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Mariinsky's Raymonda To the KC in Feb 2016


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Exactly, Birdsall. AND...we both forgot to mention one more huge gaffe last night:

The Apotheosis that did not happen, when the pink pony that's supposed to carry Raymonda and Jean across the back of the stage failed to appear. [Edited: see Birdsall's explanation, then my follow up. This friggin' Apotheosis keeps changing from year to year, it seems...no horses, then one horse, now two horses.]

Drew, what you say is right but...geez, opening casts are reviewed and, thus, are entrusted by company management to sparkle and carry the reputation of the troupe. So, on that count, Fateev & crew bombed last night even though, in general terms, it was a pleasant performance. We (BA fans & other long-time admirers of this company) know the difference.

p.s. "Game of Thrones Amazon" ROTFL!

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They had a major issue with the horses at the rehearsal. The entire stage motioned upstage and no horses showed up so they did it over and horses came late. There must be some sort of problem. The Kennedy Center stage looks more shallow (backdrops look too close to each other compared to the Mariinsky Theatre), so maybe that is the problem. Maybe the horses are kept in an awkward angle off stage in the wings and it is difficult to move them to the back? I have only seen Raymonda and Jean de Brienne on horses and Raymonda comes first but at the redone apotheosis at the rehearsal Jean de Brienne came first, same as last night.

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Upon reviewing my notes, I see that, in the Apotheosis procession in the back, Jean, then Raymonda, *did* appear but on separate horses, as Birdsall noted. When I first saw this version live at the Mariinsky over 10 years ago, starring Makhalina & Ivanchenko, the protagonists appeared together on one horse...the only horse that followed two walking standard bearers. We now have two horses. So the Apotheosis changes from time to time, it seems. In the 1980 DVD starring Kolpakova, there are no horses.

Edited to add:

If I could adjust the casting for the remaining performances, I'd find a way to replace one of the remaining Skorik/Askerov shows with Batoeva & Latypov in the leads. One can dream...they've never danced the leads in this ballet, that I'm aware. :)

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Thank you Natalia for your report. I'm not happy to learn about Skorik's mega-sketchy opening night. Now that she's attained her position she needs pull herself together and bring it. I'm also disturbed by your Shapran report. The rest of the cast sounds to me like it was another day at the office, i.e. standard operating procedure - especially Tim Askerov's Jean de Brienne. I also nominate Batoeva & Latypov for Raymonda and Jean. She is reliable. Unfortunately, she hasn't been given the opportunity (yet) to essay Raymonda, Aurora or O/O. Time will tell if she will (ever) be a debutante in these roles. Latypov is exceptional as well.

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I am disappointed. With the cast AND the production itself. This version simply needs to go asap. The medieval tale of love intertwined with religion gets completely lost here. Key elements of the ballet are much chopped off or completely excised-(like the White Lady). This ballet sans the crusades atmosphere, sans the WHite Lady, and of course, sans the original opulent costumes and décor becomes merely a bare backbone of what is supposed to be. I know it is hard to present it in its original bad-Muslim-guy/good-Christian-couple, but the tale simply looses much of its appeal without all of that.

I was sitting a few rows from stage, and geez, Skorik looked like a mask. Her heavily made up face expresses NOTHING whatsoever. She and Koruntsev had NO chemistry onstage at all. There was never a moment when we could tell that this was a loving couple. Skorik looked livid with fear most of the time, and she started the ballet with an early mishap..(she lost her balance). We also had our fare amount of over extended limbs, which at many times feels awkwardly and plainly vulgar. Her tutu goes way higher than her hips...up at waist level, so from orchestra all you see at all times from this type of tall ballerinas who love to open themselves to no limits is only one thing: CROTCH, CROTCH AND MORE CROTCH.

Generally speaking, the whole ballet looked dry and gloomy. Raymonda's friends had an expression most of the times as if they were going to the electric chair at any moment. The ballet came alive a little bit more during the last act. The Grand pas, along with the czarda and mazurka were beautiful to watch. At the end, and after a very tepid couple of curtain calls, they tried to milk the applauses a bit more with a solo curtain, but the applauses dried off. They kept the curtain ready for the dancers to go and bow, but it never happened. People had simply stopped applauding altogether. That was sort of sad though...

On a side note, it was great to see you all guys there.!! :tiphat::flowers:

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I know it is hard to present it in its original bad-Muslim-guy/good-Christian-couple, but the tale simply looses much of its appeal without all of that.

Goodness! In this day and time, Raymonda seems like an excellent allegory to the awfulness of ISIS/Daesh. It doesn't have to present all Muslims in a bad light, but can (in the correct staging) show the seductive bait-and-switch of extremist religious beliefs.

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The BORE-saladze (Virsaladze) costumes and set(s) must go. I know that they were "refreshed" around the 1990s - including the addition of the pink tutus for the A1 Valse girls - but they're still dull. POB, La Scala, and even the Bolshoi (also Virsaladze designs, 30 yrs after the Kirov's) are better.

