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Denis Matvienko/Vadim Muntagirov to appear with ABT in 2012


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From the company:

DENIS MATVIENKO AND VADIM MUNTAGIROV TO APPEAR AS

GUEST ARTISTS WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE FOR 2012

Denis Matvienko, a principal dancer with the Mariinsky Ballet, and Vadim Muntagirov, a principal dancer with English National Ballet, will debut as guest artists in upcoming performances with American Ballet Theatre. The announcement was made today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Matvienko will perform the role of Solor in La Bayadère at the matinee on Saturday, May 26, 2012 opposite Gillian Murphy as Nikiya and Isabella Boylston as Gamzatti during American Ballet Theatre’s 2012 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Muntagirov will perform the role of Solor in La Bayadère at the matinee on Saturday, February 4, 2102 during the Company’s performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and on Wednesday evening, May 23 for the Company’s 2012 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House. He will also dance Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake opposite Irina Dvorovenko as Odette/Odile at the matinee on Saturday, June 30.

Denis Matvienko was born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. A classmate of Svetlana Zakharova, he graduated from Kiev State School of Choreography in 1997. He made his debut with National Ballet of Ukraine as Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty while still a student in the school, and entered the company at age eighteen as a principal dancer.

From 2001 to 2002, Matvienko danced as a soloist with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet. His repertoire included Basil in Don Quixote, Prince Charming in Alexei Ratmansky's Cinderella, George Balanchine's Jewels and the title role in his Prodigal Son. Matvienko then returned to National Ballet of Ukraine and frequently appeared as a guest artist with the Bolshoi Ballet, New National Theater in Japan, Teatro alla Scala and Paris Opera Ballet. In 2007, he joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet in St. Petersburg and, in 2009, he was invited to join the Mariinsky Ballet as a principal dancer.

Since returning to the Mariinsky, his repertoire has included Prince Désiré in

The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Albrecht in Giselle, James in La Sylphide, Solor in La Bayadère, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, De Grieux in Manon, Conrad in Le Corsaire, the title role in Spartacus and Boris in The Golden Age. 


Vadim Muntagirov was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia and received his early ballet training at Perm Choreographic Ballet Institute. After winning the Prix de Lausanne in 2006, he was invited to continue his training at the Royal Ballet Upper School. Muntagirov joined English National Ballet (ENB) in 2009 at the age of 19. His repertory with ENB includes Albrecht in Giselle, the Prince in The Nutcracker and Cinderella and the Poet in Les Sylphides. In addition, he was cast as Prince Siegfried in Derek Deane’s Swan Lake and debuted as Romeo in Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet. In 2011, he won the award for Outstanding Male Performer as well as for Emerging Dancer, by the London Critics’ Circle.

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Well, we discussed Muntagirov in the 'Male Principals Problem' thread and -- lo and beholden -- it has come to pass. Is that sweat I see on Wayne Eagling's brow?

We now have an ABT Met season where the male contingent will be dominated by guest stars -- Bolle, Kobborg, Matvienko, Muntagirov and Vasiliev. Make of it what you will . . .

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I thought the prior thread advocated obtaining Vadim.

It did. The other thread noted, though, that losing Muntagirov must be Wayne Eagling's worst nightmare.

mili, you of all people should know Bolle is not a guest of ABT...

Given that he only shows up for the Met season (and sporadically at that), I think of him as a guest.

By the way, I have been waiting to ask you what a natural weightlifter is.

No steroids or drug enhancements of any kind. My next show is in April!

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This is amazing news, Dale. Vadim is also now listed on the Kennedy Center castings for February; his Nikiya will be Hee Seo. I remember him fondly from one of the recent YAGPs at City Center, where he won the Grand Prix, I believe. His Basilio in DQ is to-die-for!

Denis Matvienko will be an even busier-than-normal guy, between being the new AD of the Ukrainian National Ballet and remaining a Principal at the Mariinsky...at least for now.

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I see your point. However, Muntagirov is dancing in DC, leading me to believe that he may eventually be a part of the permanent ensemble (lose the 'guest' part of his title), as the 'MET season superstars' rarely come to DC in the context of the annual ABT-KennCen season. I don't think that anybody has a problem with excellent dancers being hired for the permanent ensemble. Muntagirov is just a couple of years out of his schooling & apprenticeship, so he's not a big established star like Matvienko.

