68 replies to this topic

[YID]

alexaa1a, on 08 August 2012 - 03:38 PM, said:

Shirinkina only performed the final movement in Symphony in C on the final night gala of the International Mariinsky festival on April 1 plus on April 29 there was a gala for students where she danced the Vainonen Nutcracker pas with Fillip Stepin and she had no problems with balance.
I would like you to clarify what you saw her dance in April since she danced one movement at the beginning and one pas at the end.

I would correct you,  as between April 23rd an May 3rd, i saw her
Apr 27th-in Divertisment at Concert hall, Paquita - very not impressive,
Gala for students Apr 29th noon - she danced the Vainonen Nutcracker - she Failed all balances, was very sloppy with turns and fell into Stepin once (I think it was landing on a knee) - i sat on the 7th row center orchestra no obstruction to the view.
Jewels - she might have danced as well (I didn't buy that program, but 99% certain, as i saw Fateev congratulating her at stage door afterwards. She's a sweetest person and nice dancer who's been promoted too fast and too unjustifiable for her own good

[alexaa1a]

YID, on 08 August 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

alexaa1a, on 08 August 2012 - 03:38 PM, said:

Shirinkina only performed the final movement in Symphony in C on the final night gala of the International Mariinsky festival on April 1 plus on April 29 there was a gala for students where she danced the Vainonen Nutcracker pas with Fillip Stepin and she had no problems with balance.
I would like you to clarify what you saw her dance in April since she danced one movement at the beginning and one pas at the end.

I would correct you, as between April 23rd an May 3rd, i saw her
Apr 27th-in Divertisment at Concert hall, Paquita - very not impressive,
Gala for students Apr 29th noon - she danced the Vainonen Nutcracker - she Failed all balances, was very sloppy with turns and fell into Stepin once (I think it was landing on a knee) - i sat on the 7th row center orchestra no obstruction to the view.
Jewels - she might have danced as well (I didn't buy that program, but 99% certain, as i saw Fateev congratulating her at stage door afterwards. She's a sweetest person and nice dancer who's been promoted too fast and too unjustifiable for her own good

I forgot about April 27, which I saw, when she danced solo in Paquita, which has no balances and is very short. i also forgot about her Emeralds on the 28th, which I saw, which caused her no difficulty. I strongly disagree with your assessment of her balances in Nutcracker which I saw with my own eyes. Her turns were not sloppy, but Stepin does need much work in partnering pirouettes, so if you mean partnered pirouettes, it was his partnering deficiency. Can you clarify what you mean by her falling into Stepin.

[Birdsall]

abatt, on 08 August 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

Regarding Kondaurova, how much dancing does the Stepmother have in this production? Is it mostly a character role?  Does the stepmother have pointe work?

abatt, I found the clip.....here is the stepmother's Act 2 ballroom scene. This might help you judge.

[Birdsall]

Here's a clip of a more serious moment in Ratmansky's Cinderella.

[Rosa]

Lovely video.

ksk04, on 08 August 2012 - 01:21 PM, said:

Osmolkina is coming on the fall tour and we don't get to see her Swan Lake? (Has the Mariinsky actually let her do Swan Lake at home yet? That may be the better question)

She made her debut as Odette/Odile at home way back in the beginning of 2009, the same year she guested with the Royal Ballet in their Swan Lake production. I am not sure if the Mariinsky has given her more performances of the role since then or not.

Will this be Shirinkina's first time dancing Cinderella?

[Tiara]

I have seen Maria Shirinkina in many of her roles and I am very happy she is to debut as Cinderella - it will be an ideal role for her.  She is essentially a lyrical ballerina with outstandingly beautiful arms and lovely flow of movement and is at her best when given roles that showcase these qualities. I saw her Nutcracker debut as Masha with Filipp Stepin, where she was wonderfully lyrical and touching, with beautiful arms that are amongst the best in the Mariinsky.  They did have a few partnering errors, which  did not detract from my enjoyment of her performance.  Her Shirin in Legend of Love showed a promising partnership with Shklyarov.  Her Giselle Act 2 in my opinion was outstanding, where she completely gave the impression of a floating spirit that could not stay on the earth,  and some of the most exquisite, other-worldly arms I have seen; she also gave a very moving mad scene in Act 1.  I must also say that her Butterfly showed delicate batterie and here she was ideally cast also.  I believe there is room for ballerinas of many varying types and talents with the Mariinsky and each one will shine in a different repertoire.  Shirinkina is not a fiery virtuoso and is not being given these roles: so far I think she has been  well cast and I wish her every success in her Cinderella.

