie," and the pas de deux was a bit strange, as Lewis Segal pointed out in his review in the Los Angeles Times; between the costumes and the supported arabesque penches it did feel a bit intimate, but was, thankfully, rather short. The Prince didn't need anyone's help doing anything, it seemed: he found Aurora and figured out on his own that to give her a quick peck her on the cheek was the way to revive her and the court, where he promptly ignored the revived King and Queen. (As a Prince, he'd be expected to pay his respect to the ruling monarchs, just as England's Princess Anne curtseyed to the modern oil monarchs of the Middle East. Longevity and accomplishment do not outrank rank.) The only thing left for the Lilac Fairy to do was to show up in the final scene, back in her Court tutu, to give her final blessing in front of a very effective fountain effect upstage center.

I would have preferred that the first intermission between the Prologue and Act I been cut, and the mime restored to give the ballet some meaning. Sleeping Beauty is not a pure dance drama or an abstract ballet. Cutting the mime made the dancing portions seem short and incomplete to me, and for all of the people on it, the stage looked strangely empty, except when the students made their appearances.

The most effective mime in the entire production was between the King, Catalabutte, and the Servant. First the King OKs the guest list. (Catalabutte repeats the OK to the servant, with the same gestures the King uses.) When Carabosse appears and demands to know why she was not invited, the King blames Catalabutte, who then blames the servant. But when Carabosse rips off Catalabutte's wig and tears out his hair, the servant comforts him, when he could have been vengeful. Neither Catalabutte nor Galifron (the dancing master who is blindfolded at the beginning of Act II) is played as a buffoon, which is common to almost every other production of the ballet I've seen. (Both parts were danced/played by Andrey Yakovlev.) The most effective characterizations in the dancing roles were the suitors: each had his own personality, and for the first time I've seen the ballet, they were not anonymous corps members who prayed that they wouldn't knock Aurora off pointe in the Rose Adagio.

I'm not sure I remember which Fairy was which properly, with the exception of Yana Selina's Carefree Fairy, which is very stylized, and which she performed charmingly. The dancer wearing the pinkish/apricot tutu is the one who started with the energy I'd been missing until that point, but it died out a bit toward the end of her variation. I think it must have been Yulia Kasenkova, because when she reappeared as the Gold Fairy in the last act, her energy and three-dimensional dancing was one of the highlights of the evening. (At last, a plie and a big juicy one at that!) Selina was delightful as The White Cat, as was her straight man, Anton Lukovkin as Puss in Boots. I, too, was impressed by the students in the violinists' dance. Unlike the boys who danced with the Ogre, they blended right in, and I wouldn't have guessed that they weren't in the Company. Kudos to Helgi Tomassen and the San Francisco Ballet School.

I liked Anton Korsakov's Bluebird. It was a bit muscular, but I thought it was quite clean, if not elegant. (And he bent his knees when he landed, no small favor.) Yulia Bolshakova's Princess Florina was brittle and marred by exaggerated extensions, which caused her to go off center. I liked her persona, though; she was giving to the audience.

There is no doubt that Diana Vishneva is a Ballerina in the grandest sense. From the moment she appeared onstage she had a charisma that was unmatched, as if someone had turned up the lights. Her Rose Adagio was rock-solid and authoritative, and she built her performance into a dazzling display during the Wedding Pas de Deux. The only technical issue I saw was that she seemed a bit wobbly in supported pirouettes; she was solid with only one of her partners, one of the suitors. But apart from her entrance and a few moments with the King and Queen, I saw Vishneva, not Aurora. She wasn't a young girl at her first big party, trying things she'd never done before (at least in public), succeeding grandly, and showing delight; she was a World Champion at her first Olympics. Her vision scene made me think of Odette, and although the music suggested purity and repose and not mystery, this was the most developed characterization of the evening. In the Wedding Pas de Deux, she was more like a Queen being coronated than a bride, as if the King and Queen had already abdicated. I'm very used to this in opera, where a fifty-year-old portrays a twenty-year-old, and where the music indicates a lifetime of experience, but perhaps the strength of abstract ballet is that this happens rarely in that kind of ballet.

