Vladimir Malakhov

[Marilia Tsoukia]

Hi again!!!! I am very please to announce that Malkhov will saty in Greece until the end of January. On 20, 21, 22 and 23 of January he will be dancing along with others some excerpts of modern ballets. This is the program:

"Grand pdd" - Julie Kent (Yes, you read right), Vladimir Malakhov (choreography: Christian Spuck)

"Comme Neve al Sole" - Alicia Amatriain and Friedman Vogel (choreography: Ronaldo d'Alesio)

"Light Rain" - Lucia Lacarra (Yes, you also read right here) and Cyril Pierre (choreography: Gerald Arpino)

("Voyage" - Vladimir Malakhov (choreography: Renato Zanella

"In the Middle Somewhat Elevated" - Alicia Amatriain and Friedman Vogel (choreography: William Forsythe)

" Tchaikovsky pdd"- Polina Semionova and Artem Shpilevsky (choreography: George Balanchine)

" Manon- bedroom pdd" - Julie Kent and Vladimir Malakhov (choreography: Kenneth MacMillan)

"Adagio for Strings"- Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre (choreography: Gerard Bombot)

" Caught" - Vladimir Malakhov (choreography: David Parsons)

[liljules5]

wow that looks like a wonderful program full of dancers i would love to see...too bad im not in greece!

[Guest Kesby-Kathy]

Hello!

First of all sorry for my bad english. My mother language is german, but I try my best. :rolleyes:

I live in Berlin, Germany, so I am able to see Malakhov as a balletdirector and a dancer. I saw him last september dancing Giselle with Diana Vishneva and in december in La Bayadère with Diana Vishneva as Nikiya and Beatrice Knop as Gamzatti. I also saw him personal when he talked about his Bayadère.

he´s really a wonderful dancer! I loved him from the first second.

The whole city loves Malakhov. - also the newspapers - and that´s really rare in Berlin!

I´ll hope to see him in Sleeping Beauty with Diana Vishneva. They´ll dance it two times in march.

If you want to know more about his company you can visit the homepage about the Staatsoper Berlin. www.staatsoper-berlin.org

I don´t know exactly but I think this page is only in german.

There are two Videos/ DVD´s of this company avaible. Swan Lake, Choreographie Patrice Bart witht the dancers Steffi Scherzer and Oliver Matz

- and Nutcracker, Choreographie Patrice Bart with Nadja Saidakova (Marie), Vladimir Malakhov (Prince), Oliver Matz (Drosselmeier) and Beatrice knop (Marie´s mother).

In Berlin you can buy two other videos of this company. A making of Swan Lake and a making of Vladimir Malakhov´s Bayadère.

lovely greetings

Kathy

[Estelle]

Hi Kathy, and welcome on Ballet Alert! Don't worry about your English, it's really fine (and now there are quite a lot of non-native speakers on this board, including me). Thanks for telling us about what's happening in Berlin!

[volcanohunter]

I missed this interview when it aired on DW-TV, but back in May Malakhov was a guest on Talking Germany. Unfortunately, the performance clips have been edited out, but the interview itself is linked at the bottom of the page.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4227964,00.html

[Nanarina]

Malakhov versis Nureyev, ermm ??? A difficult one, to compare top male dncers these days to a legend, is hard. In his time Ruddi was exceptional to other male dancers in the west. But not so to his Russian compatriots, all of whom excelled like him. He brought the male dancer's place into the public eye, giving something for the boys in the 1960's and onwards to aim for.

When you compare dancers nowadays one could even say they are better than Nureyev. Worldwide there are some fantastic artiste's out there., but they need to be judged in their own right. You just have to look around to note their qualities, Roberto Bolle, Manuel Legris, Herve Moreau, Jeremie Belingard, Ethan Stiefal, Jose Mar. Carr, Angel Correlli, Jonathon Cope, Frederico Bonelli, Johan Kobborg,Ivan Vasiev, Ruzimatov, the Zaklinsky's, in the past, Zolton Solymosi, Anthony Dowell, David Wall, past present and future the list is endless.There are new promising dancers appearing all the time whose talents could now surpass Ruddi.

[Drew]

When you compare dancers nowadays one could even say they are better than Nureyev. Worldwide there are some fantastic artiste's out there., but they need to be judged in their own right. You just have to look around to note their qualities, Roberto Bolle, Manuel Legris, Herve Moreau, Jeremie Belingard, Ethan Stiefal, Jose Mar. Carr, Angel Correlli, Jonathon Cope, Frederico Bonelli, Johan Kobborg,Ivan Vasiev, Ruzimatov, the Zaklinsky's, in the past, Zolton Solymosi, Anthony Dowell, David Wall, past present and future the list is endless.There are new promising dancers appearing all the time whose talents could now surpass Ruddi.

