Tiara

At least you were spared the Skorik Swan Lake though!

Well I'm not - I'd still like to see for myself how good or bad she is.

Well, if you are going to see her - good luck! I have seen her for myself. I saw her Lilac Fairy this month in Saint Petersburg, and I can tell you she was not good. She made a complete mess of her variation, fell off pointe several times, did not get round her pirouettes, and just did not have any fluency at all. Nowhere was there the warmth, radiance or technique of a true Mariinsky Lilac Fairy. I am at a complete loss to understand why she would be chosen for opening Swan Lake in Baden Baden, or Masha.

I saw Le Parc on Friday with Kondaurova and Zverev and was really surprised how fine Preljocaj’s ballet worked with the company – it was a very intense, subtle, tender performance, especially by Kondaurova. No, I did not see the Skorik Swan Lake, sorry.

I think Le Parc is a love-it-or-hate-it ballet, and unfortunately, I hate it! But I am very glad if you enjoyed it! At least you were spared the Skorik Swan Lake though!

Echoing Tiara's sentiments, would have given anything to see this company live in the 60s. And I support/agree with all of your points here, Leonid. It's with every hesitation that I myself even post this information on the forum. But I am trying to reflect the facts as they develop (in English) for people to draw their own conclusions.

Please post whatever news you can about the open letter, because secrecy is useless to the dancers, and it is only if all of this is brought out into the open that something must eventually be done about it.

If we are to discuss the recent exodus from Mariinsky or the graduates who declined to join entirely because of the initiquitous situation there, then the list becomes a very long one. Only off the top of my head - Obraztsova, Lobukhin and Smirnova to Bolshoi, Shapran to Stanislavsky, Sarafanov, Lebedev and Strelkov to Mikhailovsky, Dolmatova also recently left, also Matvienko, and not forgetting lovely Cheprasova. If Fateyev/Gergiev had managed to retain all these dancers and they were dancing regularly at MT imagine the magnificence of every performance, instead of the dismal ones we see now with all these favoured and sponsored dancers who should never be given these opportunities.

I wonder if anyone else on this forum who has access to Russian media would be able to give us any further information on this matter? It would be interesting to hear what the general reaction has been towards Gergiev's refusal to co-operate with Daria Pavlenko. Hopefully eventually some good must come out of this as the more public knowledge there is of it, the better.

The company is every year taking steps a way from its glorious past and I yearn for a reprise of the 1961 tour which locked me into my love for academic classical ballet.

PS

I would have thought that Gergiev the musician is not so happy to be involved in this imbroglio, but with power comes responsibility and in this case a very personal responsiblity.

You are very fortunate to have been able to see this 1961 tour! I have spoken to friends here in the UK who did, but it's not the same!

What you say is very interesting - thank you. Putin appoints his friend Gergiev and Gergiev appoints his friend Fateyev. Quite a cozy little circle and seemingly impossible to break. Gergiev the musician is still Gergiev the Artistic Director and first and foremost a human being who should be even more aware of his responsibilities towards the creative artists whose welfare he is ultimately responsible for.

Today in Baden Baden Oxana Skorik dances the first Swan Lake and on 26th December she debuts as Masha. It seems her star is ever ascending - a first performance and a debut in a very short space of time? I wonder what Baden Baden will make of her? I am certain they will never have seen a more unlikely Masha.

For anyone wondering about what may be happening to Daria Pavlenko as a result of her speaking out against the Gergiev/Fateyev mismanagement, or why dancers in the company are reluctant to speak out about their disgraceful working conditions, please read the following Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Pussy_Riot

