Marc Haegeman

The Kirov's Svetlana Zakharova has been doing extremely well for herself in the last months, succesfully appearing as a guest artist with several companies (Rio, Paris, Munich and Tokyo among others). This time she and Igor Kolb will perform "The Sleeping Beauty" at the Opera of Rome, Italy (February 22 and 23). The choreography is by Paul Chalmer, after Petipa, of course.

Viktoria Tereshkina graduated last year from the Vaganova Academy, class of Marina Vasilieva (whose most illustrious pupil to date is Yulia Makhalina).

Doesn't this idea of the Bolshoi adopting Ashton's "Fille" fit in the now common tendency of Russian companies to try to please western audiences before everything else? "See, we can dance the great western choreographers too!" Let's not forget also that the Russians have their own version(s) of "Fille" (Gorsky). Good point about the opera's Alymer - after all, the "sick" Bolshoi brought Russian repertoire and was praised for it, the "healthy" Kirov brought "a tribute to Verdi" and was severely criticized.

A.M. thanks for the impressions of the last night. However, you weren't lucky to see Gumerova in the final Corsaire pas de deux, as you actually saw Svetlana Zakharova . I wouldn't call her performance "nice", but that's only personal. At least it was danced with much more authority than Gumerova in the previous performances, and if you warm for Zakharova's crooked shapes and mannerisms, than you might have had some pleasure watching her. I agree about Semionov, he is a fine soloist, but his partnering is shaking all over and there is absolutely no trace of any personality on stage. (But then again, I guess, what more can you expect from somebody of his age?) And you're right, basically he is miscast in this role. Zhelonkina was magnificent in Harlequinade and Korsakov did some good jumps. Also a great moment thanks to Lopatkina whose Black Swan became a Dying Swan . The Kirov Ballet will be guesting for three weeks at the Chatelet in Paris next year.

Igor Kolb landed badly after a jump in his variation in "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" and had to be replaced on the spot by Anton Korsakov still in costume for "Carnival in Venice". In any case Kolb won't be dancing anymore in Versailles and there will be no more "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" as apparently he was the only one around who danced it. Tonight is the final performance starting with "Serenade", followed by a divertissement consisting of Manon, Harlequinade, Black Swan Pas de Deux, Middle Duet, Don Quixote and Corsaire Pas de Deux. Semionov is certainly a promising dancer, especially on his own, but he is in my opinion still too young (19) and inexperienced to be highlighted as a soloist in a killer number like "Le Corsaire" Pas de deux (his partnering has a long a way to go). (NO7, in London he danced Lankedem not Ali).

That's what the program book says. Vishneva, Dumchenko, Nioradze, Ruzimatov, Fadeev, are not in Versailles and Kolb got himself injured the day before yesterday. Yesterday's program was quite interesting because of two rarely seen pieces: the concert version of "Middle Duet" by Ratmansky, excellently danced by Sologub and Baimuradov; and the Pas de Quatre danced by Part, Gumerova, Tarassova and Zhelonkina. We also had "Corsaire" pas de deux again with Dmitry Semionov who danced it even better than the night before and Gumerova who was even worse than the night before. The evening almost fell completely apart with a poor man's "Don Quixote" pas de deux, danced by Batalov who is definitely off form, and Golub whose presence among these soloists is still a mystery. The opening "Chopiniana" led by Ayupova and Baranov was, however, a thrill.

Not many Kirov ballerinas have their own website, so Kirov aficionados should have a look at Irma Nioradze's brand new site. http://www.irmanioradze.ru (Unfortunately only in Russian.) [ 06-27-2001: Message edited by: Marc Haegeman ]

She IS durable, Jane , but you are right, Irma Nioradze was seriously considering going home at some point last week. [ 06-24-2001: Message edited by: Marc Haegeman ]

Never spend a fortune on a Kirov dancer, Sylvia, not even a small one. They'll ruin you ;). Check out this page for info about the dancers: http://www.mariinsky.spb.ru/eng/ballet/soloists.html or try http://users.skynet.be/ballet-lovers/

Good point, Alexandra. It's not because companies refrain from internationalizing that they preserve their style. The Kirov Ballet is a case in point: they don't accept foreigners (unless one considers non-Vaganova-trained dancers foreigners, of course), yet they loose their style, simply because they don't care for it. I'm also thinking of this review from Igor Stupnkikov about Diana Vishneva's Mariinsky debut as Nikiya: "Vishneva seemed to be a guest star, very aloof and arrogant as if she did not belong to this ballet brotherhood but came from some celestial sphere to surprise, to conquer, to enrapture." And this girl is considered to be the "face of the Mariinsky Ballet". Yet I doubt very much that they are the ones who will save the company.

