19 replies to this topic

[diane]

Thank you so much for these reviews! (I was unable to watch it)

How generous of you all to put your thoughts to words and then post them here for us.

I do hope that there will be at least excerpts of this up on one of the public video portals sometime.

-d-

[puppytreats]

I only cut in and out so I don't have a clear memory and did not have a clear observation -- but did the fairies do pirouettes in both directions? Isn't that unusual? And aren't the fairies usually partnerless? I thought that was interesting.

I would love to know who the brown clad dancer was supposed to be in Act III.  And was there a Cinderella tale?

Someone should unite the two threads on this topic.

[chiapuris]

puppytreats, on 21 December 2011 - 08:12 AM, said:

I would love to know who the brown clad dancer was supposed to be in Act III.  And was there a Cinderella tale?

Someone should unite the two threads on this topic.

By sheer luck, I viewed all of the SB acts because i was curious to see Nacho Duato as 'classical' choreographer.
I think  all the observations  of the viewers  are accurate. Generally I concur with Natalia's comment that chopping Tchaikovsky's score is the cardinal sin of the production.

i liked the costumes and the sets (whose name escapes me).  The reporter who cited 'eye candy' was right on the mark.
The Mikhailovsky dancers are first rate. Some I'd like to cite  are the three gorgeous fairies in the third act as well as the 'brown clad' male dancer, spectacular and nameless.
Others of note are Florine and the Bluebird, brilliant in blue, brilliant in sensuous partnering.

Nacho Duato sincerely put a lot of work in. The vision scene probably needs some work (At least the panorama gets in). The variations seem musically adept.
But no mazurka?

BTW did the composer name the Rose Adagio?

On the principals: Sarafanov  brought nothing for me to the vision scene. Zakharova, beautiful and glamorous, sought luster to her international career,and   Borchenko, made me to wish her  in Petipa choreography.

[Natalia]

The Russian-language BalletFriends forum gave the detailed casting for non-principal roles:

Prologue Fairies:
Candide-Dmitrienko
Coulente-Yapparova
Miettes (Dewdrop) -Miltseva
Canari -Zapasnikova
Violente - Bondareva
Lilac - Borchenko

Fairy Pages:
Victor Lebedev (THE great male star of the Vaganova Class of 2010...I hope that it was worth it)
Korypaev
Yakhnyuk (also the Act III guy in brown...)
Zaitsev
Sivakov
Morozov

Modern Trio in Forest (Farandole music) - Miltseva, Arzyaev & Lapshanov

Jewel Fairies - Dmitirenko, Zapasnikova, Bondareva & (man in brown) Andrei Yakhnyuk*

Cats - Nikolaeva & Kuligin
Bluebird pdd (sans solos) - Yapparova & Korypaev
Red Hood & Wolf - Khomenko & Sergei Strelkov (the Vaganova Academy's top male in the latest class...although not as spectacular as Lebedev from the Class of '10, who was one of the 6 fairy pages here)

* Andrei Yakhnyuk began his career in 1999 as Principal with Tachkine's St. Petersburg Ballet Theater (famous as the troupe with Irina Kolesnikova), then transferred to the Mikhailovsky in 2007 as a First Soloist. He graduated from the Moscow Ballet Academy (the Bolshoi's school) in '99 but his entire career has been in StP.

[Cygnet]

I say that Nacho Duato shouldn't have ever touched it - at all.