Natalia

March 2 '02, St. Petersburg - Tonight's performance at the Mariinsky Theater offered my first 'live' viewing of the ca-1948 staging of Petipa's 'Raymonda' by the late-great danseur noble & artistic director of the Kirov Ballet, Konstantin Sergeev. It is quite different from the POB-Nureyev and Bolshoi-Grigorovich versions that are better known in the west. Despite some Soviet-style acrobatic pas de deux, this K. Sergeev version remains the closest to the Petipa original, which premiered in this very theater in 1899. It is replete with gorgeous, prolonged passages of ultra-classical dance. A total joy. The obvious difference with the western versions is that this version is much longer, retaining almost all of composer Alexander Glazunov's 3-plus hours of music. This includes LOTS of pure-character dance in 'street shoes,' a-la-1890 'Sleeping Beauty,' especially among the friends of Raymonda, Henriette/Clemence/Bernard/Beranger. Too, there is the element of a tapestry-portrait of the knight Jean de Brienne, which is presented to Raymonda on her birthday (scene one of the ballet). In scenes 2 & 3, Raymonda dreams that the knight in the tapestry has come to life. Raymonda literally steps into the tapestry & the real-life-guy carries her off to Never-Never Land. Suddenly, that dopey Dream Scene of the Bolshoi Grigorovich production makes bloody sense! What a dream cast! A truly stunning Yulia Makhalina - who was sadly omitted from the recent Wash, DC tour - was in her element as the snooty-but-gorgeous Hungarian princess. Picture-perfect classical positions with - surprise! - minimal hyperextension. Here is one ballet where Makhalina's majestic persona works beautifully! Furthermore, here she has plenty of opportunities to show off her special talent of slow, unfolding developes into ravishing poses. She is a supreme adagio dancer. Makhalina was lovingly partnered by one of the few true danseur-nobles in Petersburg, Yevgeni Ivanchenko who, again, was omitted from the DC tour...perhaps because he is Makhalina's regular partner? Heaven knows why...but he, too, is in his element here. Tall, handsome & with a nice high jump & beautiful pointed feet. Alexander Kurkov was a menacing Abderakhman & my 'beloved' Vladimir Ponomariev was his usual hammy self in yet another kingly role, Hungarian count Rene de Brienne (father of Jean). Best of all, this ballet affords plenty of opportunities to view up-and-coming soloists and all were a delight. The undisputed winner of the soloists tonight was redheaded Elvira Tarassova in brisk the second 'Dream Variation' during the Dream Scene (act I-sc. iii); Tarassova personifies the phrase 'Classical Dancing' - restrained, pure, elegant. We must save Elvira Tarassova in a time-capsule of some sort, so that this pre-1980s style of elegant dancing never disappear! Dark-haired Tatiana Tkachenko was also quite impressive in that scene, displaying feathery bourees in the first variation to celeste music. The roles of Raymonda's two 'best friends' - Henriette & Clemence - are traditionally assigned to up-and-coming ballerinas; they are a good gague of who may be a future Raymonda. Judging by their prominent casting in the recent DC season, both Ekaterina Osmolkina (Clemence) and swan-necked blonde dazzler Xenia Ostreikovskaya (Henriette) are ladies on the Kirov Fast Track...and deservedly so. Ruben Bobobnikov & Vasily Scherbakov were their capable partners, Bernard & Beranger. Act II includes a number of colorful character dances. The most electrifying pair of soloists in the divertissement of character dances consisted of Ti-Eun Ryu (a Korean beauty who graduated from the Vaganova Acad in '95, class of Vishneva & many other greats) and Nikolai Zubkovsky (grandson of the late Inna Zubkovskaya) as the Saracen Pair, dancing up a storm in hot-pink-and-orange-toned outfits. Zubkovsky, in particular, is one heck of a DANCER. New Yorkers may remember his Tartar Dance in 'Bakh-Fontan,' in 1999. Too bad that, in DC, we just saw him as the Big Bad Wolf in 'Beauty' - Nikolai Zubkovsky is not only a very handsome guy but a real firecracker on the stage. The Saracen Dance received the biggest burst of applause tonight, except for the Grand Pas Classique in Act III. [Did I mention that I have become a Nikolai Zubkovsky fanatic?] Speaking of the Act III Grand Pas...the female solo variation was performed with adorable lightness & charm by the petite Yelena Shishova, while, yet again, the Kirov-Mariinsky has found four amazing gentlemen to pull-off a perfectly synchronized male quartet - Dmitry Peixachov, Vasily Scherbakov, Anton Pimonov, and Alexei Krasnov. And Makhalina's 'clapping variation' in that final scene? Well, it simply doesn't get any better than this...certainly the most effective Ice Queen since Sylvie Guillem, in this role. Brrrrrrr...shivers! (That is meant as a compliment.) - Jeannie Szoradi St. Petersburg, Rossiya [ March 05, 2002, 08:40 AM: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Thanks, Alexandra. I have a couple of reports to post under Recent Performances! Really DO wish you were here...LOVELY new blanket of snow. Very few tourists in the winter; no lines at the Hermitage. Lots of ballet. Absolutely heavenly. TIPS FOR THOSE HEADED FOR THE FESTIVAL: You must bring comfortable walking boots, preferably with cleats, as there is quite a bit of 'bumpy ice' beneath that snow. Gore-Tex or some other heavy-duty waterproof material. Ladies, unless you are going to be chauffered 'door-to-door,' choose elegant-yet-practical attire for theater nights. That means, in essence, black pants with pretty sweaters/tops beneath your heavy coats. The latter must be checked in at the theater's guarde-robe...unlike America & Western Europe, the checking of coats is COMPULSORY here, so please don't bring your sables & minks 'cause you're going to have to part with them. And I'm not joking about the snow boots. I have yet to wear anything but them anywhere here, even on gala nights at the theater.

