Marc Haegeman

Azulynn, Osipova is listed as a member of the corps de ballet on the Bolshoi website http://www.bolshoi.ru/ru/theatre/ballet_troupe/cdballet/ (in Russian).

Lezhnina's variation was included in a TV broadcast of the "Swan Lake" film, but later edited for commercial release because there was a problem with the synchronization between the dancer and the playback tape, especially at the beginning of the variation.

Of course it is, Herman. It was commissioned by the boss.

Nora, "Great Dancers of our time" is a German production featuring three dancers working in Germany. Russian star and Berlin State Ballet intendant Vladimir Malakhov can be seen in a pas de deux from MacMillan’s Manon (with Mariinsky star Diana Vishneva), in Voyage from Zanella and in Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose (with Nadja Saidakova). Spanish Lucia Lacarra, now with Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, dances the White Swan adagio and the variation from Swan Lake, as well as a duet from Lady of the Camelias by Caniparoli (both with Cyril Pierre). Japanese Kiyoko Kimura, first soloist with Leipzig Ballet, features in choreographies by Uwe Scholz (with Christoph Böhm). The presentation is rather bleak, with little or no sets, and not taken from actual performance. If you like any of these dancers (the dance fragments are interspersed with short interviews), you will certainly enjoy this. Others will ponder about the relative meaning of "greatness".

Interview with Kirill Melnikov, Pankova's husband : Melnikov interview They basically all left for the same reason: they didn't have anything to do, or at least felt so....

They could have used some local students, though, as the Mariinsky sometimes does on tour.

Sounds like you had the touring version (surprise!). Back home they have plenty of tiny cupids, and even have a special number for them in the final act.

Thank you all, for your kind words.

Yeah, I agree, it's a cruel world (big sigh). But, hey, this is only a showing room and if you are really that keen on them, you are always welcome to contact the photographer

Some more photos of Obraztsova in Romeo and Juliet on: http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/Romeo_Mariinsky.html Enjoy!

Funnily enough, the Kirov showed the Soviet-era Bayadere in London recently, but used to sets from the new/old production. So we were back in that rocky sci-fi landscape for the Shades Act, although the lighting used was much colder than it was in the new/old version. A curious mix which didn't really work. The costumes were the ones always used in the Soviet version.

Of course, Jane, you're right. Unless one considers the blue leg-warmers also mysterious for "Ballet Imperial" :blush: . No jewelry, no makeup. These shots were done at the "dress rehearsal".

Choices are getting harder here . Lunkina won't disappoint in any of the roles and Phrygia is a splendid role for Antonicheva.

If I were able to choose from the casts on offer, I'd take Alexandrova in Don Q, and Klevtsov, Lunkina, Volchkov, Allash (a fair quartet) in Spartacus.

They released a Sylphide with Dupont and Ganio. No chance they will release any other, no matter how many they may have in their archives - these are not intended for commercial release anyway.

I see your point, but can we really go back to the time when the audience was "pointe-innocent"? We have seen so much pointe work that we now consider it a quite normal part of ballet language. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We don't really need to go back to anything, do we? The Bournonville version doesn't have the girls on pointe and it's considered "normal" there. It's great to have this DVD-release of the POB, but it's a shame it wasn't filmed a few years earlier when we could have had Elisabeth Platel or Monique Loudières in the title role and Manuel Legris as James. I remember when this film was shot, last summer, the company wasn't in its best form.

It seems they are considering DVD releases as a "next project". Don't know when, though. The closing night gala of the Festival was broadcasted live on Danish TV, but that's it for now. I don't think the Bournonville School double-DVD is available outside the theatre on Kongens Nytorv.

Not to mention the institutions for the German-speaking part of the country.

We're bound to get a full-scale kindergarten treatment again in London - with lots and lots of debuts and second-timers. At £ 85 per night, it can't get any better. Gumerova and Sologub won't be there. Pavlenko is unsure. So yes, Natalia, you might be right about Swan Lake.

Bart, I realize our Belgian situation is for any foreigner hard, if not impossible to understand, but it is still a fact that Belgium has been cut in two because of several problems of which the language is only the most obvious one. Cultural matters in Belgium are now ruled by the respective governments and parliaments of this country, basically Flemish and Walloon. The Royal Ballet of Flanders is the only surviving ballet company in our country. We used to have a company in the French-speaking part of the country, but that disappeared because of lack of funds and interest, and Viviane is right to point out that a similar danger continually lurks for Flanders. Contemporary dance with its marvellous, mind-blowing ambassadors of the calibre of De Keersmaker, Fabre, or Ultima Vez is trendy and cool (although those who think so, often leave in mid-performance); classical ballet still defended by the RB of Flanders is considered past and gone food for oldtimers. Bennetts is surely right to talk about a gap, but I'm curious how she will make ends meet.

Thanks Viviane, I haven't seen the interview. Does Bennetts elaborate on that one-sided view that the public seems to have here? What exactly does she mean by it?

The Royal Ballet of Flanders announced its schedule for the 2005/2006 season, the first under new director Kathryn Bennets. - Perfect Gems, October 6: "In The Night" (Robbins), "The Grey Area" (Dawson), "Theme and Variations" (Balanchine). - "Impressing the Czar", December 1 (Forsythe). - Dynamic Dances, February 16: a creation by Douglas Lee, "Revelry" (Hill), "Ancient Airs and Dances" (Tanner). - Uncontainable, April 20: project for young up-and-coming choreographers. - The Sleeping Beauty (Haydée, after Petipa). Dutch company Introdans will guest in October with ballets by Hans van Manen and Nils Christe. Some notes: where it is required a "real" orchestra will provide musical support - a relief, something we haven't seen happening for quite some time in this company. Re performing venues: A much better use of differing theatres has been made and not everything is relegated to the tiny home-theatre of the company. "The Sleeping Beauty" staged by Robert Denvers after Nureyev's version some five years ago seems to have been dumped in favor of Haydée's. We might regret being harsh on the old Denvers production, after all... :mellow:

I enjoyed it a lot. It made the company look good - they obviously enjoyed it as well. The ballet has been received very well, for a large part also because not many thought the Bolshoi capable of pulling off a comedy. Even in Paris it made a triumph. I wonder how American eyes will see it

US TOUR, July-August 2005: Metropolitan Opera New York, Wolf Trap, Orange County. Metropolitan Opera House, New York, July 18-30, 2005: 14 performances, featuring the North American premieres of The Bright Stream and The Pharaoh’s Daughter, as well as performances of Don Quixote and Spartacus. Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA, August 5-6, 2005: 2 performances of Don Quixote. Orange County Perf Arts Center, Segerstrom Hall, Costa Mesa, CA, August 9-14, 2005: 3 performances of The Bright Stream and 4 of Spartacus. More on For Ballet Lovers Only

Sad news from Moscow with the death of Raisa Struchkova (79) on May 2, one of the leading ballerinas of the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1950-60's and a teacher and coach of great repute (Maximova, Ananiashvili, Goriacheva, were among her pupils). Being part of the generation of artists who came with the first visits of the Bolshoi to the West in the fifties, she helped define in many ways the image of that company. She is best remembered for her virtuoso pas de deux like the Moszkowsky Waltz, but was also one of the finest interpreters in the Soviet dram-ballets. Cinderella, one of her signature roles, has been preserved on video. Some photos on For Ballet Lovers Only.