mnacenani

Good to know there are two of us on this forum !

REMINDER : COPPELIA WEBCAST COMING UP SUNDAY 10 JUNE ! The live cinecast of tomorrow's Coppelia will (should) also be livestreamed on the Bolshoy website under the videos tab http://media.bolshoi.ru/login (at upper right corner of home page) and maybe also on the Bolshoy YT page from 6 pm Moscow time (3 pm GMT). This livestream is usually georestricted to RF but can be received via VPN. Then it will be in archive under same tab from ca. 2 hours after performance ends till ca. 4 pm Moscow time on Monday - on last couple of occasions this was free-to-web. Casting info : https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/3333/roles/#20180610180000

Dear Gnossie : if you will excuse me, after seeing ballet in Russia since January 2015 I also believe that ballet over time has become and IS a Russian art form. There is a HUGE athletic and artistic chasm between what I see in Europe and Russia. Just a couple of recent examples I can quote : the "rising star" of the RB who replaced the injured Hallberg for the second act of Giselle whose entrechats petered out after 10 seconds (he had danced the role the week before !), last week's awful Bolshoy gala Don Kixot PdD by Pagliero-Heymann. OK, beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, and logistics could prevent most people from seeing ballet in Russia regularly, but if one can then there simply is "no contest". The quality of ballet at the Vaganova and Moscow graduation shows I find way above what one normally sees in London, or even Paris (if you can find any classical ballet to see !)

Heads Up : World Cup Gala Concert will be livecast by "Rassiya 1" channel from CET 20:35 (GMT 18:35) on Wednesday 13 June.

Some publicity : happy to see that my Moscow friend-cum-ballet-adviser Vita Khlopova (Moscow Academy graduate, former Moiseyev dancer, founder of "No Fixed Points" website, GITIS member, ballet juror and sought-for ballet lecturer) will be presenting the final paper at this conference : "Petipa in the Digital Epoch". She has been doing the lectures at Stasik this season - I first thought these were pre-performance talks but they turned out to be well-attended full lectures at one of Stasik's halls independent of what is on stage that evening. Naturally she agrees to disagree with most of my ultra-conservative-half-baked views !

Nothing is wrong ..... saw them twice in Diamonds last week and must say they presented a very elegant show, however much I dislike Balanchine (no drama). I am deeply honoured that my discovery of last year (patent pending !) has been chosen as the "brand ambassador" for the Bolshoi too - am sure she will do great !!

"Choreography: Vladimir Varnava of the Mariinsky Theatre; Music: Sergei Prokofiev’s Cinderella" ....... dear Buddy did you see Varnava's "Yaroslavna-The Eclipse" or any part thereof ?? I did, when Mezzo livecast the premiere, I mean the first fifteen minutes or so

Thank you so much ! Imho Aurelie can't do them very well in this video, and Novikova's execution was rather bad on both of these galas.

You took the words right out of my mouth ...... this really touched my heart !

The movement/steps I am referring to is at time 7:52 on this video - what is the proper term pleeease : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjk4e2yz2E

