Drew

1 hour ago, The Traveling Ballerina said:

Did you attend last night, Drew? Here's my thoughts about my first time seeing Mariinsky Ballet live. I went in without any judgement or concrete expectations and left looking forward to seeing them again in the fall for Paquita

Thanks -  I enjoyed reading your comments. If my travel plans pan out, then I will be there this weekend.

7 hours ago, sohalia said:

I have not ! I was starting to watch videos of Stepanova on YouTube, but then decided to not spoil myself. It will be interesting to see this production with everything you mentioned. I love ballet, but I do not know the specifics of it all or little details like these, so it is certainly good to know. 

Some of the video of Stepanova's Swan Lake on youtube shows her in the Mariinsky production which is quite different anyway, so if you break down and decide to watch youtube video of her in Swan Lake after all, you will probably want to keep track of which production it is. The Bolshoi's isn't my favorite and I find the cutting of Tchaikovsky's music for the end of the ballet almost unbearable, but many people admire this production a lot and without a doubt you will see some fantastic dancing. I wish myself I could attend Stepanova's performance.

38 minutes ago, sohalia said:

I will be in London early August for a concert, and was curious to see what the ballet schedule was like during my time there. Needless to say, I was delighted to find out the Bolshoi would be performing Swan Lake during my few days in the city !

I just purchased tickets to the Monday evening performance with Stepanova and Ovcharenko. I'm thrilled! I was hoping some seats would be left for Saturday night and Zakharova's performance, but the seats left weren't great or were solo seats and I am going with somebody. I figured I'm still going to have a wonderful time watching a prima ballerina from the Bolshoi dancing, whether it be Stepanova or Zakharova. It's not every day I get this chance either, so I went for the better seats.

I'm quite excited to watch the Bolshoi live. I have never seen any "European" ballet and Russian ballerinas live yet. I lived in the US beforehand and am very used to the Balanchine, American style of ballet. I had seen his Swan Lake, albeit too short for my taste, so I'm so excited to finally get to see the full length version in person. 

That’s wonderful. I have tickets for their Swan Lake as well though unfortunately I can’t stay in London long enough to see Stepanova’s performance. 

(Have you seen the Bolshoi Swan Lake broadcast? The production by Grigorovich has some distinctive features (and cuts the end of the score). Some people hugely admire it, but it is not to everyone’s taste.) 

18 hours ago, Mashinka said:

  I see her as a force of nature and remain in awe of her.

 

I see her that way too.

These are lovely tributes....may he rest in peace.

Very nice to learn about this!  Wishing him huge success. 

Like you I'm not a specialist. But writing as a fellow fan, I wonder if these moments are "hers and hers alone" as you write. Perhaps one value of having the lights up is to allow the audience to study or at least be keenly aware of the reactions of Gamzatti and Solor -- as well as the Rajah and High Priest -- in other words to put Nikiya's suffering clearly in that larger context, specially since the drama of the situation is that she is being forced to dance at the celebration of Solor's marriage. That is, to have her "intimate" suffering play out in public.

I take it you are picturing something where one could see everyone else but they would be more dimly lit so one could have both more focused attention on Nikiya and still not lose the context. I must admit I would always rather see a ballet too brightly lit than too dimly (I have terrible eyesight) and I think a great Nikiya is, so to speak, her own spotlight, so I've never thought of wanting to see the scene as you describe .... but perhaps some production out there will try out something like it and we will get a chance to see what we think in the theater. 

Weeellll that is now three of the dancers I was most looking forward to seeing off the tour--Tereshkina, Shakirova, and Shklyarov. Since Tereshkina is not injured, I find her absence especially painful.  (I don't know what the story is with Shklyarov...and Shakirova's injury has already been mentioned upthread...)

I have no complaints about anyone who IS coming--though I could wish the company had another Ali who was as potentially exciting as Kim. 

Edited because there is no point in worrying about Mariinsky casting until one is in the theater and the curtain up. So I will stick to worrying about my travel plans going smoothly.

