SFCleo

Here's the link to the Different Years Laureates Gala Concert: http://www.bolshoi.ru/upload/medialibrary/e5f/e5f8d90a1d800f63ca8dbcfce91a2194.pdf

Programs for the two galas associated with the 2016 Benois de la Danse festivities have been posted on the Bolshoi site. The Nominee's Gala Concert on May 17 featuring performances by nominees, or of the work of nominees, can be found here: http://www.bolshoi.ru/upload/medialibrary/bac/bac78edc116d78cc308c2d519d242540.pdf On the following evening the "Different Years Laureates Gala Concert" will feature performances by/of laureates from previous years. The program's theme is "Shakespeare (sic) in Ballet" and will include choreographic numbers and fragments from the ballets by Frederick Ashton, Maurice Béjart, John Neumeier, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Mats Ek, Vladimir Vasiliev, Angelin Preljocaj and others. http://www.bolshoi.ru/upload/medialibrary/e5f/e5f8d90a1d800f63ca8dbcfce91a2194.pdf.

Not to nitpick, but on the Mariinsky site Mr. Aliev's job is described as Ballet Master in Chief of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, which is in Vladivostok, not St. Petersburg. http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/news1/news2/29_233jan1/ If he were working in St. Pete that title would make him Fateyev's boss, but in Vladivostok, no.

Don't forget Russian Seasons in the mixed bill, a wonderful, wonderful work. For me it will definitely be worth sitting through Frank Bridge Variations (which I agree is not really Bolshoi's cup of tea) to see Russian Seasons. I'm also looking forward to seeing the Golden Age and the Bright Stream. Sleeping Beauty? Yes, if Obratsova is Aurora, otherwise maybe not.

Here's a Youtube video of Ksenia's debut as Gulnare in the Jardin Anime section of Bolshoi's Le Corsaire. And, oh yeah, Krysanova is in it too! On her Instagram Ksenia says she had only 3 days to prepare the role. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEhZbk7guWS/ Great job!

Here's a link to the beginning of the shades act.

Here's a link to a YouTube video of Stepanova's debut as Nikiya in La Bayadere (death of Nikiya).

Wow I really did not see that coming, at least not so soon!

A few minutes of Stepanova's variation from the April 10 Don Quixote from the Instagram of a fan who was lucky enough to attend in person! https://www.instagram.com/p/BEDH09gC9TH/?tagged=bolshoiballet

Really enjoyed the Bolshoi's Don Quixote at the cinema today. I especially liked the character dancing and the crowd scenes, which were wonderfully detailed, colorful, and fresh. Anna Antropova's performance as the Gypsy was just terrific, so varied in mood and pacing, telling a story within a story. Also unexpected was the brief scene of children miming a play on a small stage within a gypsy van (whom Don Q mistakenly tried to rescue before going after the windmills) -- I'd never seen that before. I'd agree with Kaysta that the principals danced really fast, very crisp and accurate. Krysanova had a rough end to her fouettes (ending up facing backwards) but was otherwise a technical marvel and delivered a very upbeat and perky characterization. Chadian is such an elegant dancer I'm not sure Basilio is the best role for him, but he gave it his all. His variations in the pas de deus were beautiful. It seemed to me that Olga Smirnova was somewhat miscast as the Queen of the Dryads, or at least my notion of that character as a warm and gracious queen, because she is rather cold and distant even when smiling. Smirnova's dancing was beautiful, however, and seems to have brought out the best Krysanova had to offer in terms of epaulement as they danced together in the dream sequence. Xenia Zinganshina (of social media fame) appeared in place of Victoria Yakusheva (who appeared on the credits) as one of Kitri's friends and seemed to be having the time of her life while dancing very well. Anna Tikhomirova appeared in two roles, first as Street Dancer and later in the first bridesmaid variation. I find that a little of her goes a long way -- she has lots of energy and brio but tends to mug for the camera more than is strictly necessary. In contrast, the other bridesmaid variation was danced by Yulia Stepanova with her usual grace and elegance. They also showed a teaser for the 2016/2017 Bolshoi in cinema season featuring Artem Ovcharenko and Olga Smirnova in costumes that look to be from A Hero of Our Time, very exciting! The complete announcement of the season's offerings will come out on April 25.

