canbelto

I was at the SB this afternoon and thought that if Tiler Peck gave the performance she gave at the ABT, she'd receive huge prolonged ovations and flowers. Stunned that she got a polite golf clap for one of the most secure, beautiful Rose Adagio's I've ever seen. She really just sparkled. Teresa Reichlen's Lilac Fairy a bit reserved but beautifully danced. Great overall performance, loved it.

Gelsey Kirkland and Alicia Markova were two tiny ballerinas that were known as difficult to lift because in order to maintain the weightless illusion both refused to "push up" during a lift and wanted to make it seem like the male could just naturally lift them as if they were paper.

Well I guess this is reflective of an element in Russian ballet (and maybe society at large) where no attack is considered below the belt or simply unacceptable to voice publicly.

Another Muslim name: Altynai Abdyahimovna Asylmuratova. However I will say that in this summer Olympics there was a very talented gymnast named Aliya Mustafina. She is also of Tatar/Muslim origin. I read ugly, ugly comments about her deriding her Muslim heritage, both inside and outside Russia. Just ugly, ugly stuff, including the accusation that she'd never be a truly "Soviet" gymnast because of her heritage. I don't know if similar prejudices are present in dance, but if they are, I can understand the name changes.

I think the change in mood is realistic too. Solor and Nikya's relationship has always been clandestine, so it makes sense that she'd think the basket was his way of signaling that even though he was engaged to Gamzatti, his heart was still with her (Nikya). What I DON'T think is realistic is Minkus's melody for the "happy" dance. The unsubtle loud melody with the thump thump rhythm doesn't really fit the mood. I'm thinking a composer like Delibes of Tchaikovsky could have done more with making the transition more subtle.

This might be me but Lunkina's story doesn't really pass the smell test. It screams of "my husband did something shady/is deeply in debt and we have to run out of the country to avoid going to jail." If she really feels that threatened, why would she agree to a series of interviews that give the exact location of herself and her family?

Lopatkina will try Titania? I can't see it personally ...

Here's a comparison of the Black Swan pdd: Beriosova and Nureyev: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql6zyzcCMOs Recent RB HD with Zanowsky and Kish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp-vwmzUfMU In this case I think the technique of Beriosova and Nureyev more than hold up against the modern comparison. And this includes physique -- Beriosova is tall, leggy, with beautiful feet and extension. Her terre a terre technique is IMO stronger than Zanowsky's -- she goes through Odile's variation with more speed and less effort. Only thing is the passe/releve is consistently lower in past generations.

Ok here's Dying Swan, through the years. Anna Pavlova: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxewIq7DG3A Maya Plisetskaya: Uliana Lopatkina:

Here's another comparison. In this case, very similar type dancers, same company, same schooling. It's very cool to see how Maya Plisetskaya and Natalia Osipova are like "sisters": they have the same strong ankles, the elevation, the aggressive attack. Regarding thinness, I actually think that most dancers of previous generations were as thin as today's dancers, or almost as thin. If you looked at many of them offstage, they were absolutely tiny and bony. And we know from their memoirs that the pressure to be thin was as present back then as it was now. There were a few dancers that were more chubby (Lynn Seymour, Galina Ulanova) but they were exceptions even in their time. The difference I think is the cut of the tutus. Tutus back then I notice tended to be very frilly, and have a poofy shape. Nowadays tutus are usually cut in a way to give the illusion of a severely tapered waste (they do this by a plunging neckline that in olden days probably would have been considered immodest), and the tutu skirt is larger and flatter, which makes the legs (particularly the thighs) look thinner. I noticed this effect of the modern tutu when I watched the "reconstructions" that generally have a more old-fashioned costume design. The womens' figures looked less sleek and streamlined, and everyone looked "larger." Not FAT but they definitely look a lot different than when they are in modern-cut tutus. Anyway, back to topic: Natalia Osipova: Maya Plisetskaya:

Well speaking of Grand Pas Classique watch Komleva and Soloviev absolutely sail through it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP1DiSQvZFo

I'm surprised there's no mention of Altynai Asylmuratova on the list of "greatest Nikyas." Maybe not the technically strongest, but certainly the most expressive, IMO. Best live Nikya's I've seen are Veronika Part, Diana Vishneva, and Alina Cojocaru.

SPF: Tiler Peck, Ashley Bouder, Sara Mearns

Kitri: Natalia Osipova Basilio: Ivan Vasiliev

Giselle- Alina Cojocaru, Diana Vishneva, Natalia Osipova Albrecht- Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Mathieu Ganio Myrtha - Ekaterina Kondaurova, Veronika Part, Gillian Murphy

I attended this afternoon's performance. Sara Mearns was injured before Diamonds, and tweeted immediately after the show explaining her injury. She danced with unusual caution and the solos for both Mearns and Ask La Cour were omitted. I certainly hope the injury is not serious -- she just came back from an injury.