I see this thread has been revived after a number of years. What I wrote several years ago is pretty much what I feel now, but I will add in response to the above quote that although I strongly agree that one needs to judge dancers in their own right, I think only a very small handful of dancers in the world past, present (and, in all likelihood, future) can be realistically described as "better than Nureyev" even for the sake of argument--or indeed can be described as "comparable" to Nureyev in their own way--certainly not if the criteria is genuine artistic greatness (as opposed to this or that technical feat) and one restricts oneself to comparing the "best" performances of the different artists.

Nureyev had tremendous historical importance, but his greatness as an artist, when he was at his best, was far more than a function of historical context; I have seen many of the dancers listed above and though I consider many of them fine dancers and fine artists I question whether more than two or three of them belong on a list of greatest male dancers in the past century--a list Nureyev certainly does belong on...When Nureyev collapsed to his knees facing the dawn at the end of Giselle, one felt that Albrecht had been through an extraordinarily intense, transformative, even redemptive experience. And such was the power of Nureyev's interpretation that as an audience member, one felt as if one had been through the same.

(Malakhov, I hugely admire and I consider a major artist: as I indicated in my earlier post, he is one of the male dancers I have most admired in recent decades--and indeed, though very different from Nureyev, one of the very few male dancers I have seen whose ability simply to walk across the stage or point his foot has something of Nureyev's sheer beauty and command. Unfortunately I have seen him dance very little over the course of his career and not at all in recent years.)

[Mashinka]

When you can walk up to anyone in the street, in any country in the world, and ask them who Roberto Bolle/ Herve Moreau / Jeremie Belingard / Frederico Bonelli or any of the others on that rather odd list actually is and they reply that he is the world's most famous ballet dancer. Then, and only then, can you make a comparison to Rudolf Nureyev.

[Helene]

There's a difference between "most famous" and "greatest", though. I might think that Soloviev was a greater dancer than Nureyev and better using several criteria that are more important to me than those in which Nureyev excelled, but Soloviev doesn't fit the criteria for worldwide fame among the men in the street.

[SanderO]

Rudi had celeb power so non ballet fans knew him all over. In the celeb department on Baryshnikov comes close i'd say in the USA.

Malakhov is a gorgeous dancer. Didn't he do Manon with Vishneva at ABT a few years back?

[4mrdncr]

What everyone seems to forget is that the principal reason Nureyev and Baryshnikov had "celeb power" was because of the political climate at the time and the fact they defected. The politicians and governments were involved in "one-up-manship" and to get a significant person or star of another country was a coup. Nureyev and Baryshnikov were made famous because NON-balletomanes promoted or wrote about them or put them on the news, so the 'street' knew who they were. But only those of us who saw them on stage or on film, understood who they were.

If any of the male dancers named above have international star quality now--beyond their obvious technical/artistic abilities--they have had to work harder to get it. Though I do think the internet and advances in mass communication and social networking sites have helped publicize them to a wider (less knowledgeable) audience. And yes there is a difference between being famous and being great.

Just a thought.

[leonid17]

What everyone seems to forget is that the principal reason Nureyev and Baryshnikov had "celeb power" was because of the political climate at the time and the fact they defected. The politicians and governments were involved in "one-up-manship" and to get a significant person or star of another country was a coup. Nureyev and Baryshnikov were made famous because NON-balletomanes promoted or wrote about them or put them on the news, so the 'street' knew who they were. But only those of us who saw them on stage or on film, understood who they were.... And yes there is a difference between being famous and being great.

Just a thought.

I am not sure how either France where Nureyev defected, or Canada where Baryshnikov defected were involved in political “one up-man ship,” It was an irritation for governments when such occurrences took place, interfering with the day to day business with Russia which all western countries were engaged in. Newspapers puff stories, always without substantive versions from either defectors or government sources readily appeared. Sabre rattling takes place in the press where a big boy’s game is carried out on behalf of some government department that does not really care but it is good for the peasants of both societies and eventually it all calms down.

We have a saying in England, today’s newspaper, wraps tomorrow’s fish and chips.

The most significant and long established ballet critics brought Nureyev into ballet history through critical reviews and articles, not political or gossip columnists. Headlines and photographs are hardly meat for a serious balletomane.

Vladimir Malakhov and Rudolf Nureyev, who have been mentioned in the current posts, have little in common. They effectively were born in different countries more than a thousand miles apart with extreme opposites in family and cultural backgrounds and balletic training. They also of course belonged to two distinct ballet eras being born 30 years apart.