The Dubai gala apparently didn't turn out too well. http://www.thenational.ae/uae/tourism/high-drama-at-dubai-ballet-as-audience-argues-with-organisers-over-disaster The article doesn't specifically mention the Bolshoi dancers so it's not clear whether they actually participated.

That may be because many in the audience left after the Peck. If the Peck is last people are sure to stay!

I will try to find some time to paraphrase but try this first if you are on Facebook. Sign in to Facebook, then search FB for "Fonteyn Nureyev San Francisco" and the article link will come up. Follow that to the Chronicle site and you will be able to see the article, having come from FB. I just tried and it worked, so hopefully it will for you.

"The Great Haight Ballet Bust of 1967" http://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/The-great-Haight-ballet-bust-of-1967-7230386.php This is a much more complete account of this famous escapade than I heard at the time as a UC Berkeley student. I do remember being surprised that this elegant ballerina had such an adventurous side to her.

A fan posted a photo on Instagram of Stepanova after her 3/30 performance in Giselle that shows her hair color to be a bit lighter than it looked in the video. https://instagram.com/p/BDufi7Ri9c4/

This evening I watched the Legris Corsaire and came away more confused about Le Corsaire than I was beforehand. I understand there are many versions of Le Corsaire including the Burlaka reconstruction I've watched on YouTube, but Legris' is the first I've seen that messed around with the three odalisques. The only clue that it was the three odalisques was that the costumes worn by the three dancers were similar to what they usually wear. The music and the choreography for the variations were completely new to me -- they looked Petipa-ish and sounded Minkus-ish but I really couldn't tell if it was or not. The Gulnare character actually danced the customary third odalisque variation to the "correct" music at an earlier point in the ballet --very strange. I couldn't find any information about this via googling -- does anybody here know? Other than the odalisque issue I enjoyed the performance -- nice costumes and sets and some of the dancing was really excellent (Konovaleva and Yakovleva especially). I'm not sure it's the right ballet for a small-ish company (I think Legris said 70 dancers?) to put on -- the corps for the jardin anime was a bit sparse compared to the legions fielded by Mariinsky and Bolshoi. The Vienna stage seems a bit small also, but with all the limitations, Legris managed to pull it off. It was great to see a new (to me) ballet company in action and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to watch it for free.

Here's a short clip from Stepanova's Bolshoi debut as Myrtha posted on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com

Thank you. I suppose this is a debut for Belyakov as well?

Wish I could be in Moscow to see this! What do we know about Belyakov? About Marchenkova, who will be Gamzatti in this performance?

Ok, so how was Program 5? Basically, enjoyable but not spectacular. First of all, I couldn't believe this: a woman in the row in front of me, a few seats over, was wearing in her hair some kind of ornament decorated with flashing lights. 4 little LEDs I think, blinking in random order. At first I thought since it was close to her ear that it might be an assistive hearing device and didn't want to embarrass myself and/or her by drawing attention to it. However, it blinked all the way through Dances at a Gathering, NOT in time with the music and so at the intermission I asked the lady if she was aware that she had a flashing ornament in her hair. She apologized profusely and removed it right away. I really should have asked her if it had some purpose, like making her visible when walking at night! Back to the dancing. Generally, I love Jerome Robbins' ballets, but I was not bowled over by Tuesday's performance of Dances at a Gathering. Listening to an hour of Chopin played by the wonderful Roy Bogas was sheer heaven, but somehow the dancers, with a few exceptions, did not live up to the music. One exception was Lorena Feijoo in Green, a fun part anyway, but she played with the rhythms of the music in such a way as to make the steps interesting, piquant, even. It was my first time seeing Mathilde Frosty (Mauve) and while I appreciated her clean execution, there was something joyless about her dancing -- maybe that's in the part, I don't know. Perhaps it was that she had to try to dance to Scherzo No. 1 which even I as a musician have trouble figuring out where the beats are! I had heard enthusiastic reports of Possokhov's "The Swimmer" loosely based on the John Cheever story but was skeptical because P. is not one of my favorite choreographers -- I still haven't forgiven him for the crotch-fest that was "Rite of Spring". Well, no crotches in The Swimmer, so that was good. There was a hunky Joseph Walsh in the lead part, and great dancing from him and the SF ballet men. (I think P. choreographs much better for men than women). The music by Bay Area fixture Shinji Eshima was evocative and moved the story along, but I really didn't get P.'s use of Tom Waits songs, or perhaps the songs were ok but Tom Waits' delivery, which I love in other contexts, was just sort of confusing here. The multimedia show was beautifully done, although the references to Lolita, Nighthawks and Catcher in the Rye seemed a bit much. The fish girls were adorable https://www.instagram.com/p/BDUv_Kmsj8n/?taken-by=sfballet Theprojection of splashing waves that seemed ready to wash over the audience each time Walsh (seemed to) jump into a pool, was terrific. Weirdly, at the end, there was an image of Possokhov floating around in the ocean. I guess it was/is his story of sink or swim. Quite an experience.