These women were actually imprisoned for speaking out against Putin. Russia is a country where it is literally not safe to speak out and oppose authority. There are many allegations made against Putin - one of the wealthiest men in the world with KGB connections - that his wealth comes from various sources, many of which are no doubt mysterious at the very least, and many probably illegal. He is a man who holds the country in a stranglehold of fear. It was he who appointed Gergiev, who in turn appointed Fateyev. Is it any wonder that the company as a whole fears to speak out against Gergiev? Plainly all he cares about is the money in his own pocket. The dancers must all be terrified of reprisals, and, judging from what happened to the women in the article, rightly so. The world's greatest ballet company is a hotbed at the very least of unfair practices, and also of corruption, where money speaks louder than talent, and the dancers are pawns in a corrupt Mariinsky management. They desperately need someone to speak up for them, and Daria Pavlenko is much to be applauded. I wish I could think something good would come out of this open letter, and I hope and pray that it will . At least this is all bringing the scandalous state of affairs at Mariinsky out into the open. My sympathies are so much with those poor dancers, who bring us all so much beauty and pleasure, and who are iniquitously so ill rewarded for it.

Kondaurova brought her trademark ice-queen hauteur to her interpretation of Raymonda; I hope that in time she too will pull off the entrechats quatre en pointe sequence. I love her as a ballerina, and there are some roles in which she is unsurpassed: for me she is the greatest Myrtha today. I also love her in Rubies, Serenade, Anna Karenina and many other roles. She has great versatility, as has been mentioned. I enjoyed and applaud her Raymonda, for me Anastasia Kolegova's was the more outstanding debut, and for my taste both Novikova and Lopatkina are also better Raymondas. But it was still a great debut!

.... Alleged violations of the Labor Code should be investigated if there’s a hint of fraud. I don’t doubt that government benefits (i.e. materinity leave funds, money paid under the table, pay to dance scams - etc.) have been misappropriated to certain people and not others. The question is can it be proven and is there tangible evidence of it. ....

The Mariinsky management is accused of playing even with Maternity Leave funds? Gee, I wonder ....consider the possibilities.....awwww, I'll just shush-up & let the facts come to light.

Seriously, these are horrendous allegations.

ITA with Cygnet re. Gergiev's petty comment on Pavlenko. I would have expected tha from Fateev, not Gergiev, who doesn't seem to know or care much about the ballet troupe. Perhaps Gergiev was given "talking points" to simply read before the cameras?

ITA also. I am not a Pavlenko fan, but as the spokesperson for the dancers she had the right to be treated with respect, and Gergiev's comments about her were not just petty, but deliberately humiliating. However, whether or not he cares - and plainly he doesn't - by showing such disrespect of a dancer and dismissing the concerns of the company , he is only showing himself in his true, unpleasant colours. His remarks are a disgrace; the way in which he has allowed Mariinsky Ballet to be mismanaged even more so. I can only hope that the ball has now started rolling and all the allegations and rightful grievances voiced by the dancers will finally be addressed. This situation has been going on for far too long.

http://www.dance-tea...cedemonstration

This site lists Safronova as a former Kirov principal. In the Mariinsky Theatre, I have seen books with her dancing with Soloviev and other Kirov stars, with her in principal roles. Just calling her a Maly soloist is equivalent to insulting her - just imagine saying that Kolpakova was a Maly soloist. Safronova taught Alina Somova and Elena Vostrotina from 2000 to 2003, 5th to 8th year, the graduation year. She was not a substitute for Kovaleva.

You make it seem like Safronova was not a highly regarded ballerina and not a highly regarded teacher, when to the contrary, she was highly regarded as a Kirov principal ballerina, having danced leading roles with Soloviev, and she was also an important teacher at Vaganova for many years.

http://www.smithsoni...html?c=y&page=7

This link contains part of an interview with Safronova, in which it states she started at the Vaganova Academy in 1938. It also talks about the stringent weeding out process throughout a child's time at the Academy, during which only about half of these students who enter the academy actually graduate. Safronova would have graduated then in about 1946.

http://www.ballet.co...tchelkanova.htm

This shows Ekaterina Chtchelkanova, a dancer who was part of Safronova's graduation class of 1988, so 2003 was not her only graduating year since she had a graduating class in 1988 and probably many other years. Incidentally, the one year Irma Nioradze studied at Vaganova, after graduating from Tbilisi, her teacher was Safronova.

