Danielle

4 hours ago, Helene said:

YouTube links are fine, as long as they are public, not private.

Thank you so much!!

Here is the link to Maria Khoreva's YouTube video about the production of The Pharaoh's Daughter: 

I'm not sure if it's OK to post links to videos here, but Maria Khoreva just uploaded a long video on her YouTube channel about her experience with this production! Lots of new information about the ballet and its history that I didn't know. (I'm a newbie!)

She talks about Petipa, Pavlova, Kschessinka, etc. She says that both productions are grand (the original and the new reconstruction), and that the reconstruction was based on the original choreography but updated for the modern audience due to ballet technique evolving. She mentions that she started working with Tony and Juan a few months ago. She also talks about the costumes and wig she had to wear.

There are clips of her dancing. 

Masha Bulanova also updated her Instagram, with new clips of her dancing a different part!

31 minutes ago, Buddy said:

Continued admiration for Maria Iliushkina’s performance. I think that this video clip of Toni Candeloro coaching her in the manner that you described, Danielle, helps explain how she got there She has adapted to this highly expressive style remarkably well while maintaining all her inherent loveliness. This is what makes her special.

Alexei Ratmansky must have imparted a great deal in the two months that he worked with the dancers. Toni Candeloro then was brought in and as is apparent in this video clip also imparted a great deal. How much of each exists in the finished work is a highly emotional question at the moment. What might finally emerge is the realisation that both their efforts made this work a success and it might be a masterpiece.

 

This is from the printed description of the video. (Google translation)

Maria Ilyushkina, the first soloist, prepares the part of Aspicia:

“This is not just a classic we are used to, but a classic with an old flair: interesting positions of the hands, body, head. In this ballet we return to the origins, but in the entourage of the 21st century. It turns out such an interesting synthesis, a kind of dialogue of epochs. What we saw at school in ballet lessons in drawings and photographs is now transmitted to us at rehearsals.

Lyubov Kunakova, teacher-tutor:

“In this ballet, in the dance of the soloists, the mood plays a big role, since there is no modern technique that we are used to - big jumps, virtuoso rotations. I really like the way Tony brings out that vintage style."

 

I think this is so right: "What might finally emerge is the realisation that both their efforts made this work a success and it might be a masterpiece."

I just saw another magnificent clip from this ballet and the crowd really seemed to enjoy it. Nobody was doing any tricks or acrobatic dancing, just the whole cast performing superbly together. "A classic with an old flair" seems like a really great description for this production!

3 hours ago, Buddy said:

Apparently, according to the program, Juan Bockamp, a Spanish dancer who also specialises in Stepanov Notation, was Toni Candeloro's assistant in charge of reading the notations. (Thanks again to ElenaK at Dansomanie)

Juan Bockamp “lives in Madrid dedicating himself to dance pedagogy and research.”

https://petipamarathon.com/speakers/juan-bockamp/

 

Thanks so much!

May Nagahisa is also apparently in the production. She just posted a clip of her dancing on Instagram (stories).

39 minutes ago, Buddy said:

To somewhat qualify what I wrote, the Mariinsky does credit Robert Perdziola under "Credits."

Set and costume Designer: Robert Perdziola

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2023/3/26/2_1200/

Here’s Robert Perdziola describing what he did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjPdzBvZWJc&t=191s

Added: Interestingly the set that I like the most, the jungle looking one, is based on the Mariinsky La Bayadere sets according to the Mariinsky designer in the video. Robert Perdziola viewed these and liked them very much, but redesigned his set with more lighter areas. The Mariinsky designer praises Robert Perdziola for the fine detail of his sketches that enabled him to easily and accurately reproduce them. Also in Russian, others working on the sets praise the beauty of Robert Perdziola’s specifically Egyptian theme designs. (This is from the auto-translate on the video)

Thanks for this! Is Juan Bockamp Tony's assistant choreographer? I saw Khoreva link him on Instagram and he has videos of the ballet on his stories. I'm just really trying to watch as many clips as I can!