Nureyev was and remains a phenomenon because of his great theatrical abilities and flair that was coupled with at times an uneven ballet technique which improved under the influence of Vera Volkova and Erik Bruhn. He could on very many occasions dance with a controlled fluency that was remarkable, .but, it was his in almost dare devil passionate and abandoned performances, as in Marguerite and Armand, that made Nureyev the star. Unlike some modern dancers who have publicists working with them, Nureyev after his first two performances in London had created a sensation to which the Covent Garden audience responded in a way unheard of.

In London, Baryshnikov for all of his most beautifully trained technique never appeared so often or had as strong an admiration or following as Nureyev did with the audience or with the British Press.

Nureyev was never famous for being famous like many 'celebrities' today. He was workaholic, riding a semi-tamed horse across the tundra, disturbing complacency of an old order, creating his own world to extravagantly inhabit. His journeys took him to audiences who admired his performances night after night as his fame spread across the worlds stages, where he danced and staged ballets would only end with the culmination of his phenomenal influence with the Paris Opera Ballet.

Early in his career with the RB he staged the shades scene from, "La Bayadere". If you weren't there to experience Fonteyn and Nureyev in this work you cannot imagine the ballet audience reception on that first and for many successive performances. The staging was a high achievement for this remarkable man and the performance seemed a minor miracle had taken place for himself, Margot Fonteyn and the RB Company as a whole. It was another significant act in cementing his claim to fame and he had broken the somewhat cool reserve of what was still a somewhat "posh" audience.

Drew writes, “When Nureyev collapsed to his knees facing the dawn at the end of Giselle, one felt that Albrecht had been through an extraordinarily intense, transformative, even redemptive experience. And such was the power of Nureyev's interpretation that as an audience member, one felt as if one had been through the same." Amen and again Amen.

Stardom was always difficult to achieve on the London Ballet stage. A succession of distinguished ballet critics had established the bench marks for the audience which was knowledgeable and discerning and it did not accept status just because a management had bestowed upon particular dancers. Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell were generally admired in London, but it was their successes in New York that established them as international stars. Darcey Bussell became famous through publicity but today is never talked about as a famous interpreter. Jonathon Cope an outstanding dancer and artist superior in many ways to Anthony Dowell, is hardly known at all beyond the regular ballet audience.

Nanarina says, "When you compare dancers nowadays one could even say they are better than Nureyev. Worldwide there are some fantastic artiste's out there, but they need to be judged in their own right. You just have to look around to note their qualities, Roberto Bolle, Manuel Legris, Herve Moreau, Jeremie Belingard, Ethan Stiefal, Jose Mar. Carr, Angel Correlli, Jonathon Cope, Frederico Bonelli, Johan Kobborg,Ivan Vasiev, Ruzimatov, the Zaklinsky's, in the past, Zolton Solymosi, Anthony Dowell, David Wall, past present and future the list is endless. There are new promising dancers appearing all the time whose talents could now surpass Ruddi."

For me “...better than..." has no meaning because we are not comparing like with like and we are not even discussing the fact that not all the dancers mentioned, belong to the same order of classification of type.

No one can, “…surpass Rudi.” Because he is unique in a way that other dancers never can or will be. Some may follow who have a unique quality, but it seems to me that attraction and preference is what seems to be talked about here, which should not be considered to be a universal measure

“Worldwide there are some fantastic artiste's out there” says Nanarina. I would prefer the descriptive, “significant” or perhaps “important”. Whilst admired by some for various reasons, in my opinion, the dancers in her list are hardly legendary or known outside ballet audiences. I do not think Nanaria is comparing like with like. If you want to mention other male dancers with real status who had international fame think of Edward Villela, Erik Bruhn and a few Bejart dancers come to mind as do some other Russians and what about Bujones?

For me there was (is) only one Nureyev, one Barishnikov, one Soloviev, and one Vasiliev all of whom were both famous and great and not one of them like Nijinsky before them, was a true danseur noble.

Volcanohunter revived this thread, with an interview which I was grateful to be able to read, began, “Vladimir Malakhov is one of the world’s finest and best-known ballet dancers. Critics have put the exceptional artist in a class with historic ballet luminaries such as Nijinsky and Nureyev.” What critics?

Vladimir Malakhov very rarely appeared in the UK I saw him with the Moscow Classical Ballet in London and at a gala and have seen a number of films. Malakhov is however probably most well known in England for his many appearances on the televised Vienna New Year Concerts. As to his international fame, mention his surname to most people in the street in London and they might enquire if it is a new brand of Vodka. This is not a comment on status of this important dancer, but a comment on ballet as not being important to most ordinary people’s lives which is often only touched by the likes of a Pavlova, Ulanova, Fonteyn or a Nureyev.

