Birdsall

Tiara, I am so glad you were able to go to the matinee after all. I know you were unsure whether you would get a ticket to it once they switched Stepanova's performances. One of my favorite moments in the Swan Lake love duet is when the ballerina lifts her right leg and falls backwards into Siegfried's one arm as she lowers her leg to meet the other one. I love to watch how the ballerina moves her arms after she falls. It is just a minor moment to most people, but Yulia Stepanova's arms and hands are like seaweed flowing in the ocean current. She makes that moment so beautiful, and these details are what I look for in a ballerina. It is very easy to miss, but for me it underscores how much detail has been put into her interpretation.

She's a beautiful woman and and no complaints here and I enjoyed seeing her a few years ago as Nikiya at ABT, but since then I have become obsessed with the Vaganova/Mariinsky legato arms. And even though she was Vaganova trained and started at the Mariinsky, her arms seem very Americanized to me. There are traces of the flowing tendency at moments, but not always. There is more stiffness than what you see in Lopatkina or Tereshkina or many other Mariinsky dancers. That is a good thing for people who prefer less flowing arms. If I had not known she was a Russian trained at the Vaganova I would have assumed she is a very, very good American dancer.

The thing that struck me when I saw her on July 6 was that she was the first Odette that made me like the final act and find it interesting. She conveyed a sense of being crushed, so you felt for her. And after Rothbart was defeated she was radiant. Thank you for your report! I am very interested in following her career!

Kondaurova, Pavlenko, Somova, Gumerova, and Kolegova also have the Swan in their repertoire. So it is not a given that Lopatkina or Vishneva would be the ones to dance it. Those two are probably the favorite choices for that role for the American audiences, but it doesn't mean they will be on the tour since things seem so crazy sometimes with casting.

The Paquita excerpts might be wonderful depending on casting, but the likelihood of Fateyev giving us casting we want to see in it for even one of the nights is slim. But Paquita is really the only thing that could get me on a plane. One stomping ballet, two super short ballet pieces and one decent classical work which is just pieces (and probably won't include the children's mazurka).....it just doesn't seem worth the hassle!

I sort of understand the whole not taking pictures of kids thing. As a person who works in the public schools you have cases where a custodial parent is fearful that a non-custodial parent (who attempted to run away with the child in the past) will see his/her kid on a social networking site or website and figure out how to find the child and abduct the child. So we have to always get parental permission to use any photo of a child for anything to do with the school's website or social media or when the news media wants to do a story about the school. But I would think a costume or scenery pic posted on some social networking site would not really harm anyone. It might get people asking, "Where did you take that pic?" and give some word-of-mouth publicity.

The ushers at David Koch and KC would probably faint and die if they worked at the Mariinsky. Tourists AND Russians alike are snapping pictures of the theatre like crazy before a performance, and quite a few DURING the performances (and even iPads held up), and many, many snap pics during curtain calls. Kbarber, it is bizarre they don't let people take a group pic during intermission with nothing happening on stage. Very strange. It is like they are stuck on a rule and not thinking logically anymore. The whole point of forbidding picture taking is so the performance is not interrupted or disrupted and everyone can enjoy the performance. What on earth is the reason for no pics before, after and during intermissions????? How does that hurt anyone???? The irony is that the places that are that strict are actually not very beautiful theaters, so it is like, "Fine, I won't take a pic of your ugly theatre!" LOL

Yudi, I love to take pics during curtain calls also. What is strange is the ushers at the David Koch theater seem to be the only ushers in the world who stop people from taking pictures before and after. I totally understand why they would tell people to stop DURING a performance, but the David Koch ushers don't even want a pic taken of the auditorium before the orchestra even arrives. I snapped a pic of the auditorium before many people arrived years ago just as a memory of the theater (something I do at theaters I visit), and the usher told me not to take pics. So I didn't bother to try for curtain calls. What is funny is that the same usher who would not let me take pics of the auditorium before the performance allowed people to enter long after the performance had begun disrupting everyone. So apparently it is okay for her to disrupt the performance and let latecomers in but it is not okay to take pics before and after performances which bothers nobody. Really strange logic.

There was a topic discussion on whether the Chinese invented this or not and the people who discussed it had an interesting name for it, but I can't remember and don't know how to find that topic now. It was maybe a few months ago when the discussion was here on Ballet Alert. I think in the discussion someone found that the kick to the head was found in The Fountain of Bakchisarai which pre-dated the Chinese ballet that included it. But for the life of me I can not remember the name of it.

