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MadameP

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Posts posted by MadameP

  1. 1 minute ago, Fleurdelis said:

     

    They do now :-P

     

    Yes, I understand what you are saying, but all the same, the Vaganova graduates do NOT represent what is what most people perceive as being the Bolshoi style.  Bolshoi style is dead in that case. It's very sad.   

  2. 6 hours ago, Fleurdelis said:

     

    Not to worry. The Moscow style will be coming back in with the Vaganova newbies from now on, courtesy of Professor Tsiskaridze.

     

    ???  But ... Vaganova newbies do not represent the Moscow style.

  3. The following  announcement has been made by Vaganova.  

     

    С прискорбием сообщаем, что выпускница Академии 2015 г., Карина Солдатова умерла после тяжёлой болезни, с которой упорно боролась.
    Соболезнуем родным и близким Карины и благодарим всех, кто откликался на призыв о помощи ей.

     

    We regret to inform you that graduate of the Academy of 2015, Karina Soldatova died after a serious illness, with which she fought hard.
    We condole with relatives and friends of Karina and thank all those who responded to the call for help to her.

     

    This is so very sad ... that lovely girl ... What a tragedy ... Prayers for her family... 

     

     

  4. 18 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

     

    .... I'm offended that Vaziev, who was a mediocre dancer at best, wields this sort of control over the careers of artists who are vastly more talented than he ever was. And while he may downplay the differences between the Bolshoi and post-Kirov styles because it suits his interests, I weep for the (not-so-gradual) brushing aside of the Moscow style for Vaziev's aesthetic preferences (which I find grotesque).

     

    I too am sad to see the Moscow style diluted, and understand your point about "mediocre" Vaziev wielding great control over careers of dancers more talented than him, BUT ... in comparison with the completely non-existent dance talent and career of Yuri Fateev at Mariinsky, Vaziev would quality as a genius of dance ... 

  5. 4 hours ago, mnacenani said:

     

    Had sort of written Stepanova off after seeing her botch the Medora fouttees on two consecutive nights at Malakhov&Friends

    galas last year. It was also reported that she was not able to execute a perfect fouettee at her Medora debut at the Bolshoy

    earlier this year. But she does have a following among our senior members and I have been persuaded that Stepanova merits

    a closer look, as I have not yet seen her in a full classic. I saw Smirnova live three times last season as Nikiya, Aurora and Ode/Odi

    and have no doubt she is a great dancer. Now, everything going according to plan, I will see both Stepanova and Smirnova as

    Medora on 18-19 October which will give me the chance to compare and size up Stepanova. Hope to post my takes in due time.

     

    I seem to be saying the same thing over and over - but I have seen Stepanova in almost every role she dances, live in Russia and in the UK, and many times executing perfect fouettes, and given the award she has just won, her technical and artistic excellence is seen by others at Bolshoi also.  

  6. 9 hours ago, Birdsall said:

    I disagree about Stepanova. I have seen her do fouettes perfectly in person at the Mariinsky when she was a coryphee no less. And I have seen her in all of her Bolshoi roles in alternative ways and never saw a problem, so far. I will have to go back and check. However, thank you for the report about Kovalyova. I think the ballet world is actually watching her and wondering if she is destined for greatness.

     

    Agreed.  I have seen Stepanova execute fouettes perfectly many times, both in Russia and in her UK performances.   As for Alyona, she's a beautiful, tall, elegant girl with exquisite lines and she is only 18 years old - I love seeing these young dancers given a chance.  God bless her, and good luck to her in her career!  

  7. I like elements of both Mariinsky and Royal Ballet versions.  Like Birdsall, I don't mind the jester per se, and I do think the Mariinsky Swan Lake is the finest in the world, unbelievable beautiful and poetic, and with the most outstanding dancers in the world and the best corps.  The corps alone is worth the price of the ticket with their beauty,  refinement, unanimity and eloquence - a huge tribute to the greatness of their talent and dedication,  Vaganova training and their wonderful coaches.   Their epaulement is beyond beautiful!  However, I too miss the mime scenes which are such an integral part of the storytelling and I also prefer the sad suicide ending with yes, agree Mashinka, Siegfried and Odette gliding away into a better world.  To me, the "fight" between Rothbart and Siegfried always appears somewhat ludicrous with apparently the loss of one wing causing his death.  I think Tchaikovsky's music is far more appropriately portrayed with the apotheosis of the lovers after death...  Well, we can argue until the cows come home about authenticity but overall, if I could choose ONE Swan Lake to see, it would still be the Mariinsky's!  :)

