hydraulix

Thank you for this video! I had the grand privilege to see her perform just a few days ago on Monday! It was my greatest wish in my life to see La Bayadere from Paris Opera Ballet (and hopefully with Agnès Letestu as Nikiya). When I heard last year they would perform it in Paris this month, I didn't hesitate and would definitely try to get hold on a ticket. I succeeded and last Monday I was sitting in a seat of Opéra Garnier. Back home I didn't check on Internet in advance who would perform and during the evening of the performance I opened the paper with the cast of the evening and could almost cry: Agnès Letestu would be the star of the evening, together with José Martinez. I will never forget this beautiful experience!

..... In any ballet, the corps ....... sometimes dances phrases before she [the ballerina] does, to prepare your eye (the way an overture prepares your ear for the score).

That's a very interesting function of the corps, Alexandra. I'd love an example or two, as, much to my chagrin, I can't think of any at the moment.

Grand Pas Paquita

I've read (in Pointe maybe) about a way to stretch the upper hammies/groin area by placing the front leg on a chair and then somehow inching down below the parallel line. I may have the specifics of this wrong but you get the idea. What I wonder is once a dancer achieves this ultra stretched position if it's difficult to control the legs in order to keep a parallel line in a grand jete. I don't care for the look of this overstretched line either.

Yeah I completely agree with you. This form of stretching is used in gymnastics as well. Next to that, I think it's much easier to achieve the ultimate stretched position compared to a controlled position (not difficult by force, but difficult by feeling when you reached a parallel line).

I'm with bart (reply 10) about the extension situation. Most of the time to achieve that extension, the body becomes too much contorted: it breaks the moment when you see a dancer inadvertently struggling (looking at the rest of the body) while they want to achieve this extension. It's a great example, that video from Zakharova in Giselle. The moment she raises her right leg and changes it into an arabesque; she can't have her leg higher than 180 degree behind her, the changement becomes quite choppy and it ruins the flow and meaning of the adagio (indeed what Hans stated before). Ulyana Lopatkina has great extensions as well, but you can see she really thinks how to use them during the same adagio:

Ulyana Lopatkina - Giselle

Alina Somova is another great example. Although I really enjoyed her performance during the Grand Pas Paquita last new years eve, there were moments that she inappropriately kicked her leg up in the air (during the harp variation for example at 0:34 or 1:19, although now I'm looking at the video again, it somehow doesn't bother me so much strangly enough )! Really a shame because to me she definitely improved with her upper body and port de bras. Why do you have to show your flexibility and high kick your legs in the air? Sometimes less = more; subtle movements can even make much more impact than showing it off. That video from iczerman is the icing on the cake about that! What a delightful Myrtha to watch and indeed that subtle jump even without kicking her leg right before her nose is striking; she floats through air.

I think there are many points in certain classical ballets where a 180 degree extension isn't inappropriate; the pas de deux in the second act from Swan Lake has a lot of points for the ballerina to perform them, without damaging the 'line' of the body in combination with the choreography. I think I'm more worried about the over extension and hyper flexibility in classical ballets; with that it's more of a rythmic gymnastic show and I can't find any reasons why you would use it in a ballet.

Congratulations Karl Paquette!

I forgot to mention:

(in this video with an exquisite Ulyana Lopatkina)

It was really breathtaking! Wow Tereshkina is such a beautiful ballerina! Such poise, elegance, style and perfect as Nikiya. Sarafanov has a great technique as well.

I'm really impressed by Somova by the way (some others don't agree with me), but she showed more much more maturity. I've seen her Dulcinea which was also a delight to watch. Ofcourse there's still room for improvement with Somova, but I love her spark.

La Bayadere: the first pas de deux in the Kingdom of Shades, where Nikya comes to Solor. The music is just eerie beautiful and I love the choreography for the ballerina (very fluent, subtle, 'dreamy', slow movements; indeed like she's a shade or shadow).

Swan Lake: Pas de deux in the second act. This is a classic and it beautifully shows the despair and love between Siegfried & Odette. In the version from Nureyev, there's another beautiful pas de deux in the last act, danced on the music which was originally used for the pas de six in the third act.

