Tiara

Yulia Stepanova's Swan Lake performance on 2nd August is the best Odette/Odile I ever saw. I am very happy to have been there and only wish she could be filmed in this role, so that everybody could see it. She entered to silence from the audience, but by the end of the White Swan adagio, the audience was applauding and cheering and bravo-ing. I think never on the Covent Garden stage has there been a ballerina who has the totally instinctive and natural flow of movement and suppleness throughout her upper body and arms. Her arms and hands were truly breathtaking and moving seamlessly and gracefully throughout. Her expression was so moving and her natural grace and the dignity in sorrow of a swan queen shone so eloquently. I saw her debut in St Petersburg and told my friend then that she was the greatest Odette/Odile I have seen, and this third Swan Lake of hers was even better. The pas de deux with Xander Parish were even more harmonious. Certainly the high lifts were beautiful, and the partnered pirouettes were better - two 5 and one 6 pirouettes amongst them. Yulia followed Siegfried with her eyes and spoke to him through her eloquent mime so beautifully! She acted and reacted so instinctively with Siegfried, Rothbart, her swan companions. She truly becomes the character on stage. Especially in the final act, the way she looked to Siegfried for protection was so moving. I have never see the section of arabesques where she is faltering through weakness in Rothbart's presence done so well. Her acting was amazing. Yulia's white swan variation was just a miracle of softly flowing arms. Her lines in arabesque were beautiful, her musicality exceptional. All her turns are rock steady and centred. It is impossible to believe looking at her dance that she is not a principal. She clearly should be.

Odile was sensual, haughty, queenly, delighting in her wickedness and sure of her affect on Siegfried. The variation was musical and nuanced and technically she is superb. In the famed fouette sequence she did single single double 6 times, then singles to the end, which was a double. They were perfect! The final diagonale was sharp and incisive. At the end of the act her expression when she threw the flowers straight at the hapless Siegfried was pure gleeful, malicious triumph.

It was a magnificent performance and Yulia's whole demeanour throughout, at her curtain calls and when she greeted her fans backstage with her gentle dignity, was what truly befits a Great Ballerina.

I must also mention the high jumping, glamorous Rothbart of Ermakov and also the absolutely charming and brilliant Prince's Friend of Anastasia Nikitina, who had to do a very quick change to appear as a swan in the next scene. Also, Oksana Marchuk sparkled with her husband, Oleg Demchenko, in the Neapolitan, and Oksana also was one of the four little swans. Anastasia Petushkova smouldered with fiery abandon in the Spanish. Finally, the corps were on impeccable form and they are one of the glories of the Mariinsky troupe, with their uniformity of style and harmonious movements.

I am so honoured and happy to have seen this great Swan Lake.

That's what I'm holding onto as well, I have not much interest in seeing Xander Parish, and am very curious to see Konstantin Zverev dance next week.

Edit: however, I would prefer seeing Stepanova dancing with Parish over Zverev-Somova.

I am seeing the SOmova Zverev performance also and am absolutely delighted! I saw Zverev's Siegfried in St Petersburg and not only is he a magnificent dancer, but he totally breathes life into the character of the prince. He has amazing presence on stage. He and Somova together are a magnificent pairing!

I also feel cheated, but I'm afraid not much can be done at this point. Alina Somova has probably already been rehearsing with Konstantin Zverev, and I don't think Stepanova can rehearse this entire ballet with a new partner in just a week. (Or is that possible? I have no clue how long it takes to prepare a full-length ballet)

Stepanova should be dancing with Parish twice: that would be great for the Mariinsky troupe and Londoners would absolutely love it.

Yes, of course we British are looking forward to seeing Xander and Yulia, but Zverev for me is the best prince in the company - he has great magnetism on stage, fine technique, good partnering and wonderful acting. Yulia was to have danced with him on 5th August. It's a great shame that London cannot see this performance.