That's awkward for the dancers if they have to break a contract with the Dubai presenter. I wonder if they had asked permission of the Bolshoi prior to agreeing to appear in Dubai as they are now required to do under their Bolshoi contract. http://www.ismeneb.com/blogs-list/2014-bolshoi-stories/140702-new-bolshoi-deal-tough-on-foreigners.html If Bolshoi said ok at the time the arrangements were made, and now requires them on dates that conflict, I wonder what happens?

Casting is up for April 10 "Live in Cinema" broadcast of Bolshoi's new staging of Don Quixote: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/912/roles/#20160410180000 For convenience: Kitri Ekaterina Krysanova Basilio, a barber Semyon Chudin Don Quixote, an errant knight Alexei Loparevich Sancho Pansa, his squire Roman Simachev Friends to Kitri Juanita Victoria Yakusheva Piccilia Anna Okuneva Gamache, a wealthy nobleman Denis Medvedev A Street Dancer Anna Tikhomirova Espada Ruslan Skvortsov Mercedes Kristina Karasyova Lorenzo, Kitri's father Yegor Simachev Lorenzo's Wife Galina Ivanova Duke Alexander Fadeyechev Duchess Ekaterina Barykina Jig Xenia Pchelkina, Alexander Vodopetov, Alexei Matrakhov, Anton Savichev Tavern Keeper Ivan Prazdnikov Dulcinea Ekaterina Krysanova The Queen of the Dryads Olga Smirnova Cupid Daria Khokhlova Three Dryads Nelli Kobakhidze, Olga Marchenkova, Marfa Sidorenko Four Dryads Anna Voronkova, Alesya Gradova, Daria Gurevich, Svetlana Pavlova Spanish Dance Vera Borisenkova, Lyudmila Yermakova, Anna Zakaraya Gipsy Dance Anna Antropova Fandango. Soloists Maria Zharkova, Evgeny Golovin Bolero Oxana Sharova, Dmitry Dorokhov First Variation in Grand Pas Anna Tikhomirova Second Variation in Grand Pas Yulia Stepanova (Yangurazova) Krysanova and Chudin, that's something of a surprise, to me at least. I had thought it would be Alexandrova.

Casting for tonight! Program 5 - Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - 7:30pm DANCES AT A GATHERING Composer: Frédéric Chopin Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Piano: Roy Bogas Pink/Purple: Vanessa Zahorian, Luke Ingham Mauve/Green: Mathilde Froustey, Carlo Di Lanno Yellow/Brown: Frances Chung, Taras Domitro Blue/Blue: Dores André, Sean Orza Green/Brick: Lorena Feijóo, Hansuke Yamamoto SWIMMER Composers: Shinji Eshima, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, and Gavin Bryars Choreography: Yuri Possokhov Conductor: Martin West The Swimmer: Joseph Walsh Dores André, Luke Ingham Lorena Feijóo, Vitor Luiz WanTing Zhao Max Cauthorn, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira, James Sofranko - See more at: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting#sthash.WY6YM0XX.dpuf

According to Yulia's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yuliastepa/, some of her fans were evidently confused about her performances in Hans van Mannen's Frank Bridge Variations -- where the performance was and who else was in the performance. This confusion may have prompted the change back to Stepanova. Looking forward to pics/videos of her upcoming performance as Bela in A Hero of Our Time on the 3/23 and Myrta in Vladimir Vasiliev's version of Giselle on the 30th!

I messed up the Osipova link - here it is again: https://youtu.be/R1QKY7JVnv0?t=2m39s