Tara

While still not what I am looking for but Kampa looking stronger here in this second go around with Don Q. Good for her! Yulia as Dryad was solid and at times stunning. Didn't care for this cast of Amour and missed the sparkle young student Zhiganshina brought to the role recently.

Lopatkina will try Titania? I can't see it personally ...

Me neither!

She has beyond beautiful technique but has a too reserved approach for my taste... more often than not anyway.

The tutus have definitely changed shape. It don't think it is just weight thas has changed. There is more of a preference for hyperextended legs and high arches. These were not absolutely necessary. In fact, hyperextended legs and high arched feet are actually weaker.

One other thing that has changed is the ancillary training that dancers do -- I can't think of a performer that doesn't do something outside of class and rehearsal. Circuit training, Pilates or other machine-based therapies, swimming... dance training is very different now than it was just a few years ago.

This I feel really started to be a regular part of things in my early to mid training days. Before early 80's I get the feeling that ballet dancers rarely cross trained outside of other dance styles but perhaps I am wrong. It was always my impression that we cross trained mostly to help w/ over-use type injury prevention. I can't say I thought to connect the "new" cross training ideas to anything outside endurance and/or injury protection purposes.

I often watch clips of the MT and the Bolshoi from the 1980's and earlier. The technique and the body type has changed so much, I daresay a dancer who had the same body and technique as Maya Plisetskaya would not be accepted into the company these days. The technique seems to be in some sort of transition.

Not just the company but I'd venture further and say their feeder school(s) would also reject the great Maya's body type as well. And frankly, in the last 10 years they would likely reject even a young Makarova as well for she was very proportioned rather than ALL legs prototype being favored over any and every other type regardless of talent or readiness. A sad but very unfortunate truth.

Great news! Nicely coincides with the first school year in the new building too.

[Added comment. The official schedule for this year's Mariinsky Festival has just been posted. Some performances and some artists' names are still to be announced].

http://www.mariinsky...allet_fest_230/

Interesting to note that the DonQ scheduled on 3/2 is not yet cast. Hmm. I wonder if they are waiting to see how Kampa does with her Feb. repeat performance.

I think the casting for DonQ on Feb 17th says it all in terms of how Pavlenko is fairing after all these events.

She is slated to dance Street-dancer next to Kampa's 2nd shot at Kitri.

Now that is what I'd call a low blow ( even though I don't think she does Kitri... ??) considering she has been Principal for a decade and Kampa is Corps for less than a full season and had a rather shaky debut this week in the role.

Getting some Act 3 video posted now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkb-h4IfMjM

I want so badly to like this girl but .... her hands make me often cringe and she drop character way too often. It almost looks as if she is dancing with really long fingernails or something? It's just odd and looks large in proportion to the rest of her and then add in the tense nature of the way she places them. For me, it just doesn't work.

I will say she handled her Act 1 better and with more vim and vigor than I had expected. There was one very nice moment in her Act 2 variation but otherwise it was a disappointment and this Wedding Pas was so full of tension on her part that it was difficult to enjoy at all. Plus no tangible chemistry between them outside of the usual teamwork needed to complete a Pas. She was very fortunate that she had him as a partner too. He is better than a few "names" in that regard by a long shot. And bless his heart- the look he gives her at the end of the Pas. It's as if he is double checking that she is ok. Either physically or emotionally or both. I would not be the least bit surprised to learn he is a favored personality among the company men.

She has alot going for her as a dancer but this is just simply not the right rep or company for her to achieve her personal best, imho. I hope she moves onto somewhere else or at least gets some serious one on one coaching for those hands and arms.

editing to add: Just watch her Act 3 variation and coda. At least she made a nice show of the coda and looked so happy to get to relax and even show off a bit with the nice fan work. A nice way to end a rather shaky debut.

Any insider news on what we can expect next from her?

Third degree burns to the face, unless I'm mistaken, would mean permanent disfigurement. It's a rather personal attack, and a cowardly one.

Very personal, indeed. So personal that I feel it will most likely lead directly to the cowardly attacker sooner or later. I pray for sooner rather than later.

