Buddy

Thanks, Miliosr. I have to say again that she looked very good to me as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) at the 2016 Mariinsky Festival, where I've seen some of the best in the world.

Yes, Roberta, it was really nice to see live dance again. The announcer said that it's the first performance at the Center in fourteen months. I'm quite ballerina focused, so I'm glad that you pointed out your feelings about Thomas Forster and I join you in congratulating him. I often miss what the men are doing because they are intended to be somewhat invisible, but the ballerinas would never shine the way that they do without them. As sort of an aside, I remember Veronika Part dancing one of her exceptional Swan Lakes with a partner that was relatively new to it. For me, she commands the stage completely, but this evening it seemed that she stood back somewhat in order to let him shine a bit more. I thought that it was a fine gesture, if in fact it was her intent. I've seen a fair number of Odette/Odiles (Swan Lake), most of them quite fine, each one bringing something special, and I thought that Devon Teuscher, in her turn, did a very fine interpretation. I've always liked Hee Seo. She was invited to two Mariinsky Festivals and I thought that, in essence, she shone at both of them.

ABT -- Dance at Dusk -- Live from LA For 45 minutes after more than a year offstage I thought that these performances were very respectable. Don Quixote pas de deux, performed by Christine Shevchenko and Joo Won Ahn. Swan Lake pas de deux Devon Teuscher? and Cory Stearns? Romeo and Juliet pas de deux, performed by Hee Seo and Thomas Forster? A Time There Was pas de deux, Soloists Katherine Williams and Blaine Hoven (a work featuring choreography by ABT’s Gemma Bond and music by Benjamin Britten) Let Me Sing Forevermore? ("the Jessica Lang-Tony Bennett ballet," Roberta) Cate Hurlin? and Aran Bell ? (Thanks, Maps and Roberta for dancer identification) I await the day when Christine Shevchenko delivers facially like she did in LA awhile ago as Gamzatti, a truly great acting performance ! She danced quite well this evening. Devon Teuscher and Hee Seo were just fine. A Time There Was was fine. The last work, Let Me Sing Forevermore?, a sort of jazzy one, was fun. I was truly delighted by ABT's all jazz Indestructible Light in Costa Mesa with an all young cast and this one pointed in that direction. This sort of thing could work very well if of the quality of Indestructible Light. The two dancers certainly had the ability.

"Interview – Former dancer Gavin Larsen on writing Being a Ballerina, the Power and Perfection of Dancing Life: Marina Harss, Fjord Review" "If you had a son or a daughter, would you want them to become a dancer?" "Yes. Yes, absolutely. It’s the most glorious feeling. To feel that kind of exuberance and beauty, full power and extension and stretch and the marriage with music while you’re doing it, and then the community of other people who feel that same thing. It’s priceless. Everyone should dance. Everyone should let their soul sing. I mean, the hard things about ballet are hard. But, as I said, never ever did it even occur to me that there was a question of the balance between input and output, until the very, very end." https://fjordreview.com/being-a-ballerina-gavin-larsen/ (Thanks to Ian Macmillan at BalletcoForum)

I'm still quite glued to Der Rosenkavalier: Erste Walzerfolge. That's okay since we have until June 17 to take in all of Vienna Waltzes. Having never looked at this work carefully there's so much that I could write about at first glance. What George Balanchine has done with the waltz as a point of department is very exciting. High swirling kick steps, arms way above the head, upper body sculpture, it's all new invention to this dance world. The women's flowing gowns, at one point, recall ancient Greek sculpture, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Stories are being told. Elevated emotion expressed. All in the context of the waltz. Suzanne Farrell amplifies all this. She makes it all personal and godlike. Her backbend exit is one of the finest moments in dance that I've yet seen. Maria Kowroski is sophistication and fineness. Her dance is not as much an expression of life flowing intensity, like Suzanne Farrell, but more a heart-touching story being told, a woman in love. The way that the dance ensemble concludes in the Suzanne Farrell video has its differences. I'm noticing the feet more than anything. The footwork is very precise and exciting in its exactness and speed. There's expression in this virtuosity, even meaning. In the more current version, the dancing is more expansive, the feet are further apart. It's more of a spectacle that's been fine tuned over the years and has a fairytale elegance that's almost magical. The women's gowns sail through through the heavens -- Hollywood and Broadway elevated to the stars.

