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chiapuris

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Posts posted by chiapuris

  1. I bought tickets for the 31st with performers listed as Letestu\Martinez.

    Because of Letestu's stepping in for Gillot on the 29th, the 31st cast was Dupont\Legris.

    I'll start with the climax; the 3rd act pdd of Dupont and Legris encapsulated in virtuosity, elegance and classic manner what almost anyone could have wished for from the enterprise known as The Sleeping Beauty. It was crystalline in its purity and serenity. Each pose, every reverence toward each other, each virtuosic flourish, like the 'fish dives' -which practically invert the person of Aurora- flowed smoothly and effortlessly.

    In Ms Dupont's variation, the sequence of pirouettes a la seconde and repeated , followed by attitude turns ending in pointe tendu en avant, then repeated thrice, was a phenomenal display of unmannered, great dancing.

    Mr Legris ended his variation after a series of turns in a double manege with a simple pose en face in fifth position; the audience responded enthusiastically. In the Prologue and the second act, the Lilac Fairy (Natacha Quernet, both nights) carries out important pantomimic duties dressed ina long, formal dress. The Lilac Fairy variation music (and choreography?) is given to the dancer of the 6th variation (dressed in a blue and green tutu).

    On the 31st Emilie Cozette danced the 6th variation and Fanny Fiat danced the 5th, as well as the Silver Fairy in the third act.

    The Bluebird pdd was danced by the excellent Eleonora Abbagnato and the buoyant Karl Paquette. They were enjoyable, but I'm not sure this pdd brought out their inidividual assets and talents. It may be wrongheaded but I tend to see the Bluebird tableau on a miniature scale.

    The 'precious stones' was again led by Julien Meyzindi as Gold, with Fiat as Silver. Their pdd was spectacular as well as was the trio of jewels of Muriel Halle, Marie-Solone Boulet and Laura Hecquet. I was again impressed with the clean execution and cool authority of Meyzindi's variation.

    Sandrine Marache as the White Cat added (for the new year festvities) vocal effects to her dance. She meowed musically and in perfect time to Fabien Roque's Puss in Boots during their deliciously rendered pdd.

    In closing I need to mention those sections that make the heart of any classic ballet: the ensemble numbers of the corps de ballet.

    In Nureyev's SB there are glorious ensembles: in the Proloque, the entry of the seven fairies each accompanied by three quadrilles and one cavalier; at the birthday party, the waltz of 16 ladies and 8 men; in the third act the Polonaise of nine couples, the ladies in point shoes. The POB corps de ballet is a treasure to ballet fans everywhere.

    A healthy and peaceful new year to all!

  2. POB Sleeping Beauty 29-12-04

    Marie-Agnes Gillot was scheduled to dance Aurora, but indisposition replaced her with Agnes Letestu.

    Ms Letestu proved to be one of the most convincing Auroras that I feel privileged to have seen.

    The Rose Adagio was a glorious display of technical proficiency in the service of the pas d'action. Ms Letestu is an artist who convinces the viewer there is a story unfolding --in this case, the debut into adulthood of a young girl. In the Rose Adagio , while dancing with and for her suitors, she shows modesty and charm and a totally beguiling demeanor, which serves as a model of directness and honesty. It's rare to see the R A so elegantly brought to life.

    Her partner, guest artist Roberto Bollé, made a solid showing as Desiré, esp. in the long, meditative solo which Nureyev introduced in the second act. As a partner for Letestu, they were well matched. Save for a minor partnering flub in the Vision scene, their double work looked flawlessly smooth. One wonders how much rehearsal time they had to prepare for the performance. (I did read they have danced together in the past, in Don Q).

    The POB maintains the 1997 production of Sleeping Beauty with Nureyev's choreography (1987), decor by Ezio Frigirio and costumes by Franca Squarciapino.

    It is very grand (white wigs for all in the third act) and very decorative and seemingly ruled by the dictum 'more is more'.

    The six fairy variations of the Prologue were very well performed. (The second as a duet). A standout was Aurora Corderlier in red tutu in the sixth variation (Violente in other versions). She was also the Silver Fairy in the third act --equally impressive.