Hi Kevin et al - Greetings from St Petes...in fact I'm sitting at a new internet cafe directly across from Kazan Cathedral, on Nevsky Prospekt, if you know where that is. I am having a ball! OK - Zelensky is out with injury; Uliana Lopatkina out on maternity leave; Andrian Fedeev (I think) is also injured, as he is being replaced by Mercuriev as the Prince on Tuesday night's premiere of the new 'Cinderella' which I will attend. Vishneva still scheduled to dance Cinderella. Tonight I go to 'Raymonda' starring Makhalina/Ivanchenko. Tomorrow night it's a triple bill of Diaghilev=era reconstructions by Nikita Dolgushin, at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory: Pulcinella, Pavillon dArmide & one other ballet...Firebird, I think. On Monday (or Tues?) it's 'Esmeralda' at the Maly. etc, etc. Well, this place is hopping with all sorts of ballet, as always. Oh - before I forget...there is a nice new Mariinsky Theater shop next-door to the theater, with some nice books, magazines, videos, tutus, tiaras, etc. All sorts of good stuff. *They have just published a GORGEOUS souvenir programme - more like a large book, but soft cover - titled 'Mariinsky Ballet,' with colour photos & descriptions of ALL oballets in the Mariinsky rep, plus bios of all the principals, and 1st and 2nd soloists. Those of you coming next week to the festival should not miss it. Too, this programme announces the festivities for 2003, which will coincide with the 300th anniversary of the city of St. Petersburg. Next year's Mariinsky Intl Ballet Festival will commence on Feb 14h (Valentines Day) & last about 12 days. Too, there will be a HUGE ballet ball at Tsarskoye Selo -- in the main ballroom of the Ekaterinsky Palace -- on May 31, 2003, to be attended by President Putin. WISH ALL OF YOU WERE HERE! Take care.

Since 'judging' is at the center of the Olympic figure skating brou-ha-ha, perhaps we can discuss judging, over the years, at the big international IBC-style ballet competitions. Have any of you had experience with -- or known of -- judging irregularities or 'influence peddling' at Jackson, Varna or other major ballet competitions? This one is harder to pinpoint, as the judges marks are NOT flashed before the audience at such competitions. But they are made on keypads & tabulated by computer. [i actually got some insight on how this is done at Varna 2000 & even was privy to some information on 'trends' among some judges...but I was sworn to secrecy by the gentleman who handles the auditing of scores, so I'll keep mumm. Nothing scandalous - just interesting. ] A probably-corrupt competition that comes to mind, right now, was the 1986 Jackson IBC, in which Jury Chairman Yuri Grigorovich -- then head of the Bolshoi Ballet -- allegedly manipulated some of the other jurors to award the Grand prix to, what some feel, was a less-than-deserving Nina Ananiashvili. Any competition-judging horror stories out there? ALSO - Should the Jackson & Varna IBCs (& similar ballet competitions) change the rules to require TRANSPARENCY & POSTING of the marks awarded to each competitor? [ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

