Buddy

Thank you, California. The Act II that I watched features Olga Smirnova and Artemy Belyakov with Angelina Vlashinets as Myrtha. I would like to say that after my initial Act II viewing I consider their performances, along with those of the remaining cast, to be perhaps the most finely and poetically charming in nuance that I’ve seen presented by the Bolshoi. Added: I’ve watched the excerpts posted here by California and am very touched. For Ekaterina Krysanova, this is the lighter than air performing at which she excels. Alexei Ratmansky and these remarkable casts of Bolshoi artists take what could simply be theatrical melodrama and turn it into heart-touching theatrical magic.

Because of Olga Smirnova’s recent and very fine performance of Giselle at the Mariinsky I’ve become interested in and have watched all of Act II of Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘historic reconstruction’ of Giselle for the Bolshoi. I haven’t been able to find Act I on the internet. If Act I is in any way the equal of Act II, I have to say that I do find this work extremely charming, especially as performed by these outstanding Bolshoi artists, and do think that it’s well worth preserving at the Bolshoi.

To get back to Olga Smirnova’s recent Giselle performance at the Mariinsky for a moment, I’ve watched the very beautiful Act II duet (after Albrecht is lead to the side of the stage) from her earlier Ratmansky performance and from her Mariinsky one and I do see a difference. According to Volcanohunter, the Bolshoi is performing the Grigorovich version this season and her Mariinsky performance does seem to have more of a psychological feel, which would be consistent with what I understand about Yuri Grigorovich. What she does is very fine and very effective. Her Ratmansky interpretation seems to have more of an innocent charm, which would be characteristic of the time when the ballet was staged in Russia. I think that her interpretation is lovely. We all have our own criteria for what we value most. In ballet, for me, it’s more the overall effect or aura. For me, Olga Smirnova’s ability to create compelling, enchanting drama and translate it into highly beautiful dance is exceptional.

Thanks, Volcanohunter, and Happy New Year. This is interesting news. I just assumed that Olga Smirnova and the Bolshoi were still performing the Ratmansky Giselle, since Artistic Director Makhar Vaziev seems to like to try new things. Also, I may have seen all or parts of this on video, but am not sure for the moment. I am in the process of watching excerpts. Drew, whether the Mariinsky is adding new dynamism overall is an interesting question, but I tend to think that it might just apply to this one performance. I’m quite happy with its traditional and more quiet loveliness. ECat, Happy New Year. For years I’ve been wanting to see Mariam Ould-Braham at the Mariinsky Festival. I’m still hoping.

Quick reply, Drew. It was that exact thing that you write about in your last paragraph, that added to my feeling that this was another production, having never seen the Ratmansky one. I felt that the corps members looked like they were trying something new and yet hadn't totally mastered it. I still feel that the Mariinsky might have been 'tweaking' this performance to add to the 'Ratmansky aura' that Olga Smirnova was bringing. Over the years I've seen very little change in the details of the 'classics' at the Mariinsky, but they do occur. Also I remember three performances of The Sleeping Beauty 'historical reconstruction' and they varied considerably in feel from the first night to the third, finally settling back into the Mariinsky comfort zone. I had the same sentiment with this performance. It really felt like they were trying something different, in fact doing another production, mistaken by me to be the Ratmansky one.

Hi Drew and Happy New Year. I’m in a rush but I would like to say that you are probably right about the production. It’s probably not the Ratmansky one. It’s been awhile since I viewed older footage and the overall uptempo feel of this performance made me think Ratmansky. To my eye there have been definite changes made in the speed and dramatic emphasis that made me think ‘Ratmansky historical take.’ I’m sorry for the misinformation, but the change of pace is worth noting and perhaps discussing.