Zelensky danced Prince Desiree. Apart from the aforementioned supported pirouettes, his partnering of Vishneva looked smooth from the Mezzanine (first level up?). He burst out in his first solo, but by the coda of the Wedding Pas de Deux, he looked a bit tentative and tight, if fluid in his turning jumps and soft in his landings. He looked so slender, though, not like the beefy guy from his NYCB days, and at first I didn't recognize him. (He looks more and more like Michael York the older he gets.)

There were two things that made the trip: seeing the corps, which was superb, especially in the Vision Scene, and Concertmaster Lyudmilla Chaykovskay's renditions of the violin solos, particularly the music used during the set change from the woods to the Court in Act II, known to audiences familiar with Balanchine's Nutcracker as the violin solo in the middle of Act I. Sadly, we could hear the noises of the set change during the solo; they were indistinguishable from the noise made by the toe shoes of the dancers, which sounded like castinets against the Zellerbach floor. (It was clear that the corps was together, because there were no out-of-synch clacks.)

The orchestra itself was loud -- I think it took about ten minutes before it adjusted to the hall with people in it, but once it did, it mostly sounded great, especially the strings. The brass had a few intermittent issues where they didn't blend very well, and they seemed off pitch on occasion. (It was pretty chilly in the Hall.) The conductor for the performance wasn't listed; the program shows Boris Gruzin and Alexander Polianichko as the conductors for the tour. The musicians received as big an ovation as the dancers, which isn't unusual for West Coast audiences.

Link to comment
"Where's the Plie?"

If I had one overriding thought throughout last night's performance of Sleeping Beauty, that was it.

Obviously, you had many thoughts about the performance (and thanks for so detailed a review :) ), but plie issue is particularly fundamental and pervasive. I'm glad you mentioned it, Helene, because although I haven't seen the Kirov for a couple years, and although they had improved considerably since previous visits during the '90s, the Kirov women's micro-plie has bothered me for a long time. I was beginning to think it was a figment of my imagination, so little comment did it receive from others.

Link to comment

All of Helene's criticisms are valid, and yet I was strangely moved by the production, especially at the end where the Lilac Fairy blessed the court--though they dramatically didn't deserve it. That part was a little Shakespearan for me, like the reconciliation at the end of one of the romances, in Pericles or in Winter's Tale. Lopatkina was as interesting to me throughout, as Vishneva--in her calm bubble of Vishnevaness--was slightly alienating. L. in the interlude with Prince seemed to be able to dart across stage as quickly as a Firebird or NYCB ballerina. I enjoyed watching Zelensky present himself, reeling in and letting out small gestures--hands, wrists, movements of chin. And his dancing was quite fine. (I don't remember him being overweight at NYCB, just a bit scowly). Other things I enjoyed: the strange, staccato, stiff legged dance of one of the middle fairies, perhaps Sapphire; the corps in their lateral pas de quartres and/or sixes, or as a background in a line of 12 on one knee--perhaps when the Prince and Princess are doing backwards traveling arabesques? (The corps' yellow wigs made the men look like women and the women look like men, just at first.) Yes, you could hear everyone touch the floor, like the sound of dominos spilling onto a table, and the orchestra was a little loud--though what a orchestra to sound too loud! If it lacked anything, it missed a little of the perfect focus and dynamic shadings of Agrest and Gergiev, who were in Berkeley the last time around. At times the dancing was merely a elegant froth riding on waves of perfect sound.

But it was Anton Korsakov as Bluebird who was the standout, and belated discovery, for me. His movements are a perfect balance of strong large thrusty gesture and Kirov refinement. There was a good intensity and some degree of risk taking to his dancing. Some his effect is from the pinking shears profile of the backs of his legs: the sharp zig zag of heel to calf to thigh which made his beats doubly effective (Lindsay Fisher at NYCB shared something of this characteristic). Anyhow, the evening was a delight, and the generous number of intermissions most welcome for all the coffee I had drunk before, and the glass of wine later on.

Link to comment

Quiggin, I didn't mean to imply that Zelensky was overweight, but that he seemed more muscular back then, especially in his legs. In white tights the other night, he looked comparatively wispy to me.

