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Mariinsky Ballet Swan Lake at Berkeley 10/ 13 Matinee


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A very good performance by all, I was impressed with Kondaurova and Korsuntsev. Glad to see them instead of Skorik which I had heard about, mostly bad. I can't believe Kondaurova is so tall! But she was wonderful as both Odette and as Odile. I went to see her mainly because she's my friend's favorite dancer and now I am too a fan.

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Hey Cords, it was fun hanging out and talking ballet with our group, here's my review.

This performance was attended by many members of the Russian community here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I heard a lot of people conversing in Russian around and inside the venue. I saw some little girls wearing fancy dress-up outfits complete with two-inch heels (what's up with that?), and also the more traditional little girls decked out in tutu costumes. Non-dancing drama included an audience member falling down and hitting her head during first intermission, my friends saw her go down and then converged upon the scene to make sure she was okay. Luckily she wasn't completely unresponsive and we didn't have to do CPR but we kept our eyes on her until ambulance arrived.

Now to the dancing part of the show. What a difference a great Siegfried makes! Danila Korsuntsev's Siegfried didn't have to make a dramatic entrance, unlike Shklyarov's rather hammy entrance on Thursday night, to make it apparent to us that he IS the prince. It also helped that Korsuntsev has an interesting face, a countenance which naturally conveys sense of ennui tinged with wistfulness. This obviously added to his regal yet unmannered acting, and he conveyed varied emotions tailored to specified moments during the ballet. Technically he was stellar, solid, and wonderful partner to Kondaurova. They were such a nice contrast from Thursday, shaky pairing of Skorik/ Shklyarov, with Shklyarov basically manhandling Skorik all night. Korsuntsev and Kondaurova were very much in sync with each other and had the requisite chemistry as a pairing. I admit to having a rather neutral-warm opinion on Kondaurova as a dancer, I think for a principal ballerina, she has a very limited range in terms of roles danced, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by her O/ O. For me, Kondaurova's Odette in Act 2 didn't impress with sense of pathos. She didn't emote fear or sadness as she told Siegfried of her plight, I would have liked to see more emotional take but that's just my personal taste. Anyways, her interpretation was more of a dignified grief, which suited her statuesque and elegant style quite well. Kondaurova's legato was also creamier than Skorik's take on Odette (analogy: Kondaurova was full cream while Skorik was skimmed milk), with a lot less contorted posing or going for extensions, and more connection with music and movement. Technically there wasn't a lot to pick apart either, I appreciated her musicality in Odette variation as well, phrasing the parts which demanded phrasing so that there was a sense of ebb and flow of grief.

In Act 3, again I couldn't keep my eyes off of Yulia Stepanova and Karen Ionessian, they truly steal the show in their character solo work. But the audience seemed to like Hungarian Dance the most this time around. I also want to point out that the newest corps member, Keenan Kampa, had a minor and not very noticeable mistake towards the end of Prince's Brides dance. I sat exactly two rows behind the orchestra so it might have had the effect of magnifying every little mistake. But it appears that she definitely needs more time as corps member if only to get into comfort level within the company's style and productions. Unless she bypasses that and goes directly to dancing soloist roles, but that's another discussion. Kodaurova's Odile was not dripping with evil or glee like how I like my Odiles to be, but she did impress me with her characterization of Odile nonetheless. This Odile was cool and too good for Siegfried, and it not only piqued his interest in her but also made him madly proclaim eternal love. Her cool demeanor worked because he didn't want her to be The One That Got Away. In the PDD, Kondaurova did six or seven consecutive double pique turns before ending in supported attitude pose before Siegfried. This is in contrast to Skorik's alternating single and doubles on Thursday night or if I remember correctly Lopatkina alternates hers with chaines turns in recent videos. Also in the Odile variation, Kondaurova did double attitude pirouettes as opposed to singles, except on the third and last one where she fell out of it and had to stop abruptly while still facing the audience. Korsuntsev's variation was solid and mistake-free but danced also with verve associated with falling head over heels for Odile. Fouettes were fine with doubles on every third, though for a second she did travel forward suddenly and quite a bit, that I was scared she might wind up in orchestra pit.

