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coda

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Everything posted by coda

  1. I wonder if anyone mentioned: - "Isadora" with Vanessa Redgrave who did all the dancing scenes herself; - joint American and Soviet film production of "The Bluebird" based on a play by Metterlink (forgive me my spelling) with Elizabeth Taylor. She did not dance of course but the Bluebird I think was danced by Nadezhda Pavlova; - "The White Nights" with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alla Osipenko; - "Men in Her Life" where Loretta Young played a ballerina Lena Varsavina. It is such an old film but I remember, quite vaguely, that she danced there a ballet "The White Rose" produced by her despotic coach and husband (played by Konrad Weidt).
  2. Dear Perky, You are absolutely right when saying that Ulanova's dance was "extreme beauty in motion" but I allow myself to disagree strongly with some other things which you said. "A bad body for ballet"? Wrong! Ulanova had a very proportional and good body for ballet. Her neck was NOT short. And for God's sake, how could her arms be called "podgy"? One of the most beautiful pair of arms which can be wished for in a ballerina: long, flexible, expressive, with exquisitely elegant wrists and fingers. Her figure was slightly fuller only between 1946 and 1948, it happened to a number of Soviet ballerinas because after the war ended we had a little bit more food. By 1949, Ulanova was slim again. The only allegedly imperfect physical feature, which a very strict critic could detect, were her broad shoulders but nobody was noticing that because she learnt how to hide it by slightly raising her shoulders, - this made her look fragile and vulnerable and was adding extra poignancy and appeal to her image. Please look at the http://www.ballerinagallery.com/ulanova.htm , click especially on "Swan Lake" and "Les Sylphides" and see what her body was like. She was NOT, as you suspected, "a good little comrade and friend to the powers that be" (although some ballerinas were). It were the powers who were fawning upon her and showered her with all possible honours. Thank God, she, as you rightly observed, "deserved all of the praise she received". You saw her at the age of 46 as filmed in "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai". This ballet, in which she was acclaimed at the age of 24 as an extraordinary ballet actress, is not a silly story. The libretto was written after a romantic poem by the greatest Russian genius Pushkin who, in his turn, based it on a Crimean legend. Coming back to Ulanova I will just quote for you from the very first description of her, which appeared in the West. That was in the book "The Soviet Ballet" by Iris Morley (Collins, London, 1945): "Again and again I have tried to discover what it is in her proportions that achieves this unique loveliness. It seems to be a mixture of something lissom and fragile with an inner strength, the way the supple swelling curve of the forearm running through the violin shape of the body is balanced by an equal curve in thigh and calf. If you can imagine a dancer's movements leaving a path in the air, Ulanova's would inscribe something like the ripple of water where a cascade flows into a lake." Thank you, Perky, for mentioning Ulanova who remains for me the greatest phenomenon in art that I had a privilege to see.
  3. If you look at the Mariinsky's website: www.mariinsky.ru , you can see that the company has 6 Ballerinas at present, in the English version they are called "Principals": Zhanna Ayupova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Yulia Makhalina, Irma Nioradze, Diana Vishneva, and Svetlana Zakharova. Of course they dance leading roles. However, although Maya Dumchenko and Natalya Sologub have been dancing Aurora for several years by now, they are still ranked as First Soloists. Darya Pavlenko who dances most of the leading roles is also a First Soloist.
  4. O Marc, aren't you too harsh on Viktor Baranov? I would agree that he is not a terribly exciting dancer but he has that noble manner and strength that makes perfect partners. Actually, as a partner he is really excellent. I remember how once, after seeing him and Irina Zhelonkina dancing Chopin's Waltz No.7, I said to Irina that I have not seen such weightless lifts since Ulanova's performances (truly, she was flowing up like a light cloud), Irina said: "It's not me. It's him. I can do it only with Viktor". No, Alexandra, unfortunately, I did not go to Bolzano but I have seen Zakharova and Tsiskaridze performing those pieces more than once. Tsiskaridze's Narcissus is remarkable, last time I saw him dancing it in Albert Hall on the 7th and 8th of May. By the way, although Svetlana and Nikolai belong to two different companies, they are making now a very good partnership. I saw them dancing together for the first time at Nureyev Gala in La Scala on the 19th of December last year - it was an Act 2 pas de deux from "Giselle". Since then they danced "Sheherazade" at St.Petersburg and "Giselle" and "The Shades" at the Bolshoi... Hopefully, they will dance the full "La Bayadere" next season.
  5. Both Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Svetlana Zakharova took two days off from the Graz tour to travel to Bolzano where they both received their "Danza&Danza" magazine prizes in the "Etoile" category for 2002. At the opening gala concert on the 12 July Zakharova danced "The Dying Swan" and Tsiskaridze - "Narcissus".