Something of a New Year’s Day present. An old friend of ours posted a video of Olga Smirnova’s long awaited performance of the Alexei Ratmansky interpretation* of Giselle that took place December 19. It includes all of her appearance in Act II. It’s most interesting for what she does and for a view of what Alexei Ratmansky has conceived. It’s as fine a performance as I’ve seen her give. As usual she’s in total command of her dramatic presence and her exceptional dancing. Her theatricality (acting) is as fine as there is on a ballet stage. Her nuancing and her depth of portrayal are exceptional. Within the boundaries set by Alexei Ratmansky (she has stated that he was on top of every detail) she still internalises and makes her character compelling, intricate and personal. The Ratmansky interpretation is a more dramatic and very animated one. The moves are larger and faster, most noticeable in the Willis who are almost running at times. It’s a definite contrast to the usual Mariinsky dreaminess. I would guess that it’s something that would work very well at the Bolshoi, but would also have a worthwhile place at the Mariinsky, where both versions could be presented. Maria Bulanova, a favorite of mine for her vibrance, does a fine change of direction as a very formidable Myrtha. I didn’t recognise her. I didn’t recognise Igor Kolb either with his fine dramatic approach to Hans. I, as usual, continue to like the traditional, more dreamlike and lyrical, Mariinsky manner, but the more dramatic one also has a great attraction. This is where the Bolshoi excels. It’s pretty much a matter of personal preference. One of the artistic elements that I most like is the well defined sculpture. Vladimir Shklyarov as Albrecht complements Olga Smirnova very well with his physical, yet airy Mariinsky prowess. * Correction: In response to Drew’s following post, this is probably not the Ratmansky production, but rather a ‘change of pace’ in the Mariinsky one, perhaps in the ‘spirit’ of the Ratmansky production, which Olga Smirnova is now used to dancing.

My recent video watching has found a lot of very interesting and very fine performances. They range greatly, but if I were to chose a reference point, I would chose the Mariinsky. Most recently posted is the Mariinsky's Sleeping Beauty with Viktoria Tereshkina as Aurora and Oxana Skorik as The Lilac Fairy. Here they seem to move closer together. Viktoria Tereshkina is as lovely as I've ever seen her along with her more outward expressiveness and bravura. Oksana Skorik, who for me is the current epitome of dance refinement, has become more outward. She's been using more expression for several years. I always keep in mind her superior classical beauty when seeing this. In this performance I would say that she's succeeded more than I've seen before in creating an alive and more artistically expanded imagery. Another Mariinsky artist that I've enjoyed very much as the Lilac Fairy is Maria Bulanova. She makes an interesting comparison with what Oxana Skorik has done. Maria Bulanova represents, for me, Vibrance. Although my love of dance always returns to the lyrically graceful, at which Oxana Skorik excels, Mariinsky artists, such as Maria Bulanova and Renata Shakirova, radiate aliveness and sunshine and are a wonderful compliment to this. Oxana Skorik's recent interpretation is a finely crafted move in this direction. My previous post mentions the Bolshoi's Vaganova trained and exceptional artist, Olga Smirnova. I commented on how well she and her partner, Semyon Chudin, relate to each other. I do have to say that Olga Smirnova does seem to focus more on her audience and she does this with great effect. He, in turn, enhances her presence. Why I mention her again is to comment on the artistic, dance fineness that I feel the Mariinsky so well represents. In this regard I've been viewing from the Bolshoi, her, Alyona Kovalyova (also Vaganova trained) and Yulia Stepanova (formerly Mariinsky). All have remarkable sculpture and motion. Olga Smirnova, in a recent Swan Lake, again shows how well she can totally inhabit and command a performance. In this case, her shapes and moves are a magnificent display of drama transmitted through the finest of dance artistry. Alyona Kovalyova, not surprisingly for being at the Bolshoi, is moving more in this direction. In her Swan Lake finale she conserves all her wonderful loveliness while including a new sense of idealised drama and imagery that makes me think somewhat of the epic sculpture that you find throughout a city like Paris. As with Oksana Skorik, I hope that she's able to conserve as much of her lyrical loveliness as possible while reaching for more expression. A video of Yulia Stepanova has also greatly impressed me because of her wonderfully sculptural motion. I've never noticed anything quite like it before. Her very articulate and expressively detailed use of the arms is remarkably effective. It's also pleasant at the end of the video to see her in a more relaxed and smiling portrayal. Did I mention Paris ? Okay, I'll close with the artist most removed from the Mariinsky. She's the Paris Opera Ballet's Mariam Ould-Braham. Why am I including her here ? I'm not totally certain except that in addition to everything else, for me, she also has some kind of delicate, Mariinsky attraction. And my favorite video clip of her does have her appearing at the Bolshoi. She's definitely French. Take a look at this painting by Jean Antoine Watteau. That's her as as far as I'm concerned ! But she also has a dance presence and fineness that makes me think "Mariinsky." https://www.toperfect.com/pic/Oil Painting Styles on Canvas/Classic/Rococo/6-The-Music-Lesson-Jean-Antoine-Watteau-classic-Rococo.jpg