Since it is now only a month until Stepanova's London Odette/Odile, is anyone able to attend and report back

Yes, I am going to Yulia's rescheduled performance on 2nd August, and will report back. There is much buzz about her here in the UK, and every poster outside the Royal Opera House is of Yulia as The Firebird, which she is performing on 11th August! Finally, rightfully, this wonderful ballerina is getting some of the attention she deserves.

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!

Yes, that performance of Lopatkina's as Nikiya on 6th June was just wonderful - truly a privilege to see. I wish Mariinsky Theatre had thought fit to film this great performance instead of the Tereshkina/Shklyarov one.

I happen to think Gergiev got the job on merit, whatever you happen to think of him he is highly regarded as a conductor in international music circles and his priority has always been opera. Perhaps he leaves the ballet to fend for itself, but his choice of Fateev has been disastrous. Vikharev or Tsiskaridze would make a better job of things but I've come to the conclusion that anyone could.

Although I have tickets to see the Kirov in London, I am going to Ireland for five days in the middle of the run, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The cast changes have already begun and the fans are starting to off load their tickets as a consequence. I'm also told that ticket sales this year are unusually slow.

So the Kirov has a nice corps, so what? a lot of other companies do too. It's the downward spiral in the quality of the soloists that actually matters.

I agree with the first two paragraphs, not with the third. I understand you may be feeling frustrated. "A lot of other companies" may have a "nice corps". Mariinsky's corps de ballet is not "nice". One absolutely undeniable achievement of Fateev is that he managed to make Mariinsky's corps de ballet by far better than the corps of any other company. This is so because for 6 years he has been consistently enforcing the policy that the only place fit for all the the Vaganova graduates is the corps de ballet.

How true. Nice corps? No - Superlative, breathtaking, downtrodden, held back, denied their chances, undervalued ... that is what they are.

I know of some factors that contributed to this "aversion" of his but I will refrain from talking about it in public.

I am holding my breath waiting whether the Acting Director is going to promote Stepanova before she goes on stage at Covent Garden in three weeks time as Odette. At the moment he is risking of being remembered in the future as, I guess, the only director in history who dared to come to the Royal Opera House with a corps de ballet girl dancing «Swan Lake». That could truly create a world wide sensation.

Bolshakova was only 19 and in the corps when she danced Odette/Odile in London at the end of her first MT season.

Stepanova, Marchuk and Nikitina all deserved promotions long ago, and there are many others who are also woefully overlooked, such as Margarita Frolova. At least Yulia Stepanova is now getting the roles she should have had long ago - some of them - but when one considers the shocking fast-tracking of ballerinas such as Chebykina and Skorik before her, then management really should account for this. It is not acceptable and downgrades the company.

I also like Maria Shirinkina very much, although it is certainly true that she is suited for limited roles. However, she is essentially a lyrical ballerina with particularly beautiful port de bras, charming presence and expression and when confined to these roles she is very effective.

What happened to Svetlana Strebko? Isn't she graduating this year as well?

Svetlana Strebko was injured and is still recovering. She is to graduate next year in what should be an outstanding graduating year, with Renata Shakirova, Olga Makarova and Nika Tskhvitaria also graduating.

Having heard great things about Stepanova I must admit I found the clip disappointing. The unsteadiness of her free leg was surprising, as was the lack of musicality. She seemed to be going from pose to pose without any inner life, and the iconic steps weren't well articulated. In particular, those final beats on the leg in the White Swan pas de deux were hardly done at all. Her jump also seems very weak. But it is a first-night performance and I can only imagine the nerves. I have no doubt she will grow in this role.

I was present at this debut, and rate Stepanova's Odette/Odile as the best I have seen. Her portrayal was truly miraculous - there is no other dancer in Mariinsky who has her expressiveness, her beautiful arms and upper body and the flow of arms. Her Odette was tender, gentle and feminine, flowing through her movement and her Odile was bewitching and glamorous with particularly fine variation and great fouettes. It was an unbelievable performance, and she had great applause from the audience and also an unbelievable amount of flowers. I count myself lucky to have seen what is a historic debut!

