Kevin Ng

The Ruzimatov gala, which was held on two consecutive nights at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg, featured Farouk Ruzimatov, Diana Vishneva and a host of other Kirov stars. I caught the second performance on 30 October during my trip to St. Petersburg. Ruzimatova and Vishneva appeared in three of the eight numbers. They first danced in a new piece "Songs of Remembrance" set to French songs by Jacques Brel choreographed by Nikolai Kabaniaev. There was an ensemble of three white-clad couples. The choreography was pleasing though not particularly memorable. Vishneva and Ruzimatova appeared again in Maurice Bejart's "Bakhti" which closed the first half of the evening. This pas de deux was set to a variety of Hindu music and emphasised dislocations. The couple's limbs were twisted into various contorted shapes as is typical of Bejart's style. It was impressively danced by the couple who each had a solo as well. The second half of the gala consisted of only one work - Roland Petit's "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort". Petit's choreography was exciting and highly theatrical. Vishneva had the right allure as death, and Ruzimatov gave a powerful performance as the young man. Other stars who appeared included senior Kirov dancers Margaret Kullik and Vladimir Kim in Balanchine's "Tarantella". Alexei Ratmansky's "Middle Duo" which recalled William Forsythe's aggressive style was brilliantly performed by Natalia Sologub and Andrei Merkuriev whose dancing had a sharp edge. Sologub also appeared in "Le Spectre de la Rose". Igor Kolb was spectacular as the Spectre, with his creamy port de bras and his high and airy jumps. Another Fokine work was "The Dying Swan" with the soulful Yulia Makhalina in the title role. The "Don Quixote" pas de deux was dazzlingly danced by Elvira Tarasova and Rasta Thomas (who just joined the Kirov). It was my first viewing of Thomas, whose split jumps and great speed in his 'manege' were breathtaking. Tarasova had strong legwork, and danced with poise and style. During my stay in St. Petersburg I also saw the Kirov's Neumeier programme, and Vishneva and Igor Zelensky in "Manon". [ November 19, 2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Thanks for your news Estelle. Yes, it's unexpected that those two Russian stars will be guesting with the POB in La Bayadere. Besides Asylmuratova (I saw her Swan Lake with Laurent Hilaire with POB in 1994) and Ferri who you mentioned have guested in Paris in the past, I remember Irek Mukhamedov also guested with POB in 1989 (?) when he was still a Bolshoi dancer before he joined the Royal Ballet. [ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Giannina, I am glad that you saw the company. I saw this ballet in 1997 when it was premiered in Hong Kong; I wasn't impressed at all with the choreography by Wayne Eagling or the dancing. It's really strange that there are no daily cast lists distributed to the audiences. I remember similar complaints when the company danced this ballet at New York City Center in 1998, and when they performed in Beijing this year. [ 10-14-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Daron, thanks a lot for your casting information for the Bolshoi's tour to Beijing. Actually I have other plans and will not be able to attend the performances in Beijing. I was informed last week that the Bolshoi is currently in negotiation about a possible tour to Hong Kong next spring. I do hope they won't bring this new production of Swan Lake!

Daron, thanks for your update. The Bolshoi will give 4 performances of Swan Lake in Beijing in mid-November. So I suppose that neither Gracheva nor Ananiashvili will be among the casts.

Jeannie, thanks for your exciting news. And it would be good if the Vaganova Academy could also establish an offshoot in China as well, perhaps in another city like Beijing or Shanghai (both of which will incidentally be toured by the Kirov next year.)

My thoughts are with all of you in New York and Washington DC; I am relieved to read above that many of you are alright. I like to express my sympathies to those who have suffered in this tragedy. [ 09-11-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

I found this report from Parma by Susy on Ballet.co. http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/2078.html

Like Melissa I would also go for "Symphony in C"; and in addition "Concerto Barocco".

The Shanghai Ballet will perform Derek Deane's production of Swan Lake in Hong Kong and other Chinese cities at the end of this year. I don't have the exact dates yet.