I wonder if Ratmansky had a different cast in mind. I think I saw Victor Caixeta comment on his Instagram post that he has great memories working on the ballet. 

And yes, it appears the Mariinsky has credited Perdziola, including in an Instagram post a few days ago. I really love his set design, it feels more colorful and "alive" than the Bolshoi's!

29 minutes ago, Buddy said:

Maria Bulanova is listed as the Fisherman’s Wife in the Maria Iliushkina performance, Danielle.

Although there’s denial by Yuri Fateev of Alexei Ratmansky’s choreography being now used, I don’t think that there can be any denial of him being a major factor in this production or of the use of Robert Perdziola’s magnificent set designs made specifically for the Alexei Ratmansky creation.

It certainly sounds like a full house, Danielle, and an enthusiastic, young one in the upper balconies.

Thank you! I've only seen brief clips of her dancing.

Hopefully when all this is over the Mariinsky will give them proper credit, alongside Tony and Juan.

I can't wait to see Oksana Skorik take on this ballet, she is my other favorite Mariinsky prima.

1 hour ago, Buddy said:

I’m enjoying the video clips of Maria Iliushkina very much. In contrast to my original impressions there’s actually a lot of colorful animation, at least in her performance, which is quite a departure from her usual airy and graceful loveliness. The dance style seems to call for certain rigidity in the back and limbs but the motions do get exuberant. She handles it very well.

It appears for the moment that Yuri Fateev is claiming that the ballet has been completely rechoreographed. Alexei Ratmansky is saying in his recent Instagram post that he doesn’t think so, stating, “After seeing recent rehearsal footage I am suspicious that parts of my work might have been used. I won't make any statements until I see the film of the full production.” Hopefully this will all get resolved somehow. But as usually seems to be the case, this work will ultimately be appreciated and stand on its own merits.

Without minimising the moral issues, I hope that it’s possible to enjoy and prize the artistic value of this work and the fine commitment of such exceptional artists as Maria Iliushkina.

Added: I guess it's not a copyright issue to post a certain call, so here's Maria Iliushkina and Nikita Korneev's. It  seems like quite an enthusiastic response. In this sense it's the same Mariinsky that I've loved over many years. 

 

Thanks for posting this! I really love the  costumes and backdrops. Is that Masha Bulanova?? I know she was in this, but wasn't sure which cast and which role she was dancing.

I love Iliushkina, I'm trying to find more clips of her online. I've seen a lot of Khoreva's. 

Is it full house? It looks like it! 

17 minutes ago, Drew said:

Bulanova has a picture of herself in the ballet on Instagram, so she is cast - just not in a principal role.

I can't deny that I would like to see this but I would not be able to bring myself to send any money the company's way at the present time so I would not be willing to pay for a livestream or broadcast even if one were available. Tereshkina looks like the prima ballerina she is --and Shakirova like the prima she may one day become -- in the bits of video available.

Lacotte's version at the Bolshoi, though splended to look at, and a dancer-showcase, is much of a muchness for my taste: by getting rid of more or less all pantomime and character dancing and choreographing almost every role in a similar style I find that it creates so much uniformity across the episodic multi-act ballet that it starts to dull the impact of all the dance highlights. Or at least so it seems on video which is the only way I have seen it. When the current Mariinsky team talks about adapting to modern audience tastes I hope they have not followed  a similar route of slashing Petipa's varieties of stagecraft.  I do appreciate that the Mariinsky spares us the black face used by Lacotte and the Bolshoi.

Yes, I saw Masha posted on Instagram! I wish she was given a bigger role to dance. I don't know why she isn't getting newer principal roles. She would make an amazing Kitri!

Ah, I would pay for a livestream, maybe it will help the dancers, at least. It has always been my dream to see the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi in person, but that's just not possible now. 😔 I've been wanting to visit since I was a little girl, after watching the Anastasia cartoon. That led me to learn more about her, and the Romanovs, and Mathilde, and from there, the Mariinsky...