Huffington Post is now reporting the story as well.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/sergei-filin-attacked_n_2501175.html

Via Diana Vishneva's Facebook account : " Terrible, shocking news from Moscow: someone poured acid in face of Bolshoi ballet director Sergey Filin.

Sergey is in the hospital now."

Does anyone here have other info or any updates on this horrible situation?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9-n7UenG94

The moment that says it all: the sets of grand jetes beginning at about 5:12 into the film -- first, Kitri (Kampa) floundering, then Dryad Queen (Vasnetsova) high and regal from beginning to end.

One also can't help but notice the audience's response to that exact moment in time. They know it as well.

Well today is the day. Kampa as Kitri. Any news on this premiere yet?

More great news, in Moscow: Obraztsova debuts as Nikiya in Bayadere on the 30th, at the Bolshoi! She is also preparing to debut as the lead in Balanchine's Diamonds, later this winter (no date yet)...I'll also post this in the Obraztsova thread, if not already there. Woohoo!!!

http://www.evgeniaob...a.com/news.html

Oh thankyou, thankyou for this bit of news! She is my current favorite of all the still working ballerinas and I am on pins and needles to see/hear about her debuts as Nikiya.

Gala tickets include pre-performance reception, seated dinner, entertainment and a prime seat at the TRIO performance.

Official website link : http://trioevent.org/

Yes, she was supposed to leave the Vaganova (for professional life) in '14 but it has been moved up. Maybe she won't get a diploma but her dad is on record that his daughter will become a professional at the end of the current school year.

She is a divine little thing but I would like to see her train one more year and get another company exposure like the recent Amour performance before going full professional.

I have watched her the last few years and (to my eyes at least) she is just now starting to grow into her more adult frame. She can I think also benefit from one last year at the Academy for fine tuning, esp. at this final stage of physical growth. Besides she is 17 at most, yes?

I've driven by the location and it is indeed a nice large building with easy access to and from the area metro train. I take class regularly at Ballet AZ and while the caliber of actual ballet is rather high the standard of studio/office facility is not what these artists, students and employees deserve.They have more than earned the right to work in a state of the art complex. I've seen some of the plans and renderings of the new studio and offices and I definitely feel that this upcoming move is going to be just what this company needs to become more of a "known player" on the national ballet scene. I look forward to seeing them blossom in their new environment.

Reading this thread I'm now convinced that I don't have to go to Russia to see the current best company of the world. If so, where then...? ABT...? Paris..? Somewhere around the Caribbean maybe...?

My two cents....Paris.

Slightly off-topic, but I happened to be watching the Charlie Rose Show last night and they had a repeat of the interview with Valery Gergiev:

http://www.charliero...interview/12615

There's quite a lot of discussion about current politics in Russia, and it made me wonder if perhaps Gergiev might segue into political life at some point. I'm not sure that would be a good thing, but who knows?

Not at all off topic for me :-) I am most interested to better understand the current politics and how it affects the arts in general and ofcourse especially the dancers in Russia. I like Charlie's show too actually so I thank you very much for posting.

Fortunately, I love Froustey...her FMG uploaded was terrific.

Me too! I await a promotion for her anxiously. She is my current favorite among the women at POB. She just has that certain something that makes me watch her to the exclusion to most everyone else on her stage.

They were all in the divertissement before: Shirinkina in Tchai Pas (beautiful, light and soft),

I'd really like to see her in T-Pas. It's a big favorite of mine anyway and she has been on my radar regularly these days as one to watch. I have a feeling she could be a big star given the chance.

I am certain they will never have seen a more unlikely Masha.

Agreed. Strangest casting I think maybe ever.

Tara, my personal response is that Somova's case is exceptional and incomparable to anyone else -- but yes, there are similarities in the casting issues. Keep in mind Somova was cultivated almost entirely under Vasiev's reign, so that alone is a big difference. I don't remember her being cast initially against type (although her Dryad Queen behind Osipova's Kitri was an issue at one year's festival) -- the issue was that she wasn't ready for what she was cast in, and that Western audiences loved her despite that, which began a chicken/egg issue re: foreign tour billing. I think everyone else falls under a different set of standards and challenges but Somova is different from the rest both in how she has been treated in the theatre and outside of it, given her physiology and talents/deficiencies.