    The soloists in the third act were altogether superb. In the 'precious stones' pas de cinq, Cordelier as Silver had a male Gold partner, Julien Meyzindi, who performed a complex variation with Nureyev's stamp all over it. The 'stones' were Hallé,

    Boulet, and Hecquet in brilliant colored tutus.

    The White Cat and Puss in Boots duo was so well danced by Mathilde Froustey and Sebastien Bertand, that it was easy to look at it and enjoy as pure dance, apart from its pantomimic values.

    Emmanuel Thibault danced the Bluebird with aplomb and lots of batterie, not often seen in other productions. Melanie Hurel was an ebbulient Florine, who listened for her partner with her whole being.

    Nureyev's choreography for the Bluebird pdd follows Soviet versions; the flicked wrists sequence after the shoulder lift makes the final pose late and unmusical.

    Nureyev for some reason eliminated the apotheosis, a musical loss, if nothing else.

  3. The first of three performances I'm attending this week was 28\12, works of Trisha Brown, Bill Forsythe, and Francine Lancelot. The program notes state that the evening is..."an invitation to journey through the Baroque universe".

    The statement fits Lancelot's work and Forsythe's. I had trouble seeing baroque in Trisha Brown-s choreography. I also had reservations about accepting Brown's choreography on the Palais Garnier stage.

    While it seems a welcome and generous gesture on the part of the Ballet directors to invite in dance makers of all styles, are the directors also saying that they are culling the best creative output available and suitable for the 154 dancers on the company's active roster?

    The evening's 'baroque' choreography comprised:

    Lancelot's work for one dancer.

    Brown's Glacial Decoy lists five dancers, but only four took bows at the end.

    Brown's O zlozony... was choreographed for three etoiles.

    Only Forsythe's work used fifteen dancers, about one tenth of the beautifully trained (and statistically most youthful) company worlwide.

    The Lancelot work to Bach's Suite no 3 for cello started with some elegant hand and arm gestures that promised a lot. This (I thought) is going to be an explication of how the baroque sensibility crept into the danse d'ecole. This ( I though again) should be really interesting. AFter the Prelude came the Allemande, and the Courante, and the Sarabande, and the Bourees, and then the Gigue.

    Alas, all had been said in the Prelude. The performer, Nicolas Paul, was flawless.

    Brown's Glacial Decoy was danced in silence, mostly on the periphery of the vast Garnier stage, near the back wings. Two dancers would appear from opposite wings and move left or right but not far from the wings and then another dancer would join them and then one would exit. And so on. This went on for 18 minutes.

    The point seemed to be that the dancers not obscure the four black and white photos projected on the lower part of the back wall, at the level of the dancing bodies. The photo images changed frequently, creating a kind of visible pulse that lent some dynamic tension to the stage goings on.

    What was baroque about this postmoderm sensibility eluded this viewer.

    O zlozony...may be an avant-garde masterpiece for all I know (cf. Alan Riding in NYT and glowing Paris reviews). The two male etoiles dancing together created some moments of dynamism. Brown used the female etoile as an inert body in the opening and closing images manipulated by the two men; and with nothing much to do in between save for pushing on the leg of one or the other man once in a while the Ms Dupont would leave the stage and change skirt.

    Are these really satisfying contemporary roles for ballet dancers, moreover ballet dancers of etoile status? Time will tell, I guess.

    Forsythe's work had a pulsive industrial score that pushed the dancers into feats of baroque excess. The dancers seemed challenged into relentless activity that provided a visually exciting feast for the audience.

    Only one couple's choreography with some slow movements gave respite from the nervous, fast pace of the rest of the 35 minute work.

    Forsythe's choreography would gain range with adagio movement.

    Will adagio ever be IN again?

    Everyone in the Forsyte work was first-rate.

    Dancers tht impressed me were Aurelien Houette, Herve Moreau, Eleonora Abbagnato, Jeremie Belingard, Stephanie Romberg and Ghislaine Reichert (a quadrille, I think).