Atlanta Ballet has announced next year's programming which includes premiers by Dwight Rhoden and Claudia Schreier as well as a production (unspecified) of  Giselle:

https://www.atlantaballet.com/news/2019-2020-season-announced

1 hour ago, annaewgn said:

Hello there! I've been on this site for a while, monitoring and reading forums though I finally decided I think it's time for me to join in the conversation! 

A dancer I've been watching in Mariinsky/Vaganova for the past few years now is Vlada Borodulina, a 2017 graduate, now in her second year in the corps de ballet. She's very low-key, though has some great achievements such as the Diamond Fairy in 'Sleeping Beauty', Peasant Pas and Zulma in 'Giselle', the Flower Sellers in 'Don Quixote', Emeralds Pas de Trois, Diamonds Demi-Soloist in 'Jewels' and most recently one of the Russian Girls in Balanchine's 'Serenade', among others. 

She's quite phenomenal-- she has a wonderful ability to fill out the music through the tips of her fingers, incredibly clean technique, and a fantastic jump. I think she's definitely one to watch, and I hope others share my thoughts! 

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_women/borodulina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkMp6NZv1A

PS-- Hope I'm not intruding!

Welcome--you are certainly not intruding!  I hope to see the Mariinsky in D.C. next month when they bring Corsaire. (Perhaps you will be there too?) I don't know that Borodulina will be with them or have a featured role, but I will look out for her.

2 hours ago, abatt said:

That ballet will never see the light of day at the Koch (or anywhere else)  again.  I remember Twesley partnering Whelan in Balanchine's Ballade, but they have never revived that ballet since. Tewsley left.   Why have they never revived that ballet in something like 20 years?

I often wonder this about Ballade. "Minor" work? Balanchine's "minor" works are almost always well worth reviving.

4 hours ago, cobweb said:

Mr. Cobweb happened to be walking by City Center today, where he saw the poster featuring two of his favorite dancers, Osipova and Hallberg. I have my doubts about this type of star-driven program, but thought I would ask here. Does anyone know anything about this venture? Anyone planning to go see it?

I believe this is a joint venture with Sadler's Wells where it was performed in September.  London fans reported elsewhere on line that it's a rather short evening. That said, if I were in New York, then I would certainly go especially for the Tudor and Ratmansky. Here is the program as listed on the Sadler's Wells website:

The Leaves are Fading by Antony Tudor: danced by Natalia and David Hallberg
Flutter by Ivan Perez: danced by Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard
Valse Triste by Alexei Ratmansky: danced by Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg
Six Years Later by Roy Assaf: danced by Natalia Osipova and Jason Kittelberger
In Absentia by Kim Brandstrup: danced by David Hallberg
Ave Maria by Yuka Oishi: danced by Natalia Osipova

2 hours ago, Josette said:

  For me, the most telling moment of the Rose Adagio is the should-be expressive bourree-ing section with port de bras....

I feel this way as well--the music just swells around her and it can look as if she is somehow inside it -- or riding its wave -- and yet externalizing it as well, embodying it's excitement.  (Laura Jacobs in Celestial Bodies, compares the image Aurora's body makes at this moment to a spindle, as if in allusion to the curse that is on her. I found this a rather ingenious idea.) In any case it's my favorite moment in the Rose Adagio and my response to any Aurora has a lot to do with how she dances it.

1 hour ago, The Traveling Ballerina said:

Hmmm...my understanding is that it's based on Cervantes' La gitanilla.

Yes--that's what I read as well.  I was thinking that "Paquita in its entirety" in this context is a hybrid amalgam .... I, too, am curious to see it. At any rate I think I'll be entertained by the first two acts and more than entertained by the third. And if I'm not entertained by the first two acts, then at least greatly compensated by the third.

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Ballerina said:

I'm so curious to see Paquita in its entirety!

I expect to enjoy it, but it's kind of a made up ballet--Smekalov came up with his own story and mostly his own choreography for the first two acts, though I gather it's sort of in the manner of a traditional 19th-century work with mime etc.  (I sort of appreciate that it doesn't pretend to be something it's not.)

1 hour ago, pherank said:

 Maria Kochetkova, when she was still at SFB, was one dancer who would go the extra mile seeking training outside the company for classical roles, but most dancers aren't going to all that trouble (and losing what is left of their free time).