Jeannie, I look forward to seeing your interview on Chinese TV. [ 08-18-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Xinxin, do you know what repertory the National Ballet of China will show in America, and what cities will be toured? I only know that Minnesota is one of the stops. I will see them again next March when they perform "Red Lantern" in Hong Kong.

Leah-huang, thanks for your explanation. It is a pity that eight of the 28 non-Chinese competitors didn't attend the IBC in the end. Still I am curious as to why this IBC in Shanghai hasn't attracted more competitors from other countries.

Jeannie, thanks for your detailed report, and wish you a good stay in Shanghai and other Chinese cities. Xinxin, I thought that the NBC is to tour America in September. Has the tour been postponed?

I am not in Shanghai. But I read in the "South China Morning Post" today that dancers from the Shanghai Ballet performed excerpts from Swan Lake -staged by Derek Deane last month - in a performance last weekend as part of the IBC. This article, like many of its arts pieces, is however not online.

Mashinka, that MacMillan ballet is "Valley of Shadows", choreographed by MacMillan in 1982 for Alessandra Ferri, whose talent he had just discovered. I found it a better work than his "Different Drummer" choreographed for Ferri a year later.

I was present for most of the 4-week season. I think that those two performances that your friend attended must have been in the first week of the season. In the second week, the Manon wasn't sold out either, but Le Corsaire in the weekend was completely sold out. The third and fourth weeks, especially Swan Lake and the Balanchine programme which were sold out, were nearly full.

Joseph, I just checked the website of the Shanghai IBC, but I couldn't see the list of competitors. However, the website lists the members of the jury panel which includes Natalia Makarova and Frank Andersen. http://www.chinaballet.com/english/jury.htm

No, unfortunately the Bolshoi won't tour Hong Kong or Macau this time. This Bolshoi tour to Beijing was just arranged after the Chinese President Jiang's meeting with President Putin in Moscow several weeks ago. However there is a possibility that the Kirov may tour Hong Kong again in a year's time after its China tour. [ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

I was informed by my friend Helen in Beijing that the Bolshoi Ballet will tour Beijing from 15-18 November 2001 with its new production of Swan Lake. (I mentoned last month that the Kirov is scheduled to tour Beijing and Shanghai in September 2002; I haven't had any more updates since then.) [ 07-31-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Honglei, the Canadian company which you referred to is the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Evelyn Hart danced with Olivier Wevers in Beijing. Do you know when the Shanghai Ballet is going to premiere Derek Deane's Swan Lake? Unfortunately I missed ENB's Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Albert Hall in London last month, because their two-week season coincided with the Kirov season at Covent Garden.

NO7, thanks for your news ahout the Brazil tour. Actually next week the Kirov will give three performances of Swan Lake in Greece as well. (Gumerova and Korsuntsev will be one of the casts.) A Kirov tour to China in Sept. 2002 is also on the cards, though not yet finalised. It certainly requires a lot of energy to follow the Kirov round the world! But I am glad to see that the dancers' workload in Brazil is not as heavy as in London, as the number of performances in Brazil seems to be relatively less. [ 07-21-2001: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]

Estelle, I just found out that it's not next season 2001/2, but the following season 2002/3. The provisional date is Nov. 2002. I don't know however what programmes they will bring to the Chatelet.

A.M., thanks for another moving review on the Kirov. I would have liked to have seen Anton Korsakov and Irina Zhelonkina in Harlequinade, as well as Alexei Ratmansky's "Middle Duo". I find it strange that the coaches and teachers again didn't appear on the stage after the final performance, just like at Covent Garden a fortnight ago. Sonja, if I miss the Kirov so much later on in the year that I decide to travel to Munich to see them, I'll definitely like to meet up with you.

I agree with you, NO7. Dmitri Simeonov is most promising as a soloist. Though he didn't do a leading role in Covent Garden this season (as he did Solor last year), I was impressed by him in the Swan Lake pas de trois and his Blue Bird. He also danced elegantly in Emeralds. I unfortunately missed his Lankedem. Actually his partnering skills are not bad, he strongly partnered Yulia Makhalina in La Bayadere last year.