  4. This is addressed to Paul Parish of Post #24.

    I happen to concur altogether with what you say in this post, namely that one can't really compare the work of a principal (any principal) who performs the dances of a three-act ballet lasting some two or more hours, with the work of a soloist who may perform a variation lasting no more than a minute (as some of Petipa's do).

    I don't think I have commited such an offense. The isssue that bothers me is that

    you have put my name on a quote-- which I quoted from Jack Reed's Post #22.

    I DID NOT SAY IT, I MERELY QUOTED IT and commented on it.

    My problem was that I didn't use the Quote software correctly, so that the originator's

    name never appeared on the quote of my post. That was my fault and I'm sorry for it, because it may have led you to believe that it was my thought.

    It is not. Hopefully this clarifies the picture.

  5. "What kind of a company is it where the demis are better than the principals?"

    I enjoyed your review of the two Raymondas, Jack Reed.

    As for your friend's question, I think it suggests a company that gives us a lot to look forward in the future.

    My understanding of the comment that Krysanova rolls through the foot to reach point, is that generally the Bolshoi dancers favor shoes whose construction leads to a quick rise on point without the intermediate rolling of the foot and then quickly down; unlike the tradition of French training [and SAB and other schools], of through the foot rise to point.

  6. The Bolshoi Ballet’s production of Raymonda (11/12/04) in Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre was a revelation for me. Raymonda can be said to be a balletomane’s favorite work for the reasons that:

    1) It is a storehouse of Petipa come down to us through the work of all the conservators who have kept the variations and the ballabiles from disappearing.

    2) It is a vehicle ‘par excellence’ for the display of classical dancing.

    3) It has a great score (Glazunov), even if it is your belief that Tchaikovsky’s scores are unsurpassed.

    The revelation for me was that the production of some 170 minutes had not a dull minute in it. (Well, OK, maybe just a FEW minutes of the superfluous ‘click clack’ dances of the retinue of Abderrakhman in the second act.) Mime as a conveyor of story-telling is minimized, and the chief means of expression is through dancing, principally danse d’ecole, supplemented by character/national/social styles.

    Another revelation for me was that Raymonda served as an excellent vehicle for the dancing of Nadezhda Gracheva, showing off her gifts to maximum effect. I had seen Ms Gracheva as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake (in Detroit) and as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty

    (in Moscow), and I had decided that I just could not appreciate her art. During this performance of Raymonda it struck me that Ms Gracheva may have an affinity for the music of Glazunov, because unlike my earlier (somewhat negative) impressions of her, I found her dancing crystalline and unmannered.

    Her arabesques impressed me as one of the high accomplishments of dancing on contemporary stages. They are so pure they seem like feats of virtuosity reaching a stage of nonchalance. I guess I’m a convert.

    Ruslan Skvortsov as Jean was a gallant partner and a confident, virtuosic performer.

    He also has striking good looks. This was a pairing that magnified the gifts of the two dancers—synergy at work.

    The first act seemed beautifully put together, with the introductory scenes flowing, with a steady pace, into the dream scene. The early scenes gave us the dancing of Maria Alaxandrova (Clemence) and Ekaterina Shipulina (Henriette). It was exciting to see them dance in unison. Their partnered work, as well as the adage with Ms Gracheva were first-rate.

    The dream scene (there’s always a dream scene; why? is it because dreams are outside logic?) had many riches but I’ll mention only two- my two favorite Bolshoi K’s.

    Ms Kobakhidze in the first variation, and the young Ms Krysanova in the second variation, are the most convincing signs that ballet is alive and well and thriving and has a bright future (or ought to).

    Both have a musical intelligence that lifts their dancing from entertainment into art.

    But art of what? Ballet, for me, is the explication in art of the human body with the principles of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Ballet’s concern is in displaying

    the complexity and intricacy of Vitruvian humanity- the structure of the physical body.

    (It’s not about ecology, or the torment of the soul, or mothers-in-law. Its subject matter is as much a concern of 21st c. humanity as it was a concern in any other century; its central subject is not passé).

