mnacenani

9 hours ago, MadameP said:

Shurale ... I love it.  It makes me feel happy every time I see it.

I always try to see two different casts of a ballet if I can, on same day if possible, and was set up for it for Shurale. Feeling rather unwell after the matinee decided to play safe and gave away my ticket for the evening, sad eventuality. Can't afford to take too many risks - at my age they don't even give one travel insurance cover ! 

Just in case anyone is not familiar with "Shurale" I have found a 32 minute run-through in reasonably good quality. To make sense of it one has to read the synopsis under the link at my opening post above. The spectacular (imho) 3rd act starts at 20:02

All threads eventually lead to Yulya Stepanova  😱😱

12 hours ago, Quinten said:

Has anybody actually seen Lopatin in  a live performance?  Is he as wonderful as they say?

Must have seen Lapatin in some supporting roles at the Balshoy but have to look up. However I remember seeing him at the gala on 22Oct16 when he and Hahlova danced the opening number Talisman PdD and the video of this is on Dailymotion :

http://www.mezzo.tv/en/our-programs/les_contes_dhoffmann_doffenbach_a_lopera_de_montecarlo?date=2018-01-31

Mezzo Live HD sat/cable channel will livecast direct from Monte Carlo tonight. Olga to sing ALL four roles !! Starts 8 pm CET = 7 pm GMT

9 minutes ago, JMcN said:

I saw it on 15th April 1989 and have never wanted to see it again!  (So I haven't).

So the SL I had seen in Jan 1990 and again in May 1993 must have been this production. I am a little confused - I don't remember much but I thought that what I had seen in Jan 1990 was a new production staged first time that season, and that the costumes were done by a famous designer.  Well, I might just be making things up ........ AS USUAL 

Sunday 13th May :  Ballet Gala in honour of Svetlana Adyrkhaeva - certainly worth considering for more than one reason .....   As a newcomer I get to see dancers I would otherwise not be seeing at all

Sunday 27th May and Tuesday 29th May :  Moscow Ballet Academy Graduation Performance.  Last year this one and the Vaganova graduation performance was well worth seeing, esp the Vaganova rendition of Paxita Act 3.

Thursday 31st May :  "World Ballet Stars Gala" ....... now what could this be ??  Never saw any such billing during my past three years of tracking the Bolshoy ...... "Live and Learn" as the Russians say !

18 minutes ago, Laurent said:

In an informal gala, by the way, an artiste with established artistic credentials is allowed all sorts of freedoms, essentially is allowed to do whatever she pleases.

Sorry, cannot accept any such thing, certainly not in front of a paying audience - there is something wrong here. Can one ever imagine, say Zaharova or Krysanova not showing their best in any gala they take part in ?? There should be respect for the paying audience, the dancer cannot, should not say "these are amateurs and tourists and won't notice or care".

8 hours ago, MadameP said:

There is no such thing as a ballerina who never makes a technical mistake,

Sure thing, even Zaharova is not millisecond-perfect at times. But if by chance you have seen a certain dancer in 3 galas within 2 months, and she danced the same Medora-Ali PdD in all three, and failed to execute a proper "32 fouettées" on all three occasions ???  Don't worry, I will not name any names, wouldn't you also acquire a negative outlook ? My simplistic logic goes like :  either get your 32 fouettées in shape, or get something else as your showpiece !!

31 minutes ago, Mashinka said:

I agree with others posting here, Diamonds is by far her best role of what I've seen.

I feel duty bound to wade into this discussion, disregarding my limited knowledge and well proven vulgar tastes. I saw and reported on both Bolshoy galas on 22-23 October 2016 and on both evenings Smirnova and Chudin danced the Grand Pas Classique as the closing number. On both evenings they stole the show and got BIG applause from the house - I certainly thought it was well deserved. Video of the first evening is still available on Dailymotion (in addition to other videos from these galas) and I would appreciate hearing from the members who discussed above their technique regarding what they think of this GPC : 

1 hour ago, Mashinka said:

The tragedy was that the previous version was wonderful and there was no reason to ditch it.

I had seen a RB production of Swan Lake with Guillem and Legris in (I think) 1993 which was very good (with costumes by Valentino or something). This must have been the "previous version" you have referred to.

Yet another deconstructed-and-reconstructed classic is in the offing it seems ..... no escape these days whether be it opera, ballet or food ..... the end is nigh :

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/how-choreographer-liam-scarlett-is-reimagining-swan-lake

(in my early teens when I was a student at an English school in Istanbul one of our teachers, when he didn't think the answer he got in reply to his question made sense, used to say " rubbish ..... tripe ..... balderdash !!"  Can't figure out why this came to my mind now .....)

1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

Sometimes the musculature of her thighs seems to rival that of some of her male partners.

Nyet prablyem !  Her stage presence and excellent technique for me far outweigh any less than perfect form she may have. I have seen a prima or two who have perfect form but failed to execute the "32 fouettées" properly on more than one occasion .....

Photo by kind permission of Ms. Shakirova - please do not post elsewhere.