Shame that the Kirov men aren't as durable, so they wouldn't have to "import" Bolshoi dancers. Considering how well they like Bolshoi dancers, I hope they don't give Tsiskaridze too much of a rough time.

Dancersteven, there are detailed daily reports about the Moscow competition posted on: http://www.mmv.ru/p/ballet/ Unfortunately (so to speak) only in Russian. There is also a site about the competition: http://www.russianballet.ru/competition/about.htm Again only in Russian.

Alexandra, yes she is. She has to be, too ;)Nobody ever mentions or seems to care for her; she's hardly publicized, yet she's always there (except last year of course, due to maternity leave) and she has more to offer than many others.

Wendy, yes they will be more expensive, especially in the beginning. But I guess that's what every video collector eventually wants: a machine that plays AND records, in order to replace all the old tapes (some job !) and to continue the collection. In any case, if you don't want to wait, best is to buy a multistandard player, otherwise you are limited to discs sold in your region. Also, check out the websites of the main companies of electronics.

Nioradze will replace Asylmuratova on 21 June - if nothing changes before it happens, of course. [ 06-13-2001: Message edited by: Marc Haegeman ]

Wendy, my advice would be to wait a little more. DVD recorders are on their way (this summer, as some say). Once these machines become commercially available and affordable, the days of videotapes are numbered.

I totally agree with this attribution problem (I guess the 19th century ballet composers suffer the same problem - Adam, Minkus, Drigo and the likes, the attributions often turn out to be inaccurate). Former Kirov soloist Kirill Melnikov once suggested to set up a Petipa Trust in order to protect his work. Yet (thinking about what the Mariinsky had recently done), almost with the same breath he didn’t consider it a good idea to go all the way back to the original "Beauty", disapproving not so much of having "the original steps", I guess, but more of all that goes along with it and which, in his opinion, makes it look old-fashioned (mime, costumes, head dresses). I am all for reconstructing the original (in music as in ballet) and I have enormous admiration for people working on it. But not the way the Mariinsky has handled the reconstruction of Petipa’s "Sleeping Beauty". Far too much of: "We have the notations and we could have changed that too, but we still preferred to keep the other variation" and all that. Sorry no, that’s a museum of candles and oil lamps, advertising in neon. If you decide to go back to the original and you possess the proper sources, means and knowledge, then you have to go all the way through with it, otherwise it falls between chairs and still isn't what it pretends to be. And if you can re-produce everything as it was originally done, then I would like to see it performed as it was originally performed. Not just the steps, also the style and the aesthetics of the time. This will demand extra research, but only then we will have our 5th Symphony as Beethoven intended it.

I totally agree with this attribution problem (I guess the 19th century ballet composers suffer the same problem - Adam, Minkus, Drigo and the likes, the attributions often turn out to be inaccurate). Former Kirov soloist Kirill Melnikov once suggested to set up a Petipa Trust in order to protect his work. Yet (thinking about what the Mariinsky had recently done), almost with the same breath he didn’t consider it a good idea to go all the way back to the original "Beauty", disapproving not so much of having "the original steps", I guess, but more of all that goes along with it and which, in his opinion, makes it look old-fashioned (mime, costumes, head dresses). I am all for reconstructing the original (in music as in ballet) and I have enormous admiration for people working on it. But not the way the Mariinsky has handled the reconstruction of Petipa’s "Sleeping Beauty". Far too much of: "We have the notations and we could have changed that too, but we still preferred to keep the other variation" and all that. Sorry no, that’s a museum of candles and oil lamps, advertising in neon. If you decide to go back to the original and you possess the proper sources, means and knowledge, then you have to go all the way through with it, otherwise it falls between chairs and still isn't what it pretends to be. And if you can re-produce everything as it was originally done, then I would like to see it performed as it was originally performed. Not just the steps, also the style and the aesthetics of the time. This will demand extra research, but only then we will have our 5th Symphony as Beethoven intended it.