Finally, 2003 was not her last graduation class as you write. She was also teacher of the 2009 graduation class which had in it 2 potential Mariinsky superstars, Yulia Stepanova and Nadezhda Batoeva, both recently promoted to coryphee, plus Mariinsky Tatiana Tilguzova and two Mikhailovsky highly used dancers, Krasyuk and Kiseleva.

If these paragons of the teaching profession genuinely have the expertise you claim, how come they rejected Glurjidze and Kolesnikova?

I am from the UK so am familiar with Elena Glurjidze. I am not as familiar with Kolesnikova, but I know that both of these ballerinas were accepted by the Vaganova on their first audition. Are you telling me that both Glurjidze and Kolesnikova have horrible turnout and that Vaganova should never have accepted them, and that that proves the Vaganova selection process knows nothing about turnout? Please could you clarify?.

....any student showing "weak turnout and feet" would never have been allowed to graduate from Vaganova Academy, ....

This is the single most amazing fact in her story. Many, many of us are incredulous as to how this slipped through the system! Read Catherine Pawlick's tome for clues. Thank goodness, the teachers who allowed this to happen are no longer at the academy.

I have read Catherine Pawlick's book and am not sure what you mean? I am very surprised to read your comment. I have read many reports and seen videos on the selection process for the Vaganova academy and the girls who audition are rigorously scrutinized in all parts of their anatomy, not only by teachers who have the experience to know exactly what physique child they are looking for, but also by medical practioners. The medical practioners in particular are obviously vastly experienced in anatomy and they can determine from various statistical reports what kind of physique any child will have. The most important part of this is to check for turnout, and no prospect candidate would be accepted with poor turnout. The weeding out process throughout the whole of any student's time at the Vaganova is very rigorous, and any technically weak students are simply not permitted to continue in the academy. They certainly would never allow such a student either to graduate or to be admitted into the Mariinsky and promoted. Could you please tell me which Vaganova teachers you are referring to, and what was their exact position at the Vaganova?

I don't think it's simply an opinion that Somova has weak technique: there is ample evidence of it, and weak turnout and feet are only part of it. Whether her other qualities compensate is a matter of opinion. It is also not simply an opinion that her lines and extensions are contrary to the central standards of classical ballet. (Not that she's the only one, of course.) Whether people prefer her aesthetic to the classical one -- one that Petipa would recognize in his ballets -- is a matter of opinion.

I speak of Somova, because I've seen her live. I've only seen video of Skorik, and what I've seen hasn't made me want to rush out and buy a ticket.

I could watch Tereshkina assume her starting position in that practice video all day long.

I do not agree that Somova has weak technique or insufficient turnout. There are numerous videos on YouTube showing her school classes that show excellent turnout from an early age. Numerous videos also show her excellent turnout in many of her roles in the Mariinsky today. Furthermore, any student showing "weak turnout and feet" would never have been allowed to graduate from Vaganova Academy, as this failing would have been spotted at a very early age. With regard to Somova's extensions, perhaps she was encouraged to exploit her natural extension too much at first, but recent performances show that she is now choosing to use her extension artistically and well within the bounds of classicism. Her long arms and legs make for beautiful lines and her Odette/Odile, Aurora, Giselle, Rubies and many other roles that I saw before her pregnancy show her to be a ballerina of considerable artistry and great expression, with particularly fluid, beautiful arms.

Even with all of her shortcomings, I would much rather see 10 consecutive Swan Lake performances by Oksana Skorik than 1 minute of Alina Somova. Skorik has lovely limbs and knows how to use them in a lyrical manner. Also, Skorik is musical and a sensitive artist. Skorik has a lovely turnout. On the other hand, Somova, with her big thrust-out chin, lack of turn-out and mugging at the audience at inappropriate times, is the balletic joke of the century.

Hyper-extension is the least of Somova's problems, IMO. Even if she had Fonteyn-style 1960s extension, she'd still be a big hot mess. Case in point: see how she runs out onto the stage mugging at the start of the Paquita Grand Pas telecast shown on European TV a couple of years ago. Skorik has professional dignity. 'Nuf said.

