271 replies to this topic

[Birdsall]

January is a good month for new talents: Marchuk and Baoteva will dance Columbine, Viktoria Krasnokutskaya will dance The Yong Lady, and Arina Varentseva (the new darling of Fateev) will dance Petrouchka.

I saw Oksana Marchuk in two Nutcrackers recently. She played the sister of Masha to both Osmolkina and Evseeva. Both ballerinas were good, and Evseeva for me wonderful and so poignant, but whenever Marchuk was onstage she completely outshone every ballerina and I could not stop watching her. She has unique presence and personality, some of the best arms in the company, and I could not stop wishing she was dancing Masha. Columbine is a great role for her, but she should be dancing Masha, Aurora, Syuimbike - and many, many other roles that she would be superb in. The same can be said for Nadia Batoeva, who is a great dramatic ballerina, with superb technique - she is a gorgeous Columbine, but she too should be dancing principal roles - Aurora, Kitri, Nikiya ... Krasnokutskaya too I like - she has a sparky personality and always stands out on stage - and think she could be a fabulous Kitri. And Varentseva is still very young and I saw her Florine debut in Sleeping Beauty. Technically she is accomplished, but of course she needs time to mature and I hope Fateyev will not push her into too many new roles before she is ready. She needs time to develop as an artist although she is certainly promising and I enjoyed her Florine.

Tiara,
I agree with all that you say! Marchuk is truly like when the sun comes out on a cloudy day. I've never seen anyone have such a sunny personality that she/he literally seems to light up a stage! It is truly amazing and uncanny. I think Marchuk could probably cure people's depression! LOL

[Natalia]

Keenan don't dance no solo in Boston. The most she did was one of three dryads.
Here is your henrietta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vP1IaMzOAE

Renata, please tell me that this clip is just a joke and comes from the old TV show Amateur Hour! The port de bras alone...wow. What on earth is going on with this company?


As for the announcement of Ms Kampa's latest debut as Kitri on January 16, words fail me. They really do.


Maybe all of the recent odd casting decisions, on tour and at home, relate to marketing moves, i.e., in Kampa's case, her contract 'deal' may be linked to getting footage of her in starring roles for the bio-documentary on her story that is currently in the works? The Skorik Revolution may be trying to fill a marketing void (?) also.

[Tiara]

Keenan don't dance no solo in Boston. The most she did was one of three dryads.
Here is your henrietta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vP1IaMzOAE

Renata, please tell me that this clip is just a joke and comes from the old TV show Amateur Hour! The port de bras alone...wow. What on earth is going on with this company?


As for the announcement of Ms Kampa's latest debut as Kitri on January 16, words fail me. They really do.


Maybe all of the recent odd casting decisions, on tour and at home, relate to marketing moves, i.e., in Kampa's case, her contract 'deal' may be linked to getting footage of her in starring roles for the bio-documentary on her story that is currently in the works? The Skorik Revolution may be trying to fill a marketing void (?) also.

Fortunately, words rarely fail me, and so I will say that I find this DQ casting a complete joke and actually a disgrace. But hopefully the joke will be on Fateyev when his appalling casting decision is well and truly ridiculed by ballet public and press alike. Keenan Kampa does not have the technique, style or personality for this role. It is ludicrous. Where is the crystalline purity required for the Dryad scene? Where is the spitfire footwork and great jump? Where are the expressive port de bras? Where is the sparkling personality for Kitri? Kampa looks terrified every time she steps on stage and not surprisingly - she must know she simply is not up to dancing on it. The Mariinsky has so many wonderful ballerinas who could and should be given a chance to dance this exacting role. What about Stepanova and Batoeva, both newly promoted to coryphee and as yet without a full length ballet role to their name? Krasnokutskaya also would be great in the role. And both Novikova and Martynyuk have already proved themselves wonderful Kitris. If only the true reasons for this oddest of odd casting decision could be brought out into the open, whether marketing or sponsorship related, because at the moment Mariinsky audiences are just being cheated.

