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What I believe should had been done since the beggining was to create a healthy mix of whatever had worked in soviet productions with elements that could be added and/or substituted in favor of a better offering. As I said a while ago, I don't think modern audiences are very able to give up Lilac's pointes and tutus in favor of the XIX century "Miss Columbia Pictures" lady, but I'm sure these same audiences would be happy to be offered the temple destruction and proper end of Bayadere.

I agree about Lilac Fairy. I forgot about that. You do miss the pointe and dancing in the reconstruction.

The Bayadere reconstruction temple destruction is not as beautiful as the Makarova version's temple destruction in my opinion. Makarova's staging that has Solor following Nikiya up the steps after the dust settles is just so gorgeous! I know Makarova's version has its own problems, but that last apotheosis is better done than in the Mariinsky reconstruction, in my personal opinion. I do agree with you that audiences probably do want the temple destruction for some sort of closure. Despite its own problems I think Makarova's version is a decent compromise even if the dancing in the last act is sort of modern-ish and doesn't flow with the rest of the ballet. Maybe if the Mariinsky had more money to redo the apotheosis I would like it better.

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Cygnet, one thing you mentioned was Vikharev stagings for Tokyo--what productions have been done there?

He staged "Don Quixote."

The Kirov's La Bayadere already used the scenery from the 1900 production--right? (I could be wrong about that, but I thought it did.)
They preserved the Soviet designs. Since then they've mixed and matched the costumes at home and on tour. When they produced the recon they spruced up the designs and scenery based on the 1900 sketches. One of the main controversies was the restored last act, as well as the pdt between Nikiya's Shade, Gamzatti and Solor. The modern cut of the Shades' tutus in Act 3 was changed to the 1900 pattern, and they wore wigs. Thankfully, they got rid of the wigs first, but they've kept the tutus which are cut the same as those seen in La Scala's Raymonda. They alternate between the 1900 tutus and the modern cut at home. They tour "Bayadere" with the modern cut tutus. Nikiya's lamentation variation costume was also different, a long skirt with plume pants. They went back to the Soviet design. Nikiya's fire dance costume also had a skirt and plume pants and showed less midrift. I remember that Nikiya also danced holding a sitar. Daria Pavlenko danced the first Nikiya at the recon premiere.
Is the beautiful one act Awakening of Flora still ever performed?

No. After Vaziev left, Fateev filed it away, preferring to concentrate on the Balanchine repertory, Ratmansky and Sergeyev's redactions. Evgenia Obraztsova danced Flora at the recon premiere. Katya Osmolkina also danced Flora but it was rarely staged and is 'done' now. If it ever comes back into the rep, it's tailor made for dancers like Valeria Martynuk and Maria Shirinkina, and would probably be performed in the Mariinsky Concert Hall.

And I absolutely agree about the Swan Lake. While I'm not as keen on his production, Grigorovich did go back and change his happy ending for the Bolshoi after the fall of the Soviet regime--I wish someone would do the same for the Mariinsky's at the least.

The Sergeyev production has been running for 62 years. The current production, staged in 1982 with Igor Ivanov and Galina Solovieva's designs, has been onstage for 30 of those 62 years. The current Regime will not change it. Plus, the 'culture' of the Mariinsky Theatre is that the successor(s) to the current Regime and it's Classe Politique won't change it either. Hopefully, this will change in the future.

Grigorovich's latest ending (circa 2001, which butchers the score's penultimate finale by repeating the overture), doesn't resolve the plot or the protagonists' issues either. Messerer's finale for the Mik and the Bourmeister staging for the Stanislavsky in Moscow are extremely well thought out and executed compared to the Sergeyev and Grigorovich finales. I've always thought that Tchaikovsky's score dictates the tragic ending - you can hear it in the overture. If the Mariinsky management ever decides to upgrade it's finale, it could restore the final bars from the original 1877 score which were cut from Drigo's 1895 edition. Then O/O and Siegfried can drown as written in the libretto, and have Rothbart go up in flames a la "Götterdämmerung." The Writhing Rothbart looks ridiculous.

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I don't miss the Lilac Fairy's pointe work at all in the reconstruction, particularly when dancers like Lopatkina develope up to their ears in her variation. The long dress gives the Lilac Fairy more stature, in my opinion. She manages; the rest dance (en pointe), except for Carabosse, and the set-up is between the two of them, not between Carabosse and Aurora.

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Actually there's no so much of a change in between the recon and the NS version. In the recon Lilac goes tutu'ed too in the Prologue, having decided for the "Marie DID dance on pointe" idea and whatever was in the notations for her waltz. The main change goes in the Vision Scene, where she shows up in the recon with her Columbia Pictures appearance, vs.the little stuff she does on pointe and tutu in the NS production. I can live with that change, only for the beautiful restored details like the shell balance for Aurora-(THAT is a shame that we don't see it again...). The other fragment that suffers I think is the complete display of the fairy tales characters and variations in the wedding act, usually so truncated, but so complete in the recon.

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Recent Sergeyev SB performances have a much more complete final act with more of the characters if I remember correctly. I think the Mariinsky has unfortunately deleted the first part of the first act in which the King forgives the peasant girls with knitting needles. I was just talking with a friend, and we think that this deletion is a mistake. It is important to see the King (instigated actually by the Queen) forgiving their subjects, because forgiveness makes Carabosse look worse, b/c she is the opposite of forgiveness, so I think that scene where we see the King as benevolent is very important to the actual story of Sleeping Beauty.

