48 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

It's all in the linked article. Not yet official, as Gergiev has not signed-off on this. Lopatkina is very high on the list of successors.

http://www.kommersan...x?docsid=868119

Very interesting that this news comes out in the midst of the 8th annual Int'l Ballet Festival and just before the big NYC-City Center tour!

I've started this thread to discuss this matter as it unfolds. Moderators, apologies if this is already being discussed elsewhere in our forum...wasn't able to see the topic, at quick glance.

[Mashinka]

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Lopatkina is very high on the list of successors.

Can you explain why, Natalia?  Does she have some organizational skills that make her especially suitable?  If just being a principal dancer with the Kirov is enough to make you a candidate for Director, then why not Vishneva or Kolb?

[richard53dog]

Natalia, on Mar 18 2008, 01:40 PM, said:

It's all in the linked article. Not yet official, as Gergiev has not signed-off on this. Lopatkina is very high on the list of successors.

http://www.kommersan...x?docsid=868119

Very interesting that this news comes out in the midst of the 8th annual Int'l Ballet Festival and just before the big NYC-City Center tour!

Wow, major news. It will be interesting as this unfolds if we can find out his reasons for resigning.

[Catherine]

Hello everyone,

From what I understand, Lopatkina holds a certain amount of respect and clout with Gergiev inside the theatre. Combine that with her desire to become AD (not every principal dancer, it should be noted, would want the position) and that puts her at the top of the list, as Natalia noted.

Richard to your question, Gergiev adores the opera... and the opera comes first in the MT...

[Cygnet]

Catherine, on Mar 18 2008, 03:23 PM, said:

Hello everyone,

From what I understand, Lopatkina holds a certain amount of respect and clout with Gergiev inside the theatre. Combine that with her desire to become AD (not every principal dancer, it should be noted, would want the position) and that puts her at the top of the list, as Natalia noted.

Richard to your question, Gergiev adores the opera... and the opera comes first in the MT...

I agree with Catherine and Natalia.  Due to the mutual respect and professional relationship that Gergiev and Lopatkina have, she will probably be at the top of his short list. She was Dudinskaya's student, and Dudinskaya was Vaganova's student, so there's a direct lineage here. On the other hand, Gergiev has never been a balletomane, he is an opera man. Nor does Gergiev understand the needs of the ballet, either musically, (the Lopatkina "Swan Lake" dvd and other CDs), or aesthetically, (failure to build the new theatre, and the rehearsal "space" the ballet's been accorded). Also under Gergiev, the Orchestra received a new concert hall.  Here's another example: Does anyone remember the infamous Shostakovich marathon at the London Coliseum two years ago?

IMO Uliana couldn't do worse than Vaziev, and neither could Altynai. Even Gennady Selyutski would be an excellent choice. Consider this: The number of eligible choreographers can be counted on one hand right now; and most of them are already committed. Gergiev will need to start looking as soon as possible and make a selection - even if it's an interim selection.

[Mashinka]

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Does anyone remember the infamous Shostakovich marathon at the London Coliseum two years ago?

Infamous?  I wouldn't call it that, what we got was a wonderful triple bill of real rarities and a new full length ballet that was flawed due to its rushed genesis but still very much worth seeing.  It was not a commercial success, but filling the Coliseum isn't easy.  Just ask NYCB!!

The more I think of Lopatkina in the role of director the more uneasy I feel.  They need Baryshnikov, but I don't think he would take the job if his life depended on it.  I wasn't Vaziev's greatest fan but with the names being bandied about I think I prefer the devil I know.

[canbelto]

I hope it is NOT Lopatkina. She is known to be extremely conservative in her taste of ballets, and vehemently against any of the "new-old" reconstructions, thinking them to be a betrayal of her teacher (Dudinskaya).

[ngitanjali]

Hi All!

Well, disclaimer:  I KNOW nothing about administration at the KM   So, any info you are giving me is soooo valuable and useful and interesting!