Good point about her time under Vasiev's. I've warmed to Somova as she has herself developed but still have no desire to see her do a full Kitri again. It is my least favorite of her roles to date.

Mariinsky website only shows Kampa dancing one the Kitri. I do hope that some of the fabulous Russian posters on Youtube will be able to share it with the rest of us.

On another note, it was about time that Stepanova got some proper time in the spotlight! She was wonderful and commanded her stage beautifully as Lilac.

I am further confused at reading her Mariinsky site bio. When did she dance either the Raymonda or Bayadere grand pas? Any videos of these? And she danced lead in the full production of Slyphide too? I have neither heard nor seen a peep about of any of these performances and while I know Mariinsky Ballet is onstage practically everyday during main season is it even possible that in addition to the Swan Lake tour she has danced all of the roles as a company member ( or are they counting student performances that were done at the theater too ) in such short of a time? Something seems amiss :-/

Back to clarify this question of Tara's -- I know Kampa performed one of the four couples in the Grand Pas in Bayadere two or more times this June/July just after she flew to St. Petersburg, but she was not Gamzatti. This is either a misprint or purposely misleading. Since the Grand Pas includes Solor/Gamzatti and then the four soloist couples, yes, she was part of the Grand Pas but she was not in the leading role. The phrasing however implies (to Western readers) that she was Gamzatti which isn't the case. She did not perform Kitri in Boston, but she was the Street Dancer.

I agree w/the comments about the other role possibilities. In my view, if one were to go sheerly based on typical Russian emploi, she seems better suited to Myrtha, Dryad Queen, Lilac Fairy etc. She is a tall girl and those lyrical roles seem more her style than the soubrette characterisation required of Kitri - but who knows. She is not much shorter than Lopatkina (who has never, to my knowledge, been cast as Kitri, just to make note of that) and also about the same height as Pavlenko (same comments here) and neither of them gravitate to soubrette type roles, although Pavlenko can be VERY spicy as Mercedes/Street Dancer, so I'd not put Kitri past her. So in addition to the debate about "ready/not ready" I think a bigger question is one of appropriate casting in roles suited to a particular physiology. After all, there's a reason that is done esp at the Mariinsky.

Thank you for the clarification! And yes I agree about the physiology question. I feel it is rather important- particularly to a younger ballerina. More experienced dancers can sometimes work effectively against type but not always.

Am I correct at noting the pattern in casting being similar to what was done with both Somova and now Skorik? It appears that Fateyev has almost a set in stone almost cookie cutter concept of how to create a "star" and it is a rather strange one, imho.

Maybe some of the things listed were done in Boston? Like you, Tara, I am surprised. I am just trying to find an explanation. I don't remember her being cast in any of the items you mention at the Mariinsky but have only been reading their site regularly in recent times. But I think she danced in Boston before joining the Mariinsky. Maybe you are right, and they are counting student performances.

Kitri does seem like a big move for someone who just joined even if she did do some training at the Vaganova. It is almost like setting her up for huge criticism. You would think at this point she would be cast as the street dancer first and eventually let her try out a Kitri after lots of coaching.

I'd have to double check but I think the site actually says her rep with Mariinsky included those roles. But my goodness, she has only been under contract but a few months so....???

If they want to feature Kampa more prominently and insist on doing it in classics Kitri is so not the part for her, imho. She was much better suited for Dryad, Big Swans and even Mytha. Heck, Lilac would have been a better fit too if they absolutely must treat her as a leading ballerina of the company. I can not think of a full length classic she is ready for... yet. She is talented and surely has a bright future in the ballet world but I'd have her over at Het National if it were up to me. Or at the very least give her that type of rep as her showcase pieces.

What a nice time and place to make such announcement! Very pleased for him and watching this company with great interest now to see how Rojo does as AD.