Tara

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 :-/

WHAT? I'm certainly pulling for this girl but Kitri is about the last role I would give her at this stage of her development. Technical and style differences compared to lifelong Vaganova ballerinas aside- she has almost no stage presence- so how can she possibly pull off a Kitri? The Grand Pas...maybe...but the whole ballet? No way. Fateyev has gone from making me wonder/doubt to really making me want to

Thankyou very much! That was extremely enlightening to me. Please permit me another question. When you say a number of dancers are living in theatre owned apartments approx. how many are you speaking of- in terms of the ballet company?

Yes, thanks very much. I was most interested to see the salary information and was a bit gobsmacked at the very low "grant" amount. I can not imagine being able to properly function as a dancer on so little income and with casting and fines being so erratic- seems like a perfect storm for a meltdown of some kind perhaps even a labor strike? Any ideas on what those contracts may or may not contain in comparison to the Russians?

Ah, but doesn't Valdes take this more conservative placement in order to take an extremely extended balance which is simply not possible to hold in the overtly liberal placement used by Alina, Oxana and other uber long and flexy dancers in the pose. Both dancers are using variants of the technical aesthetics.... for polar opposite purposes and with the intent to achieve very different results. It's apples and oranges, in my humble opinion.

I understand what you mean, Bart, having hyper-extended knees myself. You've been right with everything you've said about them so far and the challenges they pose to dancers. Many dancers are hyper extended, giving them a curvier standing line in arabesque. It's in "fashion" now but definitely was not in the past. I also understand. My hyper extension is actually in the elbows and i fought against the backward bent look you describe my entire career and still to this day in tech. class. It's been a lifelong war for proper "line" and the hyper-extension wins 75% of the time, unfortunately.

Now this is seriously interesting! Please do keep us updated and thank you for adding the English version, translating can take forever and doesn't always come out so well. Very happy to see Kimin finally get promoted and have a official status that is compatible with his performance and partnering ability/ responsibilities. I shall be on pins and needles to see how this new development plays out.

Cygnet, Indeed that would be the same documentary. It is titled "A Beautiful Tragedy".

I read in an article about the documentary film which features her that Oxana scored at the top of her graduation class at Perm. This fact tells me that her major issue is NOT in knowing how to apply proper technique to her body. She seems to me to be a ballerina who has to think alot about her steps to manage them and doesn't just "dance" very often. This creates a very inconsistent performer both technically and dramatically. She does not (yet?) love herself in the same healthy way Somova does...another reason it is cruel to force her to sit under spotlights. It appears though from my impression after seeing that same film that Oxana has never had a choice in the matter.... even as a child.

Me too. It has been the only "classical" role I have thoroughly enjoyed her in thus far. I like Alina in plenty of other works and I appreciate the obvious love that she has for dancing ( something either missing or stifled due to fear in Skorik) but her extreme physical attributes distort things too much for my taste in the traditional rep. Somova can do dramatics quite well too- which is another area not seemly strong for Skorik. Oxana (while way too thin in my opinion) has legs and lines for days and certainly deserves to be on a professional company stage. However she is no "Star" and I strongly believe doesn't even WANT to be one either. I bet she would much prefer to quietly enjoy the life of a corps girl. I wish Fateev would just let her dance and develop at a natural pace and in the proper roles. He is going to ruin her total lifetime potential as an artist by pushing her in this manner. Seems a bit more like punishment than promotion to me :-/

I wish they would do something other than Cinderella. I'd have to make complicated travel plans to see them in NYC and I'm willing...but not for Cinderella. At least not this version anyway.

Astrit Zejnati stole the show today. He was charming and had a light comedic edge to his Act 1 and a very strong Act 2. Not only did he elicit strong audience response but I found his partnering skills to really wonderful this afternoon. Tzu-Chia Huang while having a flare for the drama struggled technically and missed the mark more often than not in her footwork, at least for me anyway. It didn't help that I found her shoes to be distracting.... something ill fitting about the box. She did have some nice moments though and I think she enjoys the dancing character itself. Perhaps with more time/focus on the detailed footwork and different shoes I would have enjoyed her more. Michelle Vagi had some lovely balances in attitude during her Act 1 variation and Zavarov's beautiful feet were a real pleasure to watch, especially in beats. Kenna Draxon danced Myrtha today, which was not scheduled. She gave a strong and more than a bit menacing portrayal. And while her especially striking characterization was something I am not accustomed to it was effective and danced very cleanly with particularly lovely bourees at the start of Act 2. Beau Campbell also was a stand out for me even though she was not featured. She came closest to what I like to see from a Willi corps and my eye was drawn to her again and again.

She has the stage presense of a superstar already. Let's hope this debut is a sign that Fateyev is going to give her proper attention and not ignore her b/c she is more petite than his current muses. I know she is still young and growing but I am curious as to her height. I'm a bit partial to the smaller ballerinas in general and Ksenia is right up my alley

Indeed ;-) Seems Anderson takes alot of stock in Varcárcel training results. I wouldn't be surprised to see more of his former students have joined when the rest of the new bios go public.

Yea, it didn't do anything for me either but my real quibble was the timing of the triple penchée at the 6 min. mark. The whole thing was way, way off. It does get much better from there on out but that was certianly a disappointment.

I couldn't agree more! US companies are for the most part not making enough use of social media such as YT. Even those that do too often limit it to promotional videos and if we are lucky maybe some studio stuff.

Casting is now available on the BAZ website. Opening night is: Natalia Magnicaballi and Shea Johnson with Jillian Barrell and Gleidson Vasconcelos in Peasent Pas. Kanako Imayoshi as Myrtha. Zulma and Moyna will be Michelle Vagi and Jillian Barrell I thought it worthy to note that new to BAZ (as both dancer and an upper div. faculty member at SBAZ) Amber Lewis will dance Peasent Pas w/ Slawomir Wozniak both evening perfomances on 3rd and the 4th.