[YID]

alexaa1a, on 08 August 2012 - 05:18 PM, said:

I forgot about April 27, which I saw, when she danced solo in Paquita, which has no balances and is very short. i also forgot about her Emeralds on the 28th, which I saw, which caused her no difficulty. I strongly disagree with your assessment of her balances in Nutcracker which I saw with my own eyes. Her turns were not sloppy, but Stepin does need much work in partnering pirouettes, so if you mean partnered pirouettes, it was his partnering deficiency. Can you clarify what you mean by her falling into Stepin

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I don’t have a formal French or ballet training (with regard to balances – I did not imply just holding a pose-ravnovesie) What i try to say is Shirinkina is far below the level of real principals and 1st soloists of Mariinsky, who are not given roles she's given to dance. and reading a russian forum, looks like the whole month of Sept is Ms. Shirinkina's dancing major roles at home. We've seen such unjustifiable promotions. I myself will make my voting with my dollars. All the best to all, and I hope Mariinsky comes to their senses with casting before October

[Cygnet]

Rosa, on 08 August 2012 - 07:21 PM, said:

Lovely video.

ksk04, on 08 August 2012 - 01:21 PM, said:

Osmolkina is coming on the fall tour and we don't get to see her Swan Lake? (Has the Mariinsky actually let her do Swan Lake at home yet? That may be the better question)

She made her debut as Odette/Odile at home way back in the beginning of 2009, the same year she guested with the Royal Ballet in their Swan Lake production. I am not sure if the Mariinsky has given her more performances of the role since then or not.

Katya Osmolkina hasn't followed up her O/O debut, and is rarely cast.  If she's cast it's usually the pdt.  To date, her two follow-ups were with the Royal.  She's not alone.  Olesya Novikova made her Mariinsky debut last summer with Alexander Sergeev and hasn't yet been given a follow-up either.  Prior to that, she made her inaugural debut with the Novosibirsk company, and danced it with her husband Leonid Sarafanov in July 2010 during that company's Paris engagement at the Theatre du Chatelet.  Osmolkina waited for O/O for a decade, Novikova for nine years, and Obraztsova waited for nine years and never got it:  She wasn't considered for the role and outsourced her debut at Moscow's Stanislavsky.  Vishneva waited a decade before she was granted her Mariinsky debut in Sept. 2005.  She also outsourced her O/O prior to her homecoming.  If you do the math that's a 'wait' of 38 years between them.  For the last two years the O/Os in heavy rotation have been Lopatkina, Tereshkina, Kondaurova, Somova and Skoryk, with occaisional appearances from Vishneva.  Prior to Skoryk's debut, Kolegova and Matvienko were frequently apart of the hometown line up, but not for the last two seasons.

[Waelsung]

Shirinkina - Shklyarov - Kondaurova combination looks very exciting and promising.

If it weren't the hapless Ratmansky's production I wouldn't think twice about going.

[Natalia]

It now appears that Maria Shirinkina will be making her debut as Cinderella at the Kennedy Center, as she is not appearing in the current Edinburgh run of the ballet...and neither is Somova (yikes!). Vishneva and Osmolkina each got two performances.

From a friend who attended the opening night of the Mariinsky's current 3-dy/4-performance run at the Edinburgh Festival, this was the casting as per the playbill. It likely yields good clues as to the casting of secondary roles at the Kennedy Center.