(continued>)  The synopsis and detailed production history can be found under the link on the opening post above. Shurale looks like nothing I have seen before - I have neither seen the Firebird nor do I know its plot well so up to our seasoned members to input any effect it may have had on Shurale. I found the choreo of the bird-maidens in first act delicate and evocative, possibly drawing inspiration from Swan Lake from time to time. Has Shurale the character been modelled after Rothbart or Kashchei - again for others to say. The second act opens in somewhat surprising fashion with maybe well over 100 dancers and extras on stage - the junior classes of Vaganova were out in force. The dances enacting local customs were nice to watch. Shakirova and Timofeyev fitted their respective bills very well - am told they are offstage "partnyors" as well. I have a soft spot for Renata ever since seeing her as Kitri shortly after her debut in role in 2015 - such a radiant and warm artist who becomes the character rather than impersonating it.

The rather short third act is eventful from almost the start, with the hero setting fire to Shurale's lair and the forest going up in flames with such realistic effects that one would not be surprised if the fire crew suddenly rushed the stage and started dousing the scenery. The "fire" dies down when our bird-maiden refuses to abandon her beloved and they live happily ever after. Imho a one-of-a-kind creation which should be taken at least once and then as required. The music is "film music" - not memorable but does the job. If you read the production history you'll be surprised that under those conditions putting it all together was some achievement.

Feeling rather unwell and afraid of going down with flu I did not go to the evening performance and gave away my ticket to a friend. Cast was Shirinkina-Yermakov-Sergeyev.

Have a small surprise up my sleeve - if I can manage to "manage" Flickr !

Casting and production info : https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2018/1/28/1_1300

Thanks to Mariinsky posting ballet scheduling in hotchpotch fashion and single daily flight by TK out of Istanbul I ended up with tickets for both the mat and eve performances on this date. Matinee was Shakirova's Shurale debut as Syuimbike so rather unmissable - excellent Tatar dancer in a Tatar fairy tale. After seeing the original version of Spartak at Mariinsky a couple of years ago I wanted to learn a bit more about Yakabson (continued below>)

"Balshoye Spasiba" to Cubanmiamiboy and all other contributors for this thread - has been most interesting and informative for me. Am in Spb to see Yakabson's "Shurale" and saw this version of SL with Soboleva-Lebedev last evening. Agree that the iconic cygnets PdQ turned into a PdS is really weird - if it ain't broke why fix it ???  Don't really like this version of the finale either :  "Red Baron von Rothbart shot down ... wing breaks off, goes into a spin and crashes !"  Hope you will not find me "conceited" but after seeing SL at the Bolshoy 4 or 5 times in last 3 years with Zaharova/Smirnova/Nikulina and Rodkin/Chudin, getting accustomed to the precision of the dancers and the CdB I did not click with this SL. Imho Swan Lake is a ballet which very quickly lays bare the difference in the "quality" of the dancers and the CdB, especially the latter. Of the various version I have seen so far I found the Bolshoy Grigarovich and the Stanislavsky Burmeister versions most noteworthy, will certainly make a dedicated trip to see the Burmeister again.

4 hours ago, canbelto said:

At no point does Alexandrova ever push anyone. She looks to be at her usual place in the barre. Her purple outfit seems like the typical ballet class outfit

Well documented by the video, imho. What a character ...... unmistakeable anywhere anytime. If I can find an effective "Elisir di Gioventu" I will go propose to her ! 

48 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Zakharova, yes. Most definitely vulgar.

So ashamed to find out day after day that I have vulgar tastes  ..... maybe not surprising considering I took to ballet at 65+   Vulgar or not, I love Sveta's 6-o-clock high extensions ..... can go see her in the Don Kixot Grand Pas five nights in a row ..... I mean it !  Just look again at this video which you must have seen umpteen times :

34 minutes ago, Fleurdelis said:

I believe the fashion for high extensions was introduced by Sylvie Guillem,

Yes - she was famous for "touching her ear" with her pointe !  Regrettably I saw very little of Guillem at the ROH during the early Nineties, just a couple of times. As she defected to "contemptable choreo" Guillem is a counter-revolutionary and an enemy of the people and should be sent to the gulag !!

5 hours ago, Buddy said:

I guess I’ve always leaned slightly towards the Mariinsky, Helene. It’s simply my love for the more delicate and dreamlike.

Where I come from we have little regard for "the more delicate and dreamlike" so its no wonder I have become attached to the Bolshoy and Alexandrova !  .  As Osmin famously puts it at the start of Act 2 Scene 1 of "Abduction from the Seraglio" : "Tenderness ??  Compliments ???  Which devil put that stuff in your head ?? Here we are in T..... and things go by a different tone !" 

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

The Bolshoi having a dash of vulgarity and inelegance is nothing new.

Do excuse my ignorance but if what I have been seeing at the Bolshoy over the last three years had "a dash of vulgarity and inelegance" ..... I loved it, couldn't get enough !  To my mind Bolshoy ballet is alive and exciting and full of spirit in a way I fail to detect at the Mariinsky, maybe my shortcoming.

3 minutes ago, Fleurdelis said:

railing against vulgarity while at the same time hailing Alexandrova is as much of a contradiction as there can be.

Now my heart is broken .....   don't you dare "vulgarise" my beloved Masha !!    Joking aside, I really think Masha is an excellent dancer and a "character" - the moment she walks out on stage, or is in a crowd somewhere, or taking class on World Ballet Day there is no mistaking her for anyone else.