    In the second act, Dmitry Belogolovtsev, as Aberrrakhman, created a menacing anti-hero with bravura dancing of high quality. In his retinue, Yulia Lunkina and Denis Medvedev were a colorful pair in blue feathers, fire-birdish, in an ‘orientale’duet. Maria Isplatovskaya and Anna Balukova were exotic with long black hair and red costumes in a Spanish dance.

    In the third act, I’ll only mention some standouts:

    a) The male pas de quatre with well-synchronized young dancers for the double tours section, all with secure and generous demi-plie landings. A joy.

    b) The Grand Pas variation of Ms Krysanova. She covered what seemed like every inch of the stage, as if claiming it as her rightful domain. Exciting dancing.

    c) The Grand Hungarian Dance led by Yulianna Malkhsyants and Timofey Lavenyuk with authority and style.

    d) Lastly, Ms Gracheva’s Grand pas variation was an elegant study of economy in art – where all flourishes and non-essentials are discarded, so that only the brightly etched core of the choreographic line remains.

    Thanks to one and all in the Bolshoi Ballet!

  7. The Bolshoi’s Don Quixote (11/11/04) at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was

    a sensual feast with a menu of choreography credited to Petipa with reworkings by various balletmasters with additions, and emendations, and so on. In my view, there is a coherence to all the parts of the production, partly, perhaps, because of the variety of the accretions gathered over time.

    By this I mean that the additions and changes may be value-added virtues by reason of providing a broader palette of movement ‘styles’ that set off the classical canon to advantage.

    There were dances that I don’t recall seeing in western versions of D Q, that, in the Bolshoi’s version, added contrasts of tempi and mood. One example is the “Spanish Dance” in the tavern scene of the second act, performed by three women: two with prop guitars and the soloist playing castanets. It is slow in tempo and quite unlike the other Minkus set pieces. (A musical addition as well?)

    Another example – and I think a wonderful feature of the Bolshoi production-, is the “Gypsy Dance” danced by the charismatic Yulianna Malkhasyants in the gypsy camp scene of the second act. The dance is not just another character dance but a species of ‘folk’ expressionism. Ms Makhasyants registered rapid mood changes in facial expressions with muscular tics in the forearms and hands and neck, wedded beautifully to the melodramatic and lushly orchestrated musical accompaniment. (Who choreographed this dance? I hope Inga can help me here).

    Kitri in this performance was the elegant and exciting Ms Shipulina. The buoyancy of her jumps is exceptional. I had seen her once before, earlier this year, when she danced what I thought to be the best Gamzatti of the four or five I have seen.

    Her partner Thursday night was Yuri Klevtsov. They made a handsome couple, but perhaps because of size, they did not make the ideal pairing. To me his dancing lacked the range and depth of her work. This is probably a quibble, but it could be said that the roster of Bolshoi women soloists outperform their counterparts in the men’s roster.

    Klevtsov seemed too cautious in the completion of some of his pirouette combinations,

    and partnering skills sometimes showed timing problems.

    Quixote’s Dream section was handsomely rendered as a tableau with no dark corners, in full daylight, and in delicate colors: classicism presented forthrightly. Ms Allash performed vividly as the Dryad Queen, and Ms Shipulina embodied the ideal of the principal dancer as classicist. Xenia Pchelkina was physically appropriate, and technically accurate, as the young Amor. Alexey Loparevich’s elongated figure was eloquent in depicting the locked-in world of hopes and ideals of Don Quixote.

    The Bolshoi’s production of this scene is a testament to the power of the classical dance canon to provide authentic art—as well as wonderful entertainment.

    So, on to the entertainment of the third act.

    The Grand Pas is so well-known and familiar, in its various incarnations around the world, that it is difficult to say anything that doesn’t sound trite (or repetitive). The Bolshoi’s version seemed to me very coherent, and in this performance excellently performed. The extra bonus is the inclusion, with the wedding couple, of the two maids of honor in lemon-colored tutus. (Anastasia Meskova and Nelli Kobakhidze). Ms Kobakhidze, performing the second variation, displayed the virtues one expects from great dancing: clarity, legibility (read musicality), attack that makes you think it’s being done for the very first time, and energy that seems unstoppable-all the while respecting the ‘rules’ of the classic game. She is a star of classicism rising.