FLASH NEWS : Kuznetsova has reviewed the Bolshoy Petipa Gala in today's issue of Kommersant. Russian speakers please do post a resumé - I am dying to know whether we tally : https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3648769 Google translation - can be understood rather well : "On the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theater was a four-hour gala concert of world stars called "Dedication to Petipa," in which the 200-year-old was given an extremely modest place" Tatyana Kuznetsova reports : This gigantic gala of 19 numbers, compiled by the ballet hudruk of the Great Mahar Vaziev, was deprived not only of the similarity of the concept, but also of a hint of memoriality. Everyone danced: from the Western avant-garde to the Soviet classics. Everyone danced: from pioneers to pensioners. The French predominated (as compatriots of the jubilee), the soloists of the Mariinsky Theater (the main "house of Petipa") and the multi-stage artists of the Bolshoi - Khudruk Vaziev wished to show not only his leaders, but also his young nominees. The latter could be easily bailed out. So far, none of them have that peculiarity (let's not talk about charisma), which turns a strong soloist into a memorable ballerina. Charisma was different for pensioners. They ruled the ball. Etuales of the Paris Opera - 57-year-old Isabel Guérin and 54-year-old Manuel Legrie - with amazing subtlety and sense of proportion played two novels about the fateful love ("Rendezvous" Roland Petit and "Farewell Waltz" Patrick de Bana). As for technology, none of the eminent participants in the concert could boast of such an exquisite pas de burr as Geren, and such a rapid shena as that of Legri. From the same great generation and Alessandra Ferry - the world star, danced with Marcelo Gomez Christopher Wildon's "After the Rain." The beauty of perfectly trained legs and completeness of poses was combined with a wise femininity and languid eroticism: the love story of this 55-year-old woman seemed far more natural than the strainedly constructed, overly acrobatic relationship of the heroes of Natalya Osipova and Jason Kittelberger in the duet from the ballet "Qutb" Sidi Larbi Sherkaui. However, all these love stories, successful and not very much, as well as their authors who heavily dramatized the dance, categorically did not correspond to the artistic principles of Marius Petipa, the great master of harmonious ensembles and the separation of pantomime "flies" from dance "cutlets". However, the presented "classic" distorted the legacy. Adagio from the "white act" "Swan Lake" (in the choreography of Lev Ivanov), performed by Lucia Lacarra and Marlon Dino, looked weird. Not only because of the revised wording; The 43-year-old ballerina, who is in excellent shape, always strove to touch her forehead with her forehead while sloping into the arabesque, and with her hands launched such a shallow "watery" ripple that even her fingers fluttered. In the savage pas de deux from Don Quixote (the Nureyev editorial barbaric riddled the choreography of Alexander Gorsky) the most unsuccessful were the operas of Paris Opera Lyudmila Paliero and Matias Eiman. Only St. Petersburg Olesya Novikova and Leonid Sarafanov, past universities of Sergei Vikharev, danced the pas de deux from the Sleeping Beauty in his editorial office very delicately (however, there was also a stylistic puncture - a double assembly in the prince's variation). The grand pas marathon from Raymonda, whose Bolshoi artists performed in the entire Soviet splendor of Yuri Grigorovich's editions, was sweepingly and militarily, without burdening himself with the clarity of "little things" and long legs (although the leading couple, Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin, corresponded to the strictest classical standards). As a result, "Dedication to Petipa" was somewhat disrespectful to the classics. Twenty years ago, no one would have noticed: in those years, Russia had not yet thought about the authenticity of the performance, nor about the restoration of the choreography - it was considered normal to "perfect" the dance and staging the needs of the current moment and specific performers. However, at the turn of the century the Mariinsky Ballet - just during the time of the director's office there Mahar Vaziev - committed an artistic revolution: Sergei Vikharev presented his "Sleeping Beauty", recreating the appearance of the performance of the XIX century. Later, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Aleksey Ratmansky was carried away by restoration works, and his successor Yuri Burlaka also took pains. There are also quite scientific "Corsair", "Esmeralda", "Coppelia" and "Paquita" in the repertoire of the theater. None of these productions were presented in the jubilee gala: Mahar Vaziev seemed to have returned to the era when Petipa served as a canvas for free fantasies of "editors" and teachers - the public always approves of various technical innovations, revering stuntness virtuosity. So it turns out that the anniversary of "our whole" is celebrated only in America, where Alexei Ratmansky, armed with prerevolutionary records, reconstructed one of Marius Petipa's disappeared ballets - "Millions of Harlequin". The millions allocated by Russia for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the choreographer are spent, as we do, noisily, loudly, internationally. Now it is possible with a clear conscience to forget about the Russified Frenchman and his 19th century