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I'm not going to pretend to understand the motivation behind all of this from ABT BUT I find it exceptionally interesting that ENB is letting Muntagirov come. I read an interview with Sergei Polunin a few days ago (the other darling of the UK currently, and I believe another suggestion in the previous thread) and apparently the Royal Ballet nixed the offer from Kevin/ABT from last year for him to come, much to his disappointment. I guess they aren't feeling so confident to let their darling fly and return home.

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Do these guest artists' appearances help to fill in the TBA slots that looked to me as if they might have been pencilled in for Ethan, should he decide to dance with ABT one more season before retiring?

Yes, I know, it's a double-edged situation, not conducive for grooming corps members or soloists to be principals, but since I don't have the disposable income to fly around the world and see these dancers with their home companies, for selfish reasons I'm actually rather pleased.

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Do these guest artists' appearances help to fill in the TBA slots that looked to me as if they might have been pencilled in for Ethan, should he decide to dance with ABT one more season before retiring?

I did a quick tally of the principals' workloads as posted so far:

14 Gomes

10 Hallberg

8 Stearns

7 Cornejo

5 Bolle

5 Vasiliev

4 Corella

4 Kobborg

3 Steifel

2 Muntagirov

1 Beloserkovsky

1 Matvienko

Obviously, this will change. But it makes for interesting reading in terms of who is/is not in favor and/or who is/is not pulling their weight.

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They still have not cast The Dream or Apollo. I suspect Hallberg, Gomes and Stearns will all do lead roles in the Dream, and Cornejo will do Puck. It's almost certain that Hallberg will do Apollo. Do we think Bolle will get an Apollo? He's done it in Europe, I think.

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I think Wayne Eagling is quite bright enough to know what he has with Muntagirov and that to give him freedom to guest is the best way of keeping him with ENB for a little longer. ENB's repertory is constrained for a number of reasons and it's normal that Muntagirov would want to expand his repertory and his experience. But who knows where he will end up. Meanwhile the company has aquired a new leading man in Zdenek Konvalina, and there seems to be a lot of talent among the junior men - (including Carlos Acosta's nephew, Jonah) which is not to decry Muntagirov's exceptional gifts. And it's also worth keeping in mind that his style and personality may not appeal to ABT's audiences.

The Royal can be very difficult about guesting. Kobborg and Cojocaru are exceptional in the freedom they are given and who knows what the future will bring for them, especially given their relation ship with Monica Mason and the advent of a new director. But more generally, I do remember in the past one male principal having to turn down a really nice guest appearance because the company would not release him, despite the fact that his schedule was clear for something like a month. "You might be needed to cover", was the explanation.

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I think Wayne Eagling is quite bright enough to know what he has with Muntagirov and that to give him freedom to guest is the best way of keeping him with ENB for a little longer. ENB's repertory is constrained for a number of reasons and it's normal that Muntagirov would want to expand his repertory and his experience. But who knows where he will end up. Meanwhile the company has aquired a new leading man in Zdenek Konvalina, and there seems to be a lot of talent among the junior men - (including Carlos Acosta's nephew, Jonah) which is not to decry Muntagirov's exceptional gifts. And it's also worth keeping in mind that his style and personality may not appeal to ABT's audiences.

The Royal can be very difficult about guesting. Kobborg and Cojocaru are exceptional in the freedom they are given and who knows what the future will bring for them, especially given their relation ship with Monica Mason and the advent of a new director. But more generally, I do remember in the past one male principal having to turn down a really nice guest appearance because the company would not release him, despite the fact that his schedule was clear for something like a month. "You might be needed to cover", was the explanation.

See thread on Natalia and Ivan leaving the Bolshoi....

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I'm glad that Kevin is getting a head start on filling the holes in the male principal cast. That being said, I'm disappointed that he's still so set on getting foreign guest stars to fill all the holes...that being said, I kind of understand why he's doing it since the MET season is a really big deal for ABT and the company doesn't want to force anyone who's not quite ready to take on such a big role.

Therefore, I'm hoping this means that Kevin and others are working hard to continue to develop male talent in the company to fill the holes, I'm thinking that this might be the case since getting guest stars for the second consecutive season who will just just dance once or twice shows that the company isn't working to get completely permanent relationships b/c the guest stars will just be "temporary" fixes until the next generation/group of male principals from within the company are ready.

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