I am not laughing at the joke, if joke it is. And I completely disagree with your statements about Alina Somova.

As far as I am concerned, the Imperial stage is blessed by the presence of Alina Somova, who is a ballerina of considerable artistry and technique and one of my favourites.

This afternoon skoryk debuted as Nikiya during the Mariisky Japanese tour. Having seen videos of her earlier principal attempts I can only surmise that she has grown tremendously. She has a wonderful physical instrument, long tapered legs, a gorgeous instep and a swan's neck that renders her a fine pure classical line, nothing gimmicky. She was spontaneous and reactive in the first act and I thought she emoted well in the fight scene and in the basket dance though I would have preferred less histrionics at Nikiya's death. The third act is a challenge for many a ballerina and insofar as technique was concerned she acquitted herself well. She negotiated the tricky scarf adagio with confidence and handled most of the technical challenges admirably though I would have liked to see more soul and spirituality in the final act. There were some technical glitches (mainly minor partnering issues and one blotched turn) and there were understandably rough edges narratively and musically but it was overall a fine and sincere performance. I look forward to following her career.

On a separate note, kondarova gave a glorious performance the night before. The corps is on fine form and I was particularly impressed by Petushkova in the Indian dance and among the female corps and corphees Svetlana Ivanova, Daria Vasnetsova, , Viktoria krasnokutskaya, Anna lavrinenko and yulia stepanova.

I am really astonished to read this, because I received an email from my friend who saw this performance and she said how disillusioned she felt that the ballerina who was dancing Nikiya (Oksana Skorik) not only made so many technical errors, but also either totally overacted in some places or in others did not appear to be acting at all. She looks forward to seeing the Mariinsky perform live and has also seen many video performances of Bayadere, and she just said that she could not believe the Mariinsky would allow such an inadequate ballerina to carry the honour of the company abroad.

Tiara, the Japanese DVD seems to have been filmed w/ 3 cameras. The angle seen most often is, as you note, center-back (cameraman a bit lazy at times, not zooming enough or panning to follow dancer into wings, thus missing important steps, i.e., a series of jumps by the male soloist of Paquita Pas de Trois is missed). Many lovely shots are taken from the Director's Box (just to the right of stage). There also seems to have been a camera a bit higher up in Bel Etage or one tier higher, used for group shots.

OK - thank you, Natalia! Interesting! And, yes, infuriating when the cameraman does not zoom enough - so much gets missed.

I saw the 2011 Vaganova performances and I was just wondering where the cameras that filmed it were located? Was one camera used or were there two or maybe three? I only remember seeing one camera in the back centre where people enter the stalls area.[/size][/font][/color]

Interestingly, the supposedly 'injured' Shapran is in the Japanese DVD dancing the modern-classical pdd Intermezzo (to Puccini), with Strelkov. Shapran was spectacular and more-than-OK for that; she didn't look very injured, in other words. She danced on pointe in Intermezzo.

Smirnova is shown as Water Goddess in all of the still photos of the dress rehearsal, as are Strelkov and Shapran in 'Shades.' Maybe the photo sessions happened before the dress rehearsal?

Shapran danced Intermezzo in the first two performances plus Nikiya in the dress rehearsal. Smirnova was going to dance Water Goddess in the 3rd performance, but Shapran's injury was serious enough to prevent her from performing Nikiya in the 3rd performance, resulting in Smirnova being her Nikiya substitute and eliminating Smirnova's debut as Water Goddess. Smirnova must have rehearsed Water Goddess and still photos do not even need rehearsals. Most still photos are not taken before or after a rehearsal, but then maybe Vaganova still photos are different than professional companies. Smirnova might well have had publicity photos taken but this does not mean she performed.

