119 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

The Mariinsky Ballet returns to the USA this October (2 hrough 21):  Swan Lake in two California cities + the aformentioned Cinderella at the Kennedy Center. (No mention of a repeat of the 'Saisons Russes' mixed bill also being performed in DC, as 'Voice of Russia' had cited earlier.)

Exact dates and ballets are on the Ardani Artists website:
http://www.ardani.co...s-mariinsky.php

Hmmm...I think that the Californians got the better deal here, especially if Ekaterina Kondaurova is one of the O/Os.

[ksk04]

Well I'm just thrilled, we haven't had a Mariinsky Swan Lake here in quite awhile so I can forgive the solid week of SL and no triple. So many wonderful casting opportunities!

[PeggyR]

Berkeley!!!! YES!!!!!! I just hope to heaven there's no football game that weekend.

Not on the CalPerfs site yet, though.  I really, really, really can't wait for this; I don't care what they dance as long as they dance...

[tcottrell]

When will the casting for the various shows be announced.

[Helene]

According to the Cal Performances website, in Berkeley,

Quote

Cast to include Uliana Lopatkina, Alina Somova, Victoria Tereshkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Danila Korsuntsev, Vladimir Schklyarov, Evgeny Ivanchenko, and Denis Matvienko

Of course, this is all subject to change.  Once it's released, the link above should show the casting for individual performances in Berkeley.

Performances back in St. Petersburg during the time of the tour  (2-27 October) to CA are:
10 October-Romeo and Juliet
26 October-A Midsummer Night's Dream

According to the current schedule, the theaters are dark for the first 9 days of October, and its mostly opera for the last two weeks.

[amiaow]

I just found this press release about the Costa Mesa performances- http://www.scfta.org...ky%20Ballet.pdf

Odette-Odile will be danced by Tereshkina, Kondaurova, Matvienko, Somova and Skorik while Siegfried will be danced by Schkylarov, Korsuntsev, Ivanchenko and Askerov.

If any BT-ers attend, I'd love to read your review!

[YID]

OMG and OG(oh G-d)... How i wish to see Tereshkina & Kondaurova and HOW I WOULD LIKE TO AVOID Skorik (she's even worse than Somova). Should we sign a petition to Gergiev/Fateev to not cast her.... Tough call for casting gambling. Does anyone know if the venue allows ticket swaps due to casting changes (as kennedy sometimes allows)?

[nysusan]

YID, on 27 July 2012 - 08:16 AM, said:

OMG and OG(oh G-d)... How i wish to see Tereshkina & Kondaurova and HOW I WOULD LIKE TO AVOID Skorik (she's even worse than Somova). Should we sign a petition to Gergiev/Fateev to not cast her.... Tough call for casting gambling. Does anyone know if the venue allows ticket swaps due to casting changes (as kennedy sometimes allows)?

Agreed & agreed. This casting is a disaster and now I don't know if its worth the trip. I had been planning to go for a 3 day weekend & see 4 performances but nothing would get me to sit through Somova and Skorik. The Sat night performance is a double booby prize with Somova/Ivenchenko.

I/m not sure I can justify spending almost a thousand dollars and traveling 3000 miles each way to see 2 performances, not even for Tereshkina/Schlyarov and Kondaurova/Korsuntsev.

I hate current Mariinsky management, they should be ashamed at what they're trying to foist on us.

[Helene]

From the press release linked above (a .pdf) -- thank you amiaow:

Tuesday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Victoria Tereshkina as Odette-Odile
Vladimir Schklyarov as Prince Siegfried

Wednesday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Anastasia Matvienko as Odette-Odile
Danila Korsuntsev as Prince Siegfried

Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Oxana Skorik as Odette-Odile
Timur Askerov as Prince Siegfried

Friday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Victoria Tereshkina as Odette-Odile
Vladimir Schklyarov as Prince Siegfried

Saturday, October 6 at 2 p.m.
Ekaterina Kondaurova as Odette-Odile
Danila Korsuntsev as Prince Siegfried

Saturday, October 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Alina Somova as Odette-Odile
Evgeny Ivanchenko as Prince Siegfried

Sunday, October 7 at 2 p.m.
Oxana Skorik as Odette-Odile
Timur Askerov as Prince Siegfried

It's clever casting:  people who are going to go on weekend will go on the weekend no matter who dances.