[Renata Rodrigues]

Unfortunately no joke, Natalia. If you think this is bad, check this out:


What makes me most sad about Don Quixote on the 16th is to see talented girls like Nadia Batoeva and Daria Vanestsova as adjuncts.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Keenan don't dance no solo in Boston. The most she did was one of three dryads.
Here is your henrietta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vP1IaMzOAE

Renata, please tell me that this clip is just a joke and comes from the old TV show Amateur Hour!

[Natalia]

Unfortunately no joke, Natalia. If you think this is bad, check this out:
....Sleeping Beauty Jewels clip....

What makes me most sad about Don Quixote on the 16th is to see talented girls like Nadia Batoeva and Daria Vanestsova as adjuncts.

Renata, I know that you meant well but I got full-metal indigestion, after seeing the rough-cut sapphire between sterling silver and 24-karat gold. In addition to the flapping port de bras, Kampa's big weakness seems to be the huff-n'-puff facial expression with open mouth, gasping for air. Lavrinenko & Chereskevich are cool, calm & collected - every inch the aristocrats, flanking the huff-n'-puff gal. THEN the piece de resistance: Valeria Martinyuk's Diamond/Fairy Brilliant enters the stage and WOW! My indigestion totally cured.

As for Batoeva, she was BORN to be a Kitri, a 100% natural Latina-looking spitfire, with the technique, proportions and schooling to shine in the role. She should be Kitri and not just one of the 2 friends here. (She and Frolova were the super-surprises of the recent Kennedy Center Cinderellas.) Vasnetsova is truly beautiful, elegant and properly schooled; at least she gets a decent solo in her role on the 16th. It will be interesting to see Kitri and Dryad dancing in the Dream Scene, side by side.

[Tiara]

Unfortunately no joke, Natalia. If you think this is bad, check this out:
....Sleeping Beauty Jewels clip....

What makes me most sad about Don Quixote on the 16th is to see talented girls like Nadia Batoeva and Daria Vanestsova as adjuncts.

Renata, I know that you meant well but I got full-metal indigestion, after seeing the rough-cut sapphire between sterling silver and 24-karat gold. In addition to the flapping port de bras, Kampa's big weakness seems to be the huff-n'-puff facial expression with open mouth, gasping for air. Lavrinenko & Nikitina are cool, calm & collected - every inch the aristocrats, flanking the huff-n'-puff gal. THEN the piece de resistance: Valeria Martinyuk's Diamond/Fairy Brilliant enters the stage and WOW! My indigestion totally cured.

As for Batoeva, she was BORN to be a Kitri, a 100% natural Latina-looking spitfire, with the technique, proportions and schooling to shine in the role. She should be Kitri and not just one of the 2 friends here. (She and Frolova were the super-surprises of the recent Kennedy Center Cinderellas.) Vasnetsova is truly beautiful, elegant and properly schooled; at least she gets a decent solo in her role on the 16th. It will be interesting to see Kitri and Dryad dancing in the Dream Scene, side by side.

Agree about Vasnetsova - she is a wonderful classical ballerina and a great dramatic ballerina too. She was simply amazing in all her expressions as Phrygia in Ilya Kuznetsov's Spartacus debut last month, and she was also a superb Florine. She should be dancing principal roles and not wasted on solos. Btw, that is Chereshkevich, not Nikitina, as Silver Fairy in the clip above!

[Natalia]

Thank you for the correction, Tiara! I've edited the original post.

[Tara]

Well today is the day. Kampa as Kitri. Any news on this premiere yet?

[Mme. Hermine]

well local time 11:33 p.m. so the folks with the cameras might be on their way home still -

[Natalia]

Yup, "rafzak" is in the process of uploading them right now. Come back soon!

rafzak61 created Дон-Кихот.16-01-13. 24 seconds ago


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Дон-Кихот.16-01-13.



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[Natalia]

In the meantime, here is one of several that Rafzak uploaded of Novikova's Kitri a couple of days ago (13 Jan 2013):

[Mme. Hermine]

Think she'll have dyed her hair?

[Mme. Hermine]

[Mme. Hermine]