Natalia

Manhatnnik, the false proscenium is indeed in the original designs. Did you notice how, at the end of Aurora's Act I solo, Diana Vishneva ran into the downstage-right (audience-left) "stone" pedestal with the giant urn, as she did the final arabesque? Thank goodness it was just a flat. Another fun-type detail (for the readers who love such things): Did you notice how Andrian Fadeev wore a very long Goldilocks wig in Act II, yet Igor Zelensky did not? Igor wore a shorter, less-curly pageboy style. I supposed that Fadeev looks natural with the wild curls due to his "baby face." Zelensky--with his macho-man jaw--would have looked downright absurd as Goldilocks. Another fun detail: I loved those little pearl chocker-necklaces worn by the Dryad corps de ballet girls. Very chic, a la Marie Taglioni in SYLPHIDE. Best color combination: Act II Dryad scene - Lilac Fairy's outfit against the aqua (blueish-green) tutus of the Dryads. Corniest prop: Again, Act II Dryad scene - the little seashell on the floor, into which Aurora steps to perform a miraculous balance at the end of the adagio. Several long flowered ribbons are connected to the seashell, each held up by a Dryad. (The garlands radiate from the seashell.) There is a great photo of Brianza stepping onto that seashell-and-flowers prop in the delightful SLEEPING BEAUTY souvenir programme sold at the MET. It's a great buy at $8 - full of photos of the original 1890 production, plus a number of interesting essays on Petipa, Tchaikovsky, etc. On the other hand, the 1998/99 Mariinsky Theater Season Souvenir program, at $12, is almost useless....80% of the color photos are devoted to opera. Teeny-timy thumbnail photos of the current BEAUTY production. Chock-full of ads for St. Petersburg firms. I bought one only because it contains an updated Kirov company roster, by categories (principals, soloists, corps, and "reserves"). Also, buried in the programme, in tiny print, is the announcement that the long-awaited Kirov premiere of Balanchine's JEWELS will be this October. Otherwise, the $12 programme a disappointment. [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited July 01, 1999).]

So the thingie is a bellows? Thanks, Manhattnik! I, too, noticed the doubling and tripling of roles among many soloists. Even Maya Dumchenko--a soloist who has danced Aurora in the older Konstantin Sergeyev production--was called upon to dance theFleur-de-Farine/Coulante Fairy variation AND was in the corps of Dryads AND was a Quadrille Dancer in Act III. Talk about company loyalty! Luckily, Dumchenko returns to star status on Saturday afternoon. when she dances the role of Giselle. Only 84 or so Kirov dancers are on the tour. That is half the company...less than that if you count the "reserves." When BEAUTY is performed in Petersburg, nearly the entire company plus many Vaganova Academy students take part. (The children in NY came from various area dance schools including SAB.) No wonder that the dancers were doubling and tripling roles. Your comment on unions is interesting. I cannot imagine a single US company performing a complete BEAUTY due to the overtime union wages that this would entail--not only dancers & musicians, but also backstage crews. American unions demand overtime pay past 11 p.m.--I remember when I supered with ABT at Kennedy Center (the 1986 & 1988 McMillan BEAUTY) and was asked to be sure that I'm out of my costume before 11 pm, or ABT would have to charge the wardrobe women double pay! Such problems are not a concern at the Mariinsky Theater. Did you know that, in St. Petersburg, BEAUTY is normally performed only once every two months or so? [The string of 4 performances this past May was an exception, due to the novelty of the current production.] BEAUTY requires more time & resources than any other ballet. Thus, it's only scheduled 5-6 times during any one calendar year. Given that, you can only imagine how happy the Kirov tour's dancers were last night when the curtain rang down on the fourth and final BEAUTY of this tour. GISELLE should be a piece of cake for them, in comparison to BEAUTY!