Yes, I was really surprised at the prices for the Bolshoi when I booked a ticket for Onegin on my recent trip. It was double or even more than double than a similar seat at the Mariinsky (and sold out a month or more before I went on my trip), and I personally like the Mariinsky better, but I wanted to experience the Bolshoi in person in their home theatre and decided to pay the price. Apparently, they easily sell out no matter how high their prices are.

Angelica, thanks for the comments. Yes, I love the Mariinsky (Vaganova style) a lot more than the Bolshoi style, but, as you say, there are Vaganova grads who are starting to go to the Bolshoi. That should be very interesting to see if they help influence the style or if they lose their unique style. I do like the Bolshoi though. I don't mean to say I don't, but I prefer the Mariinsky. Someone mentioned that the Mariinsky is doing a NY tour soon, but I can't remember when that will be or if it is just a tentative rumor with no firm dates planned yet. Probably if you go to the forum for Mariinsky on here you might find a topic title about a potential NY tour.

The Mariinsky's version of Swan Lake is, in my opinion, superior to the Bolshoi's in so many ways. The sets, the choreography, the arrangement of the score, etc. It is just beautiful (pleasing to look at and experience) unlike the Bolshoi's production. Raymonda is also much better at the Mariinsky. The Bolshoi adds more leaps for Jean de Brienne and he even shows up in the first act leaping around, so there is more male dancing, but Raymonda's beautiful entrance where she picks up the flowers is deleted. At the Mariinsky.... Raymonda is like a beautiful delicate flower of a ballet. At the Bolshoi it is Raymonda on steroids!!! As Canbelto mentioned, the Mariinsky does the Lavrovsky Romeo and Juliet which is much better than Grigorovich's version. La Bayadere is very different at the Bolshoi.....more dancing for Gamzatti and even when Solor's hunting friends enter in the first act they are dancing whereas they walk on at the Mariinsky. The Bolshoi Bayadere also has 4 ramps for Kingdom of the Shades which is actually very magical. There is also more closure to the Bolshoi's version at the end. And since most people were discussing Spartacus, the Mariinsky's Spartacus is the original version choreographed by Leonid Yakobson, and the sets and crowds create an incredible spectacle. It is sort of like a Cecil B. DeMille movie!!! In contrast, the Bolshoi's Spartacus is more exciting for the male dancers (especially the title role) and the more famous version. So that is give and take too. I would say that in general all the ballets are better at the Mariinsky and the unique Vaganova style is better (my opinion), but for sheer male excitement the Bolshoi's Spartacus might thrill you more. However, if you love gorgeous sets and Cecil B. DeMille movies and less athletics (also the women are not on pointe), then you will prefer the Mariinsky's Spartacus.

Great repertoire! I imagine they are excerpts from all those ballets, b/c even though most are short works Firebird is around 45 minutes and Le Carnaval is about 30 minutes, etc. I assume the show is all excerpted pieces. It is still probably a wonderful show!

I forgot to mention that the villain in the ballet was played by a guy who was a little hunched over in the shoulders. I am not used to seeing that. Maybe he did this for interpretation, but his posture was annoying to me even though he did some exciting moves.

You go to the Mariinsky Theatre website and click on the Mariinsky tv link at the bottom of the main page.

I just finished watching it and enjoyed it. Gayane is sort of a union of folk dancing and ballet. It certainly had a lot of acrobatics for the male corps and soloists. A few moments had modern dance (like the end of Act 1 where the 3 main characters dance together. During the second intermission it sounded like the two people interviewed were arguing over something. Did anyone catch it and can explain what they were saying in general? Overall, a fun time, but it will never be in my Top 10 ballets.

Yes, I think the friend was talking about home performances.....just at the Mariinsky Theatre, not tours. So as you say Lopatkina probably danced Nikiya somewhere in the world but not at the Mariinsky Theatre for 4 years. By the way, two friends have told me the recent June 6 Lopatkina Bayadere at the Mariinsky was the best one she's done. It seems a shame to limit her performances of this at her home theatre!

