NATinCPH

I had the privilege of seeing Stepanova's Firebird and my only regret is that I couldn't watch her on stage all night. She is simply mesmerizing, the kind of ballerina that makes you forget about everything else in the world and not even notice if a technical mistake happens, because her presence and performance are so captivating. Enormous talent!

Hello NATinCPH and welcome to the forum. I'm unable to PM you, so I apologize to everyone else for using the Skorik forum to let you know I'm bringing a group of ballet lovers to CPH in March (can't wait to see Alban LEndorf in Manon!!) and would love to meet up with you. You can email me at toursenlair@gmail.com I can only say you are doing the right thing!:-) going to see Manon this Sunday and cannot wait. Will email you later today!

Oh it did! And not just because of the sailors!

Oh I know. I threw myself into ballet with checking out one performance and then securing tickets for all other performances of the season (and doing the same for the current one). There are definitely ballets that do not speak to me, but as I want to explore, I just accept it as a learning curve. There is always something beautiful and touching to appreciate, or at least I try to find it. Thank you, tamicute Going to see Napoli today (this season's premiere) with Alban Lendorf as Gennaro - can't wait!

Great to hear, I was not sure how to interpret your answer for a moment;-). I will report from Moscow - no opera feedback from me though, sorry! Once again, happy to have found such an amazing collection of resources and ballet fans.

I have been devouring threads here and I cannot stop myself from logging in even at work . So much knowledge, amazing info and resources. I am going to read up on Bolshoi before I make any bookings and I would love to hear your recommendations as well :-).

Absolutely. I was just describing my impressions and disappointment from a personal point of view, not trying to demonise her or assign blame. I hope I did not come across this way and/or go against forum rules (?).

Sounds like you are very passionate about this topic - I can understand that! Especially having seen Stepanova right after Skorik. This experience will definitely make me follow the casting announcements much more closely and do more research before booking any tickets - especially that I was planning a trip to Moscow to catch a few Bolshoi performances. I have a lot of reading and learning to do...

Hello Everyone, I am quite a fresh fan/ballet goer (in the middle of my second season) and I am only learning what to appreciate in ballet dancing except for the overall feeling of awe I get to experience quite often. My two favourites so far, Alban Lendorf and Susanne Grinder in Neumeiers lady of the Camellias and NYCB with their Balanchine guest performance (4 April cast) both left me mesmerised and speechless. Having only general knowledge about Mariinsky I was very much looking forward to the performance and the first Swan Lake in my life -especially the Odette/Odile part. Boy, was I in for disappointment. Miss Skorik was dancing the part and I actually started googling her name during the entr'acte because I was so confused. This was the worst performance I have seen so far and I was not sure if me and my lack of more ballet experience are making me miss something or if something was really wrong on the stage. Her moves were so mechanical, she danced as if she was in a gymnastics contest, showed no emotion and no tune with the music. It looked forced and out of sync. I saw no difference in her dancing Odette and her dancing Odile. It was, to put it mildly, weird. Thank the ballet gods for the beautiful, amazing corps de ballet! That's how I found your forum and I just had to post and share my experience. I feel quite cheated to be honest - good thing I had tickets for Mariinsky's Fokine as well and this time I got to see some amazing dancers: Xenia Ostreykovskaya, who was a complete opposite of Skorik on stage - delicate, supple, uniting with the music and the mood. Yulia Stepanova who WAS The Firebird: fierce, passionate, exuberant. And it was that night indeed, where we did not accept the curtain going down and gave a long standing ovation to the performers (no standing ovation for Skorik's Swan Lake). Watching Lopatkina's Odette on youtube gave me more pleasure than seeing it live with Skorik in Copenhagen. It is just an unfair situation all around - both for Oksana and for the ballet goers.