Oh, those bloomer girls with violins were cute. And how about those little cherubs sitting in the Lilac Fairy's boat, including the one whose tiny head was barely sticking out of the boat, watching the entire Dryads Scene? No..I say that we all write en-masse to the Phillips Corporation (official videos of the Kirov) to request a filming of this production for commercial release PRONTO! By the way, I really enjoyed your review, Cargill. You were spot-on in every observation! Oh...one more thing. Cargill, I do beg to differ with you (in the most friendly manner!) on your posting above regarding the Kirov Ballet not having a recent tradition of extended mime (not being it's "natural language" you wrote, I believe). How about the first act of LA BAYADERE, which is practically all-mime in the Kirov edition? Or the extended comic mine in DON Q (Gorsky emphasizing dramatic realism)? Or the Kirov's GISELLE...or all the Soviet "dram-ballets" - BAKHSHISERAI or ROMEO & JULIET? How about GAYANE? Extended mime is indeed a hallmark of much of the Kirov/Mariinsky repertoire & mime is very much a part of its natural language. The Kirov even maintains a staff of coaches who specialize in mime and character dancing (Alisa Strogaya et. al.). True, the post-WWII Soviet/Konstantin Sergeyev editions of the Petipa/Ivanov classics tended to emphasize "pure dance" over mime. But to make a blanket statement that extended mime is not in the Kirov tradition is a bit too much. [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited July 01, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited July 01, 1999).]

Please, Manhattnik...don't ditch those wonderful numbers for Cinderella/Prince Charming and Tom Thumb & friends and the Cannibal! I especially loved Cinderella flirting with Prince Charming, with that little fire-snuffing gatget in her hand (squirting air in his face...in time to the music). I will never again be able to listen tothe Cinderella music without recalling the "snuffing move"! As for the Music Hall aspect, it didn't cross my mind...probably because my mind was in "late-19th century mode" before I even entered the theater. The female quartets, such as Aurora's friends in black & gold, or the four Mandolin Girls (also in Act I) are, "cousins" of many other, similarly-patterned Petipa quartets for females. The four Little Bayaderes, four Gypsy friends of Esmeralda, four Frescoes in Humpbacked Horse, and even the four Cygnets come to mind. Petipa liked "Female Fours" a lot! "Cargill" (Mary?), thanks for understanding (& agreeing on!) my comments regarding the Kriov/1890 mime. Perhaps my proximity to the stage (close to front-orchestra, center) made the mime clear-as-a-bell while it wouldn't have registered powerfully to someone seated farther away. That's for sure. Save for the Royal Danish Ballet's Bournonville productions, I have never experienced so much "talking" in a ballet production as I did last Monday & Tuesday with the Kirov BEAUTY. I swear, I could almost hear dialogues going on throughout...especially between the King & Queen. The King--Vladimir Ponomariev--is a hoot (& quite the "character" in real-life, let me tell you..Ponomariev is so funny!). I had a hard time shifting my eyes to the Village Waltze dancers as I tried to keep an eye on Ponomariev making "googly eyes" and doting over his Queen, Nina Borchenko...kissing her white-gloved hand out-of-the-blue every now & then. It was precious!! [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited July 01, 1999).]