I was talking to a friend about Lopatkina's recent Nikiya on June 6. They told me that Lopatkina had not performed Nikiya at the Mariinsky Theatre in four years. I said that could not be possible and they were convinced it has been four years. I went checking the Mariinsky website and looked at the schedules for every month since June 2010. On June 15, 2010, Lopatkina danced Nikiya. In between her 2010 Nikiya and her June 6, 2014 Nikiya, there have been 33 Bayadere performances and my friend was correct, none of those 33 were danced by Lopatkina. What is very interesting is that after the June 10, 2012 Somova Nikiya and the July 8,2012 Tereshkina Nikiya, the two most used performing Mariinsky Nikiya ballerinas went on maternity leave with Lopatkina, Vishneva and Kondaurova being the only regular Nikiya ballerinas. Vishneva rarely performs classical ballets at the Mariinsky, reserving her classical performances for ABT. However, Lopatkina would have been the most obvious choice for Nikiya during those maternity absences and she danced no Nikiyas.That left only Kondaurova among regular Nikiya ballerinas and 2013 was very interesting. Fateyev was forced to make a Nikiya Mariinsky debut and on February 4, 2013, Skorik made her Mariinsky Nikiya debut. Beginning with Skorik's debut, Skorik danced 3 of the next 4 Mariinsky Nikiyas, with Kondaurova being the other Nikiya. After that, the situation was reversed with Kondaurova dancing 3 of the next 4 Nikiyas with Skorik being the other Nikiya. With 8 consecutive Bayadere performances before Tereshkina came back from maternity leave to dance Nikiya again, only Skorik and Kondaurova danced Nikiya. We are not talking about my local ballet company where there is little depth of talent among ballerinas in the company. We are talking about the Mariinsky Ballet, which many consider as having the best wealth of talent among ballerinas. Fateyev was forced to give one debut, Skorik, or Kondaurova would have been forced to dance every Bayadere. With so many talented young ballerinas, why did all these talented girls not dance Nikiya? I would love to have seen Stepanova, Marchuk or Nikitina make a debut in some of them. I think they would be better than Skorik or Kondaurova in the role. And I am sure many people could find other ballerinas who they would love to see make a debut. Fateyev should not be stingy with roles, because then he would avoid the casting problems he has probably had scheduling in August.

I strongly recommend the DVD Everything Turns into Dancing & Don Juan . It consists of two ballet-films, the first appeared, I think, in 1978 but was filmed probably just after the death of Leonid Jakobson. Its video quality is not even Thirld World. It offers some very interesting choreography (Female variations are fantastic) and frequently spectacular quality of dancing. It presents Jakobson's troupe, Хореографические миниатюры (Choreographic miniatures), soon after the grand mâitre's death and under the new artistic director Askold Makarov. The second film on the DVD is a mini-ballet Don Juan by Sergei Vikulov (recorded not later than 1988), with Sergei Berezhnoi, young Zhanna Ayupova, Veronika Ivanova, Olga Likhovskaya and Yuri Zhukov. Thanks for that tip! I added it to my cart! I did notice that in the Yakobson Ballet's Swan Lake at the Alexandrinsky that Odile's variation was different (and with different music). I wonder if it was Yakobson's choreography or some famous ballerina's version.

I have never seen that Nutcracker and was surprised at the youtube videos. It reminds me of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. Is that the only Nutcracker currently performed by the Mariinsky? No, the Mariinsky does two Nutcrackers.....one is the Soviet version which is like a traditional version (done in 3 acts and prologue) and the other is the Chemiakin version (done in 2 acts). I think they tend to play the more traditional one much more often. Chemiakin is actually a fascinating artist. I have seen an exhibition of his artwork which I enjoyed, and there is a modern looking Peter the Great sculpture by him in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

Everyone I know is totally puzzled by his methods. Everyone I knows says that someone with zero background in dance would make better choices than he has made at times. No body seems to understand him. Beyond promoting or not promoting this or that dancer, the other concern is that he gives so few chances to young dancers. It makes more sense to let young dancers study and dance all the smaller roles (like the Prince's friends in Swan Lake or the peasant pas de deux in Giselle) on a rotating basis, so you are not stuck if someone gets injured. Same with the bigger roles. Apparently, the reason for no casting info for August is due to the London tour (which has casting info available), but there are so few who can jump into the roles b/c many of the stars are out of town. If he were allowing all dancers plenty of opportunities he would not be in the August mess he is in.

