Birdsall

I could have sworn they listed him or listed him on the Playbill (you know how they say "Featuring Uliana Lopatkina" or "Uliana Lopatkina in the ballet...." before they put the actual casting up). I could have sworn he was listed in some way (either in the cast list or above the ballet's title "featuring Kondaurova and Ivanchenko"). I think I remember checking the site when the video came out to see if he was indeed cast or just in a promo video.

In the OFFICIAL TRAILER of Swan Lake 3D - Live from the Mariinsky Theatre - 06 June 2013, Kondaurova's Siegfried IS Ivanchenko. https://www.youtube....h?v=ricuPmpF544 Kondaurova and Ivanchenko are also the dancers on the photo to preview 3D screening of Swan Lake. http://londondance.c....fitandcrop.jpg Mariinsky or the movie maker probably replaced the Siegfried not very long before the Live Broadcasting. Well, that is all bout THE business. Yes, the website originally listed Ivanchenko in the cast. Askerov replaced him at some point on the cast listing of the web site, but they had already released the video promo. I actually think Ivanchenko partners better than Askerov, and I think he also has actual Vaganova style, so that tips the scale in his favor, in my own personal opinion, although I understand why people are not necessarily fans of Ivanchenko. He does seem very calm, like the anti-thesis of someone like Ivan Vasiliev (who goes for broke). In that respect Askerov might be a little more youthful and vigorous in some of the moves, but to me he seems like a dancer from another company guesting.

Same here, BB. Wonderful news...more money for ballet performances...! You got it!!!!

Drew, despite the inconvenience of the cameras, I suspect that will be a fun memory of a lifetime because it probably made it feel like you were actually at an "event"....to tell you the truth, in the movie theater I was trying to see if I could see you (I suspected you were at that performance) whenever they showed the boxes.....LOL Who knows? Maybe you will be seen in a dvd release if they release this on dvd! That would be a fun souvenir of your trip!

I would be very interested in your reactions. And a huge congratulations on your new job! Thank you so much! I cried buckets when I got the call this morning. Anyway, now the attempt to convince my partner to go on a trip to Russia, or I might go alone again.

Thanks for the review of Mariinsky II.....very fascinating to read your comments! These are bits of info we would never read in an article about the new theatre, so it really helps that you took the time. Also, I loved your description of the historic theatre as an enchanted jewelry box. I think you are absolutely correct about that. It is gorgeous! I actually thought there were little signs here and there of the age of the historic theatre, but overall I was enchanted. Just sitting in that theatre is thrilling. So I will be interested to see if I feel the same way about Mariinsky II when I finally see it, which might be sooner than I expected, because I got a job after 3 years of being out of work!!!! Hip hip hooray!!! I believe I do not start until August. If I am correct, I might hurry up and bathe myself in enchantment again before I face the challenging work ahead of me!!! It all depends on my start date, but I suspect my start date is when the school year here begins.

I do think that during assisted turns she often looked like she might fall over and that could very well be Askerov's fault. But who knows? I do not think Askerov has the Vaganova/Mariinsky style anyway and he doesn't seem like a very good partner. He does some good things on his own but overall I think they should have picked another male to play Prince Siegfried.

20 years ago Western Europe was not politically correct either. I don't really know how it is now. It is probably a little more today than it was, but I do think Russia is even less so. We forget that political correctness (pros and cons) is probably an American concept. We tend to think we are so 100% correct in how we think on these matters that we can not imagine any other country in today's world to not think like us, but other countries do think differently. Each country has a different history and takes a different path on the fork in the road. I am not saying whether this is right or wrong. I am just saying that we have to remember that we are products of our own culture when we are judging another. To me it was shocking living in Germany that little black faces were on chocolate candy bars. All of my university friends there didn't understand my shock and dismay. No matter how I explained it they still did not get it. Different culture. Different thoughts. And these were very liberal and very intelligent people. My point is that we tend to think our country has evolved and gone through a process and now do things better. So when we see something that would not fly in our country we are stunned the other country hasn't changed the way we have. But we really can't expect another country to act like ours.

You will have a really cool memory of that performance, Drew!!!!

I think as recently as a few years ago they (Ringling) got in trouble for mistreating elephants. I hope they have stopped and gotten better trainers. These are magnificent creatures and surprisingly intelligent supposedly. My late sister did date an elephant trainer at Lion Country Safari years ago, and he ended up getting stepped on. He lived but I don't know the extent of his injuries. I hope he is okay. I think we should leave them in the wild or in wildlife sanctuaries.

I noticed that she replaced Shirinkina as one of the two swans (Shirinkina was originally cast as both one of the two swans and in the prince's friends pas de trois and danced neither). Now I just looked at the website and Shirinkina is no longer cast as Cinderella tonight. Pavlenko is. Hope Shirinkina is not injured.