Thank God, no blackface! I can't wait to see more clips. I follow another Vaganova dancer, Aaron Oh, and he appears in the rehearsals footage. I can't wait to see clips of him dancing! He has the most dynamic jumps.  

1 hour ago, Buddy said:

Hi Danielle.

I’m a fan of the beautiful and colorful Pierre Lacotte Bolshoi version, which I’ve seen five times. Video clips of the Mariinsky version have appeared and are very interesting. The difference is quite distinct. For me, it has a lovely ‘antique’ quality, especially in the costumes. I would think that this production is much closer in feel to the original. It’s more restrained and refined, although the footwork, for one thing, can get rather animated as may have been the style of the times. I also think that it’s maintained an awareness of modern sensibilities as most ‘reconstructions’ do, or have to do because of the distance in time from the original.

It’s still unclear to me from what I’m reading as to how much it’s been changed from the Alexei Ratmansky creation, perhaps more than I thought. I’m assuming that the costumes and sets for the Ratmansky production are all being used. It does seem to be a sincere and dedicated effort on the part of Alexei Ratmansky along with those, although more contriversially, who continued work on it and the Mariinsky in staging it. It’s quite beautiful, but might take some getting used to for some of us who’ve lived with the Pierre Lacotte version and are accustomed to more modern productions in general.

The clips from the first several performances feature Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim and Maria Iliushkina and Nikita Korneev. I look forward to watching these more carefully and I’m sure that I’ll discover things that I like very much, which is usually the case.

Here once again is the casting, using the French spellings. (Thanks again to ElenaK at Dansomanie, who first posted it).

 

24 mars (première) : Viktoria Terechkina (Aspicia) - Renata Chakirova (Ramzaya) - Kim Kimin (Ta-Hor) - Alekseï Timofeev (pas d’action)

25 mars : Maria Khoreva - Nadejda Batoeva - Philippe Stepine - Iaroslav Baïbordine

26 mars (m) : Maria Iliuchkina - Maria Chirinkina - Nikita Korneev - Evgueni Konovalov

26 mars (s) : Ekaterina Kondaourova - Elena Evseeva - Vladimir Chkliarov - Kian Mangis

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2023/3/24/2_1900/

 

 

   

 

I've seen the Bolshoi version on YouTube, but that was a long time ago. The one that really stuck with me from that production is Nina's beautiful and charming solo!

I believe I read somewhere on Instagram that Fateev said the whole ballet was re-choreographed by Tony. How much of that is true, I can't say! But watching the rehearsals, Tony and his team seemed really dedicated in perfecting every detail, even the way Maria Khoreva tilted her head. I think they have a video of Alexei's rehearsals from a year ago, so I'm going to check that out and see what's different!

Yes, clips are starting to come out! I love the backdrops, the costumes!! So far, it all looks so magical. Maria Khoreva has posted a few clips on her Instagram stories, and so has Masha (she's in it). 

I really wish I could see it. 

Hi all!

I'm new here, but I've been lurking for a long time. I'm a huge fan of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, and have been keeping an eye on the Mariinsky's new production, Pharaoh's Daughter. Here's a link to their rehearsal footage! I believe it's Iliushkina there. The team seems so passionate and dedicated to this production, it's so lovely to see!

 https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqFck_MDh0r/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I wish there was a way to see this online - I'd happily pay for streaming. I wonder how different it will be from the Bolshoi version.

I love the casting for all three performances, but I was surprised that Masha Bulanova, my favorite young Vaganova grad right now, does not appear to be in any of the casts. She is a great dramatic actress and a powerful dancer, and I think she would have been perfect in this production.

Hi all!

I'm a new member here, but a long-time lurker. I'm not a professional dancer, just a huge fan of classical ballet. My favorite companies are the Mariinsky and Bolshoi. I love Paris Opera too, but haven't kept up with them in a while.

Nice to meet all of you!