I missed the discussion here and posted two comments at the NYCB forum. I also enjoyed the Vienna Waltzes very much.

I have to say again that I'm enjoying very much the digital presentation of Vienna Waltzes' DER ROSENKAVALIER: ERSTE WALZERFOLGE. I have focused primarily on Maria Kowroski and she's elegant lovely. I also went immediately to the video of Suzanne Farrell. For me, she's as committed and encompassing as I've ever seen her. I debate somewhat all the deep backbends until she does her final one disappearing behind the curtain and I'm hooked. The ensemble dancing is spellbinding. I could spend a lot more time watching both of these. Added: I think that with Maria Kowroski it's more a story and with Suzanne Farrell it's more about the performance. Both are very effective.

Another ballerina that I like very much, ECat, is Héloïse Bourdon. She appeared at a rather young age as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) at the 2016 Mariinsky Festival, which is quite an honor. I thought that she was very fine. I didn't hear much mention of her after that. Checking the POB website, she's listed as a Premier danseur, one step down from Etoile (the highest ranking), so that seems good. Miliosr or Merit, maybe you know how she's doing ?

Here’s a video of Maria Iliushkina performing Giselle over a year ago. It’s a video clip that I’ll post because it’s from the producer. It’s the first time that I saw her do a major role and I think that she was as beautiful then as ever. Also, in the recent performances that I mentioned in my previous post, I think that she and Maria Khoreva are, once again, as lovely as I’ve ever seen them.

I've only watched the last half of Vienna Waltzes, but am enjoying it very much. I especially like Maria Kowroski in the final dance, DER ROSENKAVALIER: ERSTE WALZERFOLGE (1946). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpqhrYV7W3I

There are video clips of Maria Khoreva's recent Giselle and Maria Iliushkina's recent debuts in La Bayadere (Mariinsky Primorsky Stage at Vladivostok and excerpt at the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg). Maria Khoreva is a very high quality artist, especially for her age, and her balance of this with her youthfulness works very well for me. A major quality, for me, is that she always gives more than expected. Her's and Maria Iliushkina's careers are somewhat paralleling each other at the moment. Maria Iliushkina is similarly fine, showing more outward sweetness, but with very fine ability and inner resolve. In her most recent gala duet from La Bayadere they've given her more eye makeup to appear more mature. I think that it works from a distance and is something that they can experiment with. I think that it looks rather cute, actually, because her sweetness still sneaks through. I feel that this balancing of youthfulness with artistic maturity works well for both of them. Xander Parish partnered Maria Khoreva in Giselle. He's a very handsome and fine dancer. His sense of theater is also quite good. I still somehow attribute this to England's well recognised theatrical tradition. The challenge is not to overwhelm the beauty of the ballerina. He's also quite versatile. At the last complete Mariinsky Festival, two years ago, he was given, by far, the most, different performances. This might be the result of not having trained within the Vaganova perspective, where the main focus is producing many of the most gracefully beautiful dancers in the world. I have no complaints about that. Victor Caixeta also seems very good as Maria Iliushkina's partner.

For me, A Legend of Love is a highly energetic work, punctuated by slower but often intense drama. Princess Shirin is more quiet, but she's not really the center of attention. Since I'm a person who loves the beautiful duets (Swan Lake, Giselle, Midsummer Night's Dream) what would attract me more to A Legend of Love, as brilliant as it is, perhaps comparable in invention to some of the best of George Balanchine ? Some more quiet highlighting, maybe. I read that Alena Kovaleva used a more warm approach to the central and usually heavily dramatic character of Queen Mekhmene Banu. I wondered about this possibility in a previous post. I'd be curious to see this and whether it would make A Legend of Love more embracing to a person such as myself, because I do consider it a masterpiece. By the way, I was just watching a video clip of Alena Kovaleva and Denis Rodkin from Swan Lake at the beginning of May. It's filmed from backstage. You can see dancers in the wings doing whatever it is that they're doing. I always wonder how the performers can stay so amazingly focused. Yet in this one, Denis Rodkin is all alone on stage at the end, heartbroken at the loss of Odette, and for a moment I got the feeling that those slightly out of focus, offstage corps de ballet swan maidens were comforting him.