Many of you know that I have long-admired Diana Vishneva's beauty and artistry...ever since she was pointed out to me in class at the Vaganova Academy's main classroom in 1993 (with Ludmilla Kovaleva conducting class). The following year, she went to Prix de Lausanne & won a gold medal. The year after that (1995), I saw her graduation as Nikiya in Bayadere Shades...spectacular. I don't think there was a dry eye in the Mariinsky Theater that night...all of us knew that only greatness was in store for this gorgeous creature. Diana's US debut--scheduled for the Met's 1995 season, as Cinderella--never happened. A shame, as I delighted in seeing her rehearse the role on the "mock-stage" rehearsal theater up on the 3rd floor of the Mariinsky's rehearsal wing. Alas, Vishneva suffered an injury soon after & had to sit out the 1995 Met & London seasons. Finally, the US public got to see Diana Vishneva in fall 1996, on the "Faroukh Rusimatov Stars of the Kirov" tour. New Yorkers first saw her on that tour, at the NJ Performing Arts Center, then again, a couple of days later, at the Diaghilev Gala, where Vishneva & Samodurov brought down the house (NY State Theater) with Balanchine's TCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX. My last look at Vishneva was in the 1997 London season, where she danced a spectacular Kitri in DON Q, with a stronger-than-ever Faroukh Ruzimatov as her partner. And now BEAUTY... Tonight, she makes her NYC debut as GISELLE, which I can't see (but would love to read reports from those of you who do go!). I've opened this thread for discussions and comments--both good and bad, if you wish--on my favorite ballerina, my "Goddess Diana" who I have, quite literally, seen grow up from classroom to Prima Ballerina!

Alexandra, regarding the mime - I totally disagree with folks who say that the Royal Ballet'1940s-60s version had more mine. No way! The Kirov-1890/1999 version is jam-packed with mime. What's more, it follows to a "T" the many "dialogues" of mime from the Choreographic Text (Harvard documents) that are detailed in RJ Wiley's TCHAIKOVSKY BALLETS - see pp. 165-188. All of those passages of mime were seen on the Met stage, at exactly the right spot in the music, as per the Choreographic Text cited in Wiley. I place my money on the authenticity of the Kirov-1890/1999 versus Royal Ballet 1950s/60s. [This from someone who possesses a film of a complete ca. 1956 performance starring Fonteyn...so I can compare the details.]

I'm continuing the thread with a new topic, at Alexandra's suggestion. To Manhattnik - The excellent Carabosse on Monday & Tuesday was Islom Baimuratov. On the 180-degree extensions - This was one of my three disappointments, along with: (a) the lack of a Panorama (especially after my Russian friends described it in ecstatic terms after the April premiere; highlights included sleeping dogs & horses in front of the castle) and (B) the paltry flames in the fireplace after Desire planted his kiss on Aurora (given Benois and other historians' vivid descriptions of the way that the flames ignited the fireplace immediately following the kiss). By the way, RJ Wiley's book, TCHAIKOVSKY's BALLETS, includes detailed English translation of tHarvard manuscript's instructions. I followed this carefully with a pen-light during Monday afternoon's dress rehearsal & can vouch that 95% of the original choreography was adhered to faithfully by the Kirov notators. What a monumental achievement! I agree 100% with the insertion of the 1952 Soviet (Konstantin Sergeyev) solo for Desire in the Grand Pas de Deux, as it afforded a couple of minutes of "modern" virtuoso dancing for the male star. Among the two Desires I saw, Andrian Fadeev was by far the more "princely" & godlike in manner--hence, the best. It does not matter that Igor Zelensky (opening night) was the better dancer. Technique is not the deciding factor here. Overall aristocratic bearing reigns supreme. Vishneva is a born princess - by far the better of the two Auroras I saw. Imperial Ballet is a discriminating art - beauty of face counts, folks. That's all I have to say about that. As for the Lilacs, Veronica Part is a born Miss Universe--hence her superiority as Lilac Fairy. Dancing is secondary; superiority of beauty is first. Veronica Part is a Beauty; Daria Pavlenko is a sweet & talented girl masquerading as a Beauty. Ability in dance is secondary. Again...no time for "political correctedness" in this art form. Among the other fairies in the Prologue, Jana Selina was gorgeous (and adorable) as Canari--no, not with a yellow tutu, but with a white one, with roses on the front-bodice. How many of you noticed that, at the start of Act III (The Wedding), Aurora's costume included an exact replica of Catherine the Great's crown (from the Russian State Jewels)? Look at the photos! That is the symbol of the Mariinsky (above the Royal Box & on the roof of the theater. Carlota Brianza wore a different coronet; the "new Auroras" wear exact replicas of the Imperial Jewels. (One of the great benefits of sitting in the fifth row orchestra-center is noticing such details. Fun-fun-fun!) More comments, please. How was the fourth (& final) Aurora, Irma Nioradze. Until last month, she had never danced Aurora at the Kirov, specializing in Lilac Fairy instead. Did she pull it off? [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited June 30, 1999).]

