koshka

I vaguely recall that the loge is fairly steep, so you might be ok. In my experience, better tickets seem to be available at the box office at the last minute than in advance. Don't ask me why, but that often seems to be the case. I do also vaguely recall that one is allowed to upgrade on arrival, so you could get best-available now and then see if anything better is available when you get there. As it is, I will be in the front row on Fri (ticket bought in, oh, April or so) and on the lawn with my dad & sisters (not generally ballet fans but will put up with it) on Sat.

Hans, as with any setting it's a matter of taste. I am pretty much a front row sitter when at all possible, including at Wolf Trap, though the lawn is also enjoyable. If you get there early enough, they _might_ permit you to have a look around & decide where you want to sit. The view from the lawn is very good but of course you are more vulnerable to weather there.

You know, I don't even remember the Bolshoi's being here for DonQ that recently...odd. In any case, IMO there really is no such thing as too much (Minkus) DonQ. :-)

Casting information is available for the Bolshoi's 2-night visit to Wolf Trap, outside Washington DC. Casting for DonQ Aug 5-6 Looks like we are in for a treat. I notice that there is a Evgeniya Volochkova dancing. _The_ Volochkova is Anastasia, right?

DonQ done for an audience of schoolchildren, the schmaltzier the better. While the audience will not be schoolchildren, I have been claiming that Wolf Trap scheduled the Bolshoi to do DonQ the weekend of my birthday _just for me_.

...not to mention the hair---don't you think Volochkova is a little stingy with the glitter? You forgot toe-tap. ...knee bend ...point ...leap Lame duck is one of a very, very few for which I haven't heard a French equivalent (I think I even asked Alertniks about this one a while back). What is it? Pique en dedans is the closest I've heard.

Two notes from Washington: 1. I hear that the Kennedy Center has also implemented a "no standing room tickets unless house is sold out" policy, but haven't checked into it myself. 2. Road-tripping DonQ fans should note that lawn tickets for the Bolshoi's 2 performances of DonQ are $18. Hey, it's outdoors, but at least you get to sit. :-)

A few quick notes on Sunday. > Oh...and let it be noted that Leonid Sarafanov remained the King of the Kirov > during this run. He was spectacular as Ali. He has the puppy look and needs to work on his "Prince" demeanor, but he was definitely the scene-stealer. Once again on Sunday Medora was danced by Somova and didn't really do much for me. Good thing there are so many other juicy principal roles to watch in Le Corsaire! Gulnara (Obraztsova, I think) was lovely and amazing. They really ought to get the casting info right--I completely agree. Heck, I'd settle for a spoken announcement! A few choreographic notes: what are those hoppy fouettes in the first act, done by either Medora or Gulnara (can't remember)? I have never seen them before. Ditto for the turns a la seconde for Medora--I have seen them in class (yuck!) but never in performance by a woman--do they appear in any other works?

Golub was Gulnara. The Odalisques were terrific. I don't know the Mckenzie story--would you like to share?

I was there last night (Thursday) and will put my (limited!) powers of observation to work. The production is very DonQ-ish in the sense of bouncy music and plenty of mime and cheesiness. The oft-mentioned fountains, however, were at the back of the stage behind a scrim, so I was not particularly impressed. The dancing was generally very good, though neither Gumerova nor Ivanchenko much appealed to me. Gumerova had a bit of scary turning in the second or third act--can't remember which. Golub was wonderful. Sarafanov and Korsakov danced spectacularly. They both look like they're about 15. Sarafanov still has this goofy-puppy look about him, and Korsakov was wearing makeup on his torso, presumably to make him look less pasty. The makeup did not ultimately hide what appears to be a tattoo between his shoulderblades. The conductor was mercifully short (my seat is right behind him), and I can report that he must be related to Monica Seles--there was lots of grunting and sighing from him. The corps work was lovely, esp. in the first act. In the last act, there was a huge blooper: one of the front-row corps members appeared on stage still wearing her black warmup shorts under her tutu. Alas, she was stuck on stage for quite somem time. Oooops.

Oh my--a full day. How wonderful. Sure am glad I'm coming a day early to take care of shopping. Have you ever been & do you know if they typically sell any books/dvds/whatever? (and yes, I have an all-region dvd player).

I've now booked a trip through Paris for the Dec 11 performance. I note on the website that there are 2 times, 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Does anybody know if this means that there will be two identical performances, or??? Any other tips?

I think both of these CDs are also available from US amazon. You can find them by searching on Spassov.

A bit off-topic, but is there any news on when / where the Kirov will be performing in the fall? Will they be touring the whole time, or will they be at the Mariinsky, or will their stint in Helsinki already be underway?

I'll be there Thursday and maybe Sunday afternoon...depending on whether I think once was enough after Thursday.

Natalia- Thanks for the info. Now that we know you have that useful volume, would you mind checking that encyclopedia for the other stars of the film, Alec Timoushin and Lena Vorontsova? k

I have no information, but Angelina Armeiskaya, the featured 10 year-old girl, is now teaching at Universal Ballet Academy (formerly Kirov) in Washington, DC, and she might know. Faculty at UBA I don't have any connections at UBA; otherwise, I would volunteer to ask...