checkwriter - The 2001 Goodwill Games were to have been the last ones. Ted Turner decided to do away with them after the Brisbane, Australia, edition last September. No more 'goodwill'???? Back to today's protest. And couldn't we all have guessed that Vladimir "BIG Z" Zhirinovsky would also get into the act? He just gave a 'thundering' anti-Olympics speech in the Russian Duma this afternoon. Excerpt from ITAR-TASS Russian news agency: The controversy was enough to make Russian nationalist bad boy and leading parliamentarian, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, put aside his pro-American change-of-heart and reverted to Uncle Sam-bashing. "The team must be recalled immediately, this evening," said Zhirinovsky, sounding much more like his old self by berating the U.S. hosts of the Winter Games. "We should spit in their faces - the referees and those hosting the Games. We have never seen such a foul Olympics. This is merely a settling of accounts by criminal sports structures," he thundered in a table-thumping speech to parliament. ***** All of this comes just-in-time for tonight's Russia-vs-USA ice hockey semifinal game...on the 22nd anniversary of the 'Miracle on Ice' game (Lake Placid 1980). Maybe the Russians, by lodging this protest, are also playing into the hands of the Western Media, who love to tout such controversies to gain TV viewers? How ironic. The Russian protest will be a hot topic on tonight's telecast. Hope that NBC finds time to show at least a few routines in the Skating Exhibition of Champions, also tonight. [ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Not a link...just an excerpt. Now "Tsar Vlad" gets into the act! *** Russians File Olympics Protest, Crisis Deepens Fri Feb 22, 1:41 PM ET By Adrian Warner SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked the IOC and the country filed another Winter Olympics protest as the worst political crisis to hit the Olympic movement since the Cold War deepened Friday. The Russians, who have threatened to pull out of the Salt Lake Games saying they are victims of bad and biased officiating, launched an appeal against the judging in Thursday's women's figure skating. They demanded a gold medal for second-placed skater Irina Slutskaya. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge, who was due to hold another meeting with Russian Olympic chiefs Friday, had been hoping that the Russians would calm down after some emotional outbursts Thursday. But, speaking to reporters in the Kremlin, Putin said he agreed with complaints by Russian sports officials and politicians about the officiating and took a swipe at Rogge who was only elected to office last July in Moscow. "I fully agree and share this viewpoint. Not the last reason is the change of generations in the International Olympic Committee," Putin said. "(Former president) Juan Antonio Samaranch has gone and Jacques Rogge has taken his place. Regrettably for the new leadership, the first time is bound to be a flop." Russian spokesman Rudolf Nezvegsky told Reuters his team felt Slutskaya skated as well, if not better, than American gold medallist Sarah Hughes in the free program.

This just in, to confirm earlier rumors: Russians Challenge Skating Results By Larry Siddons AP Sports Writer Friday, February 22, 2002; 10:19 AM SALT LAKE CITY –– Russian officials have filed a formal protest of the women's figure skating finale, saying the Russian silver medalist should get her own gold medal because of biased judging. The protest was signed by Russian Figure Skating Federation president Valentin Piseyev and sent to the referee of Thursday night's free skate won by 16-year-old American Sarah Hughes. It singled out the judging that gave Hughes the win after she placed fourth in the earlier short program. Russian Irina Slutskaya finished in second and Michelle Kwan took the bronze. "We filed the protest last night because we think the judging was biased," the head of the Russian delegation in Salt Lake City, Viktor Mamatov, told The Associated Press on Friday. "Canadian pairs skaters were awarded their gold medals. Now that subjective judging harmed us, we want the same for Slutskaya." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2002Feb22.html