I have a very short wish list, both for Mariinsky ballerinas:

Yulia Stepanova to dance Nikiya in La Bayadere

Oksana Marchuk to dance Syuimbike in Shurale

Those are my two favourite ballets and my two favourite ballerinas!

If the raked stage is closed down, and the company touring, wouldn't having a non raked studio better for the duration of the reconstruction?

I was unaware that once MT1 is restored, that Mariinsky Ballet will become a touring circus.

They already have a few acts in place

1. Contortionist act - Somova, Vasnetsova

2. Trampoline act - Ivkin

3. Duet aerials with the giant throwing the midget - Romanchikov, Martynuk

4. Pin the tail on the donkey - Fateyev

5. the world's most obnoxious musician - Gergiev .

Not forgetting Don Quixote's horse, Sancho Panza's donkey who would also like to be considered for a novelty act, and the Bolshoi's Esmeralda goat would also like a new home.

Their daughter Nastya is not a pet dog, but a 20 year old woman with thoughts, feelings and a career of her own, and who worked hard for 9 years at Vaganova to get into Mariinsky Theatre ...

I hope ABT would swoop in and hire Asylmuratova & Zaklinksy as ballet master/mistress and to run JKO.

I don't. What is happening to them is a complete disgrace and they deserve major appointments in Russia if anywhere. They should be staying where they are at Vaganova, where they have both done outstanding jobs, regardless of the disgraceful attempts to blacken Altynai's reputation This should not be happening at all. More evidence of the complete corruption and political intrigue surrounding Russian ballet.

This would be terrible for artistic life in Russia. What good is a one-size-fits-all artistic institution? All this does is augment the influence and power of Gergiev - it does not serve the best interests of all these institutions. They all need to be completely autonomous and only in that way can they best serve their *own* interests free from outside interference. Gergiev knows nothing about ballet, and the open letter on the Vaganova site shows clearly their opposition to this artistic umbrella. If Gergiev really wanted to serve the best interests of the ballet world, he would look into the terrible mismanagement of Mariinsky Theatre, instead of trying to denigrate Vaganova Academy and high handedly take it over.

Hopefully you'll be able to judge for yourself when the Mariinsky comes to DC this January, Cristian. I think that you like solidity and competence and this she has. Besides being 'A Beautiful Dream'....

She's A Darn Good Dancer !

(in my unpoetic but sincere opinion)

Solidity and competence are not enough to be a Mariinsky principal - otherwise every dancer in the company could quality. Perfection of technique, expression, dramatic ability, star quality - all of these should be present. I will see Esina's Juliet and Odette/Odile this month for myself, so will be able to judge, but I have to say I agree with tamicute. She was not the best dancer in the graduating class, she went to an inferior company where she did not dance many of the classical roles that are the unofficlal requirement for Mariinsky dancers before becoming principal and - above all - she was not needed. There are so many ballerinas at Mariinsky just waiting for their chances and Esina's appointment just means they have to wait even longer.

I think that her appointment as a guest principal has more to do with the popularity and perceived glamour of televised Viennese trifles such as this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq_Sd6o7nqw

It might be very pretty and lovely to watch with a box of chocolates, but it is certainly not Great Classical Ballet, or the repertoire of a Mariinsky Principal.

Batoeva just promoted...

Batoeva!

Yes - Batoeva is promoted, and also recently danced her first principal role debut as Cinderella.

On the Mariinsky's website, Irma Nioradze and Igor Zelensky are no longer listed as Principals. I believe this is a very recent change (this week) on the site.

It makes sense, since neither dancer has been dancing with the company, but I wonder if this means someone is being moved up.

The male principal roster is very small and weak for Mariinsky. Kolb has become a character dancer, so he no longer dances principal roles. Ivanchenko should have retired a long time ago, leaving only two worthy principals in Shklyarov and Korsuntsev.