    Lastly I have to mention the Bolshoi corps de ballet. Their appearance in the third act was to splendid effect. The women in all-white flamenco style long dresses, the men in white jackets embroidered with black threads, white tights, and black broad-rimmed hats fitted close on the head, they personified the incomparable training, dignity, and artistry of

    the Bolshoi Ballet.

    It was a treat to hear the Bolshoi Orchestra led by P Klinichev in the Auditorium Theatre,

    which is reputed to have the best acoustics in North America.

    CAST

    Kitri Ekaterina Shipulina

    Basil Yury Klevtsov

    Don Q Alexey Loparevich

    Sancho Panza Alexander Petukhov

    Gamache Viktor Alekhin

    Juanita Natalia Malandina

    Pikkiliya Irina Semirechenskaya

    Espada Rinat Arifulin

    Street Dancer Maria Allash

    Mercedes Maria Isplatovkaya

    Spanish Dance Maria Volodina, Anna Balukova, Eugenia Rozovskaya

    Gypsy Dance Yulianna Malkhasyants

    Bolero Anna Antropova, Georgy Geraskin

  8. Thanks Marc, for posting the US tour casts.

    I have tickets for the Chicago 11/11 and 11/12 performances

    and am delighted to see Alexandrova and Filin for the 11th DQ.

    I can only hope there are no principal changes for that performance.

  9. A flyer from the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (Chicago)

    indicates (as Marc stated) the ballets of the Bolshoi Nov 10-14 2004 performances

    will be Don Quixote: Wed. & Thur. 7:30 pm

    and Raymonda: Fri. 7:30 pm, Sat. 1 & 7:30 pm, Sun. 2pm.

  10. Cast of June 18:

    Spartacus Dmitry Belogolovtsev

    Crassus Mark Peretokin

    Phrygia Anna Antonicheva

    Aegina Nadezhda Gracheva

    Gladiator Yuri Baranov

    Mimes Irina Zibrova, Anastasia Yatsenko, Irina Semirechenskaya, Olga Suvorova, Erika Luzina,

    Anna Rebetskaya, Vasily Zhidkov, Roman Simachev, Roman Tselitchev, Alexander Pshenitsyn

    Shepherds Andrey Bolotin, Batyr Annadurdyev, Georgy Geraskin, Denis Medvedev, Vladimir

    Moiseev, Ilia Ryzhakov, Alexander Petukhov

    Shepherdesses Svetlana Gnedova, Irina Serenkova, Maria Prorvich,

    Daria Gurevich, Svetlana Pavlova

    Courtesans Anna Antropova, Irina Zibrova, Anna Nakhapetova, Irina Semirechenskaya,

    Anastasia Yatsenko, Anastasia Meskova, Oksana Tsvetnitskaya

    Spartacus is, I believe, an important work in the history of 20th century ballet. It is important because it is one of the few full-length three-act ballets not created in the 19th century. It is singular among those few works, as a ballet whose score was created for it by a contemporary composer, Aram Katchaturian. Moreover, it is significant that the choreographers who tackled it

    [Leonid Yakobson for the Kirov in 1956, Igor Moiseev for the Bolshoi in 1958, Leonid Yakobson for the Bolshoi in 1962, and Yuri Grigorovich in 1968 up to the present] brought male dancers to a centrality in performance. both as leading protagonists and as group dancers.

    Spartacus remains interesting in performance, because it has four central characters, two women and two men, any one of whom can dominate a performance through the particular dancer's charisma and projection.

    In my first view of the complete ballet on Friday night, I felt privileged to see it performed by the company for which it was made, and on the stage for which it was envisioned.

