elena

18 hours ago, sappho said:

I'm a millennial. I'm not in the dance world, but I am in academia, whose power structures can resemble those in the arts: a mandatory 'apprenticeship' (grad school) requiring unbelievable amounts of time/money before you're even allowed to interview for salaried jobs, heavy competition for a dwindling number of jobs (many just fellowships), a huge amount of overlap between professional and social activities, insular communities, superstars who are seen as indispensable to the profession, gender imbalances at the upper levels of the profession, huge amount of leeway given to 'boy geniuses'... and so forth.

Anyway, I hope it's not breaking forum rules to express my sadness at how many times Finlay, Ramasar, and Catazaro's artistry has been mentioned in this conversation. My sadness at how worries about their lives being ruined and what their absence might mean for the audience's experience seem to be much more passionately stated here than concern for Alexandra and the women of NYCB.

I am so indescribably angry and sad about what has happened to them. I'm also mortified that more people aren't angry. And -- and this is where the comment about academia comes in -- I'm scared, because whenever I see the reaction to something like this happening in the dance world, it feels like a preview of what might happen in my world if I or women I knew had to report sexual harassment or worse. The insistence on defending people on the basis of their contributions to the field, the denial of institutional responsibility, the worries about (statistically rare) false accusations, everything.

Thank you, you put into words what I could not. 

I’m a xennial myself, but I also feel mortified while reading people worry about the men involved. 

Taking and circulating naked photos with no consent? If true, that in itself should mean those people should never work in NYCB again, though I guess suspension is considered enough by the administration for such a violation. 

I think technology/YT/live broadcasts are helping, though some may think the opposite. 

I live in Puerto Rico so we don't have many ballet performances in theaters (and when I do attend performances some, frankly, aren't up to par - while others are.) 

The Bolshoi Ballet live broadcasts are always soldout here, and increasingly I see more young people attending. Being able to find out about events, dancers, etc. online made me shell out quite a bit of money last year to go watch ballet in the theater in NYC, because a video can never replace that experience. I have taken "non-ballet fans" to the broadcasts or sent them links to videos online and it has sparked an interest in them for ballet - some have decided to attend the theater when travelling, which they wouldn't have ordinarily. 

I also think that the "arts fandom" could be more disperse now than some decades ago, where many of the fans were concentrated in more 'cultured' cities (no offense meant, I just mean that the people in those areas were the ones exposed to these performances, and now people all over the world have exposure, while those that can actually attend because they are close don't make - or want to make it- it for various reasons). There is also something about taking for granted what you have regular access to, plus the arts competing with a plethora of other options/activities. 

On a sidenote - the arts are seen as "feminine" (at least where I'm from), and I think that also plays a role in the cultural support it gets on various levels. Again, no offense meant. 

I was lucky enough to watch him and Viengsay dance "Swan Lake" here in Puerto Rico about two years ago, with Ballet Concierto of PR. It was a real treat. 

They brought the house down - and I remember thinking I hoped that he would go on to bigger things, like Carlos Acosta.  It makes me happy to see that people have noticed him. 

This is expected but makes me very sad. I never got to see her live, but I watched and bought as many of her performances as I could find. 

I think of her as an intelligent and intuitive artist, both in her approach to dance and the roles she took/avoided. So musical and elegant... a Swan Queen for the books. 

I definitely can see what Mearns POV was when she tweeted those things (and it's a human reaction.) As someone mentioned, she may have a different outlook some years from now when she isn't in the middle of it all. 

My issue is that, when addressing what Burke wrote, both she and Macaulay misrepresent what she said as they argued against it; they make her article seem superficial when it isn't. That doesn't do a real service towards defending the work either. 

Artists are free to create work but an essential part of art is what the viewer feels as well. 

I haven't seen the ballet but I thought Burke explained her point well. 

She challenged the shallowness with which she perceived the violent acts against women were handled in the work. That's a valid critique. 

Women's role in ballet is complicated, but I do feel in this day and age some new works can feel dated on the gender front when choreographers unconsciously rely on the - not sure what to call it - antiquated standard ballet vocabulary (ie woman suffers violent act and in response slaps the man in the face and everything carries on; uninventive choreography that relies too much on the male dancer showing the audience how bendy the ballerina is and so forth.)

Of course she is not saying only good acts or simple issues should be the subject of ballets, and it's a logical fallacy to argue from the premise that she did, as Macaulay and Mearns have done. 

I just got back from watchinng Smirnova in SB - we receive the broadcasts later in Puerto Rico - and I loved it. 

I enjoyed Olga Smirnova a lot - and indeed way more than I expected. She is not a typical Aurora either, but she makes it work in her favor more than Zakharova does (in my humble opinion). You can tell she and Chudin dance a lot together, she trusts him and lets go. I hope their dance partnership continues to grow. 