While on the subject of Gelsey videos, there's also the early-1980s PBS "Gala of the Stars" at Carnegie Hall, in which Gelsey danced Fokine's DYING SWAN to the accompaniment of the great cellist Rostropovich. We have since learned that Gelsey was stoned during that particular performance, which explains the odd nuances, etc. There is also the fascinating interview of Gelsey that aired ca. 1987 on the CBS news show 60 MINUTES. This includes footage of Gelsey nearly passing out backstage during a performance of OTHER DANCES with Patrick Bissell, plus some nice segments of rehearsals for SLEEPING BEAUTY in London. Neither show is available commercially but was taped off-the-air by many of us. Just fyi. - Jeannie

I'm sure that our NY colleagues in this newsgroup can provide the latest impressions of Polikarpova, as she performed with Hamburg Ballet on its 1998 NY tour. I saw her "live" only with the Kirov and competing at the first (1994 or 95) La Maya Prize contest in St. Petes, where she won a medal. [she was already a member of the Hamburg Ballet at the time of the competition.] Indeed, she is a very lovely and soft dancer, if a bit cold emotionally. I believe that she's on the "Mariinsky Ballet" video (Home Vision label) dancing one of the three female solo roles in CHOPINIANA....I'm working from memory now as I'm not at home where my database is located. I definitely have a video of her CHOPINIANA. If it's not the tape that I cited, I'll correct myself tomorrow. - Jeannie

Did anyone mention Guerin's Nikiya in BAYADERE, on a commercially-available video in Europe & the UK? Here are a couple more on Makhalina. She performs the title role in PAQUITA in the video titled "Mariinsky Ballet." Not sure if still available...my copy is on the now-defunct Home Vision label. Makhalina can also be seen dancing the Medora Variation in the LE CORSAIRE "Jardin Anime" as part of the Kultur-label's video titled "Kirov Ballet in London." If you have friends with Russian connections, you should ask about my favorite Makhalina video -- a docudrama on the life of Mathilde Kchessinskaya, in which Makhalina plays the title character & dances many MK gems, such as ESMERALDA pdd. Forget that MK was half the height of JM...it's still a wonderful show. - Jeannie

One more thing on the previous post, which will "add fuel to the anti-competition fire": The young blonde Kirov corps dancer about whom I wrote above does not have a classically "beautiful" face in the Kirov sense...she has a bit of a cleft chin and some tooth-verbite. Otherwise, she is picture perfect in figure, musculature, heigth, lovely expressive blue eyes,pretty hair, long swan neck, etc., and BOY could she dance. She really brought the sunny Bournonville choreography to life! I found it rather telling that, when I started to praise the dancer to my audience-neighbor, a middle-aged Russian woman (scientist, not a ballet professional) who has attended numerous competitions, she told me: "She cannot win because she is not a beauty." And who won? The most beautiful face--by Russian standards--among the competitors: Maya Dumchenko, who I had rated as perhaps the 5th-best dancer among the girls. Interesting?