Those two definitely come to mind

I too wasn't really fond of her in the beginning. But I have to say: I'm part of the youtube-generation and so far I haven't seen her live on stage unfortunately (even when the Kirov performed in Amsterdam last year).

Her technique looked uncontrolled indeed and I didn't like her arms/hands (even too spastic to me). She used her flexibility in the wrong way.

But wow did I change my opinion! I've seen her latest videos and she was a charm! Her Dulcinea was a joy to watch and I just finished watching the New Years Eve performance of Paquita where she was definitely more matured in her style and movements. OK: she still shows her flexibility, but it's more dosed and subtle and I guess working with Tatyana Terekhova proved to be a deciding factor. Terekhova was quite famous for her technique, but she also had that classical Kirov style with sophisticated fluent arm movements. Somova to me really puts a smile on my face when I see her dance; she radiates joy!

Hello everybody,

Youtube proved to me one of the best sources for ballet videos. Infact, it's even one of my biggest influences why I fell in love with ballet again (after dancing for quite a long time, you almost forget how beautiful it is).

This time I discovered this great account: Balletforyou

On this account you will find lots of great ballets danced by the major companies (which were ripped from the dvd/vhs and making it a bit questionable if it's really legal). It is on youtube, so it's accessible to everybody and I thought I would share it . Fingers crossed that this stays forever on the world wide web and enjoy the videos (right now I'm currently watching Spartacus from Bolshoi and it's spectacular)!

I <3 Shades.

I've never seen Bayadere performed live, but watching the Nureyev production for POB on video was a life altering experience. Haha, not really, but like everyone else has said, I also find the entrance hypnotic and mesmerizing. Watching the POB corps girls coming down the ramp one by one with their lovely hyperextended knees and high insteps creating those beautiful lines was enough to convince me this must be one of the most brilliant moments ever created in ballet, regardless of the repetition.

Well said and I couldn't agree more. The video from POB with La Bayadere is also one of the reasons I really have to see this Nureyev production live (my goal is next year in Paris!). I love the entrance; the slow beautiful music and the unison movements of all the dancers; just perfect. It truly reflects the hypnotizing, hallucinating effects of the opium pipe from Solor.

Thanks for all your great comments! I'm looking forward in participating on this forum; it's very difficult to find great sites where you can discuss everything around ballet and I feel I can learn a lot more here

SandyMcKean: Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to see him perform. Last time I went to the Dutch National Ballet was a couple of months ago while they were performing Giselle (he was partnered with Michele Jimenez, but that evening he wasn't in the cast).

The way Agnes Letestu is dancing her 'Cigarette Variation' is just breathtaking! Pure femininity and class.

I'm very excited! Will Ulyana Lopatkina be dancing as well? It's really bad, the website of the venue (Carré Amsterdam) won't show any more information like the casting list.

Hello,

I'm Doug and I live in The Netherlands. I'm 25-years old and I started ballet when I was 5 years old. It started one day by watching television and saw The Bolero (I believed at that time it was performed by Nureyev, but now by looking around it could also be Jorge Donn). Since then, the world of dancing was a big influence to me.

When I was 11 (don't know my exact age) I was admitted to the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam. It was a great time and I have a lot of fond memories; the school worked together with the Dutch National Ballet and so we were able to dance minor children roles in Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake and Nutcracker. After 4 years, I decided to completely quit dancing (I chose to study, live my life without the strict ballet regime and make more of my social contacts). Although I have some small regrets, I'm happy where I am right now and I still have good contact with my former classmates who are dancing around the world for diverse ballet companies.

Since a couple of years, I happened to fall in love again with ballet. This time not by dancing, but by watching it. I really enjoy watching some of the Dutch contemporary companies like the Nederlands Dans Theater, but my biggest dream is to watch La Bayadere danced by the Paris Ballet Opera. Hopefully I will fulfill it next year while they are performing it.

My favorite ballets are Notenkraker & Muizenkoning (= Nutcracker, choreography by Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling for Dutch National Ballet), Giselle, Paquita, La Bayadere, Suite en Blanc, In The Middle Somewhat Elevated, The Vertiginous Thrill Of Exactitude and lots of work by Hans van Manen.

Today I'm still studying (digital communications) and have next to ballet an obsession for music, photography, movies, art, design, architecture and books.

Feel free to ask me any questions