According to the program, Yana Sebrebriakova danced both the Brave Fairy and the Sapphire Fairy, but according to Rachel Howard's review in The Chronicle, Sapphire Fairy was Tatiana Tkachenko, who also danced the Playful Fairy. According to the program, the Sapphire, Gold, and Silver fairies remain the same for all performances, while Tkachenko is scheduled to dance Diamond Fairy on this Saturday's matinee. I'm not sure if this was an unannounced casting change.

Howard also identified Boris Gruzin as the conductor.

Link to comment

Thank you Helene for the detailed play by play! Your's is the best description yet of Diana's stage persona and the weaknesses of the Sergueyev production. Diana is really flamboyant. I've often thought that if Liza Minelli were a prima ballerina, she'd be Vishneva.

Link to comment

I'd like to second the thanks to Helene for the detailed review. And that "As a Prince, he'd be expected to pay his respect to the ruling monarchs, just as England's Princess Anne curtseyed to the modern oil monarchs of the Middle East. Longevity and accomplishment do not outrank rank." is priceless! What is with the two great Russian companies? They seem to equate deleting mime with being modern. Some sort of supreme misunderstanding of Balanchine?

The remark of seeing Odette in Vishneva's vision scene made me remember what for me was the crowning moment of Ashley Bouder's sublime Aurora at NYCB: her vision scene also suggested Odette: Aurora was trapped in a perpetual dream just as Odette was trapped in a swan's body. Both share the same desperation to escape, the paths to escape are exactly the same.

Link to comment

I just attended the Sunday matinee. Here are some brief impressions. I would like to preface this with the fact that I have not regularly seen the Kirov in the past 20 years or so. During my youth, I saw them pretty regularly as they toured to the Bay Area much more frequently during this time (60s and 70s). I was very excited to see the performance this afternoon. I generally enjoyed the performance very much. The corps was superb. The fairy variations were well danced. I particularly enjoyed the Brave Fairy (is this "Violente" the "Finger Fairy"?), Yan Serebriakova, and the Diamond Fairy, Irina Golub, in Act 3. Carabosse, Roman Skripkin, was a delight. I also liked the lightness of his costume although I felt his make-up should have been stronger considering the lighting I observed at Zellerbach. In general, the costumes really were wonderful. The standout of the entire evening was, alas, not Aurora, but Prince Desire, Leonid Sarafanov. WOW! I was so glad they didn't put a wig with a ponytail on this delightful and superb dancer. He danced with authority, ease, great technical facility, and was so charming! I am now a fan! His Aurora, Ekaterina Osmolkina, was a lovely dancer in many ways but seemed a bit ill at ease in her performance. I was somewhat disappointed in her attitude balances which were non-existent in the Rose Adagio and she had a couple awkward stumbles during the course of the evening....But she is very talented and I'm sure will grow into this role.....Loved Puss in Boots, Anton Lukovkin, and his White Cat, Yana Selina. I was quite disappointed in the famous "Blue Bird" pas de deux. It bothers me that the male variation is cut in half. Anton Korsakov had a rough day, it would seem. His coda brise voles left much to be desired and he had to touch his hand down on his double tour finish at the end of his variation. He was positively sullen his entire performance. The Princess Florina (Ksenia Ostreykovskaya) variation tempo is just too slow. So was the BB pas de deux, for that matter...I noticed this with some other variations, most noticeably the Lilac Fairy (Olga Esina). This variation was almost spoiled with the slow tempo, although the dancer was lovely. Kudos to the Children and Supernumeraries who appeared with the Kirov courtesy of SFB School. They did a great job and just looked so excited to share the stage with the Kirov. I know how that feels. My brother and I had the same opportunity when we were kids to dance with the Kirov and Bolshoi in "Cinderella" and "Ballet School".

Link to comment

Thanks, indeed, for your impressions, Helene.

Having recently watched the Kolpakova video of Sergeyev's SB I couldn't agree more: the Carabosse / Lilac stuff in the Prologue and Act I doesn't make any sense unless you've seen a full staging first, so as to accept the Sergeev as a kind of shorthand version. The court doesn't even fall asleep!

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...