By the way, Anastasia Kolegova was the ballerina going up the stairs during the intermission features and looking at the book and doing the pirouettes while Sleeping Beauty music played. She is a great ballerina. Beautiful too. She's not as famous as Kondaurova or Lopatkina, etc., but she should be! But it was sort of cheesy to add those bits inside the Winter Palace, and I am not quite sure what the point was. But I can't complain whenever I see her. I also enjoyed the shots of St. Petersburg. Natalia Vodianova is beautiful but should not quit her day job as model! LOL It is obvious her forte is standing and looking pretty, not speaking!!! A friend in Chicago saw it in 3D (I saw it in 2D), and he said the picture was blurry and 3D did not work well. He thinks the Pace company messed up with the 3D, but isn't sure if it was just his movie theater that had problems or worldwide. Can anyone who saw this in 3D tell their experience? One of the worst moments of filming the wrong moment was the camera staying on Askerov as he takes flowers on the side as the corps is dancing and many moments that dancing was ignored to show a moment like that. I always expect moments like this, but they still make me shake my head. Why don't the cameramen know we want to see the dancing, not Askerov getting flowers from the Jester or whoever???? Yes, some of the notes coming from the orchestra were amazingly bad!! I was wondering if the biggest slip was caused by Askerov, because he was finishing turning her when that happened, and then during other supported turns she was leaning a lot and he had to pull her upright. That can be his fault also. Kondaurova comes alive, in my personal opinion, when she plays strong women (or biyotches in this case). To me her whole personality lights up as the Black Swan, whereas her Odette is good but nothing incredible (this is my own personal opinion, and I am sure some disagree with me). I think her Carmen is also very good. To me she is a very extroverted dancer so her personality simply fits the more extroverted parts. In contrast, Lopatkina seems like an introverted dancer so she does better at Odette than she does at Odile. I think a gala with Lopatkina as Odette and Kondaurova as Odile might be a fun idea. It would sell tickets for sure!!! I felt Andrei Yermakov as Rothbart demonstrated true Vaganova style with the famous Russian rubber spine that can bend backward so well plus the famous Vaganova arms. I think he showed off the style that the Mariinsky is famous for whereas Askerov was very stiff and I think it is simply his physical make-up. Askerov is very tight and and stiff in the neck and shoulders which is unusual for a Mariinsky dancer. Some people said they would prefer him to Ivanchenko, who was originally cast, but even though Askerov is fresher, younger and maybe bouncier, I think Ivanchenko looks more like a Vaganova trained dancer even though he phones it in all the time and doesn't really excite. He is also a more reliable partner. For last night I think I would have preferred to swap the two main males. Yermakov as Prince Siegfried and Askerov as Rothbart. In all fairness Skorik did so much better than she usually does as one of the 2 swans. I think her issue must be a stamina or nervousness thing. This is why Fateyev should keep her in smaller roles like this until she is ready to move on. It was a joy to see up-and-coming dancers like Batoeva (one of the prince's friends), Marchuk (among Little swans), Nikitina (one of the 2 swans), and Stepanova (one of the big swans). It was also nice to catch glimpses of Martynyuk, Ivanova, Vasnetsova, etc. This was fun to see, but I am not sure it was a performance that needed to be preserved on dvd. I imagine the dvd will use footage from both nights to edit out the minor slips.

Not sure I buy that theory about Apollo either, but it is definitely food for thought and an interesting thing to consider! LOL Apollo will never be the same for me now!!! LOL Dumbed down is the way here. For whatever reason many Americans do not have faith in art that has lasted for centuries. They don't have faith that people will be moved by art that has lasted the test of time. When I was a teacher and took my class on a field trip to see a local ballet or opera show (which was a matinee for children) the other teachers told me, "These kids don't care about that kind of thing!" But they did! They had never seen anything like it but applauded wildly, whistled and LOVED it. Human beings respond to beauty and excellence no matter what socio-economic background they come from, but the majority have lost faith that anyone can sit still for anything "old." Once I became a school librarian I had a teacher who would nix any black and white films I had in the library saying that the children don't like anything in black and white. When I was a teacher and showed the old black and white Yearling movie after we read the story, you could hear a pin drop. They liked it better than the remake I showed them.

Be nice!!! Oh, I just realized you meant the mountain. I thought you were making a joke.

I think when the Mikhailovsky had a webcast and the dream scene looked like Hawaii a couple of people thought it was odd. I think it was simply because people weren't used to imagining the dream scene that way, but it looks like it was how it originally looked!