  6. Congratulations to Ilse Liepa and Nikolai Tsiskaridze on receiving the high awards they deserved so much! I had a great luck to see "The Queen of Spades" at the Bolshoi when it was first performed in October 2001 and also just recently, at the end of February. For all my love for the 6th Symphony I haven't felt that the choreography was at odds with the music. Roland Petit advised beforehand that he intended to "switch" two parts of the symphony and, in my opinion, he managed to justify it by working out the plot with a great skill and demonstrating what a powerful director he is. The ballet lasts just over one hour and every minute it keeps the audience in awe of the developments on stage. The atmosphere becomes very charged when the culmination approaches. Petit used very skilfully the talents of the actors (I stress: actors, not just dancers) he worked with by following their distinctive features as well as revealing their enormous potential. Originally he asked Altynai Assylmuratova to be the Countess. If she agreed, he undoubtedly would have created the choreography very different from one that he offered to Liepa, it would have been more on a dancing side I suppose. For Ilse Liepa, a tall, slower dancer, he offered an approach more suitable for her elongated lines, sense of rhythm and plasticity. In this role she reached her peak as an artist. Tsiskaridze was astounding as Hermann on the opening night but I admired him even more when I saw him in this role recently. His stunning leaps and tours are as good as ever, however, his acting became even more profound and powerful, the important mise en scenes were even more vividly accentuated. This is a role to treasure. I am sure more will come.
  7. Clement Crisp explained it in his review in the most intelligible way: "There is a rule in the theatre: audiences can only look at one thing at a time. (Conjurors know this: watch one distracting hand, and you don't see what the other is up to.) Put words on a screen on stage, and we will obligingly try and read them. Play film, and we will watch it." I wanted and tried hard to see Guillem and Hilaire in "In the Middle..." but Nureyev was reigning on the screen - and he won WITH EASE!
  8. In the latest (April) issue of the "Dancing Times" there is a four-page article "From Aurora to Lilac Fairy" about Lady Sainsbury, i.e. Anya Linden, with beautiful photographs of her as Aurora and Giselle.
  9. Sorry, folks, I found Nikolai Tsiskaridze to be the only true Solor amidst four casts, which I had a chance to see in this reconstruction. What a pity, Jeannie, that we could not meet during the festival! I would have loved to have a chat with you about Solors, Nikiyas and the rest. Although it is not surprising but still fascinating to observe how two people can have a different view of the same visible object/subject at the same time. You found wrong for this Solor to mouth "oooh!" on seeing Gamzatti. I think it's all right since the idea is of him being torn between two beauties. Why should he be sitting stone-faced on the elephant? He is not the Golden Idol. Arriving for his betrothal he raised his arm to greet his fiancee. And why shouldn't he throw himself in despair on the cushions? What are they there for? I could not sit closer to the stage than I was sitting but I haven't seen a single problem with his partnering. Moreover, one of the ballerinas, with all respect, was doing no more than two turns and it was Nikolai who made her complete the rest of her rotations every time. I agree that Tsiskaridze 'was struggling to rein-in his temperament'. Nothing new, he often has to do it. Fadeyechev as his coach and Roland Petit admitted more than once that Nikolai is both an excitable and exciting dancer. He is a spontaneous, impulsive artist, - this quality sometimes deprives him of stability (oh, those double assemblés!) but at the same time makes him so interesting and appealing. For occasional slips he compensates lavishly with such upward flights which others can not produce in their lifetime. I agree with Clement Crisp who wrote about this performance that "Tsiskaridze's opulent, ecstatic view of Solor nearly tore the ballet to pieces, but he has such conviction, such frenzy in his playing that you believed for the moment in the drama as in the extravagant dance." For those who have not seen it yet: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/info/gallery/ba...t03/23_bayadere
  10. Why should ALL reconstructions 'be stopped immediately', Andrei? It would be too coercive, dictatorial and, sorry, undemocratic. I know many people who admired the Vikharev's "Sleeping Beauty" and although I prefer to see the Lilac Fairy and Prince Desire dancing much more, yet I can appreciate the certain aestetic aspects of his reconstruction. It was a wise decision, in my opinion, on both versions to be retained in the Mariinsky's repertoire. Admirers of lavish and tasteful pageantry can opt for seeing the Vakharev's "Beauty" while I, when given a personal choice, would go to see the version with the 'brilliant innovations'. You are absolutely right to say that these innovations kept classical ballet alive throughout the 20th century. The new/old "Bayadere" seems to be an example of when the loss of those innovations is too tangible. Now I have to pluck up my courage to 'march', on my own, against three opponents who wrote about "La Bayadere". See the next posting.
  11. Dear BilboBaggins, Search for "Ulanova" on your Internet "Search". It will open for you quite a long list of information. Under No.3 - Buy Prokofiev "Romeo & Juliet"/Ulanova, Bolshoi Ballet at Amazon.com. Under No.4 - Filmography. Galina Ulanova. Unfortunately, very few of them are commercially available, with a probable exception of "Mastera russkogo baleta" (Stars of Russian Ballet) where Ulanova was filmed as Odette and Maria in the "Fountain of Bakhchisarai". Under No.5 - Clive Barnes mentioned in his article some recordings of Ulanova.
  12. "...the company is returning to Graz, Austria in the first half of July and then to London." Dear Marc, could you tell please where and when will the Mariinsky Ballet perform in London? I heard that this year they are going only to Salford, Dublin, and Edinburgh in April-May.
  13. Alexandra, you were moved by the tape made when Ulanova was 46. No existing tape is fair to her. Seeing her in the theatre was a bliss. My point about her musicality was close to what you described. It was not: one, two, three, listen to the music! She danced the music and was music herself. Amazingly, even in real life she had the same quality: she moved as if following some score. Up to the last years of her life.
  14. Ulanova! She did not dance to the music. She danced the music and she was music herself.
  15. coda