I suspect many of them would be willing to get extra training/coaching, but it's costly. Kochetkova presumably has additional income from her guest appearances that many young dancers don't have. 

16 minutes ago, Katia Kapustin said:

She is a dancer who seriously captured my attention when The Royal Ballet came to USA in 2015 and performed in Chicago, Washington and New York. They have many good dancers but for me she stood out in a special way. I was fortunate to find myself in London last summer and saw Naghdi dance Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake". I really wish I could go more often to London and watch The Royal Ballet as I really like their style of dancing. For the record I am also a big fan of SFB and they have lovely dancers too!

I remember watching this video of Naghdi - in the early rehearsal process of SB - it was filmed during the World Ballet Day about two or three years ago I think when she was preparing her Aurora debut. 

 

For me, it was the 2015 tour as well that got my attention--to be more precise seeing someone I didn't know or recognize genuinely stand out in Infra (a ballet in which many dancers, including genuine superstars, looked "good" to me without standing out out all--a flattening effect I put down to the choreography)  and figuring out eventually that it was Naghdi.  But when I saw the rehearsal posted above not too long after, that really got my attention because it showed her working  very promisingly on pristine classical choreography. I was super disappointed at missing her Swan Lake in London. (She was reserved for a student performance the week I was there and I couldn't get in...) I am hoping to see her live again at some point. And...uh...not in McGregor.

I see that I was wrong about the Ratmansky Romeo and Juliet and, from a selfish point of view, a little glad to have been so, as I have tickets for the Bolshoi Swan Lake this summer in London, and I was going to plotz if they brought that to D.C. However, I do know that puts me on a completely different page from Mussel and probably many other fans too and I can certainly feel for that!  I'm intrigued and pleased that Atlanta Ballet was invited to D.C. to present its new Nutcracker.  I really have no idea what people will think of it. It's not waaay out there, but not exactly for traditionalists either.

I'm still not sure what I will be able to come to D.C. to see, but will definitely try to make it to the Mariinsky Paquita.

Quite excited to read about Naghdi's performance--wish I could be there on Friday!

 And thank you @Fraildove for your reflections on the Rose Adagio...

Safe travels.

I have tickets for three performances, three casts. Hugely disappointed not to be seeing Tereshkina.

I found Chebykina's Clemence a couple of years ago wonderful. What I have seen on video since then has seemed considerably more uneven to me, but I'm not at all unhappy to see her.  Just very sorry not to have a chance to see Tereshkina again in a big classical role.  And I was also looking forward to seeing Tereshkina and Kim together! 

Opening the visit with Khoreva also puts a big responsibility on a young and inexperienced dancer's shoulders--and she is also going to be dancing (partly) opposite the sensational Kim in the pas de trois which is a different kind of challenge. I hope she does great.

11 minutes ago, mussel said:

I don't think it's going to be ABT's Lake or Beauty as it did both 3-4 years ago at KC.  Just my guess, NYCB for Scotch Symphony, ABT for R&J, Bolshoi for Swan Lake, Mariinsky for Sleeping Beauty.  I hope Bolshoi won't bring Ratmansky's R&J as I've seen it with Toronto. I assume Bolshoi will be in Chicago also.

 

I suspect the National Ballet of Canada has North American Rights to the Ratmansky R&J.

I hope you are right about the Mariinsky bringing Sleeping Beauty!

Susan Jaffe once gave an interview describing a mid-career reboot of her technique with Kolpakova. So it happens. It still seems brave for a dancer of Copland's prominence (and who attracts as much heated commentary as she does) to do this and to allow the videos to be posted -- one wonders if that isn't something Conrad wanted since it brings a great deal of attention to his method.

48 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

I'm glad he's posting the sessions where ABT can see them. If Copeland has fallen prey to a charlatan, hopefully the company will intervene. 

One would hope so.

1 hour ago, sandik said:

 

Honestly, as we see outlet after outlet fade away, I'm happy the New Yorker appointed someone as dance critic.  They could very easily have let it go.

Absolutely!

Just saw this after reading one of your posts on NYCB forums--welcome. Looking forward to reading your impressions of performances from all over.