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The Mikhailovsky Theater will present a live stream of Nacho Duato's Romeo and Juliet, starring Natalia Osipova and Leonid Sarafanov, on Wednesday, March 5, at 7.00 pm local time, or 10:00 am Eastern.

The stream will be available on several web sites, including the Mikhailovsky's own and the site of Paraclassics. Apparently the performance will also be available later for viewing on demand.

http://www.mikhailovsky.ru/en/press/news/romeo_and_juliet_webcast/

http://mikhailovsky.ru/en/media/online/

http://paraclassics.com/

I believe this will be the Mikhailovsky's first stream of the season. I was beginning to worry that it had given up on the enterprise.

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On the positive side, perhaps those on the west coast will be able to watch at least some of it before going to work, rather than trying to watch it surreptitiously when they're already on the job.

A couple of years ago I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch a ballet from Novosibirsk because I wasn't aware it would be available to watch later on demand. Boy, I felt silly.

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On the positive side, perhaps those on the west coast will be able to watch at least some of it before going to work, rather than trying to watch it surreptitiously when they're already on the job.

I'm usually the cockeyed optimist of my family -- welcome to the club!

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I'm curious if anyone else watched this live stream. (And, yes, it will be on-line for another 24 hours.) I don't recall seeing Duato's choreography before and have mixed feelings. Some of the lifts and partnering were amazingly intricate and interesting. But much of the movement vocabulary seemed stilted and gimmicky to me -- e.g., the "Egyptian" arms (I don't know what else to call it - they reminded me of the old Steve Martin "King Tut" routine) -- repeatedly bent up and down at the elbow; the extremely deep plies again and again. At first, I was disappointed that Osipova was in soft shoes, as that excises much of her potential, but it did force me to focus on her other gifts (flexibility, extension, etc.). The minimalist set was okay.

The bows seemed odd. For the first few minutes, Sarafanov seemed very glum, scowling, but he did start to smile later on. She didn't offer him a flower (do the Russians follow that tradition?). Duato came out for bows (was this the premiere?). It just seemed odd.

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I was completely unsuccessful in my attempt to watch it live. I started watching the stream afterward, but part way through it was cut off, and instead the Mikhailovsky trailer began playing, as it continues to do so now. Hopefully the stream will be restored tomorrow, otherwise I'll be left with a fragmentary impression.

As for the bows, I can only assume that Duato came out because the performance was held for the benefit of the Golden Mask jury. Although Duato was not nominated for his choreography, this Romeo and Juliet has been nominated for best ballet production, as have Osipova and Sarafanov for their roles.

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I'm sorry to hear about the streaming problems. There were just a few times when the screen went black, but never for more than a few seconds and I never got the trailer. My cable network connection is pretty good, but not technologically the best, so this is a puzzle. Osipova and Sarafanov certainly deserve accolades for their performances.

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I haven't encountered similar problems with Mikhailovsky streams in the past. Perhaps demand was simply very high.

I am hoping that the stream was taken down for the purposes of editing out the intermission, because as it stands the ballet was available for far less than 24 hours.

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I'm curious if anyone else watched this live stream. (And, yes, it will be on-line for another 24 hours.) I don't recall seeing Duato's choreography before and have mixed feelings. Some of the lifts and partnering were amazingly intricate and interesting. But much of the movement vocabulary seemed stilted and gimmicky to me -- e.g., the "Egyptian" arms (I don't know what else to call it - they reminded me of the old Steve Martin "King Tut" routine) -- repeatedly bent up and down at the elbow; the extremely deep plies again and again. At first, I was disappointed that Osipova was in soft shoes, as that excises much of her potential, but it did force me to focus on her other gifts (flexibility, extension, etc.). The minimalist set was okay.

The bows seemed odd. For the first few minutes, Sarafanov seemed very glum, scowling, but he did start to smile later on. She didn't offer him a flower (do the Russians follow that tradition?). Duato came out for bows (was this the premiere?). It just seemed odd.

I hate Duato's choreography. When you have Vaganova trained dancers (most of the Mikhailovsky dancers are Vaganova trained, I believe), you are wasting their special style by giving them King Tut arms as you mention. He has jewels at his disposal and wastes them.

As for the bows I don't think I have seen Russian ballerinas give the males a flower, because usually flowers in Russia are given from a fan to a specific dancer and males get bouquets too, so there is no need to really share. Males often receive their own bouquet. I can't say it is never done, but I think American companies tend to give all their females a bouquet at a debut or special performance (same size and equitable distribution), and the males are left out, so the females hand over a flower to the males to show appreciation, but in Russia the flowers actually come directly from the fans, not the company. So if no fan bought a dancer flowers, the dancer doesn't get any. Meanwhile, one dancer can get 5 bouquets of various sizes or even a large basket if she has a huge fan base. You can have cases where the Gamzatti receives 6 bouquets while the Nikiya gets nothing.

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As for the bows I don't think I have seen Russian ballerinas give the males a flower, because usually flowers in Russia are given from a fan to a specific dancer and males get bouquets too, so there is no need to really share. Males often receive their own bouquet.

I have seen Russian ballerinas do it in at least a couple of circumstances. Following the Bolshoi's cinema broadcast of The Bright Stream Mikhail Lobukhin, who had played Pyotr, did not receive any flowers from the audience, so Maria Alexandrova pulled a rose out of one of her bouquets and presented it to him, even though he had not been her partner in the ballet. At the Royal Opera House it is not the custom to give male dancers flowers on stage, so during the Bolshoi's last visit there I remember at least two Odettes giving roses to their Siegfried.

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Nina Ananiashvilli used to give a flower to her partner, as a I recall. Something really classy that I saw her do, which not many others do, is to throw a rose into the orchestra pit in appreciation of their contribution.

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Nina Ananiashvilli used to give a flower to her partner, as a I recall. Something really classy that I saw her do, which not many others do, is to throw a rose into the orchestra pit in appreciation of their contribution.

What a lovely gesture!

I didn't see this broadcast, and so can't speak specifically to the R&J, but I have seen a couple of Duato's works at Pacific Northwest Ballet. He comes, generally, from the same aesthetic as Jiri Kylian, and earlier than that, Glen Tetley, John Butler and Hans Van Manen. Each of these artists have combined elements from classical ballet with contemporary and modern dance styles with the goal of creating work with physical and emotional range. The dancers I've spoken with who perform this work have found it very satisfying.

Duato has been working for many years in this style -- I'm sure that he was hired to run the company because they were hoping he would make and stage works in his style.

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