    The Bolshoi

    The Dancing Chef is right. And this is what makes the Bolshoi men great - the passion which they add to their dance. In Moscow today, Roland Petit starts rehearsing his "Le Notre Dame de Paris" where several excellent male performers are needed. The Bolshoi is perfectly capable of enriching this remake. I wish them all a great success in the newcoming production.
  16. Hello, Steve. Thank you for writing about the Costa Mesa performances. Did you see the leading ladies only? What about the leading men?
  17. Dear Kevin, Svetlana Zakharova is rehearsing at the Mariinsky now for the Swan Lake performance on the 7th of December which will be a tribute to the late Viktor Andreyevich Fedotov.
  18. Dear Solor, Where did you find that tape? Apparently, it is not a new recording since Alexander Vetrov has not been dancing with the Bolshoi for several years now. I remember him in his younger years when I admired him not so much as a prince but more in his demi-character roles like Tibalt or even Crassus, although nobody could match Maris Liepa in this role, of course. I have not seen the tape which you bought but I have seen "La Bayadere" on the Bolshoi's stage and in London. It is an excellent production. I am quite a discerning and even picky ballet-goer but I wouldn't call the Bolshoi dancers sloppy as you chose. I remember there was a discussion once, something like "what we appreciate more - technique or style or soul?" Of course we wish to see a harmony of all three but our ideals do not always materialise. Therefore, while regretting some errors made by dancers, nevertheless, we can enjoy positive qualities of the same dancers. You are probably aware that the Bolshoi is bringing "La Bayadere" to USA this month and will tour 8 cities and towns. Perhaps you can find a chance to see them live and tell us later what you saw. They bring three sets of cast. If I were there now, I would have chosen Galina Stepanenko - Nikolai Tsiskaridze cast. Although I prefer Gracheva in the "flower basket dance" (with excellent balance and poignant acting), Stepanenko is stunning as a virtuoso in the Shades act. The main reason for choosing this cast will be of course Tsiskaridse. Although I like two other Bolshoi principals too but Tsiskaridze as Solor is in a league of his own.
  19. Dear Solor, You can find an article about this new "Bayadere" written by a ballet historian Igor Stupnikov in the August issue of "Dancing Times" magazine, which is published in London.
  20. coda

    Photos

    Dear Danceon, try this website: http://www.bolshoi.net/stars/tsiskaridze/p.../photo-page.htm Start with "Raymonda", "Sheherazade", "Legend of Love", etc. Don't forget to click the red arrow on the right.
  21. There were 3 productions of "Spartacus" by the Bolshoi Ballet: 1958 - by Igor Moisseyev 1962 - by Leonid Yakobson [This production toured the USA in 1962] 1968 - by Yuri Grigorovich
  22. Dear Paul Parish, you wrote that you liked Walpurgisnachts and then: "I'm very impressed by Lavrovsky. The tiny snatches of his Spartacus I've seen intrigued me no end, and I admire his Romeo and Juliet beyond all others........" Which Lavrovsky you meant - father or son? If father, Leonid, then he never choreographed "Spartacus". If son, Mikhail, then he never staged "Romeo & Juliet". Perhaps, I misunderstood you?
  23. There is a recording of Fonteyn & Nureyev dancing a duet from "Gayaneh" in the TV film "The Perfect Partnership".
  24. In fact, there was a production where two different ballerinas danced Odette (Acts 2 and 4 as they were at that time) and Odile (Act 3). It happened in 1938, when Agrippina Vaganova choreographed for the Kirov Ballet her version of "Swan Lake" with Galina Ulanova as Odette and Olga Iordan as Odile, both pefectly suitable for those roles be the nature of their talent. However, Ulanova herself was not satisfied with this limitation of her presence in this ballet and later, in 1940s, when she already was with the Bolshoi, danced both Odette and Odile (as she did at the beginning of her career in 1929).
  25. About the "funny" Dying Swan. I had a great priviledge to sit next to Galina Ulanova, then in her 70s, when she was watching a video showing Pavlova's Dying Swan. My eyes were fixed more on Ulanova herself than on the screen. While she was watching Pavlova, her own shoulders, hands and neck were moving very slightly and gently if she was memorising the movements or may be she was just unable to sit motionless, having been herself such a striking Dying Swan in the past. Then we watched another Pavlova's recording - "A Night". After it finished Ulanova squeezed her hands and pressed them to her chest: she never spoke much. I asked her what she thought about Pavlova's knees which were not always straightened and her shoulders which were stooped sometimes. Ulanova said: "How can this matter?! Her whole body is dancing!" And she moved her body again in her own inimitable way. I always recall her words when people sometimes criticise a dancer for a slightly distorted 5th position or slightly bent knee but miss at the same time the greatness of his dance.
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