Glory of the Kirov

[Paul Parish]

I'm watching this dvd for the first time -- got it out of the library, and feel I've got to buy it.

There are many interesting and curious performances, but two are to my mind out of this world -- Jakobsen's Vienna Waltz to Strauss's Rosenkavalier Waltz), which as choreography is so completely satisfying I'm beside myself with delight, and as a vehicle for Ninel Kurgapkina (whom I'd never seen before but have totally lost my heart to) it is up-so floating fantastic -- and the performance of Pas de Quatre is so exquisitely detailed, again, I'm beside myself. I'm also filled with admiration for Dolin -- it makes me wonder what he had to go on. How much was left of the ballet, aside from the lithograph with hte famous tableau.

Right up there also is Osipenko in Jakobsen's Reflections. What a glorious line she had -- and what a fascinating interpreter of the dance. She reminds me of Carolyn Brown, the great interpreter of Merce Cunningham.

[Mel Johnson]

Dolin actually had Keith Lester to go on. Lester's versions date from 1936, and program credits in the 40s make it apparent that at least in those days, Dolin did credit Lester somewhat in his stagings, but over the years, the reference to Lester fades, and it eventually became "choreography by Anton Dolin". The only primary period pictures I know of are the Chalon lithograph and two relief cuts from the Illustrated London Daily News.

[Alexandra]

This IS a treasure -- as is its companion, The Glory of the Bolshoi (among many other things, Maximova and Vasiliev as children in the pas de trois from Nutcracker and the full Moszkowski Waltz.

I loved the Jakobsen Waltz too -- and Sizova in "Corsaire." (Kurgapina is around on video -- she does Harlequinade on one of the other Kirov anthologies, and she is delicious.)

[bart]

Thank you for these insights. I plan on revisiting this DVD right away.

I'd be interested in getting everyone's opinion on the Baryshnikov's performance (from The Tale of Serf Nikish, filmed 1969).

To me, he is astonishing and deeply moving, especially when he seems to choose to return to the prison cell. It's a mesmerizing peformance. But I don't know how much I'm looking at it in the light of what we know of his later career.

[rg]

here are the credits for the kurgapkina compilation on video - i don't know that it's still available.

as i recall in trying to sort out its choreographic idents for my book, i noted that the variation kurgapkina dances as columbine in the HARLEQUINADE with kovmir is the same, musically and choreographically, that diana joffe staged for baryshnikov's abt/all-petipa evening as lise's solo in the FILLE MAL GARDEE pas de deux, which i suppose would be by gorskly's hand, in any case.

as usual, so many questions, so few final answers:

*Ballet legends : the Kirov's Ninel Kurgapkina / presented by Gosteleradio.

New York, NY : V.I.E.W. Video, 1993, c1974.(38 min.) : sd., col.

Motion picture originally released by Gosteleradio in 1974; re-issued and distributed as a videotape in 1993 by V.I.E.W. Video, New York.

Performed by Ninel Kurgapkina, with N. Kovmir [Nikolai Kumir], A. Chistiakov, S[ergei] Vikulov, V[adim] Budarin, and members of the Kirov Ballet.

Scenes from Don Quixote / music, Minkus -- Waltz / music, [Richard] Strauss -- Harlequinade pas de deux / music, Drigo -- Le corsaire pas de deux / music, Adam -- Waltz / music, Shostakovich -- The sleeping beauty: [Act III] pas de deux / music, Tchaikovsky.

Excerpts from a gala performance presented in honor of prima ballerina Ninel Kurgapkina.

i'm attaching a 1960 leningrad ballet postcard showing kurgapkina with the ever suave-looking boris bregvadze in their strauss WALTZ.

[papeetepatrick]

Thanks all for this info! I just ordered this, I have to see Ms. Sizova in some more things--'Corsaire' will be great. She's also in this other one just called Classic Kirov Performances, in something I never heard of 'Fountain of Bakchisari' (or something like that).

[Mel Johnson]

Oh, Fountain is a good old chestnut from 1934 choreographed by Rotislav Zakharov, which for some reason has not traveled well. I don't know of too many times when it's been shown outside of Russia, but there it's a great favorite. Two killer ballerina roles, and a dynamite character lead for a man. It has attractive music by Boris Asafiev.