Stepanova was as beautiful, graceful and protective as I expected her to be in her role of Lilac Fairy. 

I went with a friend who had never seen a full length ballet. She enjoyed it and left wanting to see more ballet.  

I just watched it and enjoyed it a lot. His talent cannot be denied, which really is part of the problem. 

Unlike most ballet dancer documentaries, this one scratched more than the surface of his life. It really made me understand why he seems to have such a love-hate relationship with dancing. 

His family made a lot of sacrifices to finance his dance education, and they let him know it. A lot of emotional pressure for someone since a young age.

It also has great footage of him dancing ballet and filming the "Take me to Church" video. 

No updates on this in about a year...

Yay! I'm so excited about this tv show. It's my favorite. Unfortunately, the judging isn't nearly as good in this first episode as it was last time, but hopefully that'll improve over the course of the season.

I've done a two-part write up of the first episode on my blog, with summaries of the judges' comments for anyone who's interested but doesn't speak Russian. (Also it gives me the opportunity to give my own marks - go Tsvirko! go Batsuev!)

http://itinerantballetomane.blogspot.com/2016/01/bolshoi-balet-episode-1-part-1.html

http://itinerantballetomane.blogspot.com/2016/01/bolshoi-balet-episode-1-part-2.html

Thanks for the summary! I watched this last year and always wanted to know what the judges said.

For anyone that has HBO, this is available on their site (HBOGo).

I just finished watching this. I was surprised at the level of animosity Urin has towards Filin.

Aside from how the title is bestowed, what makes someone a PBA? (I have my own ideas, but I'd like to read others).

Why, say, is Lopatkina mentioned over Vishneva?

I really hope they release a DVD... we don't get the screenings in Puerto Rico. I watched the rehearsal on the RB's stream on World Ballet Day and enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for the information all!

I would prefer a Lopatkina Nikiya above the others mentioned as the possible casts (if it even gets released). Oh well... Tereshkina and Kolegova are better than Skorik, so at least there's that.

I wonder if Lopatkina is dancing less because she is choosing to wind down her career, or because she is being given less opportunities. I would imagine she has more say than other dancers there, aside from Vishneva perhaps.

The translated article states at the end: "For example, the third and the most difficult variation in “The Kingdom of the Shades” is danced by Stepanova essentially flawlessly. This is why it has been selected for being recorded."

Does this mean they are coming out with a DVD of this ballet? I have the previous version with Komleva/Terekhova. I hope they do not choose to record Skorik as Nikiya, I can think of many others who should be preserved in this role for posterity (my ideal would be Vishneva, but failing that, I'd prefer Lopatkina). I searched to see if this was posted about but couldn't find anything, perhaps there was a problem in my search terms.

As far as the rest of the discussion in this thread, I think it's just very embarrassing (or should be) for the MT, to have recent top Vaganova graduates choose to go elsewhere because they are not valued at the Mariinsky. I won't say anything more, as it has been discussed pretty well already.

"....if he brought Zarutsky into the picture to rough up or intimidate Filin, then I do think he bears substantial responsibility for the more extreme violence that happened and should answer for it in some serious fashion. (I also continue to be puzzled as to why, even if one doesn't share that view, one wouldn't be plenty dismayed that he had hired someone to intimidate/harass Filin physically in any way."

I totally agree with this. I don't understand how these dancers can continue to support Dmitrichenko and insist on his innocence when he admitted in his final statement to the court that he had asked Zarutsky to beat up Filin. Regardless of whether or not any of his grievances against Filin are justified, in my opinion he lost any moral high ground he might have had when he decided to resort to violence as a way of dealing with those grievances.

This is how I see it too.

According to the article, her post--advisor to the artistic director--is being eliminated. It had not existed prior to Filin's directorship. This is a significant development because some dancers have been very critical of her. The piece includes a link to an interview in which Svetlana Lunkina had nothing good to say about her. http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/36700-is-svetlana-lunkina-moving-to-toronto/?p=322491 In his testimony at the trial Nikolai Tsiskaridze was also very critical.

Frankly speaking, hand on heart, for two and a half years the Bolshoi Ballet has been run by this madam without ballet training. If she does not like someone, that person is removed from his roles. She is an advisor. It's unclear who this person is. But that's how it is.

http://izvestia.ru/news/561352#ixzz2mKPsJdOy

Added: In her Izvestia interview Joy Womack said that Timergazina was the one responsible for looking after her paperwork, and even the Bolshoi acknowledges that wasn't done as well as it could have been.

Interesting. She is also Olga Smirnova's mother in law (I know she only recently got married).

