Marc Haegeman

A friend of mine compared the opening scene to the paintings by Bosch. Doesn't seem to have been that far from the truth. Thanks for the wonderful review, NO7

Quite so, Alexandra, but I meant within the tradition of the Maryinsky. Ideas like this are indeed most common. But that a guy with ideas like this is actually given carte blanche by the director of the Maryinsky Theatre and allowed to replace a pillar of the Kirov's repertory (not to mention the School) since the 1930s by his own experiments, is thought-provoking. There used to be a Maly Theater or other venues for creations like this. Strange that he doesn't mention anything about Ratmansky, the choreographer who was originally commissioned for the project. [This message has been edited by Marc Haegeman (edited February 11, 2001).]

Mikhail Shemyakin talks about his new Nutcracker for the Maryinsky (soon to be premiered) in the Moscow Times. I posted this link here, since I considered it rather "thought-provoking". http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001.../02/09/102.html [This message has been edited by Marc Haegeman (edited February 10, 2001).]

Estelle, the pas de deux with Arbo/Belarbi and Ananiashvili/Belarbi were filmed in 1992 in an open air Gala performance on the Red Square in Moscow. As performances they are indeed quite appalling, but considering the venue one has to be somewhat lenient, I guess. I’m sorry, but I really don’t see much resemblance between Larissa Lezhnina and Elisabeth Maurin, not in physical appearance, even less in performance style.

When I interviewed Isabelle Guérin last December she mentioned she will be going to the USA (her husband is American) after her retirement, although she doesn't have any definite engagements yet. She said she lives a bit from day to day and didn’t conceal her regret of having to leave the Opera at 40. Of course she will continue performing. The idea of becoming a full-time teacher doesn't exactly appeal to her. At that time there still wasn't anything planned for her official adieux (!!). The "Romeo and Juliets" at the end of this season would be the obvious choice for her farewell performance, but she doesn't like the idea of having to bow out in the Bastille opera. I agree, Estelle, re Kader Belarbi. He was also very impressive as Lescaut in "l'Histoire de Manon". Videos can be rather cruel, that's true.

Isabelle Guérin didn't imply for one second that French dancers don't have an accent, because that would be denying her own individuality and that of her school - which is quite unimaginable for a French étoile! She is only saying that, to her mind, the French training is more neutral, more basic (without as Alexandra said “the decorative” aspect), remaining much closer to the manuals than the others (which is not to say that French graduates are dancing without an accent.) Dancers of the School of American Ballet do indeed acquire the Balanchinian style (Guérin even gave that same example); graduates of the Ecole de danse de l’Opera acquire a base which easily allows them to mould their bodies to different styles. Guérin has a point there of course, as very few companies have dancers who are commanding such a variety of choreographic styles as the Paris Opera Ballet. Just a thought re these nationalities. Many Maryinsky principals are now dancing like Sylvie Guillem clones – has nothing to do with nationality, it’s just fashion, and in the end coaching and discipline.

It was interesting that Isabelle Guérin, étoile of the French Opera Ballet, in a recent conversation described the training at the French Opera School not as acquiring or adapting to a "style", but rather as acquiring a firm "base" which allows the dancers to approach and absorb various choreographic styles with ease. Good to hear from Ms. Levene that Balanchine and MacMillan are now considered "adventurous repertoire". Do we still have to believe that the Russians till recently danced nothing else but Petipa ? Surely the same steps are executed with different accents by different companies, although I think this is more the result of coaching and discipline in the company than it has anything to do with nationalities. The comparison of Balanchine's "Jewels" as recently performed by the Kirov Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet shows that quite well.

So much attention for only a "second-rate composer", Ed? Hmm, very interesting May I ask why you are not considering Tchaikovsky's symphonies (and does that affect the other symphonic works, like the ouvertures, the symphonic poems, as well?) Anyway, thanks for the discussion. (Try to find that old recording once of "Onegin" from the Bolshoi in 1948 with one of Russia's greatest tenors Ivan Kozlovsky as Lensky; conductor Alexander Orlov. It is available on CD).