For West Coasters trying to see Tereshkina and Kondaurova, it may be possible to fly in in time for the Friday night performance and leave after the Saturday matinee.  Also, by October, any of this could change.

[California]

Helene, on 27 July 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

It's clever casting:  people who are going to go on weekend will go on the weekend no matter who dances.

So true! I don't want to insult anybody, but I was astounded by the relatively ignorant Saturday night crowd at OCPAC when the Bolshoi performed in spring 2010. I was surrounded by lots of older couples who attended plenty of events at OCPAC, but mainly for socializing. I remember a strange conversation with one couple that was shocked that I was attending my third performance of Don Q that week and was coming back Sunday afternoon. The idea that anybody would want to see different casts of the same ballet was something that had never occurred to them.  Still, those people buy tickets (and many probably donate money), so we should be glad they do attend. (And the cast that night was definitely third-string, as I remember, although those folks in the audience wouldn't have known the difference.)

[ksk04]

Well I guess my Saturday matinee subscription seats hit the jackpot, THANK GOD. The only other dancer I am remotely interested in is Tereshkina so I'm glad she's opening on Tuesday. Where is Lopatkina?

[Helene]

Tereshkina will get the review, which is excellent planning, too.

[ksk04]

Helene, on 27 July 2012 - 11:36 AM, said:

Tereshkina will get the review, which is excellent planning, too.

I'm sure that didn't escape their notice!


Is Skorik the dancer who was the subject of the crazed youtube video from russianballetvideo a month or so ago? The girl with the major technical issues? I can't find the video now, but if so, she really should not be dancing major tours with the problems she seems to regularly have.

[Drew]

California, on 27 July 2012 - 11:01 AM, said:

The idea that anybody would want to see different casts of the same ballet was something that had never occurred to them.  Still, those people buy tickets (and many probably donate money), so we should be glad they do attend. (And the cast that night was definitely third-string, as I remember, although those folks in the audience wouldn't have known the difference.)

Something that intrigues me...When it comes to ballet, I actually think almost everyone does know the difference; they just don't know that they know the difference. That is, when they see a really great performance, they always get that something special has occurred. At least that has been my experience.

I never took someone to see Kirkland who was not blown away and suddenly more understanding of my passion--it's not that they became balletomanes, but they certainly 'knew the difference.'  Similarly, when they see lesser dancers, they may not know how/why or even THAT it is lesser, but they indirectly register it: a less excited response, a willingness to just 'enjoy' whatever they saw (not always a bad trait either) & sometimes boredom is, I think, mostly how they register it.

(People who see Balanchine and find it 'boring' sometimes have only seen the very post-Balanchine performances that some of the older NYCB fans complain about bitterly. In a funny way, ignorance and expertise join hands.)

I do acknowledge that certain kinds of greatness are easier for someone unfamiliar w. ballet to 'get'--Nureyev on the whole more than Bruhn etc. And the traditional 'Kirov' style was always more austere than the Bolshoi.

Of course, with the Mariinsky even the least of their casts in a ballet like Swan Lake should be quality and it's depressing if/when that is not the case..

[abatt]

California, on 27 July 2012 - 11:01 AM, said:

I remember a strange conversation with one couple that was shocked that I was attending my third performance of Don Q that week and was coming back Sunday afternoon. The idea that anybody would want to see different casts of the same ballet was something that had never occurred to them.  

That's why I never divulge how frequently I go to the ballet except to very few individuals who share my passion.  That's what makes reading and particpating in these conversations on Ballet Alert so wonderful.