SFCleo

Does Smirnova dance Giselle? I remember reading in a brief interview years ago that Giselle was the role Stepanova most wished to dance. I agree she is in the grand ballerina mould but so is Lopatkina and her Giselle is wonderful. I'd love to see Yulia essay that role one day.

It's not unheard of for Bolshoi ballerinas to dance both Giselle and Myrta. According to the Bolshoi website, Alexandrova, Antonicheva and Shipulina have danced both but I don't know what it is about these three that would make them versatile enough to do both.

Interesting that Yulia has been given Diamonds rather than the Tall girl role in Rubies which she danced at the Mariinsky. She seems to be being cast in the same roles Smirnova gets.

I suspect Olga is not always available to Bolshoi due to all the other galas, projects and other companies she's involved in. Same with Obraztsova. Bolshoi needs another beautiful classical grand ballerina to fill those roles when the others are unavailable. Who better than Yulia?

It seems Yulia will have an opportunity to dance the Bolshoi version of O/O before performing it in London. She is scheduled to dance O/O with Alexander Volchkov and the Sofia Opera and Ballet on June 25th and 26th. http://www.operasofia.bg/en/news-and-events/item/3321-zvezdite-na-bolshoi-teatar-v-lebedovo-ezero-na-25-i-26-yuni

It's great that Bolshoi is giving her so much stage time in major roles. Her past O/O performances had been criticized by some for seeming hesitant and not projecting, surely a result of very little preparation time and no "dry runs" in galas or out of town. Bolshoi's approach will help consolidate the technical aspect of the roles, giving her more confidence and the ability to concentrate more on the characters she is playing, interaction with other dancers and projection to the audience.

Bolshoi must indeed believe that Yulia has great potential, to go to these lengths to support her.

I think people are misunderstanding what I wrote. Maybe not. I think she was specifically asked about leaving the Mariinsky. That is why she brought it up (she didn't; she was asked). The people in question that I mentioned above are just worried she will be put in awkward situations pressed to speak about the past when she agrees to interviews, but many others are happy she is being recognized as a new star and being interviewed.

Rodkin meant that Hero of our Time starred Stepanova when she was available (joined). Smirnova did have the world premiere, but once Stepanova came on the scene Posokhov wanted her.

I am not sure if I misunderstand, Euphra, what you are saying about her not having starring roles. Do you mean no upcoming "new" roles or no big roles at the Bolshoi? I am a bit confused. If you are saying she has had no starring roles, I don't agree. At the Mariinsky she danced Odette/Odile, Myrtha, Lilac Fairy, Gamzatti, Mercedes, Street Dancer, Queen of the Dryads, Sylvia, and some other smaller roles (some of the ones I named are small roles but important ones). There are probably other things I am forgetting at the moment.

At the Bolshoi she has danced Lilac Fairy, Florine, Nikiya, Hero of our Time, Frank Bridge Variation, Myrthe and soon to add Odette/Odile and Medora on the Bolshoi London tour.

She is being groomed for stardom, in my personal view.

This strikes me as a "softball" interview, i.e. one with a friendly interviewer conducting the conversation to support the Bolshoi's goal of protecting a new "asset". Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, his speaking tone was gentle and accommodative. This same guy has been doing this a long time -- his interviews with Hallberg, Rodkin, Smirnova and others can be found on YouTube. It was a safe an interview as one could hope for. It's true that Yulia could be put in awkward situations other interviewers, but neither she nor the Bolshoi would want to make her available to potentially hostile interviewers. They are managing her image very carefully and successfully.

What will be keeping Zakharova and Lobukhin away from London in late July is a more standard "all-star" gala, which I understand will also be visiting other cities after Tokyo.

http://japanarts.co.jp/concert/concert_detail.php?id=392〈=2

Ruslan Skvortsov will be appearing in a new ballet in August, which will require more substantial rehearsal time than simply jetting in for a familiar role.

http://www.ambt.jp/perform2.html

Thanks for the site references. I can't read the one in Japanese but I do see Skvortsov's photo. I'll take your word that it says something about a new ballet.

If you're most interested in Taming of the Shrew, it probably would make sense to wait until the ballet comes to New York.

