16 replies to this topic

[dancingmeghan]

Does anybody know if the Bolshoi is coming to the U.S in the winter. I heard rumors about it and they where going to also come to Minnesota. I tried looking on their website but it says 'Under Construction'. Anybody know for sure?

[Old Fashioned]

Yes, they are touring the US from October to December.  You can get more info at http://users.skynet....s/Burning3.html
There wasn't anything about it on the Bolshoi website when I searched it, but maybe you can look for the different locations they will be performing at on ticketmaster.com

I was ecstatic to learn they would be in Chicago the same time I'm visiting it (my school's dance team and I are going to Indianapolis for Nationals, and we plan on staying in Chicago for an afternoon).  I was hoping to get to see them perform La Baydere (because Swan Lake is just NOT one of my favorite ballets), but they're only doing SL that day.  Oh well, guess I can't have everything.:rolleyes:

[Marc Haegeman]

The complete schedule of the Bolshoi tour in the US, running from late October till mid-December, is now available on http://users.skynet....s/Burning3.html

[koshka_jete]

Old Fashioned-

You should definitely try to catch the Swan Lake. Its not my favorite ballet either, but I got to see it in Moscow this fall and it was definitely done quite well.

[Sonora]

The Bolshoi danced La Bayadere this past weekend on the campus of Arizona State University - the first stop on their US tour.  This production seemed oddly truncated - it ended with Act III, the Kingdom of the Shades, even though the program notes discussed a fourth and final act.

Not being a Bayadere fan, I would have preferred to see them in Swan Lake - however it was wonderful to see them at all.

[dancingmeghan]

Thank you all very much. I've got 4 tickets to Swan Lake on December 4! This is there first ever performance in MN. And I have pretty good tickets:)! They're also doing The Nutcracker but I couldn't afford tickets to those.

[koshka_jete]

Dancing Meghan, if you don't mind me inquiring, what's the range of prices in tickets that are being sold for their US tour?

[dancingmeghan]

Well, I'm getting mine for $45.25. But it's a group discount because my studio bought group tickets (30). So I'm guessing about $50. I would look on www.ticketmaster.com and see the price and things on their site. Hope I helped!

[Sonora]

During a recent performance of Bayadere by the Bolshoi a frequent audience comment was that the dancers' pointe shoes were inordinately noisy.  I heard the same comment at a Bolshoi performance of Swan Lake in San Francisco.  I'm curious to know more about the Bolshoi's pointe shoes. I assume they are manufactured 'in-house', but wonder if they are notably harder than what we are used to in the West, or if the noise could be more appropriately attributed to pointe technique and training.

[Mel Johnson]

This has been a constant comment about the pointe shoes of Russian companies over the years, going back to the days of the old Met, where the stage was very "live", acoustically speaking.  Russian shoes now being sold in the US seem to demonstrate this characteristic, even noticeable to their wearers.  It may have something to do with the way the box of the shoe is made; being a conic section, more or less, the part almost "rings" like a bell!

[vrsfanatic]

I do not know the Bolshoi, but I do know Mariinsky stage is covered with almost a carpet type surface for some ballets. It is not a linoleum. I do not know what it is. Perhaps Andre can fill us in on this? I cannot say I noticed too much clanging around no matter where I sat, upstairs in the nosebleed section( which is an experience in itself) or down in the beautiful orchestra.

In school the floors are mostly wood. The shoes do indeed clang around on the wood. Dancers were however always corrected for not using their feet correctly if the noise was really too loud!;)  The dancers even made too much noise in soft ballet slippers, and not only the girls!:eek:

Not having seen Kirov or Bolshoi in the US recently, I cannot comment on the possible reasons for the noisy pointe shoes. Most of my students where Grishco or Russian Pointes but they are not clanging around? Maybe it is just the theatre.

[katharine kanter]

Could have something to do with the roll-through, or lack of it - although I love Mel Johnson's "conic section" explanation !!!!!

In Russia, if I'm not mistaken, one rises onto pointe with a tiny spring.  In France, and most Western countries, one learns the roll-through.  Orthopaedists tend to favour the roll-through, though wouldn't they, the old dears ?  

Perhaps people who know Cecchetti could enlighten us - did he not teach the spring as well ?

[koshka_jete]

I have noticed, as I've frequented the Bolshoi stage this fall, that you can hear their shoes and some of their heavier steps quite well throughout the theater. But its not just the russian companies. Last night I went to see the Houston Ballet perform at the Bolshoi. My seats were in the fourth balcony (the highest level-lets just say your eye-level is higher than the grand chandilier) and I could still hear the shoes and heavy landings of those dancers... About the stage, from the many different parts of the theater that I have sat, the stage looks like it is covered with the traditional black marley.

[Alymer]

Curiously, when the Bolshoi appeared at Drury Lane Theatre in London a couple of summers ago it was noticeable that you couldn't hear the women's shoes at all.  A contrast to the Kirov at Covent Garden who, with the honourable exception of Janna Ayupova, almost drowned out the orchestra.  Does the acoustic of the theatre perhaps have something to do with it?

[Mel Johnson]

I recall from going backstage to visit somebody in a Kirov tour, and the Raymonda set was up.  I was very surprised at the groundcloth, which was of some sort of stout drop fabric like duck, but much softer.  It was even patterned.