SECOND NIGHT OF BOLSHOY "PETIPA GALA" Moscow Friday 1st June - Back to the Historic Stage for the second night of the Petipa-less "Petipa Gala". Opening number again "Diamonds" by Kovalyova and Tissi, the new faces or "Brand Ambassadors" of the Bolshoy - I have no complaints ! Princess Florine is danced by Denisova tonight vs Belikov's excellent Bluebird. If I hadn't enrolled in this forum I would not have known that there is a story to this piece - the choreo makes so much more sense to me now and I appreciate the execution more. The evening continues as scheduled with PdD from Nureyev, another from Le Parc, the Talisman gala piece by the same dancers as night before. When it came to the Mirror PdD from Onegin I tried to concentrate on Smirnova due to something I noticed the first night : what an excellent body line, excellent PdB, the upper body and arms flowing like they were liquid, she can put on when she wants or is required ! I say so because she is not the same when she dances Raymonda. Friedemann Vogel is obviously a good dancer but I think this piece calls for someone less boyish than Vogel, to characterise Onegin properly, my view. The Lacarra-Dino White Swan adagio is again excellent - it almost seems Lucia has no bones or has been implanted with bones made of a newly-formulated composite ! The PdD from Cherkaoui's "Qutb" is not worthy of mention but I would like to mention something about Osipova I only noticed the night before and concentrated on tonight : Natasha has enormous calf muscles which would make a junior sumo wrestler envious - it's just that they are not noticeable under a tutu and tights. She would have to, taking into account the laws of physics, to fly around as Silfida the way she does. In this piece she is wearing jeans rolled up to her knees making her very prominent calf muscles noticeable. No wonder my friends tease me saying I fall for "strong women" !! After Rendez-vous we come to the Don Q GP PdD by Pagliero-Heymann only. The PdD is sort of OK, Heymann a bit better tonight, as if he has been told what he put on the first night didn't get a pass. His first and second variations are good. Pagliero's first variation (fan) is good but the fouettee again doesn't get a pass, falls out of sync and again stops 4-5 counts early. Teryoshkina-Shklyarov start second half with excellent rendition of Balanchine's Tchaikovsky PdD : all the tricks of the trade done to perfection. Shklyarov head and shoulders above what can be seen in Europe - has magnificient elevation and tournes. Passing "Spiral Twist" and "After the Rain" (can be cut by 3/4 without being diminished in any way) brings up the Flames of Paris PdD and variations. Now : I paid special attention to Rita Shreiner on both nights since she trumped my nominee Hahlova for the Coppelia cinecast coming up. On the strength of what I have been able to learn about classical ballet over the last 4 years, and comparing her with her peers at the Bolshoy, I can say that Shreiner has excellent technique : excellent pointe work, jumps, hops-on-pointe, fouettee, under a warm happy face. So imho she is also well qualified to dance Coppelia at the livecast, we shall see. The Aurora-Desiree PdD (Vikharev recons) : Novikova and Sarafanov are known quantities, good dancers. I don't have the knowledge to comment on the steps Vikharev might have used, but would appreciate input from our learned membership on this issue : my choreo vocabulary is next to zilch, in this PdD Aurora has quite a number of "small vertical jumps with a scissors movement" - what is the proper term for these ? Whatever it is, she couldn't do them well on both nights which surprised me a bit. GP Classique : Park again very good on second night, Ovcharenko excellent as usual. Farewell Waltz ..... oh, a third person puts the razor into Legris's shirt pocket at the start, nothing else to discover ..... Isabelle looking very good. Followed by my consolation prize for going to the second night : the bedroom PdD from Manon, danced by Osipova and Shklyarov, which wasn't on the night before. I had seen these two in London in March (?) which was Volodya's debut in role. Excellent rendition by both dancers, I have longtime ago subscribed to the view that Macmillan is the master of the PdD .... really is. Tristan&Isolde duet danced by Zaharova-Labukhin : these pieces bring to my mind the story of "Emperor's New Clothes" ..... when someone asks you how you found it you feel compelled to say "Oh, wonderful, gorgeous .... such innovation and craftsmanship !" on pain of being branded an ignoramus ! I had seen the Bolshoy debut of Svetlana's "Amore" show two years ago and written that two out of the three pieces were trash - I was overjoyed when Clement Crisp wrote the same thing after its London debut last year. Final piece Grand Pas from Raymonda : a totally different, more rigid portrayal by Smirnova, as opposed to her Tatiana on both nights, maybe this is the norm. Shreiner very good also in the variation, the supporting corps-de-seize, all dancers we know by name very good, but again the PdQ by Chino, Alexeyev, Hromushin and Soares a bit ragged : imho this PdQ looks good when sync, symmetry and separation are perfect but nyet - has Raymonda been out for some time or something ?? Soares who had greatly impressed me at his Zloy Geniy debut two years ago couldn't make a perfect stop after his tournes more than once. Another discovery particular to this second evening : the Bolshoy ballet orchestra has a tall, very attractive "konzertmeisterin", ie leader - how do I know ?? By chance I was seated very close to her - at the Bolshoy as you may know the solo violin stands up to play the White Swan solo. (Yiyo zavut : Mila Hersonskaya)

