Buddy

No videos yet of Maria Iliushkina's second Swan Lake yesterday, so I’m watching her first. How beautiful she is. What an honor it is to be given such a lead from so many talented artists. The entire company is of such high quality. Any one of the female artists, including the Corps de Ballet, could probably do a commendable Odette-Odile. In my mind, everyone is a star. And with the support and wonderful talent of the others, the deserving principals and soloists for a moment in time are given the chance to stand in front, represent everyone and shine the brightest.

Last Wednesday Viktoria Tereshkina, with Kimin Kim, performed Swan Lake. At this moment Maria Iliushkina is performing her second. I wish her much success. From a video clip of the ‘White Swan Duet’ I’ve never seen Viktoria Tereshkina lovelier. * Kimin Kim * It seems that he’s in almost every Mariinsky video clip that I’ve seen in the last few weeks. He’s quite something ! His dance prowess is always amazing. His partnering and portrayals are at their finest. For me, he’s become a hero of the Perseverance of the Arts. I first noticed him when he gave a long, upbeat video inter

Elizaveta Kokoreva, whom I mentioned that I liked very much in videos from a Novosibirsk gala about a month ago debuted as Kitri (Don Quixote) today at the Bolshoi. She performed with Alexei Putintsev. Both are still in the Corps de Ballet. From what I can see in an instagram type final ovations clip they were very well received. Added comment: The theatre is using the two occupied seats and then a space arrangement. You can see the audience and how many are using face masks in this picture. https://disk.yandex.com/d/JfDqqNzFtwOyaA/IMG_1899.JPG?w=1

There’s a rather lengthy video of Olesya Novikova, with Timur Askerov, performing Romeo and Juliet from last Thursday. I’ve only watched the first ten minutes but I’m extremely impressed with the dramatic maturity of her portrayal. I saw her perform this several years ago and she really put her heart into it, but this, for me, in on another level.

A quick glance (3:33) “On September 10, 11 and 13, the premiere of four one-act ballets under the general title "Four characters in search of a plot" took place on the New stage. “The idea of the project came from the Bolshoi ballet Director Makhar Vaziev, during the quarantine period in April 2020. After viewing a large number of videos and consulting with colleagues, M. Vaziev chose four young choreographers from different countries. “Our artists presented "The ninth wave" by Bryan Arias, "Just" by Simone Valastro, "Fading" by Dimo Milev and "Silentium" by Martin Chaix.”

Not exactly my cup of tea, thematically, Pherank, but still inventive and well achieved.

If there’s anything that I appreciate from the performing arts at the moment it’s a burst of sunshine. Looking through the video clips of recent Mariinsky performances I found Nadezhda Batoeva’s Don Quixote which I’ve already mentioned. From two days ago, I just discovered Renata Shakirova in Concerto DSCH. Both these fine artists fall into my Sunshine category. They are vibrant on stage and were exactly the same in real life when I had a chance to chat with them very briefly a few years ago at a reception. I’ve seen Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH at least once, and what I recall most is his

Please allow me a few summary thoughts. Essential to the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream Duet’ is the combination of The Ethereal and The Dramatic George Balanchine’s Dramatic amplification is what separates this work from the more purely Ethereal ‘Swan Lake Duet.’ Here it’s elevated by the merging of Allegra Kent’s remarkable Theatrical Expression (framed, accented and supported wonderfully by Jacques D’Amboise) and her, and the dance’s, equally remarkable Physical Expression. Range is also essential to George Balanchine’s success. The way that he can combine so much interest and

In addition to what I mentioned in my previous post Oxana Skorik, with Nikita Korneyev, performed Swan Lake last Saturday. A brief video clip just appeared of her entrance as Odette and she dances as lovely as ever. Here’s the Mariinsky schedule for all of October. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/?type=ballet&year=2020&month=10

Thanks, Aurora, for this information. If you're familiar with the ending to the A Midsummer Night's Dream — Act II Divertissement Duet do you see a significant resemblance to the Canova sculpture ? Can you think of any other works of art that the ending might resemble ?

More viewing — more Awe. There’s just so much going on and it’s so incredibly beautiful. Emotional emphasis, motion and sculpture, meaning, rhythm and structure of relating are all constantly changing. My considering it perhaps ballet’s finest statement after The Swan Lake Duet continues. My ultimate love in dance always returns to the Ethereal. This is the most Ethereal of George Balanchine’s works that I know of. Ethereal is what Swan Lake is about. For me, it’s what ballet is about. In his A Midsummer Night’s Dream Duet George Balanchine amplifies dimension and rang

Some video clips have be available for about a week. Oxana Skorik has been the most noticeable. She performed two classics, Le Corsaire and Don Quixote. Her dancing has all its refined loveliness. She performed some exceptional balances in Don Quixote and she normally has a technical surprise or two that are quite impressive. She also is seen in a brief, modernish work where she shows adaptability and sensitivity. Nadezhda Batoeva appears in Don Quixote with the ever amazing Kimin Kim, who miraculously seems to stay suspended in air as never before. Nadezhda Batoeva I’m developing a

Sergei Filin did something similar, I believe, when he came in, ECat. Yekaterina Shipulina, maybe Maria Allash and perhaps another who had been around for awhile were made Principals. I somehow felt that his having danced during their earlier years may have had something to do with it, but that’s just a guess. Nina Kaptsova was also later made Principal. (Alexei Ratmansky before him, ‘youthened’ the company a lot.) Congratulations to Denis Savin. On the other hand this does not seem to happen at the Mariinsky and I sometimes wish that it would -- for instance Yekaterina Osmolkina (because

Sorry, Helene. Brilliant quote ! 😊 but not the one that I meant to post.

As far as I know she was, Leah. See my September 4 post above. Maybe it's an oversight in the Mariinsky listing or maybe they haven't decided what level to start her at.