  8. 3 hours ago, Birdsall said:

    I knew Matvienko wasn't Vaganova trained. I think she is from Kiev or something. You might know exactly. I like her at times like as Gamzatti, and I think she is better as Odile. I guess I can understand why people view her as "grumpy," but I tend to view it more like a spicy personality who doesn't play victim or at least damsel in distress or soft/sweet very easily. I don't dislike her, and think I might actually like her in another company or in certain roles, but I do expect more flowing arms and daintiness in a Mariinsky dancer in Swan Lake.

     

    The Opera Tavern near the opera house has amazing tapas dishes! 

     

    LOL!  Love tapas!  Hope you enjoyed Stonehenge!  Yes, Matvienko is Kiev trained and that's where she started her career.  I agree she is better as Odile and her arms definitely cannot compare with those of Vaganova graduates,  but they have definitely improved since she has been at the Mariinsky.  She is extremely pretty though - she has a lovely face! - and she has a really fabulous jump, although Odette/Odile does not need a jumper!  She's better in some roles than others, but I agree, she's not a soft, sweet dancer.  

  9. I too went to the Osmolkina/Latypov Swan Lake matinee this afternoon.  Osmolkina was wonderful.  She has a unaffected, clean technique that is pure Vaganova textbook, with nothing of the vulgar or mannered about it.  Her gorgeously expressive arms and ease/flow of movement were evident throughout her beautiful white swan acts.  She is also very feminine and appealing in her acting with those big vulnerable eyes.   She was partnered by Ernest Latypov, who  does look extremely young and sweet, but despite his extreme thinness, partnered Osmolkina well, including all the high lifts.  Hard to imagine such a gentle looking Odette could turn into an evil manipulative Odile, but Osmolkina did just that.  Her Odile variation was also superb with beautifully controlled attitude turns, and the sequence of 32 fouettes was performed easily, finishing with a triple. She had great rapport with the seductively evil Rothbart of Konstantin Zverev, another outstanding Siegfried in his own right, when the current management allows him to dance the role.   The prince's friends pd3 showed the best male dancing of the evening with the elegant classicism of FIlipp Stepin.  I saw him dance Siegfried with Osmolkina in St Petersburg, and he is an outstanding actor as well as technician, and today he was dancing with all his customary beauty of line and precision of technique. ,  Both newly promoted Nadezhda Batoeva and Renata Shakirova were on sparkling form.  Batoeva's diagonale of entrechat6 de vole was spectacular.  Both these girls were also excellent as the two swans in the final act.  Grigory Popov as the jester, who could probably perform this role in his sleep he so often gets cast, was also on form with very nice grande pirouette and particularly good acting.  Anastasia Petushkova was also outstanding in the Spanish dance - she really should be a principal character dancer, she just has the fire and passion for so many character roles.  There is always so much to admire in Mariinsky Swan Lakes, and of course the corps, led by Ksenia Ostreikovskaya, was magnificent as always, with its uniformity of movement and exquisite epaulement.  I have to say though, that the show belonged to Osmolkina - what a refined eloquent ballerina she is.  Rightly she was greatly applauded at the end.   Fabulous performance!  

  10. On 7/26/2017 at 6:46 AM, Drew said:

    Thanks for the review. I got a special pleasure from what you wrote about Ivannikova, as I have quite enjoyed her dancing in secondary/solo roles the couple of times I have seen her dance.

     

    I have only seen Batoeva dance one solo live--though I've watched quite a bit of her on youtube. I think my first choice of leading role to see her dance might be Aurora--but Kitri would be right up there too! In the event, I'm looking forward to her Gamzatti in D.C. -- for the pure classical dancing especially as I can't quite picture her as a villainess.

     

     

     

    Nadia was a wonderful Aurora in her debut, but she was superb in everything I have ever seen her dance in.  If ever there was a well deserved promotion to 1st soloist, this was certainly it.  Nadia has lovely clean technique, is a superb actress and also very beautiful girl.   If you get a chance to see her in ANYthing - GO!!! 

  11. On 7/26/2017 at 11:21 AM, Natalia said:

    Batoeva brings the biggest excitement to the announced Kennedy Center casting (week of Bayaderes next October). Fingers crossed that the casting sticks. If things shuffle and I end up with yet another Gamzatti by "Ms Grumpy," I'll scream.