Dear Volcanohunter ..... you "mauvaise langue" !! You wouldn't believe how many times this post of yours crossed my mind last evening at the Bolshoy. Easily the WORST so-called "Petipa Gala" I have been to anywhere, eg Mariinsky and Stasik. What is more, I found and bought a ticket for tonight's performance too before seeing last night's. Serves me right - one should not have got carried away by the names but paid attention to the program, especially after you highlighted it ...... never again ! It was a long evening, starting at 7 pm and ending ca 11:15 pm with one interval. Just imagine : the closing number was the Raymonda Grand Pas with Smirnova-Chudin plus 20 Bolshoy dancers by which time dozens of people in parter were fed up and had left ! The link to the programme in English is above somewhere - the evening started off with the Diamonds adagio danced by Kovalyova-Tissi : very elegant couple, am sure Alyona is on the way to stardom, Buddy would have loved this but I don't connect without some drama. Then the Bluebird-Florine PdD with Hahlova-Belikov, and Margot-Nureyev PdD from "Nureyev" with Kretova-Ovcharenko. I was surprised by the symphonic quality of Demutsky's composition : no memorable tune but does the job nicely. The choreo won't make my top ten but will probably see the full ballet sometime. Next came a PdD from Le Parc set to Mozart's concerto, danced by Kondaurova-Smikalov. I had found the full work unbearable but this bit is good, more "meaningful" than the whole. I think one problem with "contemporary" choreo is that many works are too long for what they are - something which can only be "tolerated" for 30 mins is pumped up into 2½ hours and it just doesn't float (eg Wheeldon). Following number Talisman PdD was danced by Stashkevich-Lapatin : good gala piece, the joyous waltz at the end wrapping it up very nicely (will only comment on execution which I thought was less than perfect). On to mirror PdD from Onegin (Smirnova-Vogel) - Olga had memorably flowing movement and PdB in this piece. It takes some nerve to come to the Bolshoy and put on the White Swan adagio when you are not the prima of a major company but basically a freelancer but my beloved Lacarra did just that and imho pulled it off - big sustained applause at the end. Danced with husband Dino - excellent execution, so flexible and pliable, like Makarova in her prime (imho). After this a PdD from Cherkaoui's "Qutb" was a shocker - to repulsive playback, Osipova in jeans partnered by Kittelberger (??). Why come all the way from London to dance this xxxxxx - have you got the Guillem syndrome or something ? A fitting title for this number could be "The Dream of Contortius" !! The next piece, a PdD from Petit's Rendez-vous was nice to see for me insofar as it enabled me to see Isabelle Guérin and Manuel Legris, dancers we knew from the Nineties. Can't even remember how the choreo went, except that Isabelle produced something which looked like a razor and slashed Manuel's throat at the end ! Isabelle's calf muscles looked fully in place - could she be taking class and/or still performing to some degree ? Now : if you are coming to the Bolshoy and putting on the Grand Pas from Don Kixot you better have what it takes, and sadly, in this case, Pagliero and Heymann didn't. I find Russian, especially Bolshoy's, male principals way superior to what I see in the West, and Heymann doesn't match up in execution. Pagliero was also not up to Bolshoy standards, her fouettees petering out and ending 4-5 counts short ..... but her Kitri tutu was gorgeous ! Thus ended the first half of this gala. Will try to be brief so as not to become as boring as last night's gala was : second half started with what was billed as "Tchaikovsky PdD" by Balanchine - a number of PdD and variations set to music from Swan Lake, excellently executed by Teryoshkina and Shklyarov. I think I know SL music fairly well and I thought not all the music used was for the White or Black swans, or from the same act - will appreciate input. Following number was Spiral Twist by Maliphant, one of the two standard gala pieces of Lacarra and Dino (the other one, Light Rain by Arpino set to oriental music I find more likeable). Again Lacarra very impressive but the choreo is "Dream of Contortius Strikes Back", what a waste of excellent talent. In turn followed by PdD from Wheeldon's After the Rain danced by Alessandra Ferri and Marcelo Gomes. I thought "cruel and inhuman punishment" meted out on spectators had been abolished....., anyway, Ferri at her age also sports impressive calf muscles - what's the trick ?? At last some things watchable : PdD & variations you know from Flames of Paris (Shreiner-Tsvirko), Aurora-Desiree PdD (Novikova-Sarafanov), Grand Pas Classique danced by Sae Eun Park (Paris ?) and Ovcharenko. First time I have seen Park : very good dancer, hops-on-pointe and fouettee perfectly executed. Then two numbers which proved to be the last straws for some people in parterre to throw their programmes in and leave : Patrick de Bana's Farewell Waltz danced by Guérin and Legris, a waste of time and energy (but Isabelle really looking good), and Tristan&Isolde PdD by Pastor with Zaharova and Labukhin ...... the exodus really speeded up during this. Which brought us to the finale : Grand Pas from Raymonda with Smirnova-Chudin, plus 4 men for the PdQ and 16-dancer strong CdB. Shreiner danced the variation - she is the only Coppelia I didn't see last month but on the strength of what I saw of her this night I think she can/will be good Coppelia on 10th June. The men's PdQ was sloppy, was much better done at the Mariinsky livestream of past Monday. I thought as a whole the Mariinsky GP looked better, to my eye at least. Phew ...... finally over !