[rg]

Fountain of Bakhchisaray - Original title: Bakhchisaraiskii fontan. Chor: Rostislav Zakharov; mus: Boris Asaf'yev; lib: Nikolai Volkov after the poem by Pushkin; scen & cos: Valentina Khodasevich. First perf: Leningrad, Kirov Theater, Sept 28, 1934, Kirov Ballet.//First perf in Moscow: Bolshoi Theater, June 11, 1936, Bolshoi Ballet

The first cast included Galina Ulanova as Maria; Olga Jordan as Zarema, and Mikhail Dudko as Girei. The first to dance the somewhat minor male role of Vatslav, who gets killed off in the first scene, was Konstantin Sergeyev. (Both Ulanova and Jordan were prize pupils of Vaganova's; Dudko was in the Petrograd State School graduating class that included Balanchine).

I don’t know the first cast in the Bolshoi staging, but eventually, thanks to a much distributed film, Ulanova continued to dance Maria, memorably, opposite Plisetskaya’s Zarema. Gusev, another compatriot of Balanchine’s was the same film's notable Girei - see: STARS OF THE RUSSIAN BALLET.

Mel's comment on the how well, or not, this work traveled outside Soviet Russia is well taken, tho’ post-Perestroika it’s been seen somewhat more often. I seem to recall Guillem’s dancing Zarema, but can’t recall if she was guesting with a Russian company, i.e. the Kirov, or if she was in a Western European staging, maybe in Paris? I know in the past ten years or so, FOUNTAIN has been toured to Paris? and London? as well as to NYC, with the Kirov.

I have a few historic photos of the ballet, the two here show:

A] a grouping with Ulanova as Maria, T. M. Vecheslova as Zarema and M.M.Mikhailov as Girei (this photo, likely from the mid-1940s?, is reproduced in the International Encyclopedia of Dance, where Girei is misidentied as Dudko).

B] Inna Izraeleva (later known as Zubkovskaya) as Maria, in what remains a favorite among my FOUNTAIN photos.

[Paul Parish]

Thanks, Mel (though I'm kinda dim on who's Keith Lester; was he in the Ballets Russes?)

And thanks, rg for the Ninel info.

And good lord, yes, Sizova!!!

I hadn't gotten that far yet when I was posting that.

Unbelievable jumps, just unbelievable. I guess that is more Gorsky, the Queen of the Dryads does her same combination -- the developpe in ecarte, tombe pas de bourre, grand jete a la seconde, which reverses direction and goes back again (and AGAIN) across the stage -- i've seen those steps a lot, but NEVER like this, not on this scale, nor with this delicacy....

Osipenko's arabesque haunts me....

And Komlova was very lovely in the Sylphides pas de deux -- lovely and compelling. Kolpakova was lovely but not compelling in the Raymonda pas, but maybe it was just the choreography, which I didn't recognize and .... well, maybe on a second viewing something will click there. Serf Nickisch didn't hit me first go-round, but I suspect that it may on second or third viewing.

[Helene]

Kurgapkina was such a juicy dancer. I never would have guessed from Viennese Waltz, where Bregvadze lifted her as if she were a powder puff. I was impressed by Budarin's partnering of her in Le Corsaire, which was remarkably seamless in the lifts. Osipenko's line was beautiful; what mesmerizing limbs she had, and such a cool presence.

I preferred Nureyev as a Soviet dancer; I didn't see any preening in either of the excerpts. I loved Sizova's jumping solo, but to me she looked constrained in the opening partnered section. Baryshnikov, I think, was better served in the West. Serf Nikish has always struck me as kitsch. It speaks highly of Baryshnikov's standing that he got a starring role in a made-for-TV ballet.

[Mashinka]

Mel's comment on the how well, or not, this work traveled outside Soviet Russia is well taken, tho’ post-Perestroika it’s been seen somewhat more often. I seem to recall Guillem’s dancing Zarema, but can’t recall if she was guesting with a Russian company, i.e. the Kirov, or if she was in a Western European staging, maybe in Paris? I know in the past ten years or so, FOUNTAIN has been toured to Paris? and London? as well as to NYC, with the Kirov.

That’s absolutely right. F of B was danced by the Kirov at the Coliseum a few years back with Guillem and Asylmuratova alternating in the role of Zarema. Interestingly Guillem seems to have specifically asked to dance the role and was resplendent in a fantastic red robe specially designed for her. Perhaps Asylmuratova was cast as Zarema because of her ethnic background but I thought her wasted in the role, as surely she would have been better suited by temperament to the role of Maria. As far as I know, no western company has staged this ballet, but it went down well in London.