I am not at all happy about casting for the London tour. Either an appealing dancer is paired with a dancer I find unappealing, or I find both leads unappealing. (But I'm not among those devastated by Osipova's absence.) I've booked a bunch of tickets, but I suspect I will end up using few, if any of them.

Some leading dancers will be present for only part of the tour because they've got other projects scheduled, notably in Japan. When faced with the choice between per diems in London or proper performance fees in Tokyo, I can understand their decision, and apparently the company has been willing to oblige them. This, in addition to pregnancy leaves and injuries, accounts for a lot of the casting choices.

It seems that Zakharova may have reasons other than financial gain for participating in the Tokyo gala -- she and her husband the great violinist Vladimir Repin will be opening the gala: On June 17 in Japan starts The Year of the Russian Culture. The Program Pas de deux on Points and for Fingers will be open by a violinist Vadim Repin and the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi and La Scala theaters, Benois de la Danse laureate, Svetlana Zakharova. Her partner is going to be Benois nominee, a premier of the Bolshoi, Mikhail Lobukhin. http://benois.theatre.ru/english/massmedia/news/

Drew,

A Russian friend says Stepanova says, “В этом театре в меня верят, у меня прямо крылья выросли как мне кажется, и как будто я заново полюбила балет и заново у меня появились мечты.”

Translation (not very easy to translate it very faithfully, preserving every nuance of her thought):

“In this theater (i.e., at Bolshoi) they have trust in me, and I really feel I have grown wings, I think, as if I fell in love with ballet again and my dreams reappeared again.”

Also, Rodkin is saying that Posokhov himself chose Yulia Stepanova for the first cast in his ballet for which he was awarded the Benois de la danse prize a month later.

Some of my Russian friend's friends say that Stepanova should not have done the interview because she is not able to speak about the real reasons of why she left the Mariinsky, while others think she had to be interviewed since this program introduces "new stars" to the general public.

Thank you for the translation. I am confused, though, about what Rodkin said -- I thought Olga Smirnova "owned" the role of Bela in Posokhov's A Hero of Our Time (for which he won the Benois de la Danse) so how could Yulia be "first cast"? Or is that just a statement of Posokhov's preference?

Also, I'm mystified why anybody thinks she should have passed up this interview. Of course she did the interview! It gave her the opportunity to briefly explain to the Russian TV audience how she came to the Bolshoi. She may have been advised not to go into detail about what happened at Mariinsky, and frankly, I think that was very good advice. Why dredge up the past when things are working out so well for her now? She has her career back, she is valued, she has opportunity. Her success at the Bolshoi will be the best revenge.

She is so beautiful, gentle and dreamy in this interview. You can see why she is such a great Lilac Fairy and Queen of the Dryads. I'm glad she's back on track living her dreams.

There was a segment on Yulia on the program "Who's there" today (the segment was supposed to air in April but was cut for some reason. It's about 9:20 minutes or more in, after the segment on the actress. She talks about how she got started and why she left the Mariinsky. They show clips of her from Bayadere, Giselle, and Hero of our time, plus some class footage. Some comments from Rodykin. Then she takes about her hobby (she makes bracelets and diadems etc).

http://www.ontvtime.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view_record&id=1490&start_record=2016-06-19-13-05

It should also eventually be up here

http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/20897/

It's now up on YouTube as well.

It's interesting that the release was postponed until now -- perhaps to introduce Yulia to the Russian audience so they will know who she is when it comes time for promotions?

They probably removed the references to Ana in the article because they could not spell her last name.

On 6/18/2016 at 1:39 AM, Fleurdelis said:

The photograph in the article is also of Anna Tikhomirova, properly captioned.

And, please, it is Turazashvili, not Turashvili or Turishvili.

The original article featured BOTH Anna Tikhomirova and Ana TuraZAshvili. There was a photo of Tikhomirova but no photo of Tura oh heck I'm just gonna call her Ana. Both Anna and Ana were quoted in the original article. The revised article does not reference Ana, only Anna.

 

Maybe next season's emphasis on Grigorovich is a clever way to turn the page - give him a huge Festival, then slowly begin to replace his classics with the reconstructions? Keep Spartacus and change the rest, after 2017?

Yes, very clever strategy. Let's hope it works.

