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Quinten, as far as I can tell, it isn't. I slotted it in here because on the ballet side it features two of the big names at the Bolshoi, Olga Smirnova and Sergey Felin. Thanks, Daniel, for the video. Olga Smirnova and Garrett Smith may have met at the 2017 Mariinsky Festival where they were both very noteworthy. She was spectacular ! Maybe this will be an ongoing collaboration. She'll be able to broaden her horizons and he has the ability to be a very worthwhile modern ballet choreographer. I agree, Helen, that this looks like a high quality and potentially exciting and highly entertaining endeavor. That Olga Smirnova and Sergey Felin would want to involve themselves is a good sign. I'm always hoping for more artistry in figure skating as the new competitive rules seems to highly favor athleticism. That figure skating's Evgeny Plushenko and in particular recent Olympic champion, Adeline Sotnikova, who many feel won because of her athleticism, would want to involve themselves is encouraging. And it's a good chance for ballet artistry to be enjoyed by a broader audience including young children. Overall it just seems like a very nice collaboration.

Today is the day that I usually go figure skating (perpetual beginner style) and along comes this. Too many great names to pass up. For sixteen performances starting December 20, Olga Smirnova will be appearing in an ice show of Swan Lake. The director will be Sergei Felin. https://www.olgasmirnovaballet.com/dates From the video glimpses (bottom of page) she won’t be skating. https://msk.kassir.ru/shou/evgeniy-plyuschenko-ledovoe-shou-lebedinoe-ozero Former Olympic icon, Evgeny Plushenko (with Yana Rudkovskaya) created this and he will appear (on ice and stage). Garrett Smith from Salt Lake City will be dancing (Black Magician) with Olga Smirnova. He apparently has danced with her before. He probably also had a hand in the choreography as he did a fine job with this at a Mariinsky Festival Gala two years ago. Adeline Sotnikova - Olympic Champion (Sochi 2014) will appear as the Black Swan. Here’s the description (Google translation) Yana Rudkovskaya and Evgeni Plushenko will present Swan Lake on the ice for the whole family based on the most famous ballet of the world, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. On the new show, Yana Rudkovskaya says: “This is an experiment, this is a sensation, this is a real creative collaboration of two genres - ballet on the floor and figure skating. Russian ballet and Russian Olympic champions are two prides of our country. This pride, this love lives in the heart of each of us, so I know that this will be something incredible and very close to everyone before whom the curtain of our show opens. I myself am intrigued and can't wait for the premiere. ” The unique set design of the show will really allow viewers to see not only the performance of figure skaters on the ice, but also ballet dancers on the dance floor. Space transformations, vivid visual effects, multimedia technologies will tell a new familiar love story in a new way. In the development of the show great attention is paid to the relevance and newness of technology to surprise, leave a mark and make the show interesting for the smallest viewer. Director of the show Sergey Filin - Russian ballet dancer, for many years the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet troupe - decided to combine ballet parquet and ice. Evgeni Plushenko will perform not only on the ice, but also on the stage. On the ballet stage the Prima Ballet Dancer of the Bolshoi Theater Olga Smirnova as White Swan surrounded by 24 more dancers will shine. In the role of the Black Magician, American dancer Garrett Smith, on the ice, this role will be performed by Canadian figure skater Emanuel Sandue (three-time Canadian champion, winner of the Grand Prix final in figure skating 2004). Adeline Sotnikova - Olympic Champion of Sochi 2014 - will appear before the audience in the role of the Black Swan. Special attention in the show is given to children's ballet and figure skating. Students of the Academy of the Figured Company Evgeni Plushenko and pupils of ballet schools participate in the show. Ballet-tale for the whole family "Swan Lake" will be held from December 20 to December 31, 2018 in the new VTB ARENA Park (m. Dynamo). Duration: 2 hours and 20 minutes (with intermission) 10-row double-rise stalls, providing excellent visibility from any location and row. [Thanks once again to Sophia at Dansomanie for finding this]

I'm stretching this topic to the limit, but about two years ago when Cristian started this discussion I suggested that he take a look at Eva Evdokimova. There are very few videos that I can find and the visual quality is not the greatest. I recently returned to viewing this amazing and lesser known ballerina and I find the comparisons to Allegra Kent to be fascinating. I've not really tried to analyze it. I would suggest her Giselles. Maybe someone else would like to comment on this. Added: I would like to say this. I've been glued to Allegra Kent and Jacques d'Amboise's "Midsummer NIght's Dream" duet video clip and I find one of Eva Evdokimova's Giselles to somehow be a continuation. The power and significance of expression of both these ballerinas is remarkable and I find the pure beauty of Eva Evdokimova's dancing to add another wonderful dimension.