I could be wrong, but from what I have seen the final act is more like the reconstruction even when they do the Sergeyev version. I also think the famous Waltz before Aurora enters is done more like the reconstruction also. Maybe someone else who has just seen the recent performances this month could let us know for sure.

I think these are the current changes in the current Sleeping Beauty performances at the Mariinsky:

1) King's forgivenss scene is deleted.

2) Act 1 begins with the famous Waltz instead of the forgiveness scene.

3) Act 2 includes much more of the hunting scene with the Prince than in the commercial video from Canada.

4) Vision scene no longer has the fairies keeping the Prince away from Aurora at the beginning. It goes straight into a PDD for them.

5) The final act is more like the reconstruction with a lot more fairy tale characters (although I could be wrong).

If anyone went to the performances this month, please let us know if this is what is going on with the Sergeyev version. I would be interested to know.

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The Kirov/K Sergeyev version I know best is the one with Irina Kolpokova from the early 80s I believe (not the earlier film with her)--it was the first ballet video I ever bought (I now have the DVD), so holds a huge special place in my heart. I do think it has a fairly complete and imprssive Act III--the only thing I really miss and wish they would add is the charming Cinderella bit (it's so short--why not? tongue.png), and some of the mime like during Little Red's bit. I admit I also miss odd, but charming details from the reconstruction like Carabosse being at the wedding. I love that they still do the Hop O' My Thumb divertissement, though (I don't think any other current production I know of--aside from the reconstruction of course--does it, and I always like when they have these brief kids numbers--Mere Gignon in Nutcracker reminds me of it too.) I know there's always the temptation to cut the divertissements--it's late in the night, etc--ABT's production feels like the wedding is a rush job--but by that point of the night, personally, I like to relax and just watch the final dances.

I have the "official" Bolshoi book of Sleeping Beauty (I have a similar book for Raymonda), that was released from some Soviet/American publisher (along with a number of other volumes I never found). Grigorovich explains his production, and he obviously put a lot of thought behind it-=-he felt that it was important to include bits like the spinning women at the top of Act I. I actually don't mind his staging--it's one of the better of the Grigorovich reconstructions, but before the redesign anyway (which I'm not all sold on) it did have horrible wigs, and Virsaladze, who did lovely designs for the Kirov's, does a much more abstract design here (which seemed to be what Grigorovich always got him to do--his work on his ballets is far more abstract than in Leningrad). He does include Cinderella (or did--I can't remember if she's in the new production), though no Hop O' My Thumb.

The vision scene in the reconstruction makes a lot more sense than in Sergeyev's version. The choreography is often similar, but in the original it's clear that the naids (or whatever they're meant to be tongue.png ) are always getting in the way and keeping the Prince just out of reach of Aurora.

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Hop O' My Thumb is one fairy tale I did not grow up with. I know what you are talking about b/c I have seen it in the final act of Sleeping Beauty in different performances, but I had never heard of that fairy tale until I watched Sleeping Beauty. But I agree that it is nice to see the children get dancing roles even slight ones.

I love seeing the Vaganova children during the famous Waltz before Aurora comes out. How beautiful is that?????

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I grew up with bilingually--with a lot of the La Fontaine and Perrault fairy tales, but had to find, as a kid, both Hop O' My Thumb and the Blue Bird fairy tales after first watching Sleeping Beauty as a teen. With Hop, it seemed like it was Tom Thumb mixed with Jack and the Beanstalk--but the divertissement is done so well that any kid would understand what the basis of the plot is.

Birdsall--completely agree with you about the Garland Waltz done with kids.

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. The choreography is often similar, but in the original it's clear that the naids (or whatever they're meant to be tongue.png ) are always getting in the way and keeping the Prince just out of reach of Aurora.

Makes you wonder whyinnocent.gif

To entice him further to go with Lilac and wake her up?

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. The choreography is often similar, but in the original it's clear that the naids (or whatever they're meant to be tongue.png ) are always getting in the way and keeping the Prince just out of reach of Aurora.

Makes you wonder whyinnocent.gif

To entice him further to go with Lilac and wake her up?

"She's now your 'Look but please, don't touch her' type"...but just for now if you follow close instructions by the plumed one.."

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So I had never seen a full version of Raymonda (only clips on Youtube and the Dancer's Dream Documentary) and decided that had to be remedied. I bought this version with Novikova (and I understand it is a reconstruction) and loved it! I cannot believe I waited so long to see the full ballet. I really enjoyed to see the different style of tutu as well as the sets. I already was expecting the weird piano split screen during the third act variation so it didn't throw me as much, but I also wish it had not been included in such a way.

I find Novikova to be lovely and wonder if perhaps she will ever be made principal at MT...

I am about to go on a Raymonda spree this weekend, next on the list is the Kirov version with Kolpakova. I have read the comments on it so I am excited, and I do enjoy all the footage I have seen of Kolpakova thus far smile.png

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We have seen ballets in which dancers dance different variations of the same story, ballets in which choreographers offer different interpretations of the same story, and stories in which artists present different interpretations in different media, such as books and poems made into movies, plays, and ballets with different endings. Has anyone created a ballet in which Raymonda makes a different choice, and how is the White Lady treated in this regard?

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