I think it is a bit simpler than that: the article talks about Anna Tikhomirova, who is indeed a first soloist. Ana Turazashvili is still a soloist. Though maybe she will be promoted this summer, who knows. But to do that Mr. Vaziev would have to clear out some dancers at the higher up levels to free up the requisite wage-rate headcount slots.

It appears that the article has been edited to remove the quote from Ana Turishvili, described as "first soloist", which I'm sure I read in an earlier version.

Interesting article in DW online in which Vaziev, Denis Rodkin and Ana Turashvili are quoted on recent changes in the company. http://www.dw.com/en/the-bolshoi-ballet-moving-on-from-scandal/a-19335609. Rodkin and Turashvili seem to like the direction the company is going under Vaziev: better discipline, more opportunities for dancers to demonstrate their readiness for new roles. Certainly we've seen the latter in recent castings.

One question: Turashvili is listed on the company website as a soloist, but in this article (and another I saw somewhere else that I can't remember) as a FIRST soloist. I wonder if this is just a translation issue or if Ana has actually been (or is soon to be) promoted? Bolshoi promotions are usually announced in July, but perhaps some are known already?

If I read the program in German correctly, they'll be dancing pas de deux from Le Corsaire, and Macbeth choreographed by Vasiliev.

Wahoo!!

Yulia Stepanova and Denis Rodkin will appear in the "Malakhov and Friends" gala in Berlin on September 2nd and 3rd.

Do we know what they'll be dancing at the gala?

By the way, here are pics of Stepanova and Rodkin in Macbeth......

http://www.jackdevant.com/yulia-stepanova-denis-rodkin-macbeth/

Stunning photos! They certainly show how well suited to each other they are, at least appearance-wise. Rodkin's strong masculine vibe is a good match for Stepanova's soft femininity. Unfortunately we don't seem to have any YouTube videos of Rodkin and Stepanova dancing together, at least not that I'm aware of.

Full casting for the Bolshoi's London tour this July and August has been posted on the Bolshoi website. I'm in complete envy of anybody who has tickets to any of these performances and hope to read many long and detailed reviews!

CAST:

I would be interested in seeing more posts about ballet music -- composers, compositions, performers, etc.

Dance Europe magazine is reporting that 27 dancers will be leaving the Bavarian State Ballet at the end of the season, including principal dancers and soloists Daria Sukhorukova, Ekaterina Petina, Lukas Slavický, Cyril Pierre, Zuzana Zahradníková, Katherina Markowskaja, Léonard Engel, Stephanie Hancox, Ilia Sarkisov, Maxim Chashchegorov, Lucia Lacarra and Marlon Dino. This is a huge turnover, constituting more than a third of the company's roster, including two-thirds of its principal ranks and three-quarters of first soloists. In a significant sense, it won't be the same company once Zelensky takes over.

https://www.facebook.com/DanceEurope/photos/a.762806220476174.1073741828.762675407155922/1035181209905339/?type=1&theater

Ah, Igor Zelensky is taking over as director of the Bayerische Staatsoper from September and he was the one to invite Vladimir and Masha to join the company, though I wonder how he feels about reconstructions...

https://www.staatsoper.de/en/schedule-tickets/premieres-201617.html

I guess Zelensky must feel pretty confident that he will be able to fill these new vacancies with excellent Russian dancers now that Shklyarov and Shrinkina have signed on.

Can't wait to see her again when she returns from maternity leave. Her technique, pointe technique and placement generally is fabulous, and there are so many roles she dances at Bolshoi that she could never dance at Mariinsky. Yes, her Satanella is fabulous ... but the performance that means the most to me personally is one I saw of her at Mariinsky in Shurale - most radiant, feel-good, joyous of ballets, and she was the perfect Syuimbike. Probably she will never dance that role again.

I've only ever seen Shurale in bits and pieces on YouTube. Wish the Russian companies would bring Shurale and other Russian ballets to the US and Western Europe when they tour.

I would really love to see Obraztsova as Aurora.

Here’s Evgenia Obraztsova (formerly at the Mariinsky) with Artem Ovcharenko from about a half year ago at a Kremlin Ballet Theatre Gala, “Ballet Stars of the 21st Century.” This is posted by the Gala site. She looks pretty good to me and I hope that we’ll be seeing a lot more of her at the Bolshoi with Makhar Vaziev (formerly at the Mariinsky) now at the company. At about 1:40 you can see Sergei Filin in the audience.

