naomikage

The National Ballet of Korea has performed Grigorovich's Spartacus before, with guests from Bolshoi.

Thanks, Gnossie, now I understand your opinion because I agree Sarafanov may sometimes be boring in some works. La Scala always bring one pair of their home team to Japan. Their tour coincides with the Opera tour in Japan and happens once in 3 or 4 years. (I think it is a package deal) Do you recommend the Scala pair Nicoletta Manni & Claudio Coviello this time? (I am on subscription so I have to choose a pair) I also wish Hilaire had his job at La Scala.

Of course everyone has their preferences, but Sarafanov is a fine classical dancer and he was magnificent as Albrecht in Mikhailovsky Ballet's Giselle earlier this year. I don't think many will complain him dancing as Basilio as a guest. He will be guesting in La Scala's Japan tour Don Quixote in September opposite Polina Semionova. (and also Maria Kochetkova with Ivan Vasiliev, and the Scala pair Nicoletta Manni with Claudio Coviello)

Mime Matters DVD was also released in Japan in NTSC format but I think this is region code 2. Unfortunately it is no longer available here but I have a copy. It is indeed very, very interesting and gives us a good deal of knowledge.

And also Ernest Latypov. (Shakirova and Latypov both participants of Bolshoi Ballet)

I have experienced several times earthquakes happening in the middle of the performance in Tokyo. There was one during the performance of Trois Gnossiens at World Ballet Festival last summer (with Maria Eichwald and Marijn Rademaker on stage) and it shaked quite a lot, but the performance went on. I don't think guests from overseas are accustomed to this but we Japanese residents can remain quite calm in this kind of events. Glad you enjoyed your trip in Tokyo volcanohunter! I enjoyed having you here.

At least The Winters Tale is not a family friendly ballet.

Letizia Galloni might not be Italian in nationality but she said in a Japanese interview that she is a mixed race with Italian blood.

Regarding skin color, Coryphee Letizia Galloni is Italian but she has dark skin. She did not get promoted at the annual exam (although spectators thought she was good enough to be promoted), but she danced the role of Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee last season, and the Chosen One in Sacre du Printemps last December. Casting a coryhee dancer to leading roles was considered a typical Millepied choice. (and in Sacre, etoiles such as Abbagnato, Renevand were in the supporting role on the same performance) I also saw La Bayadere in December, and recognized the change in the children in the 2nd act. There was apparently one boy with dark skin. (as for the criticism in the Shades scene, I thought the quality of the corps were very good, unified and beautiful. I think it would be very strange if each of the corps de ballet shades had character in that scene and moved individually, that would not be La Bayadere). But I did think it strange that a coryphee dancer Vikiinkoski was doing the role of Gamzatti and she was not good at all, no character, her movements did not display the elegance of the Paris Opera School, very rough fouettes. This seemed also a display of Millepied's attempt to break the hierarchical system and show more diversity (Vikiinkoski is the first Finnish dancer at POB) Because in the POB La Bayarede DVD, Gamzatti was danced by Elisabeth Platel and this is clearly a role for Etoiles or Premiere Danseuse.

It looks like Aurelie Dupont taking over. http://www.bfmtv.com//culture/aurelie-dupont-nommee-directrice-de-l-opera-de-paris-948926.html

Here is an English article which makes us more easier to understand the situation. http://www.france24.com/en/20160203-millepied-quit-paris-ballet-reports

Paris Match reports the departure of Benjamin Millepied (apparently, an immediate one) All should be revealed at the press conference for the new season on February 10th. http://www.parismatch.com/Culture/Spectacles/Benjamin-Millepied-sur-le-depart-907585

Thank you Katherine! It must have been so frustrating for everyone involved but there is nothing that could be done. I also had tickets for NYCB Balanchine today but glad I did not travel to NYC. At least they got a good review by Macauley and the Lincoln Festival 5 shows.

The Sunday performance was also cancelled. Here I am stuck in DC and everything is closed. A nightmare. Hope I can at least fly home on Sunday! At least I could see the fabulous performance on Wednesday, Dronina/McKie/Lunkina which was a marvelous and intense ebsemble and also great to see Elena Lobsanova and Francesco Gabriel Frola as the young couple.