A little trivia for 'Petipa Era Nerds' -

re. Yuri Burlaka's recon of the Gorsky Little Humpbacked Horse Underwater Scene (as seen in the recent Japanese DVD of the 2011 Vaganova grad): The reason why the 'Water Goddess' character dances 3 solos on the DVD is that Burlaka rearranged the 2nd duo for the Two Corals as a 3rd solo, just for these Vaganova performances. If you check the film of the 2009 Chelyabinsk performances in which Burlaka premiered this reconstruction, the music (an interpolation by Arensky for Gorsky's 1912 version of LHH) is used as a 2nd duet for the two Corals. For whatever reason, Burlaka changed it to a 3rd solo for the Water Goddess in the Vaganova Acad edition (danced by Kaukina in the DVD but premiered by Smirnova).

One of the students sent me the official Vaganova filming of all three performances of The Underwater scene and I personally saw the dress rehearsal. Smirnova did not dance the Water Goddess in the dress rehearsal or in any of the performances, although she was scheduled to dance the Goddess in the final performance. With Kristina Shapran's injury preventing Shapran from performing Nikiya in the final performance, Smirnova danced her third Nikiya and never danced Goddess. The premiere was danced by my countrywoman, Isabella McGuire Mayes - Izzie danced the Goddess in both the dress rehearsal and the premiere. Kaukina danced the second and third performances.

AlexaaA1/Tiara, I have several friends who attended My Fair Lady premiere but none of them dance with the Mariinsky (except maybe in dreams).

As for 'proof,' Cygnet cited all of the company rosters that she checked with narry a trace of the 'Junior' Somova, throughout last season. [several of us checked periodically, in fact.] Of course, the best news is that she found a job with the Stanislavsky this season, along with some fellow-grads from the class of 2011 or friends from the class of 2012, e.g., Shapran (now a very famous soloist!), Shevtsova, Sorochan and Nazarov.

It's fascinating how the students featured in this DVD are now dancing 'all over the map'! The ones most expected to dance with the Mariinsky are elsewhere.

Well, come to think of it, back in December/January when I was in SPb, I remember I saw her arriving early for company class every day, so she was definitely in MT then.

Alexandra Somova, in her own words, said that she is dancing now for Mariinsky Ballet.

She was hired by a company in St Petersburg, and the best company.

Never was on the roster of the MT. However, she was recently appointed to the corps of Moscow's Stanislavsky Ballet, as of the start of the 2012/13 season, so 'congrats' to her!

Main reason why I was posting:

A DVD of one of the 2011 Vaganova Academy Graduation concerts was just released on Japanese DVD, under the Sinshokan label. (Maybe the 3rd concert because the diverts portion includes Bluebird pdd & Corsaire pas d'esclave wtih Zhiganshina, etc...although I see that it also has Paquita pas de trois, which appeared on another concert...so maybe this is a 'best of the concerts' compilation?) Regardless, this was the class that included Olga Smirnova and Kristina Shapran, among other dancers of note.

It can easily be purchased online via Lawson's.

If you're not in Japan, it can only be viewed with a multi-region, multi-system DVD player (as explained on other threads, in the films sub-forum).

http://www.hmv.co.jp...asp?sku=5137475

Strange. I thought Sasha was definitely in Mariinsky Ballet corps at one time? Of course, she is not on the roster now, so difficult to prove if someone has left, but I certainly thought she was. Certainly her VK profile shows several photographs of her in the premiere of the Mariinsky My Fair Lady! Here is one of them:

http://vk.com/id28992786?z=photo28992786_278672559%2Falbum28992786_00%2Frev

Young Ksenia Zhiganshina -- just a student at the Vaganova Academy -- made her debut as Amour in last night's Don Quixote at he Mariinsky Theater. This prodigy won the Mikhailovsky Prix's top prize two years ago. She has one or maybe even two years to go before she graduates!

No guarantee that she will choose to dance with the Mariinsky when she graduates, seeing what several promising students have done in recent years (Smirnova, Shapran, Lebedev, Kiyanenko who went to Vienna straight from the school 4 yrs ago, etc.).

Not too many Vaganova students -- especially those with over a year left of studies -- debut in adult soloist roles while still students. Vishneva danced the main role in Don Q (Kitri) while still a student. Karsavina, I believe. Others?

Ksenia has said that it has always been her dream to dance for the Mariinsky, and that at the moment is what she wishes to do.