I wrote yesterday that I considered Victor Caixeta to have a colourfully relaxed appeal. I got this impression from the video clip that I posted which mainly shows him after the performance and my description is probably accurate, but looking at a few other clips of the Shades duets I have to express another opinion. Here he seems much more intensely committed. Video clips have recently been posted of the same Mariinsky production from 2017 with Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin as guest artists. The contrast between these and the recent Maria Iliushkina/Victor Caixeta performance is very interesting. Both are fine. Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin already have a much more developed relationship. They seem completely aware of what the other is trying to express at all times and have perfected their responses. They also have a highly dramatic sense of poetry. Semyon Chudin is brilliant at focusing on Olga Smirnova while being a very distinct presence in himself. There's one sequence that I particularly like when he moves alongside her, keeping her constantly the focal point while creating a very embracing image of a man who still believes that he's dancing with a dream. Maria Iliushkina has a much more airy and poetically lovely approach. Victor Caixeta, on the other hand, compliments her very well, but he also has a highly dramatic presence which deserves more viewing on my part to be able to describe.

Thanks, Drew. Maria Iliushkina does seem to get more graceful and impressive with each new appearance. Victor Caixeta is also quite fine and adds a colorfully relaxed attraction (which she's also quite capable of expressing) that's quite appealing. Hopefully you may be able to see them if the Washington DC performances do materialise next April. Thinking again about the Bolshoi's Vaganova trained, star ballerina, Olga Smirnova, it's probably her ability to master anything that makes her so special. For the moment, it's the element of human drama that she imparts that's so highly impressive. At the Mariinsky, the young Maria Khoreva has a similar but perhaps more youthfully 'freewheeling' ability. She is rising rapidly. It probably won't be long before she's given Swan Lake and then Principal status. As I've mentioned before, for me, she always delivers more than expected. In contrast, Maria Iliushkina, will most likely develop as her more airy and graceful counterpart, a more youthful and less intense Oxana Skorik-Olga Smirnova resemblance. Whether Maria Iliushkina will rise to the very top (she remains a Second Soloist while Maria Khoreva is a First Soloist) may depend on her ability with the more 'adaptive' stuff which Maria Khoreva does so well. I think that she can succeed. Between the two, Maria Iliushkina shines the brightest in the area of classical and gentle loveliness. Back at the Bolshoi, the young Vaganova transplant, Alyona Kovalyova, should also shine wonderfully in classical beauty and gracefulness making for a fine comparison.