Moscow, Tuesday 29th May : " Нам 245 Лет" (We Are 245 Years Old) was the title of tonight's graduation performance of the Moscow State Choreography Academy (МГАХ). The performance, in three acts, started off with a full rendition of Jardin Animé from Corsaire, starring Yelizaveta Yegorova as Medora and and Anastasia Dedikina as Gulnare. Yegorova is a young dancer in the Kovalyova mold, so there are more of them coming dear members . Her excellent jump impressed me as did her overall performance. Dedikina was very good too but I thought Yegorova had more presence. The staging was very impressive with the dancers and extras, all students of the Academy I presume, filling the huge stage of the Bolshoy to capacity. This was followed by the famous Medora-Conrad PdD danced by Yelizaveta Kokoreva and Denis Zaharov. I knew these names and faces but couldn't make out where I might have seen them - my companion thought we had seen them at the Stasik Petipa gala some weeks ago, will look up at home to see whether they are past graduates or not. The second part was a one act ballet (Ch. Miroshnichenko) to Chikofskiy's "Variations on a Rococo Theme" which in effect is a cello concerto. In addition to the ensembles this had two PdD danced by Aleksandra Trikoz-Igor Gorelkin and Yelizaveta Kokoreva-Denis Zaharov, and a PdT danced by Nikita Oparin-Nastya Dedikina-Mark Chino, this last one being last year's Moscow Competition prizewinner and current Bolshoy dancer. If I hadn't looked at the program, as a novichok I would have thought this was Balanchine - it was soooo similar to what I know of Balanchine. Good spectacle but doesn't touch my heart ! The third act started with the waltz from Sleeping Beauty (the tempo was soo s..l..o..w that I almost fell asleep) followed by the Rose Adagio with Stefaniya Gashtarska dancing Aurora. Then we had a PdD from Tshetnaya (FMG to you) : Trikoz was very likeable, again partnered by Gorelkin. Third number was Danse des Forbans from Corsaire, followed by Aurora-Desirée PdD danced by Yegorova and Chino. Imho Yegorova who greatly impressed me by her performance as Medora needs to work on her Aurora : my amateur eye saw room for improvement in her PdB. Chino shows why he was signed by Bolshoy : perfect tournes-en-l'air, impeccable stops ! Then came the "Dance with Drum" from Bayadere, followed by the pas-de-six from Esmeralda : title role was danced by Polina Afanasyeva and Gringoire by Dmitriy Smilevski. Esmeralda I don't know whatsoever and need to read about and see it. Last number of the evening was the Hungarian Dance from Raymonda, the leading couple danced by Anastasiya Baluda and Mark Orlov. Baluda I thought had great presence and am sure we are going to see her in one of the more important troupes. It's so nice to see these graduation shows, both here in Moscow and in Peterburg, accompanied by the full Bolshoy and Mariinsky orchestras - must be delightful for the students too as it is for the audience. Regrettably I will not be able to see the Vaganova shows in Peterburg or Moscow this year since they are smack in the middle of the football world cup run. There are two weeks to go before kick-off but even now Moscow is unbearable - hordes of tourists at the airport and in the city centre ...... awful ! Hoping to report on the first night of the "World Ballet Stars - Homage to Petipa" show tomorrow - Da Svidaniya ! Curtain calls video : https://flic.kr/p/27BkGe9 PS : seems Moscow Academy students are regularly taking stage at ballets at the Balshoy and Stasik, so we must have seen Kokoreva-Zaharov at Stasik. Have a look at the info on Moscow Academy website : http://balletacademy.ru/postuplenie/information-for-international-students/news-events/performances/