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Goodness! In this day and time, Raymonda seems like an excellent allegory to the awfulness of ISIS/Daesh. It doesn't have to present all Muslims in a bad light, but can (in the correct staging) show the seductive bait-and-switch of extremist religious beliefs.

Funny thing - The music for the White Lady remains. When we hear the tune in the middle of the sword fight, I kept waiting for the lady to appear from above the castle walls holding the mirror to blind Abderakhman, as in the original scenario, as seen at La Scala. Konstantin Sergeyev got rid of all VISUAL traces of the White Lady but forgot to wipe her out of the musical score...as if future generations would never know the difference.

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The BORE-saladze (Virsaladze) costumes and set(s) must go. I know that they were "refreshed" around the 1990s - including the addition of the pink tutus for the A1 Valse girls - but they're still dull. POB, La Scala, and even the Bolshoi (also Virsaladze designs, 30 yrs after the Kirov's) are better.

I particularly disliked the shredded numbers of the nymphs in the Dream Scene...

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I love the Kirov 1980 film--I feel that the dancers are really dancing the choreography, not going through the steps. I also love the video of the La Scala reconstruction. LOVE. But I think that in a high quality performance of any reasonably good production (Sergeyev's is something more than that) the presence or absence of the 'White Lady' is unlikely to make a big difference to me. Perhaps if I knew the score as well as others it might...But the crusades are still present as a theme even without her--along with the threat by a Saracen of a European aristocrat. For good or ill, the White Lady also makes Jean De Brienne even more of a dramatic nonentity than he is in a standard production -- or, if you prefer, more of a merely symbolic character.

I would just as soon keep ISIL out of this ballet--for me, in the theater, a good Abdurakhman is more like a good Shylock. Villain, but you may feel sympathy for him anyway.

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Very sad to read all these reviews. I have to say, I am not surprised. I saw Skorik's debut as Raymonda at Mariinsky Theatre, where I was sitting right next to the stage, and then her air of being a student who had only just managed to learn the steps in time was most noticeable. She should have improved by now, indeed as a principal now, the public DESERVES that she should have, especially since she is entrusted with opening night. As for her (lack of) chemistry with her partner - I have yet to see ANY chemistry with a partner from her. I know that many on this forum do not like SOmova, but I can tell you that I also saw SOmova's debut (ONLY) performance in this role and they are a million miles apart. With Somova I saw the multi-faceted Raymonda variations, with the aristocracy, the intelligence, the beautiful arms, upper body and expression, everything, as it should be seen. It is a travesty that Skorik was entrusted with this opening night Raymonda. Where also was Lopatkina? Her beautiful Raymonda, with her unique floating aristocratic quality, deserves to be seen by America. Kolegova and Matvienko are also lovely Raymondas. We are all ballet fans on this forum, but it is very sad that the best that Mariinsky has to offer just has not been offered to you in America on this tour. These reviews make very sad reading.

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As always:

No links to reviews in the company forums.

No speculation about anything that happens in rehearsals. Rehearsals are for dancers, backstage, the artistic crew, musicians, etc., and people who are there have the privilege of seeing the working process.

Only official sources.

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Tornado warnings just issued in & around DC. Coming up the I-95 corridor, now south of DC, going north. To those driving or walking to the Kennedy Center, please be careful. (I won't be going to the KC again until Saturday but know that many of you are going tonight.)

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Big Red Koundarova was FANTASTIC!! This was a completely different ballet tonight. The orchestra sounded better, and the tempi faster. Katya and Danila looked lovely, and in general the whole atmosphere was totally the opposite from last night. Koundarova had a wonderful aristocratic presence during the whole ballet that reminded me much of my favorite in the role, Mme. Bessmertnova. And her limbs were down to normal highs from last night's distorted ones from Skorik. All her 8 variations went without any problem, smooth and precise-(well, she sort of lost her balance once, but it was barely noticeable). Her segment of ronde de jambes was wonderfully executed, whereas Skorik eventually ceased to perform them, barely doing a developpe/kick of the working leg.

By the way...this ought to be, from the classical repertoire, one of the less dancing roles for the male -(after poor Prince Coqueluche in the Nutcracker, who dances even less). But...there are lots of lifts, for God's sake! So kudos to both Koruntsev and Smekalov for handling Katya so well.

Katya and Danila had a solo curtain call tonight, another difference from last night's sad ending.

Edited to add: Tonight, during the scarf variation, I remembered a fragment from Kirkland's book in which she recounts preparing herself for this section. She said that she had read that this scarf had been a previous gift given to Raymonda by de Brienne as a memento before going to the crusades, and that this dance should express the longing of the bride to be for her lover. Lovely, right..?

Oh, and it was again A PLEASURE to see you all guys at the theater!! See you all tomorrow for Kolegova! :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers: :flowers:

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