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Yulia Stepanova


tamicute

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Although no dancer is unanimous , some criticisms of Yulia are very strange . His musicality and his fluids arms are two of his greatest qualities . I have noticed that some fans of Olga are uncomfortable with the rise of Yulia. They see her as a rival . This is so stupid !

If you are alluding to people here, assumptions about people's reasons for liking or disliking a dancer are not permitted on this board.

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Italian fouettes seem to be out of style at the Bolshoi.

Not exactly. In Dulcinea's variation Smirnova performed them in place of the usual diagonal of sissonnes into arabesques just before the manège of piqué turns. Zakharova does the same. But since neither of them can sustain a consistent rhythm, I find it a very unmusical alternative. Krysanova does not do sissonnes either, but rather jetés. So much for ever-rising technical standards.

I have noticed that some fans of Olga are uncomfortable with the rise of Yulia. They see her as a rival . This is so stupid !

For what it's worth, I was neutral on Stepanova's performance as the Queen of the Dryads, but disliked Smirnova's as Kitri (and Rodkin's as Basilio) so much that I left the theater after the second act. So I haven't got a horse in this particular race.

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I prefer the Mariinsky choreography, I must say. As for the direct comparison of the Bolshoi ballerinas, I find Smirnova a little too mannered, her arms and shoulders a little too heavy, in comparison with Stepanova. It is as if Smirnova's arms are moving though water while Stepanova's float on the air. Both lovely, but the natural air of Stepanova gets my vote.

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A friend told me this in case anyone else is wondering about the choreography: The Dryads scene choreography in Bolshois Don Quixote is due to Gorsky in the redaction of Fadeechev the younger. A superior choreographic text used at Mariinsky is due to Gorsky as well.

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She's an artist. It's actually the first time for me to see her dancing somewhat worldly role(compared to other divine roles like swan, fairy and bayadere, etc.), and her acting was so nicely done. I can see she has bright girlish and cheerful presence on stage, too! And her dance...you would be speechless to see how she moves from head to feet in every inch. Her adagio works were literally seamless.
  In act 1, the sequence of her grand jetes in circle if entering the stage was high and smooth. There are loads of Medora's dance in this version and Yulia made a couple of mistakes with her finishes in act 1. But from act 2,  especially Jardin scene, her repeated standing balances on pointe with flowers in both hands were done effortlessly, her jumps and pirouettes were as graceful as they can be. Her flowing arms and arched hands were ever so beautiful. She looked like a classic beauty from black and white film when she was standing with arms in 4th under flowers at the end of the long dance scene. In act 3, she did another fouette perfectly, and the famous variation of Medora was much more lively and joyful than that of her as a teenager at Vaganova. Hopping on pointe was perfect although it was quite fast!
  When it comes to musicality, she's music herself. It's not like she just dances in time with the beat- she gets involved in music. You actually can enjoy the dance and the music at the same time rather than focusing on the dancer's moves only. Sometimes it feels like the music's played through her.
 As for partners, although I loved the chemistry between Yulia and Denis a lot, the solid partnering of Ovcharenko was really remarkable. Yulia looked so comfortable with the lifts and leaning on these great partners. Poor that the guys don't really dance much in Ratmansky's Corsaire...
  Overall it was an unforgettable performance. The thoughts written here are quite disjointed and random since English is not my first language, but I hope you get the feeling of how wonderful her performance was. And it's only her debut!

Edited by Euphra
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Thanks for sharing your observations with us.  It's great to hear that she was able to convey Medora's personality,  which is quite different as you say from the other leading roles she's done.  The ability to convey cheerful girlishness that she demonstrated in this debut will hopefully persuade Vaziev to give her Giselle and Aurora very soon.  

What did you think of "la petite Corsaire"?  I wish I could've seen her  making the "twirling the mustache" gesture!  Did you see/speak with her afterwards at the stage door?  

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12 hours ago, SFCleo said:

Thanks for sharing your observations with us.  It's great to hear that she was able to convey Medora's personality,  which is quite different as you say from the other leading roles she's done.  The ability to convey cheerful girlishness that she demonstrated in this debut will hopefully persuade Vaziev to give her Giselle and Aurora very soon.  

What did you think of "la petite Corsaire"?  I wish I could've seen her  making the "twirling the mustache" gesture!  Did you see/speak with her afterwards at the stage door?  

It is le petit corsaire dance where I found her naughtiness and different brio that I haven't seen in her other roles. Although when she shouted, "na abordage!", it sounded a bit weak...she needs to put more energy and end it better with a real shout. :)  I don't know how other people felt about it, though.

I did wait at the stage door, and got her autograph and took photo with her. After finishing the restless role of Medora, she looked very tired, but she kindly signed and took photos with fans and little girls. I only told her that I wish her success. My Russian is poor, and she hardly understands/speaks English, so it was hard to have conversation. She seems to be a quiet and rather introverted person, and I can see that she's got great acting ability to change herself in the roles such as seducing Odile and lively Medora. 

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11 hours ago, Euphra said:

It is le petit corsaire dance where I found her naughtiness and different brio that I haven't seen in her other roles. Although when she shouted, "na abordage!", it sounded a bit weak...she needs to put more energy and end it better with a real shout. :)  I don't know how other people felt about it, though.

I did wait at the stage door, and got her autograph and took photo with her. After finishing the restless role of Medora, she looked very tired, but she kindly signed and took photos with fans and little girls. I only told her that I wish her success. My Russian is poor, and she hardly understands/speaks English, so it was hard to have conversation. She seems to be a quiet and rather introverted person, and I can see that she's got great acting ability to change herself in the roles such as seducing Odile and lively Medora. 

I hope she's at home or in a nice vacation spot with her husband resting up and eating something!

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To clarify: most of the video which Peruanka just posted above (and the interview) features Evgenia Obratzsova -- I think we see a bit of Stepanova at very end. I'm not sure when the Shelest gala performance took place [Peruanka answers below]. Stepanova did dance in Corsaire with Rodkin at the very recent gala at the Bolshoi. (Here is video dated for October 23--to me it looks like a bit of an off performance in spots especially the coda which is the 2nd video below. I don't envy her the pressures of her recent rather spectacular promotion.)

 

 

 

Edited by Drew
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