    Highlights:

    The first-act pas de deux between Antonicheva and Belogolovtsev was wonderfully modulated by the dancers so that even the acrobatic lifts looked somehow serene and musically right. Altogether, their dancing was of impressive quality, accurate and passionate, achieving a mood of calm and inevitability in a world of storm.

    The first scene of the second act (The Appian Way) became one of my favorites for the group dances. The dance of the sheperdesses (Gnedova, Serenkova, Prorvich, Gurevich, and Pavlova)

    showed off the storehouse of tomorrow's leading dancers. At least they looked to me as such.

    Equally impressive were the quartet of shepherds, and especially the trio of men (I believe they were Bolotin, Annardurdyev, and Geraskin; perhaps Inga can help me identify the trio correctly).

    All three were exceptional performers.

    The second scene of the second act featured the solo of Nadezhda Gracheva' s Aegina, a marvel of fit between dancer and part. Ms Gracheva was riveting in the attack and precision of her dancing. She made the sometimes repetetive and limited pallette of Grigorovich's choreography look stunning.

    The male principals, Bogolovtsev as Spartacus and Peretokin as Crassus, showed a contrast in physical demeanor and technique that served to advance the duality of hero and anti-hero,

    oppression and state power, they stood for.

    Bologolovtsev had speed, good landings, and even though form was not always fulfilled, he portrayed through his aerial work a heroic figure seeking freedom in flight.

    Peretokin had a strong physical presence and a big jump and good ballon but not much plasticity.

    In his jumps he remained master of the realm, a figure of commanding power. I thought his reading was very convincing.

    Aegina's 'seduction' dance in the third scene of the third act (Dissension) seemed to be an audience favorite. Ms Gracheva sketched a character portrait of self-absorbed exhibitionism

    that was much appreciated by Friday night's audience.

    Altogether, Spartacus remains a very watchable spectacle with very 'meaty' parts for its four principals.

  11. June 13, 2004

    CAST:

    Princess Aurora Nina Kaptsova

    Prince Desire Vladimir Neporozhny

    Aurora's Suitors Ilia Ryzhakov, Georgi Geraskin, Dmitry Rykhov, Maxim Valukin

    Peasant Dance Anna Antropova, Alexander Pshenitsyn

    Carabosse Nikolay Tsiskaridze

    Lilac Fairy Maria Allash

    Tenderness Fairy Olga Stebletsova

    Tranquility Fairy Victoria Osipova

    Generosity Fairy Xenia Tsareva

    Frisky Fairy Daria Gurevich

    Courage Fairy Elena Andrienko

    Diamond Fairy Marianna Ryzhkina

    Sapphire Fairy Maria Zharkova

    Gold Fairy Olga Stebletsova

    Silver Fairy Irina Semirechenskaya

    Princess Florina Inna Petrova

    Blue Bird Andrey Bolotin

    White Cat Xenia Sorokina

    Puss-in-Boots Vasily Zhidkov

    Red Riding Hood Anastasia Stashkevich

    Gray Wolf Georgi Geraskin

    Cinderella Svetlana Gnedova

    Prince Ruslan Skvortsov

    Nina Kaptsova as Princess Aurora headed an exciting cast of dancers

    in the performance of June 13.

    The seven fairies in the Prologue, on the good side, Maria Allash as Lilac Fairy leading the five fairies of gifts, on the bad side, Nikolay Tsiskaridze as Carabosse, all etched through dancing

    memorable portraits of otherwordly creatures.

    Ms Allash gave a clear reading of the Lilac Fairy role, maintaining a sense of remoteness while remaining involved in human affairs. The five 'gift' variations were all finely danced.

    Mr Tsiskaridze gave a truly thoughtful portrait of malevolence without stressing gender characteristics. I don't know whether this was his debut in the part.

    [The Carabosse of June 12 (Gennadi Yanin) stressed characteristics of a male impersonating a female, which I suppose could be seen as comic but has not much to do, or say, about good and evil] Mr Tsiskaridze's interpretation clarified and advanced the story line.

    Ms Kaptsova in her entry and the Rose Adagio was the embodiment of youth and expectations.