Do serious balletomanes often inhabit a parallel world to rest of society?

[bart]

leonid, I really appreciate your memories made by of Nureyev in his early appearances in London, and also the political context. I lived through that and remember it as you do.

It's also good to be reminded about just how complicated the act of comparing dancers can be, as in the following:

Vladimir Malakhov and Rudolf Nureyev, who have been mentioned in the current posts, have little in common. They effectively were born in different countries more than a thousand miles apart with extreme opposites in family and cultural backgrounds and balletic training. They also of course belonged to two distinct ballet eras being born 30 years apart.

This raises questions about whether it is indeed possible to be objective in such situations. You say:

For me “...better than..." has no meaning because we are not comparing like with like and we are not even discussing the fact that not all the dancers mentioned, belong to the same order of classification of type.

Are you saying, in effect, that dancers such as Nureyev and Malakhov cannot be compared to each other in a meaningful, objective way? Or, if they CAN be compared meaningfully, what is the best way to do it?

[Nanarina]

Back to Nureyev,

Just to bring back your attention to my "udd" list of Male Dancers. What I was comparing was for people who have an interest in Ballet, not just the general public. I do not deny that Nureyev was exceptional at the time. But lets show some appreciation to Margot Fontryn, she without doubt helped make Ruddi what he was in terms of his artistry, and how he reacted to her on stage. They

both lived the roles they danced. If you saw them in the restuarent, or the corridors of the Opera House, at rehearsals etc, they seemed to live for each other, and this showed in their partnership.

They were both very passionate about each other. I knew them both, as I looked after their costumes for their private tours. I also witnessed those first perforamnces of Giselle, when nearly everyone in the audience, on stage and back stage were in tears.(myself included)

All the same, I still think Barishnikov was a better dancer technically than Ruddi, and I prefer his Don Q, to Ruddi's, but that is just my preference. Perhaps it would be interesting to ask what are the qualities of your favourite male dancers? It would make very interesting reading.

[4mrdncr]

I will never compare dancers by saying one dances "better" than another. They all dance "differently" from each other, and it is those differences that fascinate me.

OT? But back to my point about famousness vs greatness: Both Nureyev and Baryshnikov were great, but they were famous for other reasons too...

Nureyev may have defected in Paris, but it was in the UK that he danced (at least in the early part of his career in the West). And though Baryshnikov defected in Montreal, he quickly moved to the USA. So, though the French and Canadians may not have been as involved in Cold War competition as much, the USA certainly was, and its ally Britain was aware of it too. And that underlying motivation may have moved the government "spin doctors" of the time to make sure the other side knew it. I even have a cartoon from the time that makes that point: It shows a (supposedly) Russian ballet studio with some very large round babushkas/babkas (sp?)falling all over a barre, with a caption that basicly says "Well they aren't much to look at, but then again, if they defect, who cares!"

Baryshnikov was put on the cover of TIME and Newsweek magazines, not because balletomanes were their editors, but because the story could be 'spun' for their generic audiences as a "coup" for the US, something of a 'thriller' in its logistics, and only afterwards as the chance to see a great artist in person here in the West. (Though I'm sure the ballet critics also championed them, (N&B), and pushed their stories to the popular/generic press, which further helped get the stories out.)

Balletomanes aren't interested in the celebrity hyperbole and gushing headlines of the popular press, it is not "serious" ballet students/fans/critics who have to be sold on the significance of those artists, but rather, the general pop-culture centered audience, because that's what sells newspapers and magazines.

So thanks for the history lesson Leonid, but that's not what I was saying at all. Nureyev is/was unique and different from Baryshnikov. But both of them achieved fame with NON-ballet audiences because the popular press covered them (for many of the reasons I mention above)--eg. even "People" magazine did a two page spread once--and not because balletomanes had already enshrined them both for other reasons entirely. Meanwhile, the popular press today rarely do; as we have so often lamented on BT.

PS. Apologies for bad grammer.

[Mashinka]

So thanks for the history lesson Leonid, but that's not what I was saying at all. Nureyev is/was unique and different from Baryshnikov. But both of them achieved fame with NON-ballet audiences because the popular press covered them (for many of the reasons I mention above)--eg. even "People" magazine did a two page spread once--and not because balletomanes had already enshrined them both for other reasons entirely. Meanwhile, the popular press today rarely do; as we have so often lamented on BT.

The reason Baryshnikov achieved fame with the general public was, I believe, because of his successful parallel career as a film star rather than his dancing.