The Bolshoi is doing DonQ at Wolf Trap here in DC August 5 & 6--tickets start at $18 for lawn and front orchestra is $65. You could always road-trip it down here for the weekend. :-)

I was there both Tuesday and Wednesday. (Tuesday ticket from TicketPlace...). The gala was quite pleasant, though I was shocked to see that nearly all of the female presenters/hostesses/whatever were wearing shoes that were so impractical or ill-fitting that they couldn't even stand straight up on two feet at a podium for a few minutes. The dancing was a delight, especially the defile. (It would've been nice, though, if somebody had given Chelsea Clinton a heads-up that it's day-fee-lay, not de-file...Otherwise her presentation was really short and sweet.) Wednesday: I loved the costumes and agree completely with the assessment that the various headgear was "bizarre but appropriate". I wonder if these costumes and the Nutcracker costumes had the same designer(s)--I was reminded of the elaborate mushroom headpieces from Nutcracker. The corps ladies were in slippers rather than pointe shoes or character shoes, which I thought was odd. I liked the ball scene costumes very much and Romeo and Juliet's less. The bedroom/wedding/death scenes were a little too plain, and Juliet's overdress just wasn't that appealing. The casting and dancing were terrific for the most part. Some of the lifts for Juliet were really spectacular, especially the one in which she is sitting on Romeo's shoulder, legs straight out, and then falls backward, with Romeo holding her legs steady so that she just arches back. There was a certain amount of clunking backstage during some of the scene changes, but that will likely be ironed out by tonight. Note to WB cast and those with connections thereto: When the music is quiet or when there is no music, we _can_ hear you talking on- and backstage. A lovely sissone is lovelier when another cast member is not _heard_ saying "yowsah". <Sigh> (Does this mean I am getting old and cranky?)

Do be sure to go on the Teatro Colon tour, even if it's in Spanish (they sometimes have English too). And if you're not vegetarian, be sure and have some steak and some of those crepes with dulce di leche.

Point well taken. Your description is so discreet and yet so complete that, well, now I longer need to see the picture. Ay caramba!

Uh, surely _somebody_ has a scanner! Sharing is caring, y'know.

...and to boot, she was as sweet as could be when the young lady next to me spotted her scooting away (no longer dressed in gown) and asked for her autograph.

I went last night. So, what to say. Stravinsky Violin Concerto: I enjoyed it very much, though I'd say the dancing wasn't quite as sharp as we'd see from NYCB. Also there was a moment or two where Runqiao (sp?) Du did some pirouettes that were awful--neither classical nor obviously stylized. It was very odd. There Where She Loved: Again, I liked it very much. The live accompaniment added quite a bit (especially relative to the HORRENDOUS recording that was in use during the open rehearsal), and it was a nice touch to have each singer (there were 2) wearing a shawl in a color complimentary to the costumes. I think it would've been nice to have the words (translated) in the program--I understand just enough German and French, and it made a big difference to know the words. The last piece, Je ne t'aime pas, was especially moving. We are so used to seeing pas de deux in which there is a love story or a comical element to the dancers' dislike (eg Kitri and Gamache in DonQ). This one was quite different. Erin Mahoney keeps getting better and better. Rite of Spring. Well, it was interesting. There is absolutely none of the "Russian Peasant" element, though there is the "sacrifice" element. What did it have? As far as I could tell (and am I notoriously bad at following plots), there was a love trapezoid: Hostess loved her (female) assistant; Hostess's Mama loved fiance; all were scandalized by the Hostess-Assistant affair. The young lady next to me (10-12 years old, I'd guess) piped up at the very end that she would give it an R rating, so I guess it was a bit much for the younger set. IMO the "adult nature" was far more about the violence than the sex. The fiance did dance briefly in just a dance belt, but only after a bit of a strip-tease (honestly, if I hadn't known beforehand, after all the strip tease I half-expected the full monty). The dancing was good--I especially enjoyed Brianne Bland's (assistant) slicing jumps. The violent pas de deux, as in There Where She Loved, were moving and disturbing. The ladies' very long-in-back skirts were wonderful to watch, but I spotted 2 or 3 wipeouts due to the length. Also, the light was a bit harsh and all of the dancers' legs looked very...pasty (not at all fat, but very pale). I'm glad to have seen it and it was interesting, but I won't be running out to see it a second time this week.

More about coat checks: they are _everywhere_, including at IKEA in Russia. The ushers at the Bolshoi/Kirov know only a few words of English, but "coats" is one of them. :-) If there is a fee, it will be clearly indicated and won't be much--maybe 5 or 10 rubles. Last time I was there it seemed that there was a fee but the coat check lady handed my money back (?). Try and learn a few words of Russian--although you will get along ok without it, trust me, even bad Russian is appreciated since so few bother even with that. Oh, and ticket pickup: if you order online, as of last summer part of the Bolshoi was under repair and the pickup was in an adjacent building, which was a little confusing even though I spoke Russian. Here's my best description: Stand in the square facing the front of the theater. Look to your left and you will see a Metro entrance on the corner (possibly a bit behind you). Beside the metro is a ticket office. Or maybe ask at your hotel--they should know what the current setup is. Shopping tip: there is a little shop behind the Bolshoi (stand as before, facing theater; walk to the right side of the theater and walk along the side of the theater to the next street or possibly the one after that. The shop is on the corner. It's theatrical supply shop. Enjoy! PS About tickets for locals: nobody would arrest you. The worst they'd do is inform you that you need to pay extra. But in any case the Bolshoi seems to have moved away from the two-tier foreigner/local pricing.