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Svetlana Zakharova


verdura

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I can't offer you news, verdura, but you might want to check past posts for comments on Zhakarova. You can try doing a search (use the "search" link at the top of the board and search this forum). Or make all the posts in this forum active -- use the pull down menu at the top of the forum and select "show all posts." Happy hunting smile.gif

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She is the one ! she has Guillem's flexibility and dancer's dreaming body...the russian art and spirit....the perfect mastering of the thecnique and brave russian school ...the elegance of the french school....the virtuosism of the italian school , and is so young and beautiful!!!

Makes me and everyone that loves ballet happy to see such a star arising on the new horizon !

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Buddy, if you understand russian, please, please, summarize this!!!!

Grissi, I speak very, very little Russian, but if I have the time I will try to give it a go with the help of an internet translator. The Sherlock translator seems to do a fairly good job if you want to try.

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Buddy, if you understand russian, please, please, summarize this!!!!

Grissi, I speak very, very little Russian, but if I have the time I will try to give it a go with the help of an internet translator. The Sherlock translator seems to do a fairly good job if you want to try.

I am reasonably good at the translation of basic information regarding Russian ballets and Russian dancers so I took your advice regarding using a free internet translation service and the result was that it ran to

10 pages of a Word document that was of such hysterical mis-translation content worthy of a comic turn by the late Peter Ustinov or Victor Borge. Not every word was translated and remained in cyrillic which added to the fun.

To me the interview was very much in the vein of interviews given by ballet dancers in the Soviet era. If you would like it sent to you I would be happy to forward it.

PS Zakharova in common parlance , "does not do it for me."

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leonid, I did overstate the capabilities of online translators. What I meant to say was that the Sherlock translator will it least give you a complete printout of this one, which some other services might not. These internet translators are still far from ideal, but they do give you some idea of what is being said.

The first few sentences seem to be saying that it was Svetlana Zakharova's mother's idea that she get into ballet. That's as far as I've gone.

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I suppose the reading knowledge of Russian I was forced to acquire in university is about to become useful. Here is goes.

Zakharova, pt. 1

The interview begins with the journalist stating that it had been her dream to become a ballerina but that her family decided it was an unsuitable profession. In Zakharova's case, it was the opposite. Her mother had wanted to dance, but being an only child her family was unwilling to send her away to Kiev to study. The younger Zakharova wasn't especially interested, and while she agreed to audition, she insisted that she'd come home even if accepted. However, when she arrived in Kiev, graduation exams were taking place, and she was so captivated by what she saw that she decided to stay. Soon after her father, a military man, was stationed in Germany, and though the plan was for Zakharova to remain in ballet school, she was homesick and chose to move with her family. In Germany she was enrolled in an ordinary school and felt that she'd made a terrible mistake. Before long Soviet armies began to withdraw from East Germany and she returned to ballet school in Kiev, where she studied for the next six years before completing her last year at the Vaganova school.

When asked about the disappointment young dancers face when they realize they'll never get leave the corps, Zakharova notes that her class in Kiev was very close and very strong, but that most of her classmates ultimately didn't pursue a career in dance: some went to drama school, some into business, some had babies. Among her classmates, only Denis Matvienko, with whom she has danced when he has appeared as a guest with the Bolshoi, stuck with a ballet career.

When asked about eating disorders, she says they're more common in ballet school than in ballet companies, but that it's a self-defeating behaviour. A dancer who doesn't eat enough doesn't have enough strength to keep up with the program, and that this rather than weight issues is what gets young girls expelled from ballet school. For herself, she doesn't eat, drink or party too much because she needs to feel fit for morning class, but she admits to eating pastries and ice cream and says that she holidays like everyone else. If she goes on vacation feeling especially tired, she rests completely for ten days before attempting any sort of exercises. As for adult beginners, she thinks ballet class is most useful for improving posture.

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Zakharova, pt. 2

Zakharova's first experience working abroad came at age 20 when she was invited to dance Bayadère at the Paris Opera. She was thrilled to work there because the POB's own troupe is very strong and guest artists are invited infrequently. She believes that the spirit of Nureyev is still strong in Paris and that his productions are preserved carefully. She also enjoys working at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, the Met and Covent Garden, but says that the Japanese are the most accommodating, though the audiences are reserved. She believes that success in Japan is determined by a full house rather than loud applause.

Among her favourite partners is Roberto Bolle, whom she describes as a genuine Apollo, a beautiful man, a very good partner and a good person, or "bella persona." She says all her partners in Paris have been good, but that she particularly enjoyed dancing Giselle with Laurent Hilaire and Swan Lake with Nicolas Le Riche, even though she'd had only one rehearsal with him before the performance. When asked how much depends on a partner, Zakharova says everything does, physically and emotionally. She has yet to be dropped on stage ("knock wood").

Asked if double work is frightening, she says that her intial pas de deux classes were a bit scarry, but no longer. Much depends on the ballerina herself being helpful, and she believes that good partnering technique is more important than low body weight. She also believes that intelligence can compensate for physical shortcomings.