Thanks, YABM! re. the Russian protest. Good! Time to give the North American Media-Marketing Establishment a bit of its own medicine. Read my earlier posting on "A Russian View" - an op/ed piece that gets to the heart of what is bothering the Russian people about all this. Indeed, Sylvia, the TECHNICAL reasons for the protest have to do the judging of last Tuesday's Ladies Short-Program event, in which Michelle Kwan was marked in 1st place above Irina Slutskaya, who was marked 2nd. Michelle's landings were shaky (not landed on curves of blades , as they should have been) while Irina's were perfect with more flow. Also, some feel that Michelle's energy level was less-than-deserving of the 5.9s for the second marks (artistic impression) while Irina was energy-plus. But the protest goes well beyond the TECHNICAL specifics...to address the SPIRIT of what Russians perceive to have driven the extraordinary consessions made to Sale/Pelletier in the awarding of a second set of Pairs gold medals (not to mention other irregularities, such as kicking-out the Russian woman skiing champion on alleged-doping charges just before her main event, in which she was favored to win gold). Money makes the world go 'round - that is what (rightly or wrongly?) is perceived by Russians and other nationalities as being the driving force behind the Olympic Games nowadays. * Remember how -- from the time of the Opening Ceremonies -- NBC advertisements were already featuring Sale/Pelletier, with the voice-overs touting "Can the North American kids break the 40-year SOVIET-RUSSIAN DOMINATION of the Pairs event?" The scripts are written and, doggone it, they better come to pass, by hook or crook! In the Ladies, there was a VERY interesting twist to the script...the North American Kid won...but not quite the "kid" who had been pre-annointed by NBC. Enough from me - please keep this lively discussion going. I'm off to Russia tomorrow, where I am SURE to be asked by friends around the dinner tables to comment on all this. Brushing up on my Russo-Skating vocabulary....mnie nravitsa katok... [ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Oh, I love it!!!! Madison Avenue's script was thrown out the window last night! With all due respect to the pre-competition faves, I simply adore it when upsets take place. Sarah Hughes - who is far from my favorite in artistry - truly deserved her win last night. What brilliant, FAST skating. TWO very difficult triple-triple combos, too. And, unlike the short program 'Ave Maria', this long program to the ballet 'Daphnis et Chloe' is well choreographed WITHOUT hunching shulders that marred the 'Ave Maria.' CONGRATS, SARAH HUGHES!!!! Irina Slutskaya - VERY deserved silver medalist. [AND, had she been ranked #1 in the short programs last Tuesday, as many believed she deserved, would have been the winner tonight.] So powerful. Easy on the eye. If she had skated with her usual speed, she may have made the 3-3 combo that could have made the difference. However, she delivered all triple jumps that she attempted, even though one had a sloppy landing. Did not touch-down hands to the ice or fall, like Michelle. Michelle Kwan - bronze now, after a tentative & sloppy skate, by her standards. Actually, she was lucky to have been marked in 1st place in the SPs, thus allowing her to hang on to bronze in the finals. That silver in Nagao 98 wasn't so bad after all, was it? And what about NBC constantly honing in on "the closed double-doors"..."Michelle is somewhere behind those closed doors." Yeezzz... Sasha Cohen - 4th overall. Still THE most gorgeous, artistic skater of the night, IMO. I would have placed her in 3rd overall, with Suguri 4th & Michele 5th. Fumie Suguri of Japan - 5th - like Cohen, gracious & balletic. Pure delight to watch. Maria Butyrskaya - 6th - hard to believe that this was a WorldChamp three years ago. So tense & tight. I wonder how many of these ladies will stick around on the 'amateur - eligible' circuit after the games? Next year's World Championships are right here in Washington, DC. Will we be seeing Hughes then? Will Sasha continue (she was quoted as saying that she wouldn't stick around for Turin 2006 Olympics). Will Irina press-on...she'll be 27 in 2006, still younger than Butyrskaya this year. Heck, will Michelle stay to chase the elusive Olympic Gold on mo' time? [ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Funny how, to me, this happens more often when watching opera & theater/drama than in ballet. However, the final scene in McMillan's version of 'Romeo & Juliet' always does it for me, especially when Ferri dances.

