NAOTMAA

Is it actually being performed nowadays? I was under the impression it was only reluctantly revived last year because of the bicentennial. Before that it hadn't been performed for a number of years and I expected it to be put back to pasture again afterwards so I was shocked to see it scheduled on the official website for November. It would be fantastic to see it performed more frequently. I personally believe the larger then life spectacle outweighs the other issues the "revival of the revival" may have. It still feels more magical then any other. Also it may be a long shot but I hope if these two performances go well it leads to a professional filming and DVD/Blu-ray release! They still have that performance filmed from fifteen years ago with Zhanna Ayupova (we got to see some clips of it in the "Sacred Stage" documentary) gathering dust in the vaults but it would still be great to see a current performance filmed.

According to Julie Kavanagh in her biography on Nureyev it was chief executive David Webster who insisted F&N dace the first-night at the Royal Opera House. Seymour and Gable danced the second night. Sol Hurok was the one who insisted F&N dance the New York premiere because he believed international success depended on them. In both instances Ashton backed the decision even though he had the power as artistic director to challenge them. So it was a double loss for the MacMillan/Seymour/Gable team who worked together to make it. MacMillan was pissed off because he wanted something new, more gritty and real. F&N were too old-fashioned for what he envisioned the characters to be with Lynn and Christopher. Worse of all it was Seymour and Gable who had to teach Margot and Rudolf the choreography because apparently MacMillan was too bitter and disheartened to do anything. And they were the ones who had to watch Margot and Rudolf make the changes that clashed with the original vision. Kavanagh also points out that a year later MacMillian left the Royal ballet for the directorship in Berlin, taking Seymour with him. Later that same year Gable gave up ballet to become an actor. As for what ballet they would perform to tie in with Margot's birth wasn't Aurora considered her most iconic role?

According to the Marius Petipa Society Stepanov notations for Sleeping Beauty were done around ca. 1903, 10 years after the premiere and after Petipa was dismissed from the Mariinsky. Chances are there were many changes done within those ten years by Petipa himself due to either change in dancers with different strengths or his own personal tinkering. And who's to say there wasn't additional tinkering after 1903 when the talent at the Mariinsky was overflowing to insane proportions. https://petipasociety.com/the-sleeping-beauty/ Diaghilev may have used the notations but as stated here even he had done some tinkering of his own both to choreography and music. So the line from Petipa 1893 to Ratmansky 2015 has quite a number of twists of turns of its own just like Vikharev's does. No one will ever know just how close to 1893 they are unless someone invents a time machine. edit: I do agree with Gnossie that the Baskt aesthetic doesn't feel very "Tsarist." I look at the costumes and sets and have a hard time imagining the Romanovs or Tsarist elite sitting in the Imperial box watching it. Everything I have read about Alexander III or his son suggests to me that they would have found it too far out there. Perhaps it would have been performed at the private theatre of a more adventurous aristocrat but not the Tsar's theatre.

I haven't seen the Ratmansky reconstruction so I can't compare but I guess looking at pictures and small clips the overall look seems very flashy and out there. I guess it's the feeling and atmosphere that would be the biggest difference. It certainly has the Dagliev flash which is different from Petipa and his overall style. Of course Sleeping Princess was over 30 years after Petipa's original and a lot changed in between them (in dance and culture) so of course there is differences in that area.

I read back then Petipa use to rechoreograph and tweak ballets on the strengths and weaknesses of the dancer taking over the role. That's why it's near impossible, even with the notation, to see what Sleeping Beauty was like when it was first performed in 1893. Yet today from what I've seen it seems everyone is expected to dance it as choreographed regardless. When did that change?

Since the Sergeyev version has so many changes from what Petipa had originally created what version would people consider closestest to the original, after the reconstruction?

In the end it was only revived as a gimmick to put people in the seats for the becentennial. It's probably why they added Act III to the gala when the original program failed to sell out. It was all about money

Considering the fact that the Vikharev production only premiered 19 years ago, plus having a filmed video (rotting away in the vaults ) and dancers and advisors with first hand knowledge the fact they couldn't get it right is unacceptable. Many of the things they got wrong were rather simple and easy to correct. Flat out lazy and an insult to Vikharev. Is there a reason why no other ballet company will attempt this production? I've seen many other reconstructions performed by multiple companies but not this one. Do the Mariinsky own the rights or something? Somebody has to rescue it!

https://www.ft.com/content/7ff78d18-25e2-11e8-9274-2b13fccdc744 a very short piece from the Financial Times. 5 stars for Beauty although he notes the deterioration of the management, corps and soloists in comparison to a decade ago. 2 stars for the gala I suppose EVERYTHING about the Mariinsky can be summed up here: Too bad the "house of Petipa" has its been giving its own reflection the middle finger for quite some time now

They dumped Flora for that!?!?! It sounds like they butchered it more then feared. I mean even the companies that "cut the fat" still perform Red Riding Hood and yet they couldn't even do that Did they at least do the apotheosis? Was that butchered too? The Mezzo site said the program was two hours and fifty minutes long. How much of it was actual Petipa material and not "Petipa inspired" Sounds like very little. And I thought The Seasons was suppose to be a reconstruction of Petipa but from what you descible is sounds like a Balanchine tribute where the only connection to Petipa is the ballet name and music used. Overall it almost sounds like it could be a tribute to Balanchine disguised as a tribute to Petipa

I unfortunately can't cause I don't get it I was just looking on their website and only saw it after seeing Petipa's picture while scrolling down on the main page. I like looking at what's on tv in other countries even if I can't watch them just out if interest

I noticed on the Russian Kultra channel from the 9th to the 11th at 12:45 they aired old recordings of Peitpa ballets in honor of the bicentennial. Sleeping Beauty with Irina Kolpakova from 1982 on the 9th, La Bayadere from 1979 on the 10th and on the 11th their broadcasting Raymonda with Kolpakova again. Tsiskaridze did the opening introductions. Its strange to honor Petipa with Soviet incarnations but I guess since none of the reconstructions were never filmed they got no choice Does anybody know where someone from outside of Europe can view the gala?

Thanks for posting that Mme. Hermine! It's from a 2003 performance that was apparently filmed in whole and now hidden away in a storage closet. Perhaps never to see the day of light But lucky they let the filmmakers of Sacred Stage use many clips for their documentary because we have some record of the wonderful Zhanna Ayupova dancing the reconstruction. She's so soft and delicate feeling yet still confident and regal just the same. She just floats around the stage with such ease I can't find the dream sequence with her and Anton Korsakov anywhere anywhere on youtube but she has that same serene and enchanted dreamy like quality that Quinten mentioned with the Sizova clip.

I noticed that the Lilac fairy on the first night was wearing her vision scene costume (it is stunning!) for the apotheosis and not the one she wears when she puts the kingdom to sleep as she clearly does in the poor quality video Gnossie posted. Also Aurora's "favorite" Prince during the Rose Adagio is the wrong one too (he's in black instead of red), or they simply switched the costumes they wear. From my old video the choreography for the Princes seems a little different to?

It all sounds so amazing! If only they filmed it Even more cruel and unfair since the cameras are going to be there for the gala in 2 days I hope someone gets the whole thing on YouTube for a while before it's forced off