Euphra

It is le petit corsaire dance where I found her naughtiness and different brio that I haven't seen in her other roles. Although when she shouted, "na abordage!", it sounded a bit weak...she needs to put more energy and end it better with a real shout. I don't know how other people felt about it, though. I did wait at the stage door, and got her autograph and took photo with her. After finishing the restless role of Medora, she looked very tired, but she kindly signed and took photos with fans and little girls. I only told her that I wish her success. My Russian is poor, and she hardly understands/speaks English, so it was hard to have conversation. She seems to be a quiet and rather introverted person, and I can see that she's got great acting ability to change herself in the roles such as seducing Odile and lively Medora.

She's an artist. It's actually the first time for me to see her dancing somewhat worldly role(compared to other divine roles like swan, fairy and bayadere, etc.), and her acting was so nicely done. I can see she has bright girlish and cheerful presence on stage, too! And her dance...you would be speechless to see how she moves from head to feet in every inch. Her adagio works were literally seamless. In act 1, the sequence of her grand jetes in circle if entering the stage was high and smooth. There are loads of Medora's dance in this version and Yulia made a couple of mistakes with her finishes in act 1. But from act 2, especially Jardin scene, her repeated standing balances on pointe with flowers in both hands were done effortlessly, her jumps and pirouettes were as graceful as they can be. Her flowing arms and arched hands were ever so beautiful. She looked like a classic beauty from black and white film when she was standing with arms in 4th under flowers at the end of the long dance scene. In act 3, she did another fouette perfectly, and the famous variation of Medora was much more lively and joyful than that of her as a teenager at Vaganova. Hopping on pointe was perfect although it was quite fast! When it comes to musicality, she's music herself. It's not like she just dances in time with the beat- she gets involved in music. You actually can enjoy the dance and the music at the same time rather than focusing on the dancer's moves only. Sometimes it feels like the music's played through her. As for partners, although I loved the chemistry between Yulia and Denis a lot, the solid partnering of Ovcharenko was really remarkable. Yulia looked so comfortable with the lifts and leaning on these great partners. Poor that the guys don't really dance much in Ratmansky's Corsaire... Overall it was an unforgettable performance. The thoughts written here are quite disjointed and random since English is not my first language, but I hope you get the feeling of how wonderful her performance was. And it's only her debut!

Thank you so much! I'm so excited to attend her debut performance tomorrow!

Congratulations! She's got such bright presence on stage, and she's a good actress too! I'm happy for her.

Probably it's because she's not dancing with the Mariinsky recently...? I mean, does anyone knows where she is now? I haven't seen her for years.

I watched last night's Swan Lake with some other fans and everyone was so moved by what they've seen. Since I was seating in the front row, I could see her facial expressions quite closely and it was very impressive. In the white adagio I saw the subtle change of her face turning happier, full of hope as though she was convinced by the prince. And her black swan has become bolder and more seducing. I actually hoped her fouetté become more powerful and charismatic, but it was great one with the tempo and the Odile variation was flawless. I met her at the stage door after the performance. She is a kind and humble person. I told her that I am going to her Le Corsaire performance too, and she looked thankful but I could feel she was a little bit nervous about her debut. Well, I'm sure she will be great.

I watched last night's Swan Lake with some other fans and everyone was so moved by what they've seen. Since I was seating in the front row, I could see her facial expressions quite closely and it was very impressive. In the white adagio I saw the subtle change of her face turning happier, full of hope as though she was convinced by the prince. And her black swan has become bolder and more seducing. I actually hoped her fouetté become more powerful and charismatic, but it was great one with the tempo and the Odile variation was flawless. I met her at the stage door after the performance. She is a kind and humble person. I told her that I am going to her Le Corsaire performance too, and she looked thankful but I could feel she was a little bit nervous about her debut. Well, I'm sure she will be great.

I watched last night's Swan Lake with some other fans and everyone was so moved by what they've seen. Since I was seating in the front row, I could see her facial expressions quite closely and it was very impressive. In the white adagio I saw the subtle change of her face turning happier, full of hope as though she was convinced by the prince. And her black swan has become bolder and more seducing. I actually hoped her fouetté become more powerful and charismatic, but it was great one with the tempo and the Odile variation was flawless. I met her at the stage door after the performance. She is a kind and humble person. I told her that I am going to her Le Corsaire performance too, and she looked thankful but I could feel she was a little bit nervous about her debut. Well, I'm sure she will be great.

Oh, I was confused since I saw a video of the graduation performance where she danced the lead role. Thank you!

Again, great gain for Bolshoi, and loss for Mariinsky. Another Vaganova graduate Alena Ledyakh is joining the Bolshoi, too. I wonder where Eleonora Sevenard is going. It would be a shocking news if Sevenard is not accepted to Mariinsky.

Some photos of Odette/Odile from Swan Lake at Sofia(June 26). Photographer: Svetoslav Nikolov

As far as I know, La Bayadere 2014, where Tereshkina/Shklyarov danced the lead roles and Yulia danced the 3rd shade, was released as DVD only in Japan. One of my acquaintances was at Mariinsky tour in Tokyo last year and bought one there, and I saw it in Amazon too. Yulia's lilac fairy at the Bolshoi was really beautiful. I'm very curious about her Florine debut but couldn't find...

Yulia's Myrtha is what Myrthas should be like. She's cold and sharp yet her dance shows the lyrical and romantic style, but I think she can show all she's got for Giselle. It's such an iconic role in ballet and she can act like no other as well as dance in a unique way. We don't want her to be struck as Myrtha.

Although I think it is Yulia's talent that makes it possible for her to get all these great roles in her first year at the Bolshoi, the timing is really good too. It looks like Zakharova, Obraztsova, Shipulina and Vinogradova are on maternity leave or dancing elsewhere for other dance projects. I hope she gets promoted in the next season. My next wish is that they broadcast her performance for or release DVDs! Hope it doesn't take too long to become a reality.

Do you know why I am interested in the Bolshoi more than in Mariinsky these days? I went to St. Petersburg in January for one week, and long before the trip I bought tickets for all the ballet performances in that week, which included Giselle, two Sylvias, Le Corsaire and Don Quixote not knowing the cast. I never knew that I would get a total messed up cast for 4 out of 5 performances. Also it was so sad to watch many outstanding dancers buried in the corps or some small roles constantly. However, I get the feeling that Bolshoi is different, especially after reading recent interviews of Vaziev and seeing how the company treats Yulia and other talented ones. I want to see Vaganova grads dancing principal roles so bad. So you are not the only one. I totally understand. Another wonderful news! Thank you.