At the risk of being called 'racist' I cannot help but point out the REFRESHINGLY WONDERFUL ethnic mix within the top six ladies skaters (the top group of competitors going into tonight's Ladies finals): at least THREE ladies of Jewish heritage, one Chinese-American, one Slavic Russian orthodox, one Magyar. I'm old enough to remember when only 'WASPs' competed in Olympic-level figure skating. The new diversity has been noticeable since the 1980s (Debi Thomas, Kristi Yamaguchi, Surya Bonaly, etc., competing at the top of the sport). I think that it is something nice to keep in mind as we watch these skaters tonight. How far the world has come! Maybe one of these years it won't even be cause for amazement ...but for now I, for one, am happy to be amazed. Similarly, wasn't it great to see the first African-American, male or female, win a gold medal in a Winter Olympics, two nights ago, when Veneta (sp?) Flowers of Alabama won gold in the two-person women's bobsleigh event? Vive la difference! [ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Following is an interesting op-ed article from yesterday's (2/20/02) edition of Moscow's 'Argumenti i Fakti' newspaper. It sheds light on how some Russian citizens really feel about last week's 'Skategate' episode (not all Russians of course, but this mirrors what I have read in e-mails from friends & such). A bit different from the North American media view, is it not? *****source - Argumenti i Fakti, 2/20/02 Title: Winter Games, American Style The Canadians would never raise such a fuss over figure skating if they didn't feel the approving look of their southern neighbor behind them. And now Mr. Bush has raised his eyebrows - order must be restored. Oh yes, the United States has always been an expert in "restoring law and order." The hosts of the Olympics demonstrated that the rules don't apply to them even before the Winter Games started. For the first time in Olympic history, the medals are irregular-shaped and are different for various events, contradicting Olympic traditions. The Olympic Village is made up of reequipped student hostels, although it seems the host country is not so poor that they can't afford to build new hotels. The meals served to the athletes are hamburgers and pizza for the most part. The Belarus delegation has even lodged a protest against that. Do all athletes have to force down the New World's idiotic fast food? This is not all. It turns out that the winners are also determined according to U.S. standards. If something goes wrong, the results can be revised, as was the case with Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. By their standards it is absolutely impossible to disqualify American Apolo Ohno, who caused the massive pile-up during the 1,000m short track. On the contrary, he was praised - What a guy! He just smashed his main rivals and crawled on to win a silver medal! And to whom should Italian snowboarder Kratter complain? The judges practically pushed him off the podium for men's half-pipe to place their own man there instead. Even U.S. papers wrote that the Italian well deserved a silver medal. And, of course, "no one noticed" that judges announced false starts for all candidates for the gold in the men's speed skating events (500 m), which makes the skaters extremely nervous and stay a bit too long at the start for fear of being disqualified. The only man who was spared all that was, naturally, future U.S. champion FitzRandolf. And what about the pint of blood pumped out of biathlete Pavel Rostovtsev right before the start? Did anything of the kind happen to a U.S. athlete? There will definitely be many more such cases before the Winter Games end: the hosts' desire to win the unofficial team championship, which they have long failed to do, is too great. The USSR (and then Russia), Norway, Germany, Finland and Austria - these are the favorites for ice and snow events. What's to be done by those who are not used to yielding to their starred and striped rivals? Train with greater zeal? This is one way (it would be wrong to say Americans don't train well. Their results in bobsledding and mountain skiing have greatly improved.) But there are other ways of increasing the amount of gold won: push the events that suit them best, curling, short track, freestyle, snowboarding, women's hockey, into the Winter Games. In half of these events the champion was predetermined, just like it was in figure skating. Take mogul, a kind of freestyle. The most important thing is not just to reach the finish as soon as possible, but to do it beautifully. It is not clear to the ordinary mortal how the judges arrive at this or that decision. And the gold, naturally, goes to the U.S. The same happens to half-pipe snowboarders. Therefore, all the winners there are Americans. Meanwhile, Russia has been unable to include Russian hockey into the Olympic program for many years, a game played in many countries. I suggest launching a massive campaign to include Nanaian wrestling, jumping over dog sleds and reindeer sleigh races in the Olympic Games. They are in no way worse than curling, skeleton or mogul. How long will this injustice be tolerated? And we swallow it all. Meanwhile, the U.S. has shown how to struggle for your athletes. Russian sports administrators have again decided not to quarrel with their foreign counterparts. So, it looks like excellent Russian athletes will be offended with impunity in the future as well. [ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Forgot to mention - After all of the frustrations at trying to identify the Kirov's soloists in various roles last week, it was nice to note that they got the name of the HORSE in Act I of 'Khovatschina' right! Yes - that was indeed "Ben the Horse" on stage last night. Only one horse was contracted for the job so we are safe to say that it was Ben.