Ironic but interesting reading: Dance Magazine published an extended interview with Filin this month: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2013/Inside-Sergei-Filins-Bolshoi-Ballet-expanded-version

Absolutely wonderful performance last night from everyone. Serenade looked better than I've seen it in a LONG time. Mearns was unforgettable as the Waltz Girl and Bouder in the Russian Dance. Sterling Hyltin and Chase Finlay looked like a vision in Mozartiana and Hyltin's bourrees were breathtaking. Hyltin has really grown in stature as an artist. Most of all, Teresa Reichlen absolutely dominated Tchai Piano Concerto #2 in the most wonderful, regal way. Wonderful to see Mearns and Bouder back and the company in such great shape.

Irina when I first started going to the ballet was one of my favorite dancers. She was technically excellent, and fun in a kind of old-fashioned, over-the-top way. She took some time off to have a baby and when she returned I started to notice that her performances became more brittle and generic. The technique was still there but it was all very careful and expressionless, and not really the Irina I remembered. Eventually I started to avoid her performances.

Danilova looks so regal and beautiful even in old age. Amazing. Every inch the star.

I'm not saying they liked it. But there were many dancers who said that they thought it was part of his creative process, to be extremely critical and brutal in order to "break" a dancer and then mold him. Some dancers could handle working with him, others couldn't.

Well, from everything I know about Balanchine his sense of propriety was overwhelming and one of the things that he allowed Robbins to do was to pick the dancers Robbins wanted, and to give Robbins free rein in terms of rehearsal space and time. Some dancers claimed to like Robbins' extremely, uh, demanding approach to creating works. They said it brought out the best in them. Others obviously couldn't take it, and there's a story of a cast hating him so much they let him fall into the orchestra pit once by accident without warning him he was about to fall over.

I would say the reverse - there is not one dancer at NYCB, except any Vaganova trained dancers, who would be fit to dance for the Mariinsky. I think if Balanchine were alive today, he would say himself that the Mariinsky dancing his ballets is far preferable to NYCB. They give wonderful renditions of the Balanchine they have in their repertoire, and enhanced by their wonderful unanimity of style, which no other company in the world has, and certainly not NYCB. Technically and artistically they are superior in every way, with their superb upper bodies and fluid arms, which are unique to them. Their superb training enables them to dance any style wonderfully. Jewels, Symphony in C, Serenade, Ballet Imperial, Scotch Symphony - in these and many other Balanchine ballets they are unsurpassed imo. As for principals, I recently saw Ashley Bouder dancing in Tarentella, and she is far from what I consider to be a classical ballerina, both physically and as regards technique. She has no refinement whatsoever. All the Mariinsky ballerinas I have seen in this role are by far better. Mariinsky ballerinas are the best in the world, and better than Bolshoi ballerinas because of their refinement of technique, and the unique Vaganova training, which gives artistry, meaning and soul to every movement, rather than the reliance on bravura technique and bold effects emphasized by Bolshoi ballerinas. St Petersburg does have the best company in the world - the Mariinsky - and their dancers imo are the best in the world. I disagree. I have seen the Mariinksky dance Balanchine and they don't have the fast footwork and speedy attack that is the hallmark of the NYCB. Not to say they aren't great dancers but that thy haven't quite captured the Balanchine style yet.

Seems to me these attitudes are a holdover of the old Party days, when artists who played by the rules were awarded all sorts of prizes, lavish apartments, cars, chauffeurs, touring rights, travel permits, and whatever else they might have desired. The people who didn't play by the rules were harassed by the KGB, sent to regional companies, denied travel or touring permits, and generally treated miserably.

I love the 1980 recon of SB and wish it had been preserved on video as well. The Sergeyev production of SB however has its charms and although it deletes a lot of mime it's a decent, pretty production. What sets my teeth on edge is the Sergeyev Swan Lake and the changed ending. In that case, there wasn't any artistic reason behind it -- it was purely to satisfy the tastes of TPTB that only wanted to see "happy" things onstage. I've seen sublime performances of Swan Lake from the Mariinsky and then there's the finale where everyone is just standing around awkward as Rothbart writhes onstage. The concept behind the fairy tale is COMPLETELY gone -- what happened to Siegfried's vow that he broke? What happened to the idea that Odette is a prisoner forever since Siegfried broke the vows? What's more, the heart-rending dances for the swans and Odette/Siegfried in Act Four are just sort of gone to waste. Everyone stands downstage smiling.