Kevin Ng

NO7, thanks for your always quick and reliable news on the Kirov. I don't suppose you'll make the trip to Mexico this time to see them again after your trip to attend the Maryinsky Festival. By the way, in St. Petersburg last week the Kirov soloist Irina Golub made two debuts - in the new Nutcracker partnered by Ilya Kuznetsov, as well as in "Rubies" with Anton Korsakov. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited April 03, 2001).]

Here is Bruce's 1 April joke last year. http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/news/330.html

She's very strong technically, I remember as one of the flower girls in Don Q during the ABT's Asian tour last autumn.

I never saw her Florine with the ABT, but I did see her do Florine when she was still with the Royal Ballet, with Bruce Sansom as Blue Bird. She was better dancing Red Riding Hood in Sleeping Beauty than Florine.

I remember she's done some guesting with the English National Ballet in recent years, but I've never seen her dancing.

Naoko, actually Maya Dumchenko did get leading roles in London last August. I saw her Aurora and Juliet. Zhelonkina danced Florine though not Aurora. On another note, Diana Vishneva and Faroukh Ruzimatov will dance in a gala in Moscow on 2 April. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited March 22, 2001).]

Diana Vishneva's Giselle with Igor Kolb was praised in a review on Ballet.co.uk by Sasha. http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1470.html What a pity that the Kirov is not showing Giselle in London this summer; I haven't seen Vishneva's Giselle yet.

And Nureyev is lucky in that his achievements during his directorship have been consolidated and built upon by his successors - Patrick Dupond and Brigitte Lefevrre. The Paris Opera Ballet deserves praise for continuing to be one of the top companies in the world 12 years after Nureyev ended his tenure as artistic director in 1989.

Xinxin, it's interesting to hear from you that English National Ballet (ENB) has two ticketing categories in Japan, depending on whether Tetsuya Kumakawa will dance. I think he will dance with Monica Perego. I also heard that ENB's usual guest stars Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks won't join the company in Japan, since most of the performances will go to Kumakawa.

Xinxin, will you still be in Japan in April to see the English National Ballet's Swan Lake? I heard that Kumakawa will dance half of the performances. I did see Yoko Morishita once in the 1980s in London when she danced with Nureyev in Giselle in the Nureyev Festival at the Coliseum.

The young Maria Alexandrova of the Bolshoi is a great Myrtha, dancing the role with the requisite grandeur. She travels like a javelin in her space-devouring jumps. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited March 13, 2001).]

The young Maria Alexandrova of the Bolshoi is a great Myrtha, dancing the role with the requisite grandeur. She travels like a javelin in her space-devouring jumps. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited March 13, 2001).]

I saw Carmen Corella, Angel's sister, once last autumn during the ABT's Asian tour. She's outstanding as Mercedes in Kevin McKenzie's "Don Q". By the way, I wrote up my interview with Angel in the January issue of Ballet.co.uk magazine.

I've only seen Karl Paquette twice, but I think he has the potential to be a danseur noble. If I remember rightly, he was just promoted in the Concours this time.

Tatsu, good point, and it may well be true and not only your imagination. Actually most of the Japanese ballet fans that I see in the Opera Garnier in Paris and in Covent Garden are female. In 1998, I was told that 300 Japanese fans flew to Hong Kong to follow Tetsuya Kumakawa's guest performances in Nutcracker. And last autumn, I got to know a very elegantly dressed Japanese fan who flew here specially to watch the ABT's tour. She knew most of the principals including Angel Corella, Irina Dvorovenko etc. One observation I have on Japanese ballet-goers is that they are extremely well dressed. I remember that in the Opera Garnier on New Year's Eve last year, a number of Japanese were dressed in traditional kimonos. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited March 14, 2001).]

I last saw Ferri dancing Giselle in New York with the ABT several years ago. Her technique wasn't the strongest, but she danced brilliantly the echappes sautes in the coda of the Act 2 pas de deux. Her portrayal was very moving. But my fondest memory of her was in her early days with the Royal Ballet after her discovery by MacMillan. Her Mary Vetsera in "Mayerling" with Wayne Eagling was stunning.

What an irony! It's like saying the Kirov corps de ballet has to learn Swan Lake and other Petipa classics from scratch.

I actually saw Edwards perform once with the Lyons Opera Ballet, about five years ago when the Lyons company performed in the Hong Kong Festival. Jeffrey Edwards performed Romeo (Preljocaj version).

Jeannie, I am like you too, and I value ballet travel as much, due to necessity because in my case there is simply not enough great ballet to see in Hong Kong. Thanks for your wonderful review. This Paquita certainly sounds like a 'balletic event made in heaven' from your description.

I have no doubt that Balanchine was the greatest choreographer of the twentieth century. Last year was an unusually good year in Hong Kong in terms of Balanchine ballets. We saw Balanchine's masterpiece "A Midsummer Night's Dream" superlatively danced by the Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as "Theme and Variations" danced by the ABT with Julie Kent and Gillian Murphy in the ballerina role. And I am glad that I also saw "Jewels" danced by the Kirov in London, and the Paris Opera Ballet at the Garnier. I am not sure yet if there will be any Balanchine ballets shown in Hong Kong this year. It's most annoying that Stephen Jefferies has not put on a single Balanchine ballet for the Hong Kong Ballet in the past five years. The company actually has "Who Cares", "Tchaikovsky Pdd", and "Allegro Brillante" in its repertory, originally staged by Karin von Aroldingen. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited February 03, 2001).]

La Fille is in the company of a number of companies, e.g. Australian Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, South Africa's State Ballet. I read that it was also staged for the Stuttgart Ballet last year by Alexander Grant. Actually Grant, invited by Stephen Jefferies of the Hong Kong Ballet, also staged it here last summer. (It is one of the few good productions among the many new productions brought by Jefferies here. I am often puzzled as to why Jefferies, a former Royal Ballet principal, hasn't arranged to have more Ashton works staged here; he han't even revived Les Patineurs and The Two Pigeons which were introduced by his predecessors. His choice of choreographers is quite dubious at times.) But it didn't do well at the box office at all. Partly it was a result of the timing; Pacific Northwest Ballet only gave 4 performances of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the week before to sold-out audiences. As for the actual performance of La Fille that I saw, it however left a lot to be desired. I hope to see this ballet again when it receives further performances in Hong Kong next month. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited February 02, 2001).]

After the long Japanese tour this winter, the Kirov will tour Europe next March - Baden Baden, and Amsterdam. Xinxin, I am impressed that the dancers of National Ballet of China flew a long way from Beijing to Shanghai specially to watch the ABT in Oct.

Tatsu, I am glad that you enjoyed so much Diana Vishneva's Aurora. In London, I admired her Aurora as well as Zhanna Ayupova's the most out of the various casts. I am not surprised that the Balanchine gala didn't sell out in Tokyo, I doubt if it will be that popular in China and Hong Kong either. [This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited December 19, 2000).]

Xinxin, thanks for your information; I am glad to hear that Lopatkina, Anton Korsakov and Ilya Kuznetsov are popular in Japan. Yes, I understand that the arts agencies in Shanghai (and Hong Kong too) may not be able to afford to pay the high fees asked for by the Kirov nowadays. When the new opera house in Beijing is completed, no doubt you will have a much better theatre for ballet.

I don't think that there's that much harm in pushing young dancers into leading roles, just due to the necessity to cover injuries of the scheduled casts. Returning to the Japan performances, Xinxin, which Kirov dancers were the favourites of the Japanese public? And do you think that Ilya Kuznetsov has made a lot of progress this time since your last viewing of him in Beijing last year?