I've had a chance to do some Russian video watching. As usual, the quality that I value perhaps most highly in all of dance is the 'lyrical' (quiet, gentle) beauty and gracefulness of the women. For the moment I still consider Oxana Skorik to be the most beautiful, pure dancer in ballet. Her hands alone remain perhaps the finest that I've ever viewed. I've at times told folks new to ballet that if they don't do anything else, at least watch the hands. Alina Somova, at her most beautiful, is also quite outstanding. Maria Iliushkina's wonderful gracefulness continues to impress me very much. Yekaterina Osmolkina is also included. I've often felt that she could be made a Principal. This carries over to the Bolshoi, where many of its finest and most 'lyrically' beautiful dancers have Mariinsky 'roots.' Svetlana Zakharova started there. Alyona Kovalyova from the Vaganova (the Mariinsky school), will perhaps be the next most beautiful of all ballerinas at this time. Also from the Mariinsky, Evgenia Obraztsova and Yulia Stepanova would be included. Anna Nikulina is from the Bolshoi, but I consider her to have a gracefulness that I would associate with the Mariinsky. And then there's the interesting case of Olga Smirnova, who did all her training at the Vaganova. She may well emerge as one of the most outstanding ballerinas ever, if she isn't already. She joined the Bolshoi and has become in its tradition one of the finest 'expressionists' in ballet history. Her ability to portray and give character to her performances is the reason. She also has all the Mariinsky fineness to make her dancing alone as fine as can be seen. Awhile ago I read an article in russian stating that "Smirnova" had been taking summer classes at the Mariinsky and might soon rejoin(?) the company. I thought that this was fascinating news. It happened that the article was actually about the young Anastasia Smirnova. I've often thought how gracefully wonderful Olga Smirnova would have become if she had stayed and what a good idea it might have been Then when I read about what I thought might be her possible return to the Mariinsky I began to have second thoughts. What would become of the remarkable expressiveness that she developed at the Bolshoi ? And so I'll continue to wonder what she could be and greatly admire what she is as she seems to experiment more while still having the ability to be one of the most beautifully graceful and classical ballerinas ever.

Maria Iliushkina and Victor Caixeta debuted La Bayadère at the Mariinsky November 28. Congratulations ! A brief glance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_r65FfD5Bc (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie)

Here are some glances at the scenery for the new Ratmansky's Pharaoh's Daughter. I'm a big fan of the Pierre Lacotte production, including the beautiful scenery, so this one has big shoes to fill. Still, this new scenery is very impressive. The Mariinsky seems to have a knack. I've seen more impressive scenery and costumes at other companies, but the Mariinsky seems to get it just right. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmESt5tkLi/ https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=mariinsky.theatre&set=a.10160019711745798 (thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie)

I'm sure that she's lovely, ECat. She's from the Mariinsky, so I take that for granted. 😊 A characteristic that I've always enjoyed is her personality. It's charmingly adaptable and believable. Hopefully, the Bolshoi, which emphasises character, will take advantage of this.

I've made comparisons here between this work and the White Swan Duet from "Swan Lake," which I still consider to be two of ballet's finest masterpieces. Although not a duet, it's a solo, I would also include Fokine's "The Swan" as one of the finest. I've never really tried to analyse the 'magic' of the White Swan duet, but while watching a video of an older and extremely lovely performance by the Mariinsky's Oxana Skorik, I felt that the remarkable sculpture achieved by the ballerina, is certainly a key element. In the duet from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" airiness seems to be essential. Allegra Kent floats -- 'tiptoeing,' feet fluttering, Jacques d'Amboise lifting. It fits so well with the enchanting Mendelssohn music and Shakespeare's dreamlike allusions. Added: In both these works, Expression is certainly essential -- the Aura of Enchantment created by the White Swan ballerina and the Character Voyage of the Midsummer Night's Dream interpreter.

Victoria Brileva, an artist that I've much enjoyed and often mentioned at the Mariinsky, has joined the Bolshoi. It seemed that she was given more than usual this year at the Mariinsky, which was good, and I wish her much success at the Bolshoi. "...new artists who had joined the troupe. These are Yulia Bondareva, Victoria Brileva, Arina Denisova, Elizaveta Doronina, Elizaveta Kiryakova, Maria Konkova, Eva Sergeenkova, Daria Sterligova, Sofya Ukhova, Elizaveta Chertikhina, Lina Sheveleva and Ivan Sorokin."(Google translation) https://www.bolshoi.ru/about/press/articles/none/gathering-2021/ (thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie)

New video clip posted of Renata Shakirova doing Princess Florine (The Sleeping Beauty) from several years ago. It reminded me that she's 'holding down the fort' while the company is on vacation and the "Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre" is performing. She has four scheduled appearances.

