52 replies to this topic

[miliosr]

My takeaway from the articles was this: How much was being a dancer ever his dream?  The Guardian article states (accurately or not, I cannot say) that Polunin, "was pushed into dance by his parents in the hope that it would bring the family a better life."

[Jayne]

there is a long line of shooting star athletes who felt pushed into their sports - tennis, golf, football, ice skating, etc.  Not surprised there are a few in Ballet too.

[ViolinConcerto]

miliosr, on 07 March 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

My takeaway from the articles was this: How much was being a dancer ever his dream?  The Guardian article states (accurately or not, I cannot say) that Polunin, "was pushed into dance by his parents in the hope that it would bring the family a better life."

I got the impression that he is a young man with very limited exposure to the world, and very limited education about the arts or other options open to him.  The part about his attempts to self-tattoo were troubling as well.   There's much more to this than we can really see.

[diane]

I can sort of understand the desire to perform - just perform - and not have to continually be working on something new and re-rehearsing things as one person or the other gets injured, etc.
It is a bit of exhaustion - mental, really - and the need to go "on autopilot" for a bit, perhaps. (thinking back to how I felt....)

Especially if one has spent much of one's life-up-until-now doing almost exclusively ballet, then at some point some of the dancers may start to think about what it is they could have "missed", and possibly want to make up for that.

Of course, I do not know this young man, so I cannot really speculate with any authority, except my own memories as a dancer and talking to those (my DD) who is now doing that.

This is very personal, and not everyone feels this way, of course.

-d-

[Alymer]

Quote

The fantasy of having time for a "normal life" must be seductive from time to time.

Especially when you have existed in such a hothouse atmosphere from a very early age.  And while the Royal Ballet understandably wanted to make the most of such a  box office attraction and also give him as many chances as possible, he had a pretty heavy workload for some one who has only been a member of the company for a comparatively short time.

[leonid]

Alymer, on 08 March 2012 - 04:32 AM, said:

Quote

The fantasy of having time for a "normal life" must be seductive from time to time.

Especially when you have existed in such a hothouse atomsphere from a very early age.  And while the Royal Ballet understandably wanted to make the most of such a  box office attraction and also give him as many chances as possible, he had a pretty heavy workload for some one who has only been a member of the company for a comparatively short time.

You are absolutely right and what I would consider his pairing with female dancers of lesser technical abilities in certain major roles, has been  a source of frustration to me and possibly was also for Mr Polunin.

When you consider that currently the most outstanding female dancers of the Royal Ballet  l received either all their training or formative training in schools with a superior method to the Royal Ballet school, it seems no wonder therefore, that he mentions Tamara Rojo as a favourite partner.

Currently the Royal ballet is pushing Lauren Cuthbertson in ballerina roles whom Polunin has partnered and who in my opinion, is of a senior soloist level and not what I would personally call a star.

I feel that Polunin has had to dance with dancers who were overparted in principal roles, which for some one with his talent and passion, I am now considering that this may have been one of the reasons why he felt he had to leave the company..

[ksk04]

leonid, on 08 March 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

I feel that Polunin has had to dance with dancers who were overparted in principal roles, which for some one with his talent and passion, I am now considering that this may have been one of the reasons why he felt he had to leave the company..

Is that fair though? Polunin, for all his praises and gifts, was a very, very new principal. Has he earned the right to dictate his partners? IMO, no. Perhaps some of the more seasoned female principals at the RB didn't want to dance with him because he doesn't like rehearsing very much and only enjoys male solos? Getting a say in what and with whom you dance is a privilege you earn in a ballet company (and is a luxury of large ballet companies who can afford for their dancers to be picky). I agree that Cuthbertson is perhaps not all the RB is touting her to be (though I can only make this conjecture via video), but that she is a team player is apparent and sometimes being a team player is more important to the daily workings of a ballet company when it comes to scheduling and opportunity.

IMO, it's completely self-centered to act as though the only people who can bring something to you and to the ballet overall and who are worthwhile to dance with are those who are the most brilliant (technically, dramatically, etc).

[Helene]

I've seen Cuthbertson dance, and if there's disappointment with her in London, please send her here.

I wouldn't call Polunin an experienced partner.  Rehearsals are where dancers figure out partnering issues.

It's very possible that Cuthbertson and Polunin are not a match as a partnership.  I'm not sure the Royal Ballet is particularly sensitive to partnerships, after seeing the Ansanelli and Makhateli one, which Mason and Co. thought was a good idea for some reason.

