mnacenani

October 2, 2017

1 hour ago, Helene said:

I remember in The Turning Point where Anne Bancroft's character

What a great movie this was/is ! Will try to find the dvd when I get home tonight and watch it again.

Re remuneration of dancers : at the time of the Bolshoy Filin acid incident it was said/written that the bad blood resulted

from Filin not casting Dmitrichenko's then "partnyor" Vorontsova (currently principal at Mixailovskiy) leaving her skint, as

at the time dancers did not have a salary and were paid on piecework.

October 2, 2017

16 minutes ago, Mashinka said:

MacMillan had his own personal take on the ballet, particularly the character of Juliet and his R&J isn't strictly Shakespeare's as in my view he has coarsened the story, not least with the superfluous 'harlots'. What is lost is the poetry and the Lavrovsky version has that in abundance.

BRAVA ! :clapping: Will try to send this quote to Hanna Weibye if I can find her email address. Does anyone have it ??

October 2, 2017

6 hours ago, Fraildove said:

Just some thoughts, not trying to admonish anyone else’s motivation for seeing ballet. Goodness knows we need more people to grow an interest in the art form!

Dear Fraildove many thanks for taking the time to express your views - I appreciate it. I am aware of my shortcomings, at least of some of them,

and having "idées fixes" about certain things is one ! In an earlier post about a different subject which you probably did not see I diagnosed myself

as having "obsessive compulsive personality disorder" Yes - I should take it as it comes and not try to cherry-pick casts I keep telling myself,

to little avail so far. But when one of my ballet friends suggests I should see something or someone I always I try to accomodate, and I am thankful

to my friend Katya for suggesting I go and see Novikova. And if I can I try to see two different casts of the same work whenever I can at the Balshoy,

to compare characterisation and execution : one time I saw both the matinee and evening perf's of Don Kixot to compare Krysanova and Zaharova

as Kitri, surprising my ballet tutor Vita who is a pro. Am going to see two nights of Korsar in two weeks to compare Stepanova and Smirnova, I hope !

Alas, I have not been able to see Genya Obr. at all in a major role - I think she was out for all of the previous season. Saw her last at the Dance Open

closing gala in Piter last April and she was not very good, got "polite applause" only. Was supposed to see her in Etudes on Saturday but had to give up

to see Alesya as Juliet. Will be trying to catch Genya in a Petipa classic this season.

I know what you mean about being drained - I saw Diana more than once in this condition at the curtain calls after dancing Juliet, looking totally

drained and in a trance. She also gives everything she has to the viewers, to mesmerising effect.

October 1, 2017

3 hours ago, Drew said:

I remember thinking Lavrosky captured a much more textured, socially complex version of Shakespeare's play than one finds in other settings of the score, and those qualities in the staging seemed to fill out the music more effectively than those other versions.

At this point I would like to bring something up for discussion : I attach utmost importance to the "book" in a stage work including ballet, which for me

has to have a universal, timeless and geo-unrestricted story and must be able to convey the story and affect the viewer via dance only. And I have utmost

admiration for the efforts of Lavrovsky and Prokofiev who produced a work which will live for ever. But then, there is a quite critical flaw in the book for

this work : why does Romeo not know that Juliet has been given a "deep sleep" potion and in reality is not dead ?? The Lavrovsky staging omits this very

critical link in the drama, leaving the uninitiated viewer stranded. As much as I love and admire this work I cannot say "well everybody knows Shakespeare

and his R&J" - this is not the point, the viewer must be able to detect why from what is presented on stage. Now I hate the Grigarovich version but this critical

link in the drama is there - the original Shakespeare story has too many "mothers-in-law" : the messenger friar being quarantined due to outbreak of plague

etc. In the Grigarovich version there is a short sequence which flashes by showing the messenger being captured and killed (pls correct me if I'm wrong) thus

enabling the viewer to make sense of the subsequent action. So, it can be done, and I wonder why or how Lavrovsky and/or his librettist/s, made this critical

omission. Any suggestions or comments most welcome.

October 1, 2017

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2017/9/30/2_1900

Had ticket for Etudes/Carmen matinee at Balshoy and wanted to see Genya who I have

not seen live in a major role so far (always try to book my favourite dancers) and Mark

Chino who was one of the winners of the Moscow compet this year. Then couple of weeks

ago my friend in Piter sent a heads-up saying Alesya Novikova is excellent Juliet but dances

this role very rarely, so off to Piter by Sapsan to arrive just one hour before curtain up. I was

told Sapsan is always on time and lived up to its reputation, giving me time to drop off my

bags at the hotel. Less congested weekend traffic also helped - those members who know

Piter would know how it is on weekdays at evening rush hour.

This will be repetitive but have to touch the matter briefly : I fell for Russian classical ballet

after seeing Vishnova and Shklyarov as Romeo&Juliet on Mezzo satcast in 2013 and then live

at the ROH in 2014. They instantly became my default Romeo and Juliet, and I was so infatuated

with Diana as Juliet that I could not accept Diana as Giselle or Nikiya, and could not accept anyone

else as Juliet since then (nut case ?). Am just coming out of this trance (one of my Russian ballet

friends diagnosed me as an incurable romantic) and recently realised what an excellent Giselle

Diana is/was. So had to see Alesya, and must say the hassle was well worth it.

Alesya imho is also a "natural" Juliet - she also "owns" this role. I am not going to, and anyway am

ill qualified to evaluate execution, but isn't characterisation more, most important in this work

which for me is THE pinnacle of narrative ballet ? I am adamant that in any stage performance

the "book", the story is of utmost importance - start with a bad or weak one and it is doomed,

nothing can save it, hype will only keep it going for a few weeks or months.

Then the music : has Prokofiev written anything more iconic ? For me this music is inseparable

from this ballet, I cannot imagine Romeo&Juliet being set to any other music. A masterwork (for

me the masterwork) of modern composition, it's incredible from start to finish. The story and the

music tug at your heartstrings throughout the work - if you don't agree with this then you and I

must have been born under very different stars !

Shklyarov remains my default Romeo - imho he owns this role and nobody else I have seen so

far can lay claim to it yet. Saw Diana with Ovcharenko last season, he was good but Volodya owns

this role. If my info is correct he is in his late 30s but my, what characterisation - makes you believe,

accept him as Romeo.

Now that Diana has hung up her pointes Alesya becomes my default Juliet, at Mariinka at least. As

much as I love the Balshoy I cannot name anyone there who could be "Juliet". Will never see the

Grigarovich version - the master has made a hash of a beautiful ballet, I hate it. It's the only Griga

staging I give the thumbs-down so far. I am due to see the Ratmansky staging (ugh!) in November

and who knows I might have a Juliet at Balshoy too.

ADDENDUM :