7 replies to this topic

[Cygnet]

Voice of Russia has announced the winners of the 2013 Benois de la Danse awards in Moscow.  
The new recipients are Olga Smirnova, Vadim Muntagirov of English National Ballet, and Alban Lendorf of
Royal Danish Ballet!  Choreographers Hans Van Manen and Christopher Wheeldon were also honored with
the statuette.  John Neumeier won for dedication to the art, and will receive the statuette next year.  Pierre Lacotte
was also honored for his contributions as a ballet restorer.  Congratulations to the winners and all the nominees!  
The gala and celebration concludes tonight at the Bolshoi Theatre.
http://english.ruvr....red-at-Bolshoi/

[Jayne]

I am curious how nominees are chosen, and then winners?  They seem to favor specific companies.

[volcanohunter]

Apparently, it's the members of the jury who do the nominating, which often explains a lot. This was among the faults cited in a very critical piece by Tatyana Kuznetsova in today's Kommersant.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2193999

This year's jury includes Yuri Grigorovich, Ted Brandsen, David Dawson, Marina Kondratieva, Ivan Liška, Tamara Rojo, Helgi Tomasson and Nikolaj Hübbe. So the "math" isn't very difficult: Brandsen and Tomasson co-commissioned Wheeldon's Cinderella, Brandsen's company is the primary purveyor of van Manen's work, Kondratieva is Smirnova's coach, Rojo is Muntagirov's boss, and Hübbe is Lendorf's boss.

In Kuznetsova's view, only Hans van Manen deserved his prize. Smirnova was not there to collect hers since she was in Tokyo performing in Vladimir Malakhov's farewell tour.
http://www.nbs.or.jp...malakhov-final/

Even by the murky standards of the Benois, this had to be one of the least transparent editions on record. Five ADs and one former AD each nominated a pair of dancers from their own companies. The only "outsider" nominees were Justin Peck and Edward Watson.  The only "independent" juror was Donald Dawson.

[Natalia]

Murkiness aside, at least the winners this year happen to be (mostly) deserving. Even Neumeier, whose choreography can be 'all over the place' (from excellent to yuk), had a great recent triumph with Liliom (starring Cojocaru - filmed for an upcoming DVD release).

What a nice coincidence that the two active male dancers honored, Lendorf and Muntagirov, happen to be ABT guest principals during the present Met season. Both are fantastic. Muntagirov, in particular, just goes from honor to honor, ever since his early student days in Perm (before the YAGP win). The only question remains:  when will ABT invite Smirnova as a guest principal?

[Jayne]

Honestly I'd rather see ABT develop their own principals from within their American ranks.  ABT will never truly become a national company until it can say it develops world class principals.  Imagine if the Bolshoi had only 4 Russian principals out of 20?   Interesting that ABT promotes its school curriculum when the company cannot honestly show that its curriculum produces the majority of its principals (or even 25% of its principals)

Based on recent reviews, Stella Abrera is on the cusp and other promotions are (or ought to be) in the offing.   I'd also love to see ABT invite more guest principals from the American companies:  Sarah Van Patten of SFB would be a wonderful start.

[Natalia]

Sorry for continuing the 'off topic' nature but...Jayne, would the Royal Ballet be of the current quality if it suddenly kicked all non-UK-passport-holders out? The RB already tried a decade of 'UK-only' membership in its ranks (late 70s/80s - Norman Morrice Era) and the company's quality plummeted, in general.

Only the POB, Mariinsky, Bolshoi, Cubans and our own NYCB can 'afford' to go the 'homegrown-talent-only' route and, hence, still manage to display homogeneity in their ranks. Other companies -- even big ones like ABT, RB, RDB, German troupes, etc. -- must rely on a Melting Pot of dancers trained 'round the world to maintain a high quality, even if a few corps members come from affiliated schools.

[volcanohunter]

I would choose the Royal Ballet of the 1970s over the Royal Ballet of today in a heartbeat: Lesley Collier, Vergie Derman, Anthony Dowell, Wayne Eagling, Graham Fletcher, Stephen Jeffries, Monica Mason, Merle Park, Jennifer Penney, Marguerite Porter, Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, David Wall. This is even a debate?

[Jayne]

The US has a plethora of dancing talent, if ABT is going to be a melting pot of stars, I think it should recruit from more the American companies:  SFB, PNB, MCB, Boston, Joffrey and Houston.  As for Royal Ballet, if nothing else, I think the uniformity and quality of the corps in the 1970's was far superior, because they were all trained at the same school.  

How many Royal Ballet or ABT dancers (not of Russian nationality) have won the benois?