First of all, why not Lopatkina?  I've seen a few posts with misgivings about her.  Is there something about her that translates to "Excellent Dancer, Prima...etc..." but not an "Excellent AD"???
If not Lopatkina, what about Ruzimatov? Or Zelensky?  I believe they are heading companies in Russia, no?  Who would you pick and what qualities would you want a Mariinsky director to have?

thanks so much!

[vrsfanatic]

I believe the article states that Mr. Vaziyev has never been given the title of AD of the ballet in the Mariinsky Theatre which seems to be one of the issues at hand. If I have understood the article correctly (hum as well as the discussions of my Russian colleagues), Mr. Vaziyev has held a title similar to the administrator of the ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre.    

Just out of curiousity, I thought the name was spelled Vaziev in English?

Edited by vrsfanatic, 27 March 2008 - 04:47 AM.

[vrsfanatic]

Is there any news regarding Mr. Vaziyev's intentions to stay at the Mariinsky as the Director of the Ballet?  

Edited by vrsfanatic, 27 March 2008 - 04:47 AM.

[rg]

re: transliterating cyrillic, normally the russian 'E' (or 'ye') is written as E when englishing russian words/names, but, this then leads to sounding the letter 'eh' which as russian speakers know is off the mark. i'm not sure what the library of congress rules are nowadays but some time ago i think there was a move on, for example, to transliterate the russian for catherine as Yekaterina rather than Ekaterina as had been done previously.
i guess nowadays it's up to the editors to decide how to spell russian names in english text.

[Natalia]

vrsfanatic, on Mar 26 2008, 10:03 AM, said:

Is there any news regarding Mr. Vasiyev's intentions to stay at the Mariinsky as the Director of the Ballet?  

There are reports floating around that, at a social event following the closure of the recent ballet festival, Vaziev announced that he has decided to stay on, prompting cheers from dancers in attendance. [What the heck else were they to do, I ask myself...boo?]  

p.s. ...although I can think of ONE uber-flexible wannabe who must have been jumping up and down with relief.

[Mashinka]

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cheers from dancers in attendance. [What the heck else were they to do, I ask myself...boo?]

Quite so.  I'd put money on some sobbing silently in corners though.

[Catherine]

Hi again,

Just to put the record straight, there are no reports "floating around." I was the first person to post, on Criticaldance.com, what I saw and heard just past midnight at the Hotel Astoria in the wee hours of Monday morning as Vasiev addressed everyone in attendance. I just want to be sure this is not classified as rumor because it absolutely is not. I was inside the theatre and heard the announcment firsthand from dancers on March 12, when there had been a company meeting announcing his plans. At this point the letter was not public and the press office would not comment on the zayavlenie, therefore I refrained from posting unofficial information at that time, out of respect for the dancers who I know and who trust me. I posted the link to the Kommersant.ru article also on the above-named site only after it became public.

It goes without saying that the company was divided on the issue. Many no doubt wish the outcome had been otherwise. But at the Astoria, that wasn't visible -- and why should it be, in a venue like that, with donors and philanthropists and rich visitors filling the room?

Someone, I think VRS, mentioned Vasiev's title, and yes, absolutely that was part of the issue. Many Russians were discussing the fact that Vasiev is *not* listed as artistic director, that no one on the company masthead/admin list has that title at present time.

[Natalia, to your post-script comment, perhaps that thing is the single most disappointing aspect to all of this! And one not overlooked by many, I assure you!]

+++

VRS, to comment on your question, in English we're transliterating sounds and not letters. This is why there are numerous "versions" of the same Russian last name, because more than one ENglish letter is often needed to recreate the singular Russian Cyrillic symbol. Witness Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovski, Chaikovsky, Tchaikowsky, and so on. In my book, Vasiev, Vaziev and Vasiyev are all similar transliterations of one and the same Russian name. It's really just a matter of taste; I'm not aware of certain guidlines but various publications do follow certain rules (ie. endings in Y and not I, for example, Sergey and not Sergei).

[vrsfanatic]

Thank you rg and Catherine the input on how to spell Russian words in English.  

Is there an official announcement by the Russian government that Vaziev will stay and under what title?