Analyzing possible promotions to principal, 1st soloist possibilities, are only two since Andrei Batalov is not liked by Fateyev adn Kuznetsov does not dance principal roles. That leaves Sergeyev, who I would support as principal, but not likely, and Askerov, who I do not see as a 1st soloist, but he has a wealthy father and wealth can do much in post soviet Russia. Therefore, I expect Askerov to become the 5th male principal. Askerov's father is one of the most powerful individuals in Azerbaijan, maybe the most powerful, being on Azerbaijani TV often.

I see little hope of 2nd soloists jumping to principal and no hope for coryphee jumping to principal, but there are several worthy principals in the 2nd soloist and coryphee categories.

I will list the names, but they have no chance of getting principal status now and obviously coryphee have no chance of moving to 1st soloist.

Ermakov, Zyuzin and Stepin are all worthy of moving up to 1st soloist and if they were 1st soloist now, I would say all 3 were possible principals, particulary Stepin, who I feel is currently the best Mariinsky dancer.

Coryphee have two potential future principals in Tkachenko and Alexei Popov, but Tkachenko needs to be given Basilio and Solor among other roles to have a chance.

In the corps de ballet rank, both Ivkin and Latypov are potential future principals. It is shocking that Ivkin is still corps de ballet with the best jumping ability at Mariinsky, but then his Vaganova partner, Marchuk is even more shocking as a current corps de ballet girl.

Regarding the women, Fateyev has opened the door for his prized collection, his precious Skorik, to move to principal.

The current male principal category makes no sense at all - there are just not enough of them! Unfortunately, I agree that Askerov seems to be the most likely next principal, but personally I would love to see Stepin and Ermakov leapfrog a category as these for me are the best candidates out of the 2nd soloists. I like Zyuzin and Sergeyev very much, but for me they both lack a little oooomph! Really though, if several promotions to principal were made, this would be open up the opportunities for several promotions to be made to each category. It is definitely time for a shake-up in the male ranks.

In addition to posting Onegin casts in October, the full Spartacus casts are visible and Lobukhin, not Ivan Vasiliev, will dance the movie version of Spartacus on October 20.

Really great for Lobukhin - and how much he deserves this movie! He is the greatest Spartacus at Bolshoi, and a wonderful dancer with passion, presence, technique, partnering skills. He deserves to be a huge star!

Very sad indeed for Uliana Lopatkina, who has been a great Mariinsky principal, and who certainly should be headlining this tour. Even sadder for the audiences. I have seen many performances by both her and Oxana Skorik, and there is no comparison. Italian audiences will think that Oxana Skorik is the true face of Mariinsky style for today - this will not do their reputation any good at all.

According to the video poster, the Basil is Kim, flanked by Ivankova and Lavrinenko (I'm not sure which is which.) The Kitri is Evseeva. (Yevseeva?)

As you look at the screen at the start of the video clip, Lavrinenko is on the right and Ivannikova is on the left of Kim.

Thanks, canbelto. That's Lacotte's Le Papillon pdd, performed last month during a special concert at the Hermitage Theater, featuring non-graduating students. I believe that Zhiganshina will dance only in the final concert of the graduation classes, on the 22nd.

Zhiganshina graduates next year, along with the equally talented Svetlana Strebko, and she dances Le Papillon pdd at the 22nd June Vaganova graduation performance.

The pas de trois is lovely!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp43iDQkfhU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Agree! Lovely style from all three. Xander Parish has good jumps and elegant presence - looking more and more promising, and Nadia Batoeva's turns in particular are just a joy to see!

‘It takes eight large cameras including three in the stalls and one on a crane above the dancers, as well as on stage and in the orchestra pit.

'It’s not discreet, it will feel more like a Hollywood set than a theatre for the night but it really captures movement in space. With a pirouette, when the dancer’s leg extends it flies immediately at you. It’s just stunning.’

http://www.dailymail...a-near-you.html

Ah yes, the Mariinsky skycam. Nevertheless, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

I don't like the skycam. I like to see the film as though I'm viewing from the audience, although I do like close-ups - but the skycam seems an unnatural shot.