[Marc Haegeman]

Mel's comment on the how well, or not, this work traveled outside Soviet Russia is well taken, tho’ post-Perestroika it’s been seen somewhat more often. I seem to recall Guillem’s dancing Zarema, but can’t recall if she was guesting with a Russian company, i.e. the Kirov, or if she was in a Western European staging, maybe in Paris? I know in the past ten years or so, FOUNTAIN has been toured to Paris? and London? as well as to NYC, with the Kirov.

That’s absolutely right. F of B was danced by the Kirov at the Coliseum a few years back with Guillem and Asylmuratova alternating in the role of Zarema. Interestingly Guillem seems to have specifically asked to dance the role and was resplendent in a fantastic red robe specially designed for her. Perhaps Asylmuratova was cast as Zarema because of her ethnic background but I thought her wasted in the role, as surely she would have been better suited by temperament to the role of Maria. As far as I know, no western company has staged this ballet, but it went down well in London.

Dancers and audiences often have opposite views when it comes to casting, yet in this case I entirely join the side of Asylmuratova in her choice to dance Zarema. Judging by that one matinee performance she gave in London in 1995 (all the other 4 or 5 were danced by Makhalina/Guillem), the role could easily have been created on her (dancing Maria at that point of her career would have been a miscast, much more than it was in Makhalina's case). It was simply one of the most emotionally profound interpretations of Zarema I ever saw, and definitely the best performance Asylmuratova gave during this busy London season. Other Zarema’s seemed all of the sudden rather one-dimensional compared to what Asylmuratova had in store, exploring the character to the bone (do you remember that scream when she fell down exhausted at the end of the 2nd Act?) and giving perfect meaning to the notion of “dram-ballet”. The audience in the Coliseum was screaming at the top of their lungs and this remains one of my all-time favourite performances.

If that’s wasted, then I’m all for seeing wasted dancers.

rg, as far as I remember Guillem was coached by Asylmuratova for the role of Zarema. She danced it with the Kirov in 1994 in Paris, then the following year in London, each time opposite Makhalina (whom many considered miscast back then) as Maria.

[rg]

thanks for the facts offered above confirming the FOUNTAIN perfs. w/ guillem, etc.

the most recent NYC perfs. by the kirov (1999) stand out in my memory for the lily-like beauty of zakharova's maria.

[atm711]

Thanks, Mel (though I'm kinda dim on who's Keith Lester; was he in the Ballets Russes?)

From Chujoy's trusty Dance Ency.:

"Born in England, 1904; studied dance with Anton Dolin, Nicholas Legat; made deb ut in Hassan, choreo. by Fokine (1923). Was partner of Lydia Kyasht, Karsavina, Spessivtseva, with the latter at Colon Theatre, Buenos Aires (under Fokine), dancing leading male roles in Spectre, Scheherazade, Thamar, Firebird. Danced in Reinhardt's Miracle (England, 1932); with Ida Rubenstein company in Paris; toured US in ballet revue. Joined Markova-Dolin company as dancer and choreo. (1935) choreographed David (1935), Pas de Quatre, Bach Suite #2 (1936) also Lament of the Swan, interpolated into Swan Lake. Choreo. Pas de Desses and created role of Paris in it (for London Ballet 1939) Revived his Pas de Quatre for Ballet Theatre (1946)"

This was published in 1949, so I don't know what happened to the dear fellow.

[Jane Simpson]

Also: he and Harold Turner founded the Arts Theatre Ballet in 1940, and then from 1945 till 1960 he worked as a choreographer at the Windmill Theatre in London (famous for its tasteful nudes and its fan dances). He was a principal teacher at the RAd from 1965, and died in 1993.

He wrote his memoirs - I don't know how much of his life they covered, but they did include some very interesting glimpses of Spessivtseva, giving a much livelier picture of her than is often the case. I think the manuscript is in the RAD library, but has never been published in total.

[bart]

This is a fascinating thread, which is getting me back to this DVD -- and also to the Bolshoi version.

Serf Nikish has always struck me as kitsch. It speaks highly of Baryshnikov's standing that he got a starring role in a made-for-TV ballet.

i wasn't thinking so much of the content of the ballet snippet -- or even the choreography -- but in the sensitivity, vulnerability, lightness, and almost dewy beauty of the young Baryshnikov. The camera loved him, which can't be said of all the dancers on this DVD, including those who are phenomenal in what they do. Facial expression can sometimes be a problem in some of those other performances.