That’s of course an entirely different matter, and a fundamental mistake in my opinion, happening constantly in the Kirov: as soon as a new artist is showing some promise, he or she is supposed to be dancing the big roles. Pavlenko is surely a gifted dancer doing great as Florine or in "Chopiniana", but that doesn’t imply that she is ready for tackling "Swan Lake" or "Raymonda". The results of those hasty tryouts are often disappointing and can be detrimental for the rest of the career, especially when everything has to be ready and prepared in no time.

I agree with that. Daria Pavlenko is great in classical roles. She looks to me as one of the more interesting artists of the new generation at the Maryinsky. A beautiful plastique, a lovely quality of movement and she really can make things come alive, which is quite rare nowadays. Interesting to note that Pavlenko is coached by Gabriella Komleva.

Jack, Yes, Super-VHS is used in all the color standards.

Terry, you'll definitely need a multi-standard video player (and, eventually, TV). PAL, SECAM, NTSC are different color standards. PAL is used in Western Europe (except France where they have SECAM). Eastern Europe uses ME-SECAM, yet another type of SECAM. Japan and USA have different versions of NTSC. French SECAM can be played on PAL videos, although you'll only get a black and white reproduction. NTSC is indeed completely different. But don't worry, with a good multi-standard video machine you can play/record almost any sort of tape you want.

I don’t have any problem in finding my Scarlett: Diana Vishneva. She once confessed to love GWTW and was charmed by the fact that people thought she had something of Scarlett in her. Here's your Scarlett !

(Completely off-topic), Dirac - Rysanek was apparently always producing those particular sounds, even when she sang the agonizing old countess in Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades"...

The French adore "Manon". And they know how to bring it, too. You only have to see how Paris Opera Ballet tackles this ballet to be convinced of that. I just like to point out that it's not only "little ballerinas" with "fragile techniques" who are enthousiastic about it, unless Guillem, Guérin, Asylmuratova and the like belong to that category of course (not to mention somebody like Manuel Legris who considers Des Grieux his favorite role). At least they seem to find something worthwile in this ballet.

James, I have never seen Volochkova in the role. She was scheduled to dance it with the Kirov in the 1997 London-tour, but due to some misunderstanding that never happened.

James, of course Asylmuratova is an interesting Giselle, simply because she is an interesting ballerina. Which doesn’t necessarily imply that she should be the “best” Giselle around, whoever that may be. For that (and going from a Kirov performance in 1997) I found her too sophisticated and refined in the first Act (even the hairstyle was all wrong), actually more sophisticated than her Albrecht and most of the noblemen. Her encounter with Bathilde became in that respect a rather curious and unwarranted scene. It seems to be a trend in this company to accept from the principals a large extent of freedom in style and approach. That may all be very interesting but in many cases it simply misses its goal and in no way enhances the romantic quality a ballet like Giselle still demands. However, that said, dramatically and emotionally it was still a thrilling performance (not to mention her dancing), with the character fully worked out and with subtle dramatic links between both acts: not many Giselles make in the 1st Act such clear references to their fate in the 2nd, and very few show such profound human feelings in the 2nd. And what was lacking in stylistic sensitivity in the 1st Act, was made good by an exemplary 2nd Act.

Exactly Guy, that’s just my point, if you think of your Giselle as one who continually has to lift her leg behind her ear, than Sveta Zakharova may well be your perfect Giselle... Personally, I prefer dancers with some more stylistical sensitivity and feeling for the piece.

Isn't the “perfect Giselle” the Giselle who appears closest to one’s own image of what this role should be? This might explain why there can indeed be many different perfect Giselles. Anyway, I think, too, that Loudières was an outstanding Giselle. Her 2nd Act was breathtaking by the image of weightlessness (very well partnered for the occasion by Laurent Hilaire.) BTW, Loudières is also very fond of Mats Ek’s version and once said that dancing it helped to change her interpretation of the traditional ballet. Well, good for her. Elisabeth Platel was another great Giselle. Alexandra, I don’t think Maximova has ever been a perfect Giselle for any generation. It just wasn’t her cup of tea. She was pushed into the role by Ulanova, but never really got into it. She remained too much of the joyful girl. Natalia Bessmertnova of the Bolshoi was considered far more the ideal Giselle, and (as I was told) Elena Evteyeva of the Kirov as well. Of the younger Russians I found the Kirov’s Maya Dumchenko (with returned apologies to Leigh ) by far the most convincing, emotionally and choreographically, but again it all depends of what you want to see in Giselle.