Thanks for all of the good answers...keep 'em coming. I pretty much agree with everyone so far. Everything that has been stated thus far is very true for dancers outside what I still call "The Soviet Orbit." However, winning a medal at a major ballet competition can and WILL seal the fate of a dancer in any of the former Soviet Union countries, as well as countries that at present continue as socialist-communist regimes, e.g., People's Republic of China and Cuba. The sealing of one's fate in those countries can be fabulous or dreadful: a medal of any color will almost assure one of soloist-level tenure at his/her company (bypassing the corps); a defeat (no award) is usually the death-knell ensuring 20 years in the corps, if lucky. One lovely blonde Kirov dancer who, I thought, did a super job dancing the "Flower Festival pdd" at the 1995 Vaganova Prix, made the final round but failed to medal. The only solo that she has danced at the Kirov in the past 4 years is one of the Sleeping Beauty fairies. On the other hand, this girl's male partner in "Flower Festival" DID earn a prize & he immediately was assigned Peasant PDD (Giselle), Swan Lake Jester & other plum demi-caractere roles in his first year as a professional. Anyway, you get my point. I believe that competitions can have a major influence on one's career in certain countries and societies in which competing and winning at ANYTHING--be it ballet or skating or chess--is EVERYTHING. Competitors from Russia, China & Cuba have "the eye of the tiger...spare no-prisoners" mentality when they go up against Westerners. I'm not saying that this is good..it's just a reality.

Earlier threads have touched on the issue of ballet competitions and whether or not there is merit in them. I've attended a number of them in Russia (Vaganova Prix, La Maya, Moscow IBC) plus the one in USA/Jackson last year. I have mixed opinions about them...but would honestly like to first hear what you have to say. To get the ball rolling on this discussion, I will point out an interesting thing that I noticed in Russian playbills/souvenir programmes, which may shed light on the importance of competitions in the former Soviet Union. In Russia (& other NIS countries) it is a tremendous honor to be awarded a medal in an international ballet competition. To this day, EVERY Russian dancer who has been awarded any sort of a medal in any of the "IBC" series of competitions (Paris, Jackson, Varna, Moscow) or in the more prestigeous junior-level events (Lausanne, Vaganova Prix) has this fact acknowledged in the programmes (playbills). Whether it be the Bolshoi, Kirov, Maly, Stanislavsky, Perm, or Novosibirsk theaters--the cast lists in the playbills of those theaters will acknowledge a dancer who has won a medal by printing, beside his/her name "Laureate of International Ballet Competition." The names of the specific competitions are not cited--only the fact that that dancer has won a medal. And until his or her retirement from the stage, that designation will always be with him or her, while s/he continues to perform in Russia. [This is similar to the recurring use of honorary titles granted to dancers by the regional & national government, e.g., "Honored Artist of Russia."] Can any of you imagine, say, the ABT playbills citing next to Paloma Herrera's name that she is a laureate of a competition? So...what do you think of ballet competitions of the IBC or Prix de Lausanne sort? [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited April 06, 1999).]

Audrey - There is a fabulous, full-length SLEEPING BEAUTY video with Durante as Aurora. Easily found in most US video stores that carry classical performing arts videos. A while back, the US-based Arts & Entertainment network ran an hour-long documentary on Irek Mukhamedov, which included substantial footage of Mukhamedov & Durante in the Act I pas de deux from MANON. Unfortunately, this documentary is not commercially available (differs from another Irek Mukhamedov documentary which IS commercially available, paired with the ballet WINTER DREAMS...which ALSO stars Durante, by the way). You might try asking friends with large video collections if they have the A&E documentary that includes the MANON pdd.

Neat!

Ok, I found two business cards of bookshops in Paris that I have visited. One of the 2 is the one near the Odeon...I think it's the second of these, because the Odeon Th. is in the 10th arrondisement, not far from the Palais de Luxembourg. Anyhow, both had nice, if not huge, dance/ballet sections. (Sorry that I don't know how to place accents on the letters.) 1. Librairie Theatrale 3 Rue Marivaux, 2e arr. Metro: Richelieu-Drouot 2. L'Introuvable 35 Rue Juliette-Dodu, 10me arr. Metro: Colonel Fabien Hope this helps - Jeannie

Alexandra - There is a wonderful little antique bookstore half a block from the Odeon Theater. It deals in all theater topics...not ballet-specific, but with a good dance section. I purchased a grab-bag full of old Saisons de la Danse magazines for a pitance when I was in Paris for the Neumaier SYLVIA premiere (less than 2 years ago, I think). As I'm in the office, I don't have the shop's biz card handy but I'll try to remember to look it up at home tonight. I bet that Estelle knows about this shop (or similar ones)! - Jeannette

LOL, Leigh, you have me in tears of laughter. I'm not sure if the good citizens of Little Odessa/Brighton Beach would agree with you, but I know what you mean. - Jeannie [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited March 30, 1999).]