This performance is so different from what I saw of Baryshnikov's later career, going back to his first NYCB performances and subsequent work with ABT and with contemporary choreographers.

[Paul Parish]

dear ATM and Jane,

Thank you thank you thank you.

What an interesting career -- and Pas des Deesses, also; another Romantic evocation.

Wonder what HE had to go on; pd4 strikes me as a very very nice piece of construction; I like it better, I think, than Lacotte's Sylphide.

I suppose it's wholly ersatz? What connections can he have had to the real thing? Russians in London? Karsavina? Legat? Would the tradition have kept some of the combinations alive? Certain passages, esp in Grahn's solo (I THINK it's Grahn's, have to study it), seem really poetic, dancerly and effective and musically apt....

Balanchine and Mason are not particularly helpful on the "reconstruction," though the discussion of the original is detailed and evocative.

[bart]

"Windmill Theatre" rang a bell. The Summer 2006 issue of Dance Now has John Percival's article about Mrs. Laura Henderson and her involvement with (and financial support of) the Dolin-Markova company starting in 1935. Here's the reference to Lester:

Keith Lester, at 31, was more experienced; he had partnered Karsavina and Spessivtseva and danced with Massine and Ida Rubinstein. His first ballet, "David,"was built around Dolin as the biblical hero; it was a striking and varied role, judging from descriptions and photographs. [ ... ]

The most famous of Lester's other creations for the company was "Pas de Quatre"-- also suggested by Poppoea Vanda -- based on the famous one danced by four great ballerinas in 1845. Leighten Lucas, who had become the company's conductor ... found Pugni's original music in the British Museum. The costumes and headdresses were copied from lithographs, and Lester's excellent dances were performed by Molly Lake, Diana Gould, Kathleen Crofton and Prudence Hyman (not Markova -- she appeareed later in a different version Which Dolin choreographed in America during the war when Lester's was not available.)

A "Bach Suite" by Lester seems also to have found favour, but not the comic "Fore and Aft" (music by Eric Coates), and his Scarlatti "Death in Adagio," a crime story with commedia dell-arte characters -- featuring Dolin as a comin Pierrot/Poirot and Markova as a blonde homicidal typist ['a change from Giselle', she said) -- was thought a good idea that didn't quite come off.

About Lester's days at the Windmill:

He used smilingly to boast that he knew more than anyone else about fan dances, since every Windmill show had to include one.

The law apparently required that "no nudes must move," but I guess the shoes and the fans allowed them to get away with that.

[papeetepatrick]

There are many interesting and curious performances, but two are to my mind out of this world -- Jakobsen's Vienna Waltz to Strauss's Rosenkavalier Waltz), which as choreography is so completely satisfying I'm beside myself with delight, and as a vehicle for Ninel Kurgapkina (whom I'd never seen before but have totally lost my heart to) it is up-so floating fantastic --

'Vienese' is absolutely thrilling, one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen, and I also simply haven't ever seen anything quite like it. It doesn't resemble anything I've seen. I never even heard of Jakobsen, but that's just marvelous what he made here--like bathing under some tropical waterfall, it has that kind of refreshing power to it.

Sizova just divine in 'Corsaire.' Since I don't know the terms, it is just that when she jumps and lands on pointe it's like some kind of flying, not the Balanchine kind, more like a real animal, and it looks different from anything I've ever seen anybody do. So--also what she does resembles nothing I've ever seen, and it's completely exhilirating. Nureyev is more exciting in 'corsaire' later, as with Fonteyn. Here he looked comparatively subdued to me.

[artist]

I couldn't agree more w/ Ninel Kurgapkina in Harlequinade. Oh! she is so beautiful in it, her legs are gorgeus. I love when she does soutenu and holds for a second at the end of the turn with her arms opening to second/or offering pos. And when her partner wants to kiss her or something and she shakes her head... just charming.

This is my favorite Pas de Quatre that I've seen. (Although, the only other was with either Markova or Alonso) Technically and emotionally strong.

Doesn't this also show Karsavina at the barre and doing jumps in the center? She was one of the only ones back then to do that many beats, but look at her placement during the execution. Bottom sticking out, knees turning in.

Forgive me b/c I don't have this DVD but have seen these clips from CAS - isn't Altynai Asylmuratova in The Leaves are Fading on the DVD also? That confirmed how much I loved her. She is one of the few that can master demanding technicality and the artistic quality, IMO. Truly lovely, every bit.