This is a nice almost thirty minute video of Nadezhda Batoeva and Vladimir Shklyarov rehearsing Act I of Don Quixote. "They are coached by Galina Petrovna Kekisheva — a real bearer of the St. Petersburg ballet tradition, a graduate of the class of Agrippina Vaganova, in 1948–1971 a soloist with the Leningrad State Academic Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet." It's a finished rehearsal that moves along with very few double takes. Both dancers are charming, Nadezhda Batoeva, especially. It's also an act where dancers that I never thought could be like that, the Kitris in particular, really come alive as comic actors. One of the first things that I noticed is how not tired Nadezhda Batoeva and Vladimir Shklyarov are in this highly energetic part of the ballet. A lot is filmed from the side so that you get an unusual and very interesting new perspective. Galina Petrovna Kekisheva is one of those 'coaches' that I see year after year sitting modestly but elegantly in the box next to the stage. I'm never sure who most of them are, but they are a very lovely and apparently extremely capable group of individuals. Here you can see her gentle but highly accomplished and sensitive manner. It's something that's nice to observe. I'll also make a comment not related to this video that I feel sometimes compelled to. There are a handful of highly talented female artists that I've seen in different companies whom because of their extreme thinness I'm unable to to watch comfortably and because of that, as talented as they are (or were), I don't comment on. I'd wish that their physical state would be noted and improved so that I, for one, can give them the recognition that they deserve in my posts. I hope that you enjoy this video. With so little live performing still available this is sort of nice. (Posted by the Mariinsky and thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie)

Over the years I've viewed her as a very lovely person, touchingly committed and very talented. Congratulations, Olesya Novikova.

I came across this along with the beautiful pictures and thought that I could include it here. After last year's virus laden season. "Happy New Year our dear audience, readers and ballet lovers." Added: I just found this in another of the related videos and thought that it might be appropriate. "Like a sculpture to be awaken by the power of Love… By the power of light and music that sounds from inside. There is Galatea in every of us. So give the true sense to the perfection of your lines enriching them with treasures of your soul."

Could I suggest this ? More comtemporary . 🙂

"Back on The Road Again" 😊 Some beautiful photos. I posted this at another topic a few minutes ago but thought that Pherank might like them added to the collection here as well. "Sleeping Beauty," in Kazan, May 18, 2021. https://www.lapersonne.com/post/sleeping-beauty-backstage-kochetkova/

Here are some beautiful photos from the Moscow Academy's graduation performance. They include pictures of a young star, Eva Sergeenkova. She, and others(?), look like young Zakharovas. Can never have enough of those ! 😊 https://www.lapersonne.com/post/bolshoi-ballet-academy-behindthecurtain/ (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie for this information and the photos) 'Funnyly,' I looked at the photos in the box, bottom of page lower left, and thought, "She sure looks a lot like Maria Kochetkova." Guess what ! Yep ! "Sleeping Beauty," in Kazan, May 18, 2021. https://www.lapersonne.com/post/sleeping-beauty-backstage-kochetkova/

I hope so, Silvermash, and thank you. I've actually preferred the 'classical' works that I've seen at POB over the years, which is perhaps why a fine Odette/Odile would register so well with me. I felt somewhat the same about Veronika Part at ABT. She might not have had the range or versatility, but the classical ballets that she performed were some of the best performances that I've ever seen.

I believe that he was one of the two that you mentioned, Marta. He was having a better than usual night, from what I had read, and she seemed to me to be letting him take more of the spotlight to encourage him. Thanks, California. We actually had a brief discussion. https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/46164-abt-veronika-part-swan-lake/