MadameP

Buddy, are you saying you went to sleep while Kondaurova was dancing? Surely she was not that boring?! 😄

So wonderful to hear how much Svetlana Ivanova is still appreciated! I completely agree! She is a wonderful ballerina, and I have many times seen her leading out the 32 shades. She absolutely deserves this honour and responsibility. Her adagio work is exquisite.

I looked through my 2017 Paquita programme, which was lavishly illustrated and had many interviews, and there was an interview with Yuri Burlaka about his staging of the grand pas. He was specifically asked about the male variation, as follows: Petipa didn't include a male variation in his Grand pas, will you? I will, using the music by Drigo, once written for the ballet The Vestal Virgin featuring Enrico Cecchetti. This particular variation was staged by Vladimir Ponomarev and shown to me by my teacher Pyotr Pestov who, in turn, learnt it from his teacher Nikolai Tarasov. I already used this variation in one of Esmeralda productions, because extant male variations are quite scarce in the end. The variation I used for the Bolshoi version of the Grand pas was created by Leonid Lavrovsky.

With regard to the variation danced by Andres in Act 3, I went to the premiere of this production (Tereshkina/Askerov/Evseeva) in St Petersburg in March 2017 and have just checked my programme. It states that the male variation has "Music by Riccardo Drigo for the variation performed by Enrico Cecchetti in the ballet The Vestal Virgin."

Vladimir Shklyarov has just announced on instagram the promotion of his wife, Maria Shirinkina, to First Soloist! FINALLY!!! She is one of my favourites!

Vladimir Shklyarov has just announced on Instagram that his wife, Maria Shirinkina, has just been promoted to First Soloist!!! I am so happy for this lovely, lyrical, expressive ballerina!

Personally, I like Smekalov's choreography for both Bronze Horseman and Paquita and think it's great that MT gives him these opportunities to choreograph! OK, can't resist posting this, which is one of my favourites of his. "Parting"

Iliushkina is also fabulous in this variation.

I read the above reviews with interest, having seen Paquita several times in St Petersburg, with varying casts. I enjoyed it very much! Of course, it has Spanish and gypsy flavoured choreography, being set in Spain! I don't think the opening cast was the best though, Askerov not being renowned for his acting, so maybe that is why sparks did not fly and I like Batoeva best of the Paquitas! Of course, it's personal, and, personally, I think the choreography by Smekalov IS a success; I like the choreography for the friends, and loved the dramatic role of Carducha, as danced by Shakirova and Bulanova, both fabulous actresses and dancers. Maria Shirinkina is a lovely Christine. I also like the pd3 placed in Act 2, as someone mentioned above. The whole of the grand pas IS spectacular with the opportunity to see many soloists in some rarely seen variations. I do agree though, that the prison scene does not work - the first time I saw it, it took me a while to realise that the centre of the stage marked a dividing line and I was wondering why the dancers apparently couldn't see each other! LOL! Maybe I can tolerate the dancing horse more, being British where we have the tradition of the pantomime cow, but the St Petersburg audiences certainly love that horse also!

Both Somova and Novikova are wonderful Auroras (I've seen both at Mariinsky) so I don't think you can go wrong. Both ballerinas are fine actresses and I think Somova has wonderful arms. Personally I still give the edge to Novikova as Aurora, since her interpretation is unique every time, but I love both. The VIkharev production is a beauty - retaining the whole of the gorgeous Panorama as well as the important scene with the spindle girls. Askerov is a better partner than Parish, although, as you say, not as handsome.

Maria Ilyushkina was promoted to Coryphee today.

This has finally made it to the Bolshoi website where the roster has been updated with these dancers in their new ranks!

Alyona is promoted to Leading Soloist according to the Bolshoi website. Numerous other promotions are also listed.

Selina has long been a second soloist.

Two promotions at Mariinsky Theatre today. Anastasia Nuikina and Victor Caixeta are both promoted to Second Soloist, bypassing the Coryphee rank.

Yesterday I saw the matinee performance of Eleonora Sevenard and Artem Belyakov in Don Quixote. This was a good performance from a ballerina who is only 20 years old and it was her London debut in the role, although she has danced it in Moscow. She has all the technique necessary for the role and certainly will grow into her characterisation - she has good footwork, high jump and excellent turns. Not only that, but she had all the aplomb necessary - if she had nerves, I didn't see a sign of them. Her Dulcinea in particular was warm, gracious and flowing, and her sequence of fouettes in the grand pas was outstanding - all doubles and a triple to finish (she did veer slightly to one side at the end, but still it was a fabulous sequence of turns.) Her acting was fair - not outstanding, but I think her interpretation will grow! Belyakov partnered her extremely well - no problems with the one handed lifts, the second of which they held on for what seemed like an eternity, much to the vocal audience's delight. He also was very funny in the "mock suicide" scene. His acting throughout was excellent - this role really suits him and he responded to every situation naturally. It never seemed like acting! His exceptional height made all his jumps look breathtaking and he combined elegance with virtuosity. This was a lovely pairing and the audience plainly enjoyed their performance. Also excellent were sparkling Daria Khokhlova as one of the Friends and Daria Bochkova, who danced the first grand pas variation - beautifully fleeting and light across the stage. Oxana Sharova's gypsy was powerful too and Maria Mishina very charming as the Amor, and with great elevation on her entrechats.

The problem is one of practicalities! I've seen Tissi have problems lifting Alyona and from an aesthetic point of view, I do think the lines are better if the ballerina en pointe is shorter than the man!

Kovalyova needs a tall partner, an exceptionally tall partner. Much as I like Tissi, with his elegance and beautiful lines, he is not tall enough for Kovalyova, just as Ovcharenko is not tall enough for Stepanova.

Yes, she graduated in 1996. As well as as being a coryphee at Mariinsky Theatre, she also teaches at Vaganova.

Yes, those are roles she typically dances. Ivanova does still dance Juliet's friend occasionally, and the Young Lady in Young Lady and the Hooligan, both of which I have been fortunate to see. Her Young Lady is THE Young Lady of all for me - pure, refined, gentle and touching. So moving! I do not know when MT last performed this ballet outside Russia - certainly not recently - but it is a wonderful dramatic ballet with the most beautiful music.

The same uploader also put up a concert performance of her pd2 from Act 2 of Giselle - beautiful arms and head.

Buried Mariinsky treasure... Four videos have recently appeared on YouTube, showing a very young Svetlana Ivanova in what I believe was her only performance as Aurora. What a lovely performance and at her very young age, too. Ivanova is mostly seen these days as first shade or swan, little bayadere and other coryphee roles. She is a wonderful example to all corps dancers, but it is so sad that she still is only a coryphee. She has the most exquisite adagio and beautiful Vaganova technique. These days she only dances a few roles - notably Juliet's companion, the Young Lady in Young Lady and the Hooligan, and Diana in The Awakening of Flora (where I honestly thought she was the best ballerina on the stage) but she has been woefully underused. She rehearsed Giselle some years back, and danced the pd2, but injury prevented her from performing the full length role. She should be dancing Aurora today. I am so grateful to the uploader for at least this glimpse of her Aurora!

Both lovely girls! I hope Khiteeva gets fast tracked like some others have been! She has the most beautiful arms. What a wonderful Aurora she would be!

It has been so sad watching the news footage of this - such an extraordinary , historic and iconic building. I remember so clearly walking around that beautiful interior and then climbing up to the roof to see the gargoyles up close. I can only imagine how awful it must feel for the Parisians to see it in ruins. But at least much HAS been saved - God bless those brave firefighters for that! - and how wonderful that so much money has already been pledged to restore it.