I wonder how Dmitrichenko still has people who openly support him within the Bolshoi... though apparently he did not know of the acid attack itself, he was doing some underhanded things to achieve what he perceived needed to be done. The ends don't justify the means, in my opinion - then again, I don't know him personally. I guess tomorrow we will know what the court decides.

Even if they were to change Asylmuratova, the teachers within the Academy would remain and they are, as a collective, the ones responsible for training and continuing the style.

Not that the person at the top does not have influence, but they also have administrative duties; all of the history and style does not rest on Asylmuratova's shoulders, nor should it rest on hers or any single person. Seems a bit of a cop out to me for Gergiev to say he is dissatisfied with the company and put it all on the Academy - especially when it is widely commented that many are unhappy with the *acting* Artistic Director of the MT (which is another topic that has been debated a lot on here and elsewhere, I realize, so I won't beat the dead horse, as it were).

All of this is a bit bizarre, to say the least.

I'm genuinely curious about this, and excuse me if the question is a bit silly... but I often find myself wondering if the lack of actual dance on the show has to do with copyright/permission issues.

For example, I know that dancers portrayed on the show chose to be on - or at least I read this in an interview - so perhaps the short rehearsal footage has to do with not showing too much of people who did not agree to be on?

I also wonder if they have to pay for every snippet of Ashton choreo shown, and if the lack of the corresponding music means they found it cheaper to use other music than the actual one played by the orchestra at the performance?

I am not so sure on this subject or Union rules, but I do wonder if that gets in the way of what is shown.

Or maybe the fact is that they want to appeal to a wider audience and I'm just wondering about irrelevant issues. :/

Looking forward to the premier tonight... here's to hoping there is more dancing than last season!

I still enjoyed the show last season though...

If what we have heard is true, then I don't think Zahkharova should have walked out--of course she doesn't get to decide these things. But that said,I do not think she should be characterized as an aging ballerina whose time it has come to "fade." She could quite certainly have danced the opening and no-one would have blinked or said "she is too old to be a good Tatiana."

To speak more generally, I like to see the next brilliant young ballerina as much as anyone--in fact I am dying to see Smirnova--but companies need to value mature ballerinas at the height of their careers. Nor do I think the way Zakharova was pushed forward super early at the Mariinsky was always to her benefit. She became a better dancer when she left the Mariinsky a little later in her career and started working at the Bolshoi.

In fact, whether or not the Bolshoi administration was involved in this decision, I could not help wondering if the heads of the Bolshoi were not just as happy to avoid giving Halberg the opening Onegin--that is, if they might prefer not to have the company's first performance of Pushkin's iconic hero danced by the American who has been away for a year. And (speculating further), who knows? perhaps as much for his own sake as anything else. Surely critics (and god knows who else) would be waiting to pounce and quite indifferent to Hallberg's success in the role in the United States. The source material is sacred territory for Russian culture even if it's Cranko's ballet and the Stuttgart's signature.

(As an aside: I hope that Vishneva's Bolero was more exciting in the theater than it looked on the video posted above.)

I do agree that pushing dancers too early isn't always a great thing, but seeing as Zakharova herself benefited from these policies, then maybe she should be more wise and understand it is now the turn of someone else and take it with a grain of salt. I also agree maturing stars should have their place and be appreciated, though that is another topic so I won't go on about it in this context.

I contrast Zakharova's behavior to someone like Obraztsova, who at least appears to be grateful to dance period, even if she is principal and not first cast. Maybe that is the difference between having had to climb the ranks versus having been given everything from the start, who knows. It may build a different character/tough skin to deal with casting decisions that don't always go "your way".

I think Zakharova should have danced it, and she most likely would have done well and appeared to have handled the whole affair with grace and dignity. Of course this is just my opinion.

In the end, this just created more publicity for Smirnova and ended up giving Obraztsova more chances to dance it... good for them I guess.

Helene thanks for the nice summary! I found it nice to watch, though the subtitles were a bit quick at times - it's still appreciated to have subtitles at all.

Here is a recent interview, where she talks about Filin, his injuries, and speaks out about issues at the Mariinsky with Fateyev, among other topics.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/3638845e-e323-11e2-bd87-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Y7kgALqz

If Zakharova dropped out because she was angry she didn't get first cast, then she is clearly a very petty individual.

I agree... she herself has been promoted ahead of others constantly throughout her career. Now it is the turn of someone else, such is life.

Strange, I wonder why Zakharova opted out.

I hope videos surface of these performances! I wish all the dancers the best, and for audiences to see great performances.

I would consider myself very lucky to see any of those dancers live... perhaps some day!

It looks like there is a new, lengthy documentary of Evgenia available on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z4kVYoSsZw (part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hXuk4MXlgM). Would any Russian speaker be able to provide a summary, please? I can only understand the broad outlines. Thank you in advance.

These were recently posted on the same channel, but with english subtitles