sophia

It's true, the western system is different from the russian, but as far as POB is concerned, they change styles regularly and dancers, esp. soloists, happen to perform and/or rehearse two different (I mean very different, not only classical to neo-classical) programs during the same period of time. And injuries are common - almost a rule here. Check the change of casts in December or at Easter for example...

Raymonda was filmed last December with Marie-Agnès Gillot in the leading role.

On the Itar-Tass website, the reader can just find a name-dropping without any precision. I just make the supposition (between brackets) that the dancers mentioned could be Medora and Conrad.

1944 actually. Sorry!

Well, I may be wrong!! I found her birthday on Wikipedia... I'll check later...

She was born in 1947.

I completely share your opinion about Thibault and Ould-Braham (no possible comparison with Cozette in any way) who are true stars actually, most appreciated by the audience. But these two are first and foremost (not to say only) classical dancers. That's a reason why they are not the favorites of the management... It's exactly as if they chose to promote "mediocrity" rather than personality and artistry... People who were promoted in recent years are honest soloists or first soloists, certainly not principals.

Caroline, the performance you're talking about was a dress rehearsal, she was not supposed to dance it, and I think we can't judge her on that performance. Personally, I attended her two other performances that were scheduled on May 3rd and 5th. As far as I am concerned, I can't say I'm a big fan of her, though I really enjoyed her as Odette/Odile and Cinderella. Not minor roles in any way... That certainly means something about her abilities. To tell it in a nutshell, I would say that her dancing is not particularly exciting. Except the roles I mentioned before, each time I saw her on stage, I couln't help feeling boredom and she didn't convince me. For instance, she recently performed roles such as Myrtha, Gamzatti, Queen of the Dryads or La Cigarette in Lifar "Suite en blanc", I found her rather disappointing and I especially did not appreciate her lack of lyricism. To be fair, we must admit she has a true elegance on stage and is really a good technician (in POB, that means a proper leg and foot work), two qualities that make her far superior to Eleonora Abbagnato, another première danseuse longing for a title. This new appointment is probably disappointing to many, as there are certainly better (I mean more interesting artistically) "premières danseuses", especially the shiny Myriam Ould-Braham. Anyway, I really have nothing against her and if this appointment is not better (be aware I may be wrong!), it certainly is not worse than the ones that occured in recent years. People who were given the title are good soloists, even good first soloists (they reached the highest rank in hierarchy before becoming Etoile), nevertheless that does not mean they are true Etoiles in my view. Technic for instance is not enough, you also need a unique personality, and a special artistry to deserve the title (obviously in theory!). What is new with Emilie Cozette is that she is a solid dancer, very rarely injured, and that really sounds like an event among POB stars! :grinning-smiley-001:

By the way, I found the american boy (semifinalist) John Giragosian (Maryland Youth Ballet) very good. Maybe someone knows more about him and the school he's coming from?

I also confirm that both are very talented. I was particularly impressed by James Hay who won "Young British Dancer of the Year" competition last year. He was the best among the boys in Lausanne. Sae-eun Park (South Korea) and Mai Kono (Japan), respectively 1st and 2nd place, were more than simply brilliant candidates: they already have that artistry (especially Park) we're all looking for and which rarely occurs in ballet competitions.

Sorry Azulynn!! Same post or so... Jérémie Bélingard made debut as Basilio in 2002, I think.

Here is the cast on the POB website: http://www.operadeparis.fr/Saison0607/Dist...ion.asp?Id=1008 Note Denis Matvienko venue on 15th and 17th March I had the opportunity to see him as Basilio in London (partnering young and brilliant Bolshoi soloist Osipova) and he's really worth seeing!! We'll also have several expected debuts in the leading roles: 19 y.o. Mathias Heymann as Basilio (his first big role, that should be an event), Nolwenn Daniel and Myriam Ould-Braham as Kitri. Myriam Ould-Braham will be partnered with Emmanuel Thibault, who made brilliant debuts in this role in 2004: also a big event audience is expecting with great joy! :blush:

According to the POB website, Proust ou les Intermittences du Coeur should be recorded on 12th, 15th and 19th March and broadcasted on french television (France2 - date unknown) before DVD release. We don't know the chosen cast yet.

Thanks, I didn't know that video. But unfortunately I think it's only available in the US. There's a beautiful pdd entitled "La Prisonnière" often scheduled in galas (danced by Lacarra-Pierre among others). Maybe this is the one you're talking about.

A television report on Laurent Hilaire farewell: http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/culture/0,,3394953...t-hilaire-.html