Watch "La Bayadere" build

[Natalia]

I went to the final performance last night, which was extraordinarily satisfying. 'Bravi, tutti!' for pulling off this corps piece de resistance with only a couple of bobbles somewhere in the 3rd row but, more importantly, with a poetic, singing quality that is the hallmark of the Mariinsky's style...not the choppy quality that we see even in ABT with pros. Every one of last night's 32 student Shades truly 'sang' through their bodies!

I haven't been at this school's performances in a year or so and am truly in awe of how, in such a short time, the new 'air of inclusion' has developed as much high quality and emphasis on corps work as it used to do before with 'star soloists' and future Varna gold medalists. Yes, the future stars are very much in evidence here, such as the marvellous 13-yr-old Rino Sakamoto, who wowed us as Aurora in SB's Rose Adagio...or Tomoha Terada as the high-flying Golden Idol in Bayadere Act II Suite. However, it was great to see a 'healthy attitude' towards 'the team,' while still embracing the high artistic values of the Vaganova method. Kudos to the academy's new AD, Martin Fredmann, and his team! This was one of the most felicitous KAB concerts that I've attended in years, reminding me of the "Golden Years of Hope" in the 1990s.