Bolshoy has now posted the May 31st/June 1st gala program in English (pdf file at following link) : https://www.bolshoi.ru/upload/medialibrary/0ce/0ce92a73ccc41b46051dbe8754593b88.pdf

Are you referring to Henrietta ??

Receiving it in Istanbul in HD and Dolby Digital Stereo (ie can be processed into Virtual Surround). This Abderakhman is in love with not Raymonda but Henrietta !! Credits : https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2018/5/28/1_1900 PS - those who missed the livestream can see it on Arte Concert until 27th November : https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/082954-000-A/raymonda-de-marius-petipa-au-theatre-mariinsky/

After looking for it for quite some time (not shown on Arte TV programs for today) found it on Arte Concert France website. The German website is not streaming this so it will most probably be restricted to France : https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/082954-000-A/raymonda-de-marius-petipa-au-theatre-mariinsky/

Kovalyova and Tissi to represent the Bolshoi at the perennial "Bolshoi Ballet" TV show ! (many thanks to Gnossie for this info)

УРААА !!

AT LONG LAST !! From Berlin Ballet email of today : "The era of Nacho Duato at the Staatsballett Berlin comes to an end this summer. We can look back on a memorable and intense four-year incumbency involving international guest performances, the enlargement and rejuvenation of the repertoire and numerous world premieres, for the Staatsballett. We are grateful for the path we have trodden together and for the part played by Nacho Duato in the expansion of our horizons! Thank you, adiós and farewell" ....... Muchas Gracias !!

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Dear Laurent you are right - my ballet historian/lecturer friend in Moscow has confirmed your info, sending a link to an article by Burlaka which appeared in the Vaganova journal last year : (Grand Pas from ballet "Paquita" and Grand Pas "Lively Garden" from ballet "Corsaire" : Comparative Analysis). I am posting the link for the benefit of our Russian-speaking members : http://vaganov.elpub.ru/jour/article/viewFile/397/389

If I remember correctly Ratmansky did the choreo for the Jardin Animé - am checking immediately !

Probably same reason why Malakhov didn't have one : too expensive ! (between you and me : Peterburg Dance Open closing gala is also on my blacklist due to no orchestra)