The final Act is my least favorite, but Konduarova managed to make it interesting to watch. I liked her Odette in the final Act more than Act 2 because it was clear then that her interpretation of Odette was linear and well-thought out. Kondaurova's Act 4 Odette was in emotional pain, it differed from Act 2 because now she was experiencing betrayal, eternal hopelessness while contemplating forgiveness. Here her expressions and movements all converge to show a layered, complex interpretation. I liked it very much. Korsuntsev's partnering in this Act was fantastic, his overhead lifts were easy and seamless in both lifting and coming down from lifts. His acting was great as well, convincing in sorrow and repentance.

Other standouts in this matinee include Xander Parish again (I think he's ready to be Siegfried), Nadezhda Batoeva who danced a sprightly variation in Friends of Prince PDT, and Yulia Stepanova as one of the Big Swans. In fact Stepanova stands out so much in that grouping, I focused only on her and thought how wonderful it would be if she was to be given a chance to dance O/ O one day. Her build and especially legs are slightly bigger than other soloists, but not much bigger. Take into consideration how gaunt both Svetlana Ivanova and Maria Shirinkina looked as Cygnets, give me Stepanova-like ballerinas over those two any day. In fact, my friend who was sat next to me remarked to me (about Ivanova and Shirinkina) "those two girls are way too skinny, look at their arms and back!", she didn't know who they were but pointed them out to me.

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Non-dancing drama included an audience member falling down and hitting her head during first intermission, my friends saw her go down and then converged upon the scene to make sure she was okay. Luckily she wasn't completely unresponsive and we didn't have to do CPR but we kept our eyes on her until ambulance arrived.

We were ready to do our CPRs though and you only kept your eyes out for her but I was on the floor getting ready to do CPR. Whatever. happy.png

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Non-dancing drama included an audience member falling down and hitting her head during first intermission, my friends saw her go down and then converged upon the scene to make sure she was okay. Luckily she wasn't completely unresponsive and we didn't have to do CPR but we kept our eyes on her until ambulance arrived.

We were ready to do our CPRs though and you only kept your eyes out for her but I was on the floor getting ready to do CPR. Whatever. happy.png

Well somebody had to oversee the emergency response, and there were already three of you guys around her...

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A way-belated response to say I really enjoyed reading this review. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and I was entertaining the possibility of going to this - I have never seen Swan Lake before (I know, I know, boggles the imagination) but I'm so crazy about the Mariinksy from having seen Ballerina, and I thought, wow, what a way to start, at the top of the top.

Ultimately decided not to go - I juggle my ballet time with Symphony time, and the San Francisco Symphony won out, but oh, how nice to read this, even months down the road. Thank you, Muguet, for a wonderful review.

I know nothing about Kondaurova aside from reading this, but the comment that she is so tall caught my eye. I recently included a link at my blog, The Classical Girl, to footage of Ulyana Lopatkina, as Odette in Act II pas de deux (I think with the aforementioned Danila Korsuntsev), and it was the most astonishingly beautiful pas de deux I'd ever seen. She's extraordinarily tall - maybe 5'9"? Does the company like tall women? Or do they just happen to be among the tall women of the company? And are the tall ballerinas paired with Danila K. because he matches them well?

Check out the YouTube footage of the two of them in the Act II pas de deux - I'd love to hear your impressions, and how it compared to the Berkeley performance. That said, I realize this was posted months and months ago - I'm not sure if either of you are still reading! But if you are, I enjoyed your comments!

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Just a general response to your questions, though I did not see the particular performance reviewed: The Mariinsky definitely seems to like to feature tall ballerinas in Swan Lake (though not in all leading roles) ... Some might say they are a little overly preoccupied with "tall" for Odette/Odile. There are several men who partner them but Korsuntsev is definitely one of the go-to partners for the taller leading ballerinas. He is in his own right one of their top male dancers and a principal.

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There are other threads for that. In the typical general place, discussing the particular company.

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/forum/63-kirov-mariinsky-ballet/

Next visit of Mariinsky to the US (of what's knows as of now) is January 2014 to Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Swan Lake.

Bolshoi - http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/forum/62-bolshoi-ballet/ their next known visit to the US is in June 2014, same Kennedy Center. Enjoy - that's the right threads to learn that data

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