    During the adagio, in one round with the suitors, after each supported promenade en attitude

    she would lift her arm en couronne - a nicety of secure balance in academic style- before accepting the support of the next cavalier. Moreover, she beamed with smiles to her suitors while going through the whole adage.

    In her variation, the unsupported pirouettes were dazzling for the speed of each preparation and the precision of finishes.

    Mr Neprozhny showed clean technique, nobility of gesture,

    and a finely etched presence as Prince Desire.

    I particularly enjoyed Ms Ryzhkina as the Diamond Fairy (as well as her Princess Florine in the previous evening's performance).

    Mr Bolotin as the Blue Bird makes a strong impression for his jumps and his landings with a deep, elastic demi-plie.

    The Grand Pas de Deux concluded the evening in regal style.

  12. June 12

    CAST:

    King Florestan XIV Alexander Fadeechev

    Queen Maria Volodina

    Princess Aurora Nadezhda Gracheva

    Prince Desire Andrey Uvarov

    Catalabutte Alexey Loparevich

    Aurora's Suitors: Maxim Valukin, Ilia Ryzhakov, Dmitry Rykhlov, Georgi Geraskin

    Peasant Dance Lubov Fillipova, Maxim Valukin

    Lilac Fairy Maria Alexandrova

    Tenderness (Candide) Nelli Kobakidze

    Tranquility (Farine) Olga Suvorova

    Generosity (Bread Crumbs) Anna Rebetskaya

    Frisky (Canary) Darya Gurevich

    Courage (Violent) Ekaterina Krysanova

    Diamonds Elena Andrieko

    Sapphires Maria Zharkova

    Gold Olga Stebletsova

    Silver Irina Semirechenskaya

    Princess Florina Marianna Ryzhkina

    Blue Bird Andrey Bolotin

    White Cat Anastasia Yatzenko

    Puss in Boots Vasily Zhidkov

    Red Riding Hood Xenia Pchelkina

    Gray Wolf Vladimir Moiseev

    Cinderella Xenia Tsareva

    Prince Viktor Kleyn

    Any dance lover is grateful for an institution like the Bolshoi company and school,which is

    dedicated to the continuing existence of the danse d'ecole and the art it nurtures.

    Secondly, any dance lover is thankful to every performing company that presents the seminal ballets, such as The Sleeping Beauty of M. Petipa and P. Tchaikovsky, works that continue to

    give pleasure, educate, and serve as landmarks for what's to come.

    The Sleeping Beauty, besides being a veritable encyclopedia of classical dance, has, from its inception, a scenario that deals with the mythic cycle of development of beings, specifically with the four rites of passage, of birth, age of majority, marriage, and death.

    Death is dealt with through the evil fairy Carabosse, whose curse, is not really vanquished, but delayed; first, through the intervention of the Lilac Fairy who bestows a hundred-year sleep, to stave off Aurora's death at 16, and secondly, by ignoring death at the end of the ballet and having in its place an apotheosis dedicated to the glory of Apollo, or, alternately, to the 18th c. French political system, or, probably most accurately, to the classical dance canon itself, which was nurtured by the court of Louis XIV.

    This brings us to Grigorovich's Sleeping Beauty, a production dating to 1973, the current version of the Bolshoi Ballet.

    In the program notes Violetta Mainietse writes that the Bolshoi first received The Sleeping Beauty in A. Gorsky's 1899 version. Two radical revisions were made in 1936 and 1952 to bring it in line with the then current political thought and with its consonant aesthetic expression in choreodrama.

    Grigorovich presented a new version in 1963, which went against the principles of choreodrama.

    The 1973 amendments of the current version were seen at the time as a return to the original sources.

    Mainietse argues in the program notes that, especially since the 1999 Mariinsky reconstruction,

    Grigorovich may be closer, not to the style of the original sources, but to Tchaikovsky's music.

    Grigorovich, she writes, as a romantic artist is closer to Tchaikovsky's romantic theme that 'love is stronger than death' "than to any abstract metaphysical reflections on pure art."

    The aside on history helped, at least me, understand the focus of the production.