I watched this live today on Arte Live Web. Although I respect that Sacre du Printemps is an important work of the 20th century that was earth-shattering for its time (and not just as a ballet but as a piece of classical music), it will never be my favorite ballet, and I think the Mariinsky dancers' unique style is wasted in this work. The reconstruction does not allow them to show any of their port de bras which they are famous for. So I thought maybe I would enjoy Sasha Waltz's "new" Sacre because it would have more actual dancing. The interviews on the Mariinsky site and on the short documentary that played online between the two versions of the ballet today showed a very nice person who felt awed that she was creating a new version. I like her as a person from what she said (luckily I speak German and can comprehend SOME french so the documentary which was mostly in French wasn't totally lost on me). And at the beginning I had hope for this new version, but it just did not seem groundbreaking like the original and then near the end some of the moves seem almost laughable like a parody (she does quote the Chosen One's dance a little, by the way). Maybe this was on purpose, but I got the impression it was supposed to be serious. Basically, I was not moved. I hate to say, but I think this is a flop myself. But I think both versions are really a flop. I'm sure some will disagree, and I would love to hear others' comments about it. Maybe you will open my eyes to either version. I'm sure the dancers loved doing something new. So it probably wasn't a flop to the dancers or to people who enjoy modern dance. I wish the Mariinsky had entrusted this project to Yuri Smekalov. Not only is he a Mariinsky dancer, but he has been choreographing things for them and other companies. He is a Vaganova trained dancer and seems to incorporate that into his ballets. So far I think his Bolero Factory and his Presentiment of Spring are two short ballets that show great promise. I think he would have been a better choice for a new version of Sacre du Printemps for this particular company.

Very insteresting! Thanks, Rg! I think the Mikhailovsky's live webcast had the dream scene with palm trees (if I remember correctly) very similar to the picture you just posted. That explains a lot because some people were confused about that.

Sounds like a great show! I love the repetoire! Flower Festival, Harequinade, Spectre, etc.

I think I will too. I realize I have said all I want to say about her.

Cristian, please post a review of the show! I would love to hear how it was. I regret being unable to come down this weekend. The repetoire looked AMAZING!!!!

You bring up a really good point. I have seen Tereshkina stumble a couple of times in otherwise amazing performances, so, yes, even great dancers make mistakes. Everyone is human. But a stumble or coming off pointe for a split second once in a while (once out of 20 performances) is totally understandable and excusable. Falls happen too. No big deal when it is an unusual occurrence. For example, if a person made a compilation of mistakes made by Lopatkina who has danced hundreds of performances and given so much satisfaction to people over the years.....well, I think, THAT would really be nitpicking and would require doing a very wide search to come up with just a handful of mistakes. It would require going through hundreds of videos just to "get" her and zap her. That isn't what happened with the video in question. The person did not search wide and far and long for those clips. The clips were plentiful and this person did not use all that were available.

The new cinema tab on the Mariinsky's website also has a link to the full cast for June 6's Swan Lake. Of course, this casting could change by June 6, but at least it gives us an idea of who we should see. I guess since this is a special event at the movies they found the time and effort to make the full casting info available. They never provide this much casting info normally on the site. In contrast, the Bolshoi often gives this much casting info on its site. http://www.mariinskycinema.com/assets/cast_list.pdf

I agree with this. So far (notice I say so far) the Metropolitan Opera does not put on musicals, although Lyric Opera of Chicago has (I think they are doing Oklahoma this season). I think La Scala has put on Westside Story during the summer several years ago, if I remember correctly. I hated the thought of La Scala doing that. I think this is the second summer in a row that they are doing My Fair Lady. It is actually a nice musical, but it does not belong at the Mariinsky. But many of my friends (when they find out I am an opera lover or past opera lover, now an opera hater b/c everything has gone downhill and I can only complain....LOL) tell me how much they love Phantom of the Opera thinking they are relating to me. They don't realize it isn't an opera. And I suspect most tourists seeing My Fair Lady at the Mariinsky will tell their friends, "Oh, we saw the opera My Fair Lady at the Mariinsky!"

You are probably right. It makes some sense when you put it that way, but in an ideal world they would have had live shows planned for Mariinsky II when they opened. I am getting the sense that they don't have enough staff to put together shows for both houses every night and are still flying by the seat of their pants. I suspect that is probably normal at the beginning. Maybe both houses will be more solidly booked next season.

It does seem pretty ludicrous to spend so much money on a new theatre and then use it as a movie theater. I mean, I know this is a one-off situation, but they will probably do it from time to time. This won't be the last time. The whole pitch about Mariinsky II is that it is state-of-the-art and can do things that were not possible in the historic theatre. Then, they turn around and use it to show a movie. Unbelievable!