Being a big-time balletomane, I rarely have time or money left-over to attend the sister-art of opera. But with the Kirov-Mariinsky Theater (of St. Petersburg, Russia) in town, I could not resist attending one performance: last night's opening of a one-week run at the Kennedy Center. For a Russophile, it was the PERFECT opera - Mussorgsky's 'Khovantschina,' a four-act, five-hour-long opus about the late-17th-century conflict between the Old Believers of Muscovy and young Westward-looking Tsar Peter the Great & his supporters. The sweep and majesty of Mother Russia was displayed on the stage, with inspiring choruses, gorgeous realistic scenery & costumes (the Kremlin, Red Square, monasteries in forests, etc.), a nice ballet by "Persian Beauties' inside a Russian dacha (!!!). Eveready-Energizer-Conductor Valery Gergiev spilled his heart & soul out in the orchestra pit. What powerful music came from this, one of the top opera conductors & opera-orchestras on earth. The ballet "Dance of the Persian Maidens" occurs in the Dacha Scene of Act III & is performed by seven voluptuous maidens in very sexy 'harem outfits.' The beautiful lead maiden was -- so I was told by a friend who is a member of Kirov Orchestra -- Julia Slivkina, who could pass as a 'twin' to Veronika Part. In fact it was refreshing to see that most of the opera-ballet dancers are indeed of the 'real women' mold! The "Persian Maidens" dance was choreographed many years back by the late Feodor Lopukhov, according to programme notes. Natalia Spitsyna manages & rehearses the opera-ballet ensemble. Kudos to the velvety-voiced contralto, Mariana Tarasova, as the heroine Marfa, a member of the Old Believers sect, whose intense love for Prince Andrei Khovantsky (tenor Victor Lutsyuk), despite his betrayal of her, is only matched by her love of God. In the end, Andrei returns to Marfa in the forest, just as Marfa & the other Old Believers are about to immolate themselves inside a wooden church. Andrei choses to die with Marfa & the Old Believers. The final scene is the opera is one that I shall never forget, if was so splendidly staged: the wooden church goes up in flames before our eyes, as the Kirov Orchestra is thundering Mussorgsky's music. I don't think that there was a dry eye in the theater. An incredible, spiritual experience. [ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

NBC tried the pay-for-view option for the Barcelona '92 Olympics...perhaps also for Atlanta '96? Why did they stop offering this option - did it 'bomb' financially - or were advertisers on the regular network upset that it would lure too many viewers away from watching their commercials? I don't think that it's ever been done for a Winter Olympics. There is such a craze for ice skating that I bet that NBC would make money on it. And we would be spared the 'cultural hot tub' advertisements on NBC! [Actually, I like the 'hot tub' series of ads...very clever...as well as the Bank of America 'athlete-wanna-be' series.]

First, I would hire a complete company of dancers and repetiteurs to be schooled in the correct manner of dancing the works that comprise the repertoire of the Diaghilev Era (Fokine, Massine, Nijinsky, Nijinska, early-Balanchine, etc. ballets). I would then hold a Diaghilev Festival once a year in Washington, DC (of course), in which each and every Diaghilev-era ballet would be performed in proper steps, complete music & the authentic Bakst/Benois, etc. designs! The ballets would be performed in chrornological order, similar to the way that the 1993 Balanchine Celebration at NYCB was run, when every Balanchine opus in the NYCB rep was performed in more-or-less chron order. So my 'New Diaghilev Ballet' would debut with 'Pavillon d'Armide' (which exists in the Nikita Dolgushin reconstruction, by the way...Dolgushin would be my artistic director, incidentally. Andris Liepa chief repetiteur. Male lead - today's Nijinsky: Nikolai Tsiskaridze. Prima ballerina assoluta? You can guess that one! )! [ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Jeannie ]

Victoria et. al. - I totally agree with your opinions of the delightful Sasha Cohen. What a gorgeous dancer...er...skater! And she's feisty as can be, too - not just the prim little peggy Fleming ice princess type, LOL! Michelle and Irina were also wonderful. Hughes - not bad either. During the past few days, I have learned to be patient & grateful for the 'crumbs' thrown our way by NBC. I mean - we actually got to see Russia's powerful #3 lady Viktoria Volchkova (who self destructed...too bad) & the lyrical Galina mMniachenko of Ukraine (also self destructed). But - hey! - am I being too greedy to ask to have seen the skate of the 6th lady to make the final group, Hungary's little dynamo, Julia Sebestyen? I am also sorry that NBC did not show Japan's balletic Fumie Suguri either; she did quite well - in 7th or 8th place, I think. Well, at least we'll probably get to see Sebestyen's long program tomorrow, as NBC has been showing all of the skaters in the final warm-up groups, in the other events (pairs, men, dance).