Kevin - There was an aborted attempt to stage JEWELS last spring. I believe that cost was the main reason for this. Instead, they brought in Francia Russell to "refresh" some of their existing Balanchine repertoire...yes, even the SERENADE was not new to the St. Petersburg "state ballets" system, as it already existed in the repertoire of the Maly/Moussorgsky.) JEWELS is not scheduled for this season. The only new ballets this season are the Alexei Ratmansky ballets (premiered last November) and the new/old setting of SLEEPING BEAUTY, which will premiere in New York. On the other hand, there have been at least FIVE--count 'em--FIVE opera premieres (either new commissioned operas or major revivals) during the past 12 months at the Mariinsky. Not fair, I say! - Jeannie

Jane - I used Filemaker PRO, which seems to work really well on PowerMacs (what I have). It's very similar to two other user-friendly software, MSAccess & Lotus Approach. - Jeannie

The big exception to the "too-little rehearsal time" rule is, of course, Russia, particularly in the major "State" opera & ballet theaters. At the Kirov, the season is long and the number of ballets staged in a given season is relatively small. The corps have a luxury of time in which to be "drilled" in the classics. Soloists are assigned their very own coaches-repetiteurs, to fine-tune specific roles. I would think that the situation is similar at the paris Opera Ballet? I may be wrong, but that seems to be another big "monolith" of a state-run ballet troupe (and one of the finest).

Nutshell Version: Saw Alicia Alonso & the Ballet Nacional de Cuba perform in my native San Juan, Puerto Rico, in August 1978. The troupe performed four divertissement programs, with Alicia dancing excerpts from Carmen, Swan Lake and Giselle. All seats were sold-out way in advance. I went with my parents to the opening night, for which we had good seats. I was so enthralled that I bought standing room for the other three nights, going by myself & screaming "Bravo!" each night til I lost my voice. The rest is ballet-madness history!

It's been facsinating reading the 5 different threads under this discussion-topic. I am a little surprised that nobody has mentioned the Boris Eifman ballets yet, as many consider him to be today's great ballet choreographer. He caused quite a splash in New York City during the past two tours AND is wildly popular in St. Petersburg. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that he is very MacMillan-esque. What do all of you think (who have seen his work)? Is he today's great Ballet-Modern choreographer or not?

I've developed a Ballet Database that includes not only: * a "Performance Tracker"--with fields for date, title of work, company, dancers, roles, and a "comments" column, but also: * Video Database of nearly 300 cassettes-- # on shelf (as I file chronologically, as I purchase), title, choreographer, ballet troupe, type (live, studio, doc, etc.), solo dancers, corresponding roles, comments and * Music (CD, tapes) Database -- # on shelf, composer, title of work, ballet title (in case music was not specifically written for the ballet) orchestra, and Books -- # on shelf, subject, title, author, comments It took a while to set up but, once up-and-running, it is really easy to maintain. I have another database for my 350-odd figure skating tapes since 1980, but I won't get into that here. Running out of shelf space...the Ballet Room is extending into the Living Room!! [This message has been edited by Jeannie (edited March 26, 1999).]

I would love to see my favorite Kirov Ballet dancers in Balanchine's JEWELS: Emeralds - Svetlana Zakharova & Andrian Fadeev Rubies - Diana Vishneva & Viacheslav Samodurov, with Tatiana Serova as the "tall girl" soloist Diamonds - Uliana Lopatkina & Igor Zelensky Maybe, if we're lucky, this will indeed happen next year.