Alastair Macauley's review http://nyti.ms/1Kty38P Kennedy Center's tweet UPDATE: a final decision about Friday evening performances will be made by 1pm tomorrow, Jan. 22. https://twitter.com/kencen/status/690300200645201920

In Japan, Gillian Murphy and Veronika Part also danced Raymonda. Unluckily Part fell down at her 3rd act variations, but I was lucky to see Julio Bocca as Abderakhman.

Here's a link to Without just in case.

He is born in 1991, so 24?

The TV program "Bolshoi Ballet" started last night. Daria Khokhlova & Igor Tsvirko (Bolshoi) Renata Shakirova & Kim Kimin (Mariinsky) Nadejda Batoeva & Ernest Latypov (Mariinsky) Anastasia Soboleva & Victor Lebedev (Mikhaïlovsky) Ekaterina Boulgoutova & Yuri Koudriavtsev (Krasnoyarsk) Inna Bilash & Nikita Chetverikov (Perm) Midori Terada & Koya Okawa (Kazan) You can watch all the performances on this program here. http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/59616/

You can watch the archives from last night's Bolshoi Ballet broadcast here. http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/59616/ Mikhailovsky Ballet was here in Japan earlier this month and I agree that Lebedev is one of the most beautiful dancers of his generation. He is such a joy to watch. And Soboleva was also wonderful with beautiful lines and expressiveness. Lebedev was in 5 performances in 10 days here (3 leads, 2 Swan Lakes and one Le Corsaire plus Laurencia and gala) but he was brilliant in all.

I know opinions will differ, but I will tell my experience. I had seen The Winter's Tale in cinema, the casts were very good, and the first act was very dramatic and deep, full of ideas. The second act was full of dancing, of course Lamb and McRae were fabulous but the act seemed a little dull as it was packed with too much dancing. The last act was a nice conclusion but it seemed too short this time. And I went to Totonto to see this live and I would say, seeing on the screen and seeing it live is a total different experience. The drama came out amazingly, to be honest I hate Wheeldon's Alice and thought he was not so talented, but this time I could see how good is he telling the story with the movements. The music in the second act is played by musicians and that was really nice, hearing it live was so lovely. I could enjoy the liveliness and virtuosity in the dancing. Moreover, the second cast are consisted by world-class dancers, Jurgita Dronina, Evan McKie and the great Svetlana Lunkina who is absolutely stunning and make a great ensemble and acting like Shakespeare drama actors. They are on the same level as the lead casts in the Royal Ballet filmed production, very strong, dramatic and there are much more dancing than you expect. It is a shame that they are not given first cast, the very strong emotions and drama here is fascinating. Well anyway, there are matters of tastes and I know I can't persuade everyone around to see this but this is really worth the money (tickets are much cheaper than in Toronto) and it would be a great experience. I know Alice was crap but The Winter's Tale is a wonderful work and this will remain on both Royal Ballet and NBoC repertoire for a long time. (So I will come to see again)

La Scala will be touring to Paris with the new Ratmansky Swan Lake this November http://www.viparis.com/viparisFront/do/manifestation/palais-des-congres-paris/LAC+CYGNES+-+SCALA+MILAN=12927

At the Mariinsky press conference in Japan in November, Fateev spoke about the Bronze Horseman. He said that Smekalov will create the choreography with respect to the original Zakharov one, trying as much as possible to preserve it and to be true to the Pushkin libretto. The costumes and scenery, sets are a new production. He did not mention about the music.

Svetlana Lunkina was absolutely stunning and touching in the role of Paulina. I also recommend the Jan. 20, 24 casts because it boasts 3 international stars (Dronina/Lunkina/McKie) and they are in a different level from others. (I also went to see this in November)

Millepied's choice would not be this controversial if he chose more French choreographers. But you can see that his choice is Balanchine, Robbins, his own, Justin Peck, which are all very NYCB-ish. And for the promotion competition, the majority of the dancers chose Robbins or Balanchine and the imposed pieces were Robbins. I don't understand the point of making a NYCB Paris branch here.