Her performance reminds me of a benefit in Paris bringing attention to the need for earthquake relief in Japan a few years ago. She came on last at midnight. The program had started late, the audience was tired. She was like a Burst of Sunshine !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nnM1ZeTfcuI#t=0.311491026

I love Obratsova in Satanella! Fabulous technique, great personality. Of all the ballerinas she is the one I would most like to see live. As I said above, I've been disappointed that she hasn't been dancing at the Bolshoi this year, but from her Instagram I've gleaned that she has been enjoying spending time with her husband. https://www.instagram.com/p/BFyb9WwGUPO/?taken-by=evgeniaobraztsova Note the strategically placed handbag.

I couldn't resist posting this photo of Stepanova as Lady Macbeth https://www.instagram.com/p/BFkJ40Lt4jp/?taken-by=yuliastepa:

I love to see Vaziev giving all these young dancers chances - how great for company morale, and exciting for audiences! I am especially happy to see Yulia Stepanova finally being given roles she deserved to dance years ago at Mariinsky. I saw most of these dancers in performance in Moscow in February, and there is definitely a LOT of talent in the wings!

Google Translate does come up with some inexplicable and hilarious translations! Diana Cherry for Vishneva? LOL! Anyway, just in the interests of clarification:

Andrew Mercury is Andrei Merkuriev

Oksana Balls is Oksana Sharova

Anna Zachary is Ana Zakharaya

LOL is right! OT a bit, my favorite Google Translate translation is "Two Jeeps" for -- you guessed it -- the two Wilis in Giselle!

Yes, Stepanova is on fire now, with TWO debuts scheduled for the London tour: O/O and Medora! She also danced last evening in the second Benoit de la Danse gala in a duet with Denis Rodkin from Vladimir Vasiliev's "Macbeth". I hope somebody managed to video that!

Sergei Filin also did some major work at the top by bringing over Olga Smirnova, Evgenia Obraztsova and Yulia Stepanova (and at a lower level, Xenia Zhiganshina) from the Vaganova/Mariinsky sphere.

Buddy, I don't know if you remember from Bolshoi Babylon the part where Maria Allash grouses about Filin bringing in non-Bolshoi trained dancers (read Obratsova, Smirnova, Hallberg) and, according to Maria, promoting them over equally qualified Bolshoi dancers. If such attitudes fed the resentment against Filin that resulted in the acid attack, one can only hope that those who opposed Filin have learned their lesson and will find a way to accept Vaziev's leadership. Certainly the Vaganova trained dancers bring something to the Bolshoi that Bolshoi dancers currently lack, namely the beautiful adagio for which Petersburg is known. Vaziev has been featuring Smirnova, Stepanova and Zhiganshina quite prominently this year with many debuts, partly I think because many senior dancers have been MIA this season, or maybe they have been MIA because Vaziev is not using them? Hard to tell. Kaptsova has been dancing a lot, though, which I agree is a good thing!

Margarita Schrainer is dancing Kitri during the Bolshoi's London season.

Thanks for this. Good for Schrainer -- they must think highly of her.

While checking the ROH website I saw another change: Stepanova will be dancing Medora in Le Corsaire!

Some very interesting things are happening at the Bolshoi. In the recent four day run of Sleeping Beauty there was a huge number of debuts by dancers from the corps in soloist roles (such as Denisova, Schreiner, Zhiganshina) and lower level soloists in major roles (such as Anna Okuneva as the Lilac Fairy). In a last minute substitution, Krysanova danced Aurora with a very lucky Vladislav Kozlov from the corps as Prince Desire. On Instagram, many debutants were over the moon, understandably thankful for these unforeseen opportunities. https://www.instagram.com/p/BFbfm6IGJyP/?taken-by=call_me_perchand https://www.instagram.com/p/BFedQMJAqi2/?taken-by=gaglianonebruna are some examples.

I wonder: is Vaziev taking stock of the company, looking for diamonds in the rough to replace dead wood? He certainly made a lot of people happy, although I suppose some of the older dancers may not be all that comfortable with the process.

Here is the official listing of debuts from the Bolshoi website (translated by google translate so some of the names may not be exactly correct):

"Sleeping Beauty". Debuts