Cinderella & Prince:  Vishneva with Kolb or Osmolkina with Sergeev (note: Vishneva not scheduled for DC)
Stepmother: Kondaurova or Iosifidi
Stepsister 'Skinny': Margarita Frolova at all performances
Stepsister 'Dumpy': Tatyana Bazhitova or Ekaterina Ivannikova
Fairy Tramp (Godmother): Elena Bazhenova at all performances
4 Season Fairies (all men in this version):
Spring - V. Tkachenko or Ilya Petrov or Alexander Fyodorov
Summer - Pimonov or Popov
Autumn - Zyuzin at all performances
Winter - Sitnikov at all performances
Dance Teachers couple - Nadezhda Batoeva at all performances, dancing with either Baimuradov or Zverev
AcIII Female Prostitutes group lead:  Viktoria Brileva at all performances
Act III Male Prostitutes group lead: either Smekalov or Baimuradov

So there you have it -- Just as Fateev thrust Somova to dance her debut in a leading role (Juliet) at the start of a major int'l tour (London a couple of summers ago), so now Shirinkina will be dancing her first-ever Cinderella at the first night of the Kennedy Center run. Wow - not even giving her 2nd or 3rd night....she OPENS the run!

Very, very odd that Shirinkina isn't at least being given a 'trial chance' with the role in Edinburgh. "Lucky" Kennedy Center audience members will be the 'guinea pigs' for a ballerina's major debut at the opening night. We wish Shirinkina well.

[cubanmiamiboy]

A little OT, and my apologies if this has been addressed anywhere else, but because I hadn't followed this topic, silly me I was thinking the Cinderella being referred to was Lavrovsky's.  Question being...did the Mariinsky got rid of Lavrovsky's Cinderella for good to give way to Ratmansky's...?

[Natalia]

Cubanmiamiboy, I believe that you are referring to the original Zakharov (not Lavsrovsky) version at the Bolshoi, 1945? The Kirov-Mariinsky performed a much-beloved 1946 version by Konstantin Sergeev, as originally interpreted by Sergeev and his wife, the great ballerina Natalia Dudinskaya. The Sergeev lasted until 2001, when it was replaced by the dull and "El Cheapo" Unglamorous Ratmansky.  The Vaganova Academy has resurrected bits of the Sergeev every now and then, e.g., 2002, as a star vehicle for then-students Obraztsova and Schklyarov.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Natalia, on 03 September 2012 - 11:38 AM, said:

Cubanmiamiboy, I believe that you are referring to the original Zakharov (not Lavsrovsky) version at the Bolshoi, 1945?

That is correct, Natasha.  I got mixed up with Lavrovsky's Giselle, but it was Sakharov' the version I was thinking of-(which I sometimes see in the recording with the great Strutchkova).  Sergeev' version I don't know, but in any case I don't understand why Russian ballet is willing so often to let go previous beautiful productions-(as with the Imperial Little Humpbacked Horse, which I'm sure could have been resurrected)-to favor all this new stuff...
At least Zakharov version is still active at the Bolshoi, I believe...

[Rosa]

cubanmiamiboy, on 03 September 2012 - 06:32 PM, said:

Natalia, on 03 September 2012 - 11:38 AM, said:

Cubanmiamiboy, I believe that you are referring to the original Zakharov (not Lavsrovsky) version at the Bolshoi, 1945?

That is correct, Natasha.  I got mixed up with Lavrovsky's Giselle, but it was Sakharov' the version I was thinking of-(which I sometimes see in the recording with the great Strutchkova).  Sergeev' version I don't know, but in any case I don't understand why Russian ballet is willing so often to let go previous beautiful productions-(as with the Imperial Little Humpbacked Horse, which I'm sure could have been resurrected)-to favor all this new stuff...
At least Zakharov version is still active at the Bolshoi, I believe...

Actually, I think the Bolshoi now does Yuri Possokhov's Cinderella which premiered in 2006 (I saw it when they brought it to DC the following year). ...Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

[Natalia]

cubanmiamiboy, on 03 September 2012 - 06:32 PM, said:

....At least Zakharov version is still active at the Bolshoi, I believe...

Oh, cubanmiamiboy, it was supplanted by the Posokhov version 5 or 6 yrs ago. The new version is gorgeous, by the way...much better than Ratmansky's Mariinsky version. The Bolshoi-Posoknov has gorgeous, glamorous sets and costumes, including a huge central staircase. (So, you see, it is possible to design spectacular sets in the modern era...not be an 'El Cheapo'!)