Doug and Dale, the choreography of the revived "Paquita" is indeed a reconstruction 'in the style of' by Lacotte. Except for two variations from Mazilier in the first act and the Petipa additions (the Grand Pas and the pas de trois) the choreography is Lacotte's. I assume that this quest for the "original" in ballet is mostly a recent one and not shared by everybody. [ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: Marc Haegeman ]

Doug and Dale, the choreography of the revived "Paquita" is indeed a reconstruction 'in the style of' by Lacotte. Except for two variations from Mazilier in the first act and the Petipa additions (the Grand Pas and the pas de trois) the choreography is Lacotte's. I assume that this quest for the "original" in ballet is mostly a recent one and not shared by everybody. [ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: Marc Haegeman ]

Things have changed considerably in the Mariinsky Theatre where ballet conductors are seemingly supposed to play concerts from the pit instead of accompanying a ballet. Born ballet conductors like Viktor Fedotov, who conducted without score, are out of fashion. The conductors of today hardly watch the stage, they just play the music, and usually too fast for comfort. When during a rehearsal a dancer stops in the middle of a solo because of some mistake or accident, it sometimes takes ages before the conductor realizes that nobody is dancing, simply because he is with his nose in the score. Titov and Noseda are notorious cases, but none worse than Maestro Gergiev himself. He is a great conductor and you're in for a wonderful musical experience, but it’s also sheer nightmare for the dancers when he tries ballet. Not only conductors, also orchestras can be mean and can deliberately play "bad" to ruin the performance of a dancer. The Mariinsky Orchestra is a notorious case in point. Once in a "Don Quixote" pas de deux during the fouettés half of the orchestra played a bar behind the rest. It was total chaos but the band kept on playing, as if nothing happened.

James, Nureyev declared in interviews that he indeed wanted to reconstruct the 4th act of "La Bayadère". He wanted a real big finale with the destruction of the Rajah's palace. Allegedly there was a disagreement with the set designer Ezio Frigerio, who thought it was too expensive and too difficult to realize. So, no destruction, no 4th act. I guess you can get some idea what Nureyev had in mind by watching the versions of Makarova (which version Nureyev didn't particularly like, mainly because of all her editing) and Patrice Bart for Munich (who actually reduced it to two acts or four scenes). Personally I don't find any of the two very convincing. The reconstructed scenes lack the weight and impact of the previous ones, not to mention the choreography (Especially when you want to say something after the unsurpassed Shades act, you need to be another Petipa, I guess). Don't forget to tell us what you think of Svetlana Zakharova in "Beauty", James ;)

James, Nureyev declared in interviews that he indeed wanted to reconstruct the 4th act of "La Bayadère". He wanted a real big finale with the destruction of the Rajah's palace. Allegedly there was a disagreement with the set designer Ezio Frigerio, who thought it was too expensive and too difficult to realize. So, no destruction, no 4th act. I guess you can get some idea what Nureyev had in mind by watching the versions of Makarova (which version Nureyev didn't particularly like, mainly because of all her editing) and Patrice Bart for Munich (who actually reduced it to two acts or four scenes). Personally I don't find any of the two very convincing. The reconstructed scenes lack the weight and impact of the previous ones, not to mention the choreography (Especially when you want to say something after the unsurpassed Shades act, you need to be another Petipa, I guess). Don't forget to tell us what you think of Svetlana Zakharova in "Beauty", James ;)

On the Russian site "World of Dance" which usually only features Russian contributions, there is now an interesting account in English on Galina Ulanova's Giselle. The accompanying photos are especially worth mentioning as they render some of the magic of one of the great interpreters of the role. http://www.mmv.ru/p/ballet/ulgisel.htm At the same time I would like to mention the pages (biography and photos) about another legendary Russian ballerina Marina Semyonova (who will be 93 next week), which I put up at the For Ballet Lovers Only site http://users.skynet.be/ballet-lovers/List1.html. [edited to make the latter link clickable] [ 06-02-2001: Message edited by: alexandra ]

Lovebird, as far as I am aware, Maximova never danced with Stuttgart Ballet and she never did "Taming of the Shrew" either.