Thanks, Naomikage, for this added information. I’m glad that you enjoyed her. One quality that I forgot to mention is her beautiful long lines. And yet another ‘veteran’ surfaces on video excerpt as lovely as ever. This would be Viktoria Tereshkina who performed Giselle yesterday. I mentioned awhile ago that we could be witnessing a new Viktoria Tereshkina. I forget the exact performance. What accounts for this ? Facially — she has a new relaxed loveliness and serenity. There is also an acuity, a heightened interest and rightness*, in her facial expression. I’ve never seen her perform Giselle. It would have taken me some slight effort to visualize it. Giselle, for me, is about delicacy and airiness. Viktoria Tereshkina, as lovable as she is (apparently offstage as well), is more technically noteworthy. But now something new has been added and it’s very commendable. It shows in her Giselle. As Alina Somova’s loveliness grows with her maturity so does Viktoria Tereshkina’s. * and sublimeness

More video watching of recent performance excerpts and Alina Somova looks as lovely, in some ways lovelier, than ever. Here she is in Le Corsaire. I’ve long felt that she’s one of the basically most graceful and beautiful of all ballerinas. In this group I’d include Oksana Skorik and the very young Alyona Kovalyova. At the beginning of her career when she was getting more attention for huge extensions and athleticism she also had a noticeable ‘gazelle-like’, airy loveliness that was very apparent in her jumps, etc. As she matures with two children this beauty is even more noticeable. She seems to appear more selectively, maybe because of her children, and I tend to forget about her. Yet, at this year’s Festival she danced at the Gala, along with Oksana Skorik, and was equally beautiful. In the Le Corsaire views, she again shows an airy wonderfulness in all her motion. I’ll add in the ‘prowess department’ that she did as clean and impressive a set of fouette turns (including about six doubles) as I’ve seen. I don’t usually pay a great deal of attention to these, dreamlike gracefulness being my primary interest, but these did capture my attention. She’s also capable of very compelling drama and characterization. I hope that we’ll be able to see a lot more of her as her focus and basic loveliness continue to grow.

I would really like to add that Vladimir Shklyarov is as good as I've seen him in this video, both in character and prowess. I guess that he can't get promoted any higher. Very good to have him and his wife, Maria Shirinkina, back.

I just found some video clips of Renata Shakirova in Ratmansky's Cinderella. She's precious ! In addition she's got Vrooma ! (This is a word from a far away part of this world that is as it sounds. Anyone who can tell me the exact definition gets a big smile.) And in addition to that and many, many other qualities she makes you feel good and that's not bad.

I thank you very much as well, MadameP. I've been watching these videos on and off all day along with quick glimpses at Oksana Skorik, Ulyana Lopatkina and Olga Smirnova performing some of the same dances. They are all immensely commendable. A quality I'm beginning to sense in Alyona Kovalyova's recent refinement (one that I hope that she retains) is a lovely economy and cleaness of motion. Another name comes to mind -- Mozart.

Alyona Kovalyova -- How Absolutely Beautiful ! And on first viewings -- A significant change. I'll stay with this video only for the moment as to maintain the 'spell.' I look forward to seeing others. Thanks, MadameP. So what's the big change ? Unbroken Flow. I don't know how this came about (coaching, or something else?), but for now it's quite different and extremely noteworthy. Recently I've been watching her videos and what has separated her from Oksana Skorik, whom I consider to be perhaps the most beautiful ballerina in the world, was her rhythm or phrasing of motion. No more. I liked what she did very much and she may continue it, but for now she moves like an unbroken current of dreamlike loveliness that lifts a person like myself as enchantingly as she is embracingly a goddess of motion.

This afternoon Alyona Kovalyova with Artemy Belyakov made her debut as Raymonda. Among three other very fine fine casts, Olga Smirnova appeared last night with Jacopo Tissi. I would have liked very much to have seen these. Although I don't believe that I'm allowed to post them I would like to check Ballet Friends from Russia for comments. The two other casts are Ekaterina Krysanova with Semyon Chudin and Anna Nikulina with Artemy Belyakov

Wonderful news that Renata Shakirova has received this recognition and that there are other possibilities this season. Advancing the young, promising dancers is fine and totally understandable. I try not to places an over-amount of importance on these things, but, for me, it would be equally fine if someone like Yekaterina Osmolkina was also included.

Not to be forgotten. Based on several video clips that I'm still watching -- What a lovely young dancer !

Thanks, Cobweb. I agree about the transcendence of her performances. I have not tried such an interpretation with the "Midsummer NIght's Dream" duet because it's more of an aura for me. Again, I have to say that Jacques d'Amboise's 'background' performance is exceptional. He reinforces both her and the mood wonderfully. If I call this a "compilation" of Shakespeare, I'm referring to the finest imagery and beauty that he was capable of.

I've been traveling for about two months and the few chances that I've had to watch the internet have been mainly to see her and Jacques d'Amboise in "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" (Act II Divertissement Pas De Deux). The video is very blurry but has been a wonderful traveling companion. I'm in London for a week and this seems more appropriate than ever. They are both wonderful. Each of her moves has meaning and enchantment. Her character is all encompassing. From interviews she seems to know the background of every work very well. In this case each inflection seems to be an embracing compilation of Shakespearian imagery. It's one of the finest ballet statements that I've ever seen.

Just had a quick internet video glance and she's looking more beautiful than ever. Here's hoping.