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Zakharova, pt. 3

When asked about which dancers she considers truly great, Zakharova names Farukh Ruzimatov and expresses regret that he had not been born later and that she hadn't been born sooner. She believes he's in great shape and has found a sort of second wind. She also admires Mikhail Baryshnikov and says that when she watched him on video as a child, she never noticed his ballerina. When asked why she prefers Baryshnikov to Nureyev, Zakharova believes that Baryshnikov is more contemporary and has a charisma, warmth and light that appeal to her. She'd happily watch him standing still. But she also admits that she's seen fewer films of Nureyev. "No doubt it's the same as in figure skating: there is Plushenko, there is Yagudin..." (She declines to say which skater she prefers.)

As a child she also idolized Sylvie Guillem. The first time she saw Guillem she couldn't believe that a body could be mastered to such an extent. When asked why Guillem is considered ballerina #1, Zakharova explains that Guillem could do things that no one else could. Zakharova considers Guillem equally incomparable in her current repertoire. If a person has a good body and has command over it, a viewer cannot tear himself away.

Asked if she regrets never having had the opportunity to work with Balanchine, Zakharova says yes, because Balanchine loved tall dancers with long arms and legs and good extension. When she joined the Mariinsky Theatre she began dancing Serenade and Apollo soon after. But though she likes dancing Balanchine, she wishes he'd made more story ballets. She also prefers to look forward rather than back and working on new choreography, such as her Revelation solo.

Since she'd been dancing the classics for ten years, at this point she finds contemporary works more interesting. The appeal of classical choreography lies in its difficulty and the knowledge that few people can do it. Classical choreography danced cleanly is a victory over one's own self and over the classic. "There is nothing above the classics. A person who dances the classics can, in principle, dance modern. Worse, better, but he can do it. A person who dances only modern can't dance the classics."

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Zakharova, pt. 4

Asked what it feels like to be a star, Zakharova says that few people recognize her, certainly not traffic cops. (In fact, her family is reluctant to let her drive at all.) She doesn't go in much for discotheques or the movies, but likes to shop, particularly in Milan. She pays no attention to designer labels and is happy to find anything that fits.

Asked about future plans, she mentions her recent performances in Parma, the first gala performances built around her. She'd like to do more programs of that sort, probably in Moscow, though she admits that so far she's done little to bring them into being. Evidently she needs someone else to do the organizing for her.

Well, dear Ballet Talkers, I hope that's helpful.

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Zakharova, pt. 4

Well, dear Ballet Talkers, I hope that's helpful.

Well, dear Ballet Talker Volcano Hunter, that was very generous of you to translate the article for us. Many thanks.

Hello all.

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday Weekend!

Here we have another interview with Svetlana Zakharova in Russian released on December 25.

The interview begins with the question concerning Svetlana’s plans to celebrate New Year's Eve. Svetlana hopes to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Moscow. It’s a holiday for her just to be at home as she had a lot of tours, flights, changes of climatic and time zones. Nevertheless the only priority for her is to be on stage. She notes that she had a new experience as an organizer of “Evenings with Svetlana Zakharova” Gala in Parma Italy in which she had performed the new work “Revalation”, “Swan” by Fokin and “Carmen Suite”. She invited Andrey Uvarov, Andrey Merkuriev and Denis Matvienko to be her partners that evening. She values her Carmen very much as the choreographer Alberto Alonso has changed some details specially for her and she considers it an honour that Maya Plisetskaya has recognized and favoured this work. (Frankly speaking I have no idea about these changes. Please let me know if you have the information about changes were made)

Svetlana has performed the new version of “Swan Lake” during this season on the stage of National Theatre of Tokyo as she has a Guest Star contract with this Theatre. She recognizes devotion and loyalty of her Japanese fans. She believes that there are a lot of good dancers and choreographers in Japan at present.

Asked if Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber is going to create a ballet for Svetlana (music I guess?) she says that he said this being on the stage of London Covent Garden during the first night of the Bolshoi Cinderella.

Happy Holidays from Russia!

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After the great success of these days' Swan Lake,Svetlana Zakharova seems to have been nominated new étoile of La Scala Theatre,after Alessandra Ferri's farewell.I don't know if it's good news.For sure I heard many bad comments on this.Thinking about what Ferri gave us from the emotional point of you I feel she will not be up to her level.We'll see....

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After the great success of these days' Swan Lake,Svetlana Zakharova seems to have been nominated new étoile of La Scala Theatre,after Alessandra Ferri's farewell.I don't know if it's good news.For sure I heard many bad comments on this.Thinking about what Ferri gave us from the emotional point of you I feel she will not be up to her level.We'll see....

Point of view...sorry :)

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After the great success of these days' Swan Lake,Svetlana Zakharova seems to have been nominated new étoile of La Scala Theatre,after Alessandra Ferri's farewell.I don't know if it's good news.For sure I heard many bad comments on this.Thinking about what Ferri gave us from the emotional point of you I feel she will not be up to her level.We'll see....

Mmm...Zakharova, ah?... :)

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