[puppytreats]

ksk04, on 08 March 2012 - 09:38 AM, said:

leonid, on 08 March 2012 - 09:22 AM, said:

I feel that Polunin has had to dance with dancers who were overparted in principal roles, which for some one with his talent and passion, I am now considering that this may have been one of the reasons why he felt he had to leave the company..

Is that fair though? Polunin, for all his praises and gifts, was a very, very new principal. Has he earned the right to dictate his partners? IMO, no. Perhaps some of the more seasoned female principals at the RB didn't want to dance with him because he doesn't like rehearsing very much and only enjoys male solos? Getting a say in what and with whom you dance is a privilege you earn in a ballet company (and is a luxury of large ballet companies who can afford for their dancers to be picky). I agree that Cuthbertson is perhaps not all the RB is touting her to be (though I can only make this conjecture via video), but that she is a team player is apparent and sometimes being a team player is more important to the daily workings of a ballet company when it comes to scheduling and opportunity.

IMO, it's completely self-centered to act as though the only people who can bring something to you and to the ballet overall and who are worthwhile to dance with are those who are the most brilliant (technically, dramatically, etc).

Did he say anything critical about quality of dancer? Maybe they were just not getting along for other reasons.  I fail to see how this is sexist, either, as I am reading in various places on the internet.

[puppytreats]

Helene, on 07 March 2012 - 05:10 PM, said:

puppytreats, on 07 March 2012 - 03:32 PM, said:

Helene, on 07 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

I don't read anything about the Royal Ballet in particular in what he says, unless they have an attendance requirement for company class.

An implication about a threat related to his visa arose in an article.

According to articles published in Links, his original visa was specific to working for the Royal Ballet, just like H-1 visas in the US are sponsored by a company for a specific person for a specific job.  Once he no longer worked for the Royal Ballet, his original visa was no longer valid, and since he resigned from the Royal Ballet, and they didn't cut him, they had nothing to do with his visa no longer being valid.

Sadler's Wells was responsible for helping him get his latest visa, which is a general work visa and doesn't tie him to a job or organization.

puppytreats, on 07 March 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

Helene, on 07 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

His story isn't very different than many figure skaters, whose family made sacrifices for their training, and they continue to the highest ranks without loving it.

Articles have not discussed his family's sacrifice, but rather, his family's demand that he make sacrifices to support them.

His family was separated, with his father working in England, to support his early training.  Separating the family is usually considered a sacrifice.

As miliosr quotes: "Polunin, 'was pushed into dance by his parents in the hope that it would bring the family a better life.'"  I don't recall whether the article discussed the father moving to work due to his dance requirements or for the family's financial situation generally, and  I did not mean to discount his family's sacrifices.  I was focused on various articles I have read, which have always discussed the obligations of Polunin and the sacrifices asked of him.

[aurora]

puppytreats, on 08 March 2012 - 01:00 PM, said:

Did he say anything critical about quality of dancer? Maybe they were just not getting along for other reasons.  I fail to see how this is sexist, either, as I am reading in various places on the internet.

A particular dancer? no, not in those two interviews. He simply said he didn't like female dancing, didn't find it interesting, didnt want to watch it or think he should have to listen to his partners because of this. (I'm paraphrasing, I read these when they first were posted, but that was definitely the jist)

Take that as sexist if you like, or not. If I was a female dancer it wouldn't endear him to me. It might in fact go a long way towards "not getting along."

[balletmor]

Does anyone have a guess as to what they think about about him still performing in the YAGP Gala (if this has been asked already, forgive me)
(Maybe I should have posted this under the Gala category?)

[sayus85]

Mashinka, on 25 January 2012 - 02:04 AM, said:

I'm rather hoping the gap in the RB ranks will be filled by the excellent Brian Maloney, he is certainly good enough.

Brian Maloney was given a big break to showcase his talent in La Fille Mal Gardee partnering Choe. Unfortunately, he was not good enough for the role of Colas.

I am really thinking of Royal Ballet getting another import to fill in an item in the principal slot. I'm hoping for a Russian coming from Bolshoi or Mariinsky. Personally I wanted Shklyarov. haha.

[innopac]

From BALLETNEWS: Sergei Polunin is now a senior principal at the Stanislavsky Ballet

http://www.stanmus.c...ance.html?id=80

http://www.stanmus.c...ople.html?grp=3

[Jayne]

I'm glad he's going to continue to share his talent