    Physically the production is over thirty years old and it shows. Given economic conditions everywhere, I'll do no griping about sets and costumes.

    Casting, when we accept that this is a romantic ballet, seems problematic. While Ms. Gracheva is by her very position an accomplished artist, she does not seem right for the role of Aurora.

    I saw Ms Gracheva in the 2002 US winter tour (Detroit) in Swan Lake. I had thought she was convincing as Odile, and technically refined but too emotionally distant for Odette.

    Aurora calls for a simplicity of manner and an open approach typical of youth [like Margot Fonteyn, looking directly at each one of her partners and smiling, as if she were happy to see every one of them]. If Aurora isn't there as a character who grows with each rite of passage,

    there's a hole in the middle of the ballet.

    Now for the happy stuff.

    The corps de ballet, from fairies to court ladies were splendid.

    The fairies of gifts were all outstanding. My personal favorite was Ekaterina Krysanova as Courage (Violent). Beyond technique she projected joy in moving.

    The ballet found a center in the Lilac Fairy of Maria Alexandrova.

    Ms Alexandrova has a range and phrasing that engages the viewer immediately and keeps the viewer's attention. Her movements gain expression from their variety. She offers movement like a conversation: states a fact, explains a problem, answers a question; then you know clearly why the Lilac Fairy is there.

    The highlight was a series of bourees across a darkened stage wing to wing, bridging the end of the panorama and finding the abode of the sleeping Aurora. The bourees were so fast I was looking for some other motive force to explain her movement. Absolutely breathtaking.

    Tomorrow another Sleeping Beauty.

  13. My first exposure, two days ago, to the Bolshoi theatre was Bayadere, in the Yuri Grigorovich

    production of 1991, of which this was the 89th performance, and according to Violetta Maynietse in the program notes, preserves..."in so far as possible the Mariinsky original'.

    Since the Mariinsky now features the reconstruction of 1890, the Grigorovich version, as with his Swan Lake, tries to tell the tale without reliance on pantomime as an intrinsic element of a three-act work and to let dance 'do' it all.

    The cast was: Anna Antonicheva Nikia- Yekaterina Shipulina Gamzatti -Vladimir Neprozhny Solor- Andrey Bolotin Little Golden Idol "Shadows" variations: Yekaterina Krysanova 1st-

    Natalya Vyskubenko 2nd- and Irina Semirechenskaya 3rd. [i'll keep this condensed]

    The cast is unkown to me, and I will not have much to say about individual performances, except for some general impressions. I really wanted to see the Bolshoi version, after having seen the Mariinsky 1890 reconstruction last year in St. Petersburg, once with Vishneva and a second time with Daria Pavlenko.

    Ms. Antonicheva was a perfectly secure and convincing Nikia but gave a performance that left no indelible impressions. Vladimir Neporozhny is a dancer in the princely mold, tall, good physique,

    self-effacing.

    Ms Shipulina was the big surprise in this performance, making of the role more than I've seen anyone else do. She was certainly the audience favorite, and in my opinion the best Gamzatti I have seen. She enlivened the stage with her every appearance. Her buoyant jumps were the treat of the second act. The Grand Pas was great classical dancing, even if the Minkus music, conducted by Alexander Kopylov, sounded more circusy than customary.

    The third act staging brought out the symbolic 'snake', which the descent of the Shades from the mountains indicates, as they form the 32-unit rectangle, symbol of the earth.

    The three Shade variations,, are to me, the center of this ballet.

    The three dancers in this performance, were all of what seems the Bolshoi esthetic preference: long-limbed, tall and physically refined. All were first-rate. My favorite of the three is Ms. Krysanova.

    The Grigorovich version ends with Solor alone, the temple collapsing, and Solor's demise without redemption.

  14. In planning a visit to Moscow June 9-19 2004,

    am searching for ballet /dance companies with June performance schedules.

    Have tickets for all the ballets the Bolshoi will be performing for those dates.

    Are there other companies [Moscow Classical Company--extant?]

    I'd appreciate any information.

    chiapuris

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