Strange that this is mentioned, since Gergiev already formed an artistic board for the ballet way back in January 1997, consisting of among others Asylmuratova, Zelensky, Belsky, Makarov, and headed by Gergiev himself. The question is perhaps will it function this time? [This message has been edited by Marc Haegeman (edited June 02, 2000).]

Shame that Petipa never created a ballet called "Wotan's Daughter" or "Valkyrie Lake". These would surely have been great art, even today. And we would have got our money's worth in time spent at the theater, providing that they were unedited of course .

Returning a bit to the original topic, doesn't it sound surprising to anybody that one of the complaints was about the endless tours? We all know that the Kirov Ballet is continually on tour, but on the other hand soloists shouldn't be complaining about that, since it means money for them. Any comments on that?

Isabelle Fokine “working” with the Kirov corps de ballet was a rather funny, but in the end unfortunate piece of film, because it made both parties look like fools and it made people believe that this is the usual way of working in the Kirov – heaven forbid. Let’s put it this way. If you have been dancing a certain piece for ages and all of the sudden somebody appears in front of you, declaring: “Sorry girls, you were wrong all the time, starting today I’m gonna tell you how it should be done, because I am the granddaughter of the great Fokine and I’m the only person who knows how” (even if I don’t speak his language), I don’t think you would buy that so easily either. Besides, it wasn’t even anything “new”, it was just another reading/interpretation - you know, I say tomato, you say tomahto - and it wouldn’t have “extended” them in any way.

Yes, Dale, Zelensky likes “Apollo”. He also once declared in a 1997 Daily Telegraph-interview by Ismene Brown, that dancing Albrecht in “Giselle” doesn’t “inspire” him. When asked for his opinion about performing classical ballets, Zelensky answered: “You just don’t look human in those classic stories. When my grandmother sees me do a prince she says, ‘What on earth’s going on there on stage, why are you doing this with your legs, why don’t you have a name?’ And it’s true. You look like another world. Classic ballet is like space, full of aliens. I prefer to do more real stories, Manon or Romeo and Juliet.” All this sounds pretty ominous to me… (or never trust your grandma )

I don't think either that the complaint about the choice of repertoire was the main problem in this whole affair. Although (as has been already discussed here once on this board), it seems to be true that some dancers are less then happy with the increase of works by Mr. B. (no matter what they state in public). And once again, it is not necessarily because it is Balanchine (some of them like Petit or Béjart as much, for that matter ), it is because they feel their own repertoire (Petipa and many of the usually despised Soviet choreographers) is neglected. Some of these young dancers still need and want to develop in their own repertoire, which is really in their blood (to use Kirill Melnikov's wonderful line), before they want to pay attention to other choreographies. Ann, I'm sorry, but are you suggesting now that a ballet company needs new works or does not need works? The Kirov needs Balanchine to develop, you say; but you also imply that NYCB has enough with Balanchine only and doesn't need to develop by acquiring other choreographies!? Or maybe you consider Balanchine the universal miracle-choreographer of all times . As shocking as it may sound to you, but it does occur that dancers consider a ballet like "Apollo" an unbearable, dated bore. Ilya, I don't know about Moscow "Commercial Daily" being online. "Dancing Times" has a site although I fear it hasn't been updated in ages and it never contained all the printed articles anyway. Ilya, Farukh Ruzimatov and Makhar Vaziev were buddies and do you remember that in 1995 they were BOTH named co-director (deputy, or whatever the exact title was) by Oleg Vinogradov? So, what's left of that? Right!