Buddy, thanks for the welcome! I worked in Moscow for almost four years, until this June, so was able to visit St P many times. Unfortunately, my weekends in St P never coincided with the festival, which is ok, because I preferred to see the home-grown dancers in principal roles. Kondaurova is a special favorite among the women, with Osmolkina and, whenever I could see her rare appearances (such as Spartak), Pavlenko. Among the younger men, I most admire, Ermakov, Kimin and A. Sergeev, who should have been promoted to Principal ages ago. Of course, Lopatkina was the queen during my years in Russia. I was so sorry to read of her retirement soon after my return to the US. I suppose that I was very lucky to have seen her dance so often, especially in 2014/15 period, before her last injury. She set a very high standard that will be tough to equal.
Kovaleva was wonderful at the 2016 graduation performance that I attended in Moscow. Possibly the tallest, most glamorous, most mature Fairy Doll I've seen.