I reread this whole thread, and if you go back to page 3 of this alexaa1a gives a history of what does seem like Skorik's meteoric rise, and when you compare it to Stepanova the two stories are completely different. This was fascinating reading, because it gives a lot of insight into what is going on, especially when you couple it with Mathilde K.'s info.

According to the Mariinsky website there will be an on-line broadcast of the ballet Gayaneh. However, it will not be the Mariinsky dancers. It is the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Armenia guesting at the Mariinsky and performing Gayaneh. They are performing it on July 22 and 23 but the broadcast is on July 23. Here is the info and you can find a synopsis of the ballet on the Mariinsky's site when you click on July 23's Gayaneh. PERFORMERS: Conductor: Karen Durgaryan The Mariinsky Orchestra Gayane: Syuzanna Pirumyan Armen: Sevak Avetisyan Giko: Armen Gevorgyan Nuneh: Zhakelina Sarkhoshyan Karen: Garik Babelyan CREDITS: Music by Aram Khachaturian Libretto by Vilen Galstyan Musical Director and Principal Conductor: Karen Durgaryan Choreographer: Vilen Galstyan Set Designer: Minas Avetisyan Costume Designer: Roubina Hovhannisyan Performance running time: 2 hours 20 minutes There will be two intervals

I sat in the first box to the left of the coaches' box for every performance I attended, and it was interesting that Kondaurova sat in the coaches' box many times while I was there. I can't say she sat there every night, but I saw her quite often. I figured she was learning the role of Marguerite, but then she sat there for possibly all 3 Bayaderes, a role she has danced many times to my knowledge. I actually think she has a very strong on-stage personality so she is best at things like Street Dancer, Carmen, Odile, Myrthe, and Medora. If I were in charge of casting I would never cast her as Giselle, for example. But maybe she would surprise me and would be able to be "gentle." I like her, so I don't mean this as a criticism. I just think she is a very strong personality which actually limits her in the roles she fits (my personal opinion). But for her fans, in person she looks very glamorous without seeming to try!!! Her style is very European and someone that makes heads turn. She is someone you do not miss in a crowd.

I think on paper all the ballet schools in Russia supposedly use the Vaganova curriculum. I could be wrong, but I think they supposedly have uniform training across the country on paper, BUT the truth of the matter is that the students who come directly out of the Vaganova Academy are totally different (very fluid upper bodies). You can almost always spot a dancer at the Mariinsky, for example, who did not come out of the Vaganova Academy. You will think, "Hmmm....her arms are sort of stiff......" and you go home and look at her bio and find out she graduated elsewhere in Russia. So in theory the training is the same, but in reality it is not. I think many Bolshoi dancers come close to having a certain amount of fluidity from what I can tell in videos and my one recent trip to the Bolshoi. But they are stiffer than the Mariinsky dancers as a whole. People who do not like too much fluidity in the upper body probably prefer the Bolshoi ballet. I think it probably comes from being surrounded by others who have the same style. Humans have a tendency to want to fit in with the crowd, so a dancer placed at the Mariinsky will start to get more fluid while a dancer at the Bolshoi would try to fit in there. It will be interesting to see if Olga Smirnova and Evgenia Obraztsova start to have less fluidity since they are at the Bolshoi (Vaganova trained). So far I think they still have a fluidity. Also, I think Perm ballerinas tend to come closer to having more fluidity also. That could be due to the fact that the Mariinsky had to relocate there during wartime for a while and probably some Kirov teachers stayed there. I think you can have a case where a ballerina who studied only in Moscow has amazing arms and upper body, but I think it is just less likely. Every once in a while a person has her/his own personality and they simply are different than the majority. With that said I would rate Bolshoi dancers in 2nd Place for fluid upper bodies in the world. The Mariinsky would be First Place. I only know the Grigorovich Swan Lake from video and the movie theatre, and I totally understand why people do not like it. I think it has a lot of problems and does not come close to what we long for in a Swan Lake production, but if the dancers are outstanding I think it can be a marvelous experience. If by some miracle the Bolshoi Ballet came to Gainesville, FL where I now live and were offering Swan Lake, I would run to get tickets even though I consider their Swan Lake to be sort of a disappointment, and even though I consider the Mariinsky Ballet much superior (my own personal opinion.....no attacks!!).