" Sleeping Beauty " 13 / 02 / 2005

[Ballet lovers]

Inside of the "Tchaikovsky festival", it was really very interesting and curious to attend this "Sleeping Beauty" after the last not very successfully performance we have seen ( Novikova- Kolb) .

The theatre was full again. It seems russian and foreigner people still loves very much this performance and, even if there are not sometimes so interesting casts, they want to see this beautiful Sergeev's version that, we think, is uncomparable with anyone we have seen.

PROLOGUE:

At this time , the corps de ballets was much more precise. Finally it seems they have rehearlsed with the new dancers also !

In any case the Fairies ( D.Smirnova, E.Chmil, E.Vassiukovich, Y.Selina, Y.Serebriakova) were not much better :

In their pieces with the corps, they danced sometimes by themselves and not "in music".

Yana Serebriakova was absolutly not clean in her " arabesques" in the "entree".

Diana Smirnova, Elena Chmil and Elena Vassiukovich danced "dirty" and quite weak their variations.

Olga Yesina like the " Lilac Fairy", on the contrary, was quite clean and large in her mouvements. We think she could be a very good interpreter of this role with some more rehearsals.

Roman Skripkin was not so perfect like "Carabosse", but absolutly better than Islom Baimuradov on the last performance. Skripkin , at least, tried to give the right "ugly" character of this role and he was not so vulgar and "cheap" like Baimuradov.

ACT ONE:

It was really a big pleasure to see the full cast of the corps de ballets on the stage on the "waltz", the Vaganova's Ballet Academy pupils included and not the half of the miserables dancers we have seen the last time when the company was in tour. They danced very well and clean.

Olesia Novikova has improved some technical mistakes from her first appearence but in any case it seems she doesn't understand the right "tender-style" of the role of Aurora:

- rude and stiff mouvements

- "heroics" final poses like in " Le corsaire" absolutly not in style and everytime with irritating "breaked" wrists.

It is really very strange that her teacher, Olga Moisseeva, once one of the best ballet teachers on the Mariinsky Theatre who has "created" beautiful ballerinas like Assylmuratova, Mesentzeva , Makhalina and Zakharova, can't teach to Novikova the right style of this role and she doesn't give any attention to the cleanliness of the mouvements!

Yesina is also Moiseeva's pupil now but we hope she will only improve herself with her. To be just capable , is not enough to become ballerina !

ACT TWO:

The corps de ballet, especially the female one on the scene of the "vision", was absolutly wonderful with precise lines and very clean mouvements. A real pleasure for our eyes !!

Vladimir Sklyarov danced the main role for the first time. He is very technical and capable ( we have seen him in " La Sylphide" and other roles also) and he has very good potential to be a good dancer at all. He has not a very charismatic face and presence but if he will work hard and on the right way he could go beyond this big fault.

His variation was not very clean in this act. Besides he appeared with a big, large hat that has shortened him very much and maked him look like a" walking mushroom".

He danced well with Novikova the famous and beautiful "Sergheev's adagio" on the "vision" but she was very rude and "dirty" in her variation again.

The wonderful and impressive scene of the "panorama" ( when the prince is leadind by the Lilac Fairy to Aurora's castle and the scenes are moved as give the impression that they go boating ) was almost omitted at all. Too much and hard work for the stage-workers ?

ACT THREE:

In this act, we were interested to see some another first appearence. Grigory Popov on the role of the "blue bird" was one of them but we were disappointed of him. He has a very good jump and nice " batteries" but he was very frightened and not accurated. Besides his make-up was really terrible. He looks like Dracula and not like a bird !

His partner, Ksenia Ostreikovskaya was also not very clean and sure of herself. Maybe they were not helped also by the terrible and fast conduction of Boris Gruzhin that seems everytime to be in hurry to go home and doesn't help the dancers at all. His extremely fast music, on the other acts also, maked the dancers to be often not in time.

Very well all the Fairies ( Y.Serebriakova, D.Sukharukova E. Sheshina ). Yana Selina like " gold fairy" for the first time also very well.

Diana Smirnova, for the first time like the "white cat" was not bad but too tall for this role.

The final pas-de-deux of Aurora and Desire, was danced well but without particular brilliance especially by Novikova.

We can't understand why almost all the dancers of today's generation in the Mariinsky are dancing without large mouvements and nice "port-de-bras" that have characterized the Russian ballet style worldwide.

The Mariinsky Ballet has a very large repertory now ( Balanchine, Neumeier, Petit, Forsythe etc.) that should help the dancers to " grow up" better but it seems it is happening the opposite. It seems they are more busy to rehearls the new works forgetting the right style of their main classical repertory. In the past the Kirov dancers were much more interesting and unmistakable than now even if today we have also many exemples of talent artists especially among the ballerinas.

It is a very big pity because the "kirov style" is really unique and it will be a huge damage to lose it.

[Natalia]

As always, thank you for your detail-filled review, Ballet Lovers of St. Petersburg.

I am most saddened by the report that the full Panorama (movement of the scenery) has been excised. What's the world coming to???? If there was one place on earth where we used to be able to count on a full Panorama, it was at the Mariinsky Theater!!!!

Olga Yesina, the Lilac Fairy, seems to be progressing splendidly since I saw her last, at her graduation in June 2004. She's yet another protegee of Lyudmilla Kovaleva, teacher of Diana Vishneva.

[Ballet lovers]

As always, thank you for your detail-filled review, Ballet Lovers of St. Petersburg.

I am most saddened by the report that the full Panorama (movement of the scenery) has been excised. What's the world coming to???? If there was one place on earth where we used to be able to count on a full Panorama, it was at the Mariinsky Theater!!!!

Olga Yesina, the Lilac Fairy, seems to be progressing splendidly since I saw her last, at her graduation in June 2004. She's yet another protegee of  Lyudmilla Kovaleva, teacher of Diana Vishneva.

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[carbro]

Ballet lovers, I hope the music for the panorama section was not cut. It is probably the most glorious passage in the entire score. When the Kirov brought their new/old version to New York some years ago, the violin soloist -- a magnificent musician -- got the strongest ovation of the night after the panorama. It was his playing that had me floating out of the theater afterwards.

[Marc Haegeman]

Ballet lovers, I hope the music for the panorama section was not cut.  It is probably the most glorious passage in the entire score.  When the Kirov brought their new/old version to New York some years ago, the violin soloist -- a magnificent musician -- got the strongest ovation of the night after the panorama.  It was his playing that had me floating out of the theater afterwards.

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You mean the Entracte which is played before a closed curtain. There is no violin solo in the panorama.

Thank you for your review ballet lovers . Funny that Novikova is now under Moiseyeva - when she started out she was coached by Kekisheva. And while Moiseyeva has groomed several great names, it doesn't necessarily make her a great teacher. The mere fact that she "produced" ballerinas as opposite as Zakharova and Zhelonkina says enough.

[carbro]

You mean the Entracte which is played before a closed curtain. There is no violin solo in the panorama.

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Thank you, Marc. I stand corrected and am glad to infer that the entr'acte remains intact.