CharlieH
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Posts posted by CharlieH
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5 hours ago, mnacenani said:
Thank you volcanohunter for pointing this out, hadn't thought of looking it up. Must say it was lucky for me
to bring this subject up - I was waiting for Balshoy booking to open on Aug. 26th to get tix for this production,
thought it would be new choreography specific to Balshoy. I'm not going to spend money on this, would rather
go and see the original at Mariinka sometime. For Balshoy it could make sense to stage the Ratmansky R&J as
opposed to Strapless or something !
The Ratmansky R&J is slated for "Live in Cinemas" soon after its Bolshoi premiere, so all of us living close to a cinema that carries the series will be seeing it live and have the chance to judge for ourselves.
https://www.fathomevents.com/events/bolshoi1718-romeo-and-juliet
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FYI, single-tickets went on sale today for all three of the incoming season's Washington Ballet programs taking place at the Kennedy Center, beginning with October's "Russian Masters":
http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/genre/BAL
Also on sale are the Cranko R&J (February) and the Balanchine/Ashton/Robbins mixed bill in April.
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I too look forward to learning more about the Petipa Bicentennial Conference next March in St P. Please keep us abreast of details, Natalia and Joseph.
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Buddy, I'll be happy to oblige as time passes. Retirement is turning out to be busier than I had expected but I'll try to read new posts regularly and, when appropriate, chime in.
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Just based on the dancing that I've observed with my own two eyes, at Kremlin Ballet in Moscow, Joy Womack is a lovely dancer. I like that she has a distinctive personality and is not a cookie-cutter swan, yet has always been technically adept in what I've seen. I don't understand the negativity but, then again, I do not follow vlogs or any other social media sites of dancers.
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11 hours ago, Drew said:
Thank you -- I'm a little embarassed to say I've only watched portions of it so far. Did I read on another thread that you lived in Moscow for a number of years? From a "ballet" perspective I very much envy your familiarity with the great Russian companies...There are a few other people on this sight with that kind of experience. Mine is more limited.
Sadly, my knowledge of the Russians is balanced off by my limited knowledge of the companies in Washington & NY. Nowhere to go but up.
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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.
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On 7/1/2017 at 0:22 PM, Drew said:
According to the Mariinsky Facebook page both Mariinsky tv and Medici tv will livestream the premier of Varnava's Yaroslavna-The Eclipse (music by Boris Tishchenko). I think Shapran and Smekalov are dancing the premier. Photos and a short, mostly atmospheric preview syggest a modern/contemporary work and not on pointe, but I don't really know. I take it the title alludes to the story of Prince Igor. I won't be able to watch if they don't leave it up for a day or two, but am a little bit curious. The livestream is at 20:00 St. Petersburg time which (I thnk) is 1 p.m. eastern time.
Edited to say Zlata Yalinich not Shapran is dancing the premier.
They both danced in the telecast, Drew. Yalinich danced the title role, while Shapran essayed the leading Polovtsian Maiden. While far from my favorite Mariinsky ballet, I very much admired the overall drama and production values of Yaroslavna, bordering on the gory. With all due respect to the leading ladies and to Yuri Smekalov as Prince Igor, I must say that Grigory Popov stole the show as the blood-thirsty Div. The perennial Jester in Swan Lake, I won't be able to think of Popov in quite the same light again, after Yaroslavna.
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If Ms Skorik cannot come to DC in October - and I certainly hope that she will make it -- then my understudy-vote goes to Chebykina, who danced a lovely Odette-Odile in Swan Lake during the latest of my trips to St. Petersburg (Mar '16). Not that Novikova is not capable; it's a matter of preferences for certain physical characteristics in certain roles.
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On 8/5/2017 at 7:23 PM, Buddy said:
I've just decided to make Yekaterina Osmolkina a Principal ! Does that count ?
Wishing her much success and happiness on her Monday night Swan Lake.
I wish, Buddy. Better yet, if there would be some way to add her to the October 2017 tour to the Kennedy Center, then all would be perfect.
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Thank you, Helene.
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Hello. I happened upon this fascinating ballet forum by chance, very much admiring everyone's knowledge and enthusiasm for the art of ballet. As for me, I'm a Hungarian-born American, recently retired from government work, living in Alexandria, Virginia. I look forward to availing myself of all the cultural offerings that the DC area offers, particularly classical music, theatre and dance. I know very little about the local ballet company but their repertoire seems interesting. Hoping to also catch the Mariinsky and ABT companies at the Kennedy Center.
Les Sylphides
in Ballets and Choreographers
Posted · Edited by CharlieH
added ABT question
May I also join the "Chop. Club"? In anticipation of the Washington Ballet's presentation of Les Sylphides (a.k.a. Chopiniana) in their season opener in October, I've been going down my own Memory Lane of having seen this lovely ballet in many locales - from Budapest to Rio de Janeiro to NY to Moscow - with so many variations in choreographic staging and mood, from place to place. For me, it is the purest essence of ballet.
Vaganova's version for the Kirov/Mariinsky is probably the largest in scale (24 corps Sylphs?) but also the slowest, most carefully, methodically rendered; hence the least satisfying overall. On the other hand, two of the greatest surprises of my ballet-going life were the smaller-scaled (14-16 corps sylphs) but livelier renditions by the ballet troupes of Rio de Janeiro (ca 2004) and Melbourne, Australia (ca 2009). Unlike the Russians, the sylphs of Rio and Melbourne seemed alive, awash in the poetry. They were not zombies or wilis, rising from the grave. The common denominator in the Brazilian and Australian versions is that both were staged by former ballerinas of the Ballets-Russes the Monte Carlo: Tania Leskova in Brazil (still very much alive and coaching into her 90s, I am told) and Irina Baronova in Australia.
Which style of Sylphides do other members of this forum prefer? Any favorite editions? Has ABT performed it recently and, if so, who staged it? Fokine himself staged it for ABT in 1940 & 42, just months before his death. So is the definitive version with ABT? They should perform this treasure more often.