GREAT news, as I'll be attending the premiere on the 5th (as well as Raymonda on the 2nd), prior to the festival. No complaints if it is a "Vishneva Viechir"! Wow-weeeee...you just made my day, Kevin.

So Clive Barnes will be 75?! Come to think of it, he's one of the few NYC-based ballet critics who seems to have missed the Kirov-Kennedy Center run...or did I just miss spotting him? He usually comes.

I watched it on tape, late last night. Not a banner year for Olympic ice dancing. The placements were fair, especially after the falls by the Italians and Canadian teams. Gold - Annisina/Peizerat (France) - skated with more 'oomph' at Europeans but still the best of the lot last night Silver - Lobacheva/Averbuch (Russia) - big surprise; they have really improved this year. I loved their quick footwork & passion. Bronze - Fusar-Poli/Margaglio (Italy) - I loved the first minute of the programme, as they went 'gangbusters' speeding down the ice. such energy then - plop! down went Maurizio. They went for broke...but it broke. 4th - Bourne/Kraatz (Canada) - always an audience-pleasing team but nowhere near the difficulty as the top three teams. Yet they always try so-so hard, that the effort shows & that may be hurting them. Also...I've always had a problem with Shae-Lynn's sassy smirk; something harsh/arrogant in her otherwise-lovely face. Is it just me? Maybe she has developed this 'fighter's harshness' due to the bad luck & low markings through the years? Yet her partner Victor Kraatz is not like that; he comes across as a sweetie, although I'm sure he's tough as nails, too.

You're right, Roma! Sorry about that - I shouldn't write when I'm distracted by 'normal work'! Ratmansky was originally slated to have choreographed 'Nutcracker' & was replaced by Simonov, a year ago. Ratmansky is giving it a 'go' with 'Cinderella'...thus far.

Ayupova was one of the better Auroras on this run. In fact, I rate her just behind Diana Vishneva, who is as close-to-perfect an Aurora (beauty of face, youth, technique, natural 'charm') as I could ever hope to see. Ayupova met the technical challenges in an old-fshioned way (not bad for this production!) and still radiated a youthful glow...although she strained at times, even more so than in London-June 2000. Nice to see the 90-degree arabesques from someone! Fadeev is a lovely dancer but, like Korsakov in the Saturday matinee (opposite Sologub), looked too youthful & 'junior' next to his Aurora. Aurora's Boy Toy? Furthermore, Fadeev should fire his make-up advisor pronto. At least he didn't appear as grotesque as he did in Rubies a couple of nights earlier.

re. Sologub - Kevin touched on many points that I was going to make. Furthermore, Natalia Sologub was the original Masha (Clara) in the newest production of 'Nutcracker' at the Mariinsky and, I've heard through the grapevine, has been asigned the title role in the upcoming premiere of Kirill Simoniv's new 'Cinderella.' She is definitely the Mariinsky's 'darling' of the moment...or so it seems, judging by her assignments. Speaking of Simonov -- the Mariinsky's new 'crackerjack choreographer' -- he danced Puss in Boots in every performance of 'Beauty' at the Kennedy Center. Remember him? He usually dances jester in 'Swan Lake' and a number of other such demi-caractere roles.

Irina Golub *finally* got to dance Diamond Fairy on Sunday afternoon. She was quite wonderful, I thought. Her smile on this occasion was more appropriate to this role than it was in 'Rubies' last Wednesday, when she blinded us with her pearly-whites. I don't even feel like it is worth 'knocking' Irma Nioradze any more. Between the unforgettable comments from June 1999 (Met season) & this, we've given her a thorough going-over! Really a shame, as I happen to admire her rock-solid technique. She was the only Aurora among the five (in Kennedy Center run) who, during the Rose Adagio's final promenade in attitude, held the balances so securely that she took the time to do the 5th-position port-de-bras (both arms above head forming an 'oval'). Korsuntsev won the "Top Prince" title by a mile. Jut right for this role, if not as electrifying, technically, as Korsakov or Fadeev. By the way, I truly love Igor Kolb's landings on his tours - always in a perfectly-closed 5th position. This was easy to admire from my 2nd-tier seat on Friday; I did not notice this from my orchestra seat in the Tuesday performance. Kolb has the most refined & well-placed positions of the feet.

Boy, you're up late tonight, Kevin...although it is probably breakfast-time in Hong Kong! Isn't Kurgapkina also the long-time coach of Ayupova?