I wouldn't argue with a word of what Leonid says about Nureyev and I would like to reiterate what he said regarding publicity machines. Nureyev never needed a publicist, and although his spectacular arrival in the west put him on front pages across the world, his name would have sunk like a stone had he not possessed those extraordinary talents that kept him on those front pages until the very end of his life. There are manufactured 'stars' in abundance today and most have a degree of talent e.g. Bussell, others such as Somova (read Saturday's Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...et-1765910.html ) have none. By the way, Zoë Anderson's use of the term 'superstars' in that article is totally inappropriate.

Getting back to Malakhov, I've always thought he bears a slight facial resemblance to Nureyev but otherwise they are very different types of dancers, however being a Londoner, I've seen precious few live performances by him and therefore am unable to make an in depth assessment of his abilities.

[canbelto]

The reason Baryshnikov achieved fame with the general public was, I believe, because of his successful parallel career as a film star rather than his dancing.

I think that's a very harsh assessment. Maybe in England Baryshnikov never achieved the level of fame of Nureyev, but in the United States, where he based his career, he was the darlng of both hardcore balletomanes and the general public. He only made one or two films. He achieved his fame because he was a spectacular dancer.

[Helene]

The reason Baryshnikov achieved fame with the general public was, I believe, because of his successful parallel career as a film star rather than his dancing.

I think that's a very harsh assessment. Maybe in England Baryshnikov never achieved the level of fame of Nureyev, but in the United States, where he based his career, he was the darlng of both hardcore balletomanes and the general public. He only made one or two films. He achieved his fame because he was a spectacular dancer.

I disagree with both. I think Baryshinikov's fame among ballet fans was the result of his dancing. As far as the US general public was concerned, the story of his defection was in newspapers and magazines for three years before "The Turning Point" was released, and it was that story, partially run on the Great Romance Between Classicist Russian Dancer and True Modern American Ballerina Kirkland theory, that made him famous with the general public, enough that they even tried to learn the pronunciation of his name, rather than calling him Barwhatchamakov.

Although famous, he wasn't famous enough to get many to come to "White Nights" eight years later, even though Gregory Hines was far better known, and I think I was among the three people who went to see "Dancers" two years later.

[Nanarina]

So many remarkable and memorable dancers, through time, an excellent response to the thread from you all, so thank you very much. This does seem to prove that our favourite dancers are in fact appreciated by us, in their own right. Even if personal preference does play its part. Enjoy your dance.

[bart]

The Summer 2009 issue of DanceView is out. In it, Marc Haegeman reviews "Munich's Annual Ballet Week,." which included 3 different versions of Afternoon of a Faun. He writes:

Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, which opened the second part of the gala, received a mesmerizing performance from Vladimir Malakhov, casually making sense from every move and pose, and quite ideally matched by Polina Semionova ...

Faun is the kind of role in which I can imagine Malakhov being especially successful. The Robbins choreography allows for various interpretations. I can imagine Malakhov's as mysterious and dream-like, something existing quite outside the confines of the real world of flesh-and-blood human beings.

[SanderO]

OT,

We all may have our favorites and marvel at their skill, but have any "bad" dancers made it to principal and stayed there. I don't know, but I doubt it. It seems to be a matter of good, better, best and exceptional. I've seen dancers who I did like in a role, but I would call them bad dancers. In fact, I would say that the standard of excellence in the major companies is very high.

[Mashinka]

We all may have our favorites and marvel at their skill, but have any "bad" dancers made it to principal and stayed there.

Sadly, yes.

[carbro]

To expand on Mashinka's response (and I hope she doesn't mind), oftentimes a man will be elevated to principal if he doesn't dance at principal level but partners spectacularly, especially if the company's rep has a large number of ballets like Concerto Barocco where the lead man's job is mainly a porteur.

[snipped by poster]

Edited August 7, 2009 by carbro
Thought I was posting to a different thread

[volcanohunter]

DW-TV will rebroadcast its "Talking Germany" interview with Vladimir Malakhov on Sunday, August 16. You'll have to check your local listings, but in North America, "Talking Germany" airs on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET, with a repeat broadcast on Tuesdays at 2:30 a.m. ET.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,11937,00.html

[Agnes...]

First time I saw V. Malakhov dancing in - Le Corsaire / Ethan Stiefel, Angel Corella, Vladimir Malakhov, American Ballet Theater/.

But I appreciated him a few years later... Now his is the best male dancer for me. For me he is the 5-th god of dance... after Waclaw Niżyński, Sergiusza Lifar, Rudolf Nurejew and Michaił Barysznikow.