     

    Who is Ms Grumpy?!  

  12. Well, I've just finished reading this thread and all I can say is, it seems a very good thing to me that this miscast, inadequately rehearsed ballet with content of a sexually explicit nature in whatever context, to the extent that apparently some greatly respected dancers refused to perform it, with what frankly I consider horrible choreographer, was taken off.  Good riddance.  Why can't Bolshoi spend its money on a reconstruction or one of the great ballets in its repertoire that are not in production at the moment?  

  13. Novikova's Nikiya debut this season was miraculous - what a great shame that America will not see this.  It was shamefully overdue.  She and Alina Somova for me are the best Mariinsky Nikiyas now.  Nadia Batoeva is an excellent Gamzatti - she is wonderful in everything she dances - but Mariinsky have several outstanding Gamzattis at the moment.  Fateev's casting for overseas tours as usual leaves a great deal to be desired.  

  14. Yevgeny Konovalov is now a coryphee.  He is a former Vaganova student of Selyutsky,  with good arms and elevation who has nice princely presence and good partnering skills - he's danced Bluebird, James and many small solo roles recently.    Congratulations to him!

  15. 32 minutes ago, Natalia said:

     

    Is the USA's Oscar Frame among them? I know Oscar from DC's Kirov Academy so am extra curious about his progress.  

     

    Yes, Oscar Frame is going to Bolshoi as well as Geraschenko and Sevenard.   He is British incidentally, not American.  He trained at the Hampton Academy in the UK before winning a scholarship to the Kirov Academy in 2011 and then transferred to Vaganova in St Petersburg in 2016.  

     

     

  16. 30 minutes ago, Natalia said:

    Gorgeous work! My kind of contemporary ballet...lovely expressive movements to lovely music, women on pointe, gorgeous flowing dresses on the women (girls are girls - boys are boys), a true star in Kondaurova, a new strong partner in Beliakov (still so young when Lopatkina chose him as a partner...says a lot), likeable corps, etc.

     

    A heck of a happier experience than I recently had with Justin Peck's ugly mess, The Times Are Racing, for NYCB!!! Send Ilya Zhivoi to NY.

    That's exactly what I thought, too, Natalia, except no - leave Zhivoi at Mariinsky!  

  17. On 6/21/2017 at 11:23 AM, Deflope said:

    These competitions are an opportunity to get noticed by other, bigger companies. Joy has made no secret of wanting to leave the Kremlin Ballet but so far, there doesn't seem to have been any suitable offers. 

     

    Possibly that is because she is lucky to have the position she does have.  

  18. I really enjoyed The Four Seasons - I don't find any need to over-think what it all meant!  I enjoyed it very much for what it was, including the played around with Vivaldi music.  I  thought both Kondaurova and Belyakov were excellent technically, expressive and all the corps dancers equally charming and all dancing well - and they were all MT corps members, so a special mention for Andrei Arseniev.  It was just all very easy on the eye and feel-good.   I liked it very much.  

  19. I saw today on the Russian side of the Mariinsky website the following announcement.

     

    Мариинский театр официально объявляет поклонникам таланта прима-балерины театра Ульяны Лопаткиной, что она сообщила о завершении своей танцевальной карьеры.

     

    Here is the google translation:

     

    Ulyana Lopatkina announced the completion of the dance career
    The Mariinsky Theater officially announces to the fans of the talent of the prima ballerina of the Ulyana Lopatkina Theater that she announced the completion of her dance career.

     

    This is very sad news for me and for all her millions of fans worldwide, everyone who ever saw her dance, whether live on stage or on television or video.  She was a wonderful ballerina, a true Vaganova ballerina with textbook, correct technique, the most exquisite floating lyrical quality and astonishingly beautiful arms.   She had had an operation on her hip earlier this year, but for the last few years her dancing performances had become fewer and fewer, but always exquisite.  I feel privileged to have seen her throughout her career.  I remember the first time I saw her was as Nikiya at the Royal Opera House, when she was in her early 20s.  We all marvelled at her slender limbs, since she was a type of ballerina we had never seen before.  Towards the end of her career I was so lucky to see her on the Mariinsky stage as Odette-Odile, Nikiya, Giselle, Tsar Maiden and other roles.  I loved watching her.  I am very sad at this news, but also grateful for having seen her and God Bless her and give her a long and happy life.  

     

     

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