You're very welcome, ECat. Check the previous post that I just made.

Maria Iliushkina Well she's done it again -- La Bayadère ((Mariinsky Primorsky Stage at Vladivostok) Also Alexey Timofeev (good to hear) and Victor Caixeta debuted as Solor. "Congratulations to the soloists of the Mariinsky Theater who made their debut in the ballet La Bayadère on the Primorsky Stage! On May 29, Alexey Timofeev⭐️ performed the part of Solor for the first time, and on May 30, Nikiya and Solor were danced by Maria Iliushkina⭐️ and Victor Caixeta⭐️ ⠀ Tomorrow the duo will perform the pas de deux from the third act of the legendary oriental ballet Petipa in St. Petersburg, on the stage of the Mariinsky II. Alexei Timofeev will also take part in the ballet evening, as Torero in Alonso's Carmen Suite.' https://www.facebook.com/mariinsky.theatre/posts/10159814014985798 (Thanks again to Sophia at Dansomanie)

This seems to be some good news. Google translation: "Ballet soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, 31-year-old David Zaleev regained consciousness after a coma, into which he fell as a result of a fall from a scooter. This was reported to RBC by the press service of the theater. "The theater clarified that Zaleev's condition has improved, he is now in the hospital, but is conscious and breathing on his own." https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/60b4f7b79a7947524c743da8 (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie) Google translator: https://translate.google.com

Eight graduates of the Vaganova Academy were admitted to the Mariinsky. This is the result of a "competition," which from the video clip appears to have been held at a Mariinsky II practice studio. This would seem to be a slightly different procedure than before with the announcement occurring slightly earlier. Two foreign students were included. "Foreign artists will once again come to the troupe - Kian Mangis from the USA, as well as Jasmine Henry, Australia's first representative in the Mariinsky Theater ballet." The other six: Elena Lyskova, Marina Chernyavskaya, Yeva Nasadovich, Yan Begishev, Nikita Zakharov, Anton Sturgeon https://www.facebook.com/mariinsky.theatre/posts/10159802319075798 (Thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie for this information and insight)

I have to agree with you, Helene, about the misogyny. As clever as I find some of it, and I really do, other parts, regrettably, leave me cold to the point of dismissing it all.

Alena Kovaleva Okay, you asked for more, here's more. 🙂 Fouettés -- Twelve totally solid single-doubles (Odile 2021) From La Bayadere (2021) -- Remember those spins across stage in Act III ? Well she does them at the speed of light, stops on a dime and goes into a totally secure reverse without a single wobble in the free back leg. And speaking of the free back leg, her's floats like a sail in the jumps. As for characterisation, she can change facially, seamlessly, from her youthful vibrance to very believable portrayal. Her 'linear Statuesque' is a sight to behold. Yes, in my opinion, she's that good !

I've not found any mention or video of Alyona Kovalyova's debut as Mekhmene Banu in Legend of Love and was not necessarily expecting any. I've found nearly no video clips of recent Bolshoi performances and reviews and comments can be rather intermittent. What I did find was a compilation of excerpts starting at the age of 16. I'm not particularly strong on technical detail unless it noticeably effects the overall imagery. A few things that I did notice are how fast she can be and how in control she is of her beautiful long limbs. Her flow and timing are extremely lovely. Her sculpture is exact and wonderful. The feel of the shapes that she makes is relaxed and elegantly poetic. Her finely designed jumps sail and float with impressive elevation. And I could probably go on and on. I hope that she succeeds very well and is treated with kindness and respect in her creation of this role and throughout her career. As for heavy drama, which is usually present in the Mekhmene Banu character, I really wouldn't miss it in such a beautiful presence. Maybe most noticeable, her overall vibrance radiates from her face to her gorgeous motion. Added: And along the way, low and behold, a video of Nina Kaptsova (with the amazing Ivan Vasiliev) excepts from La Fille Mal Gardee -- Delightful !

I think that I was at the performance when Stephane Bullion was made an Etoile. Myriam Ould-Braham I must see again (and again and again, hopefully) before she retires. I only saw her in La Bayadere and her Kingdom of the Shades act was Merveilleux ! Added: In further regard to seeing Myriam Ould-Braham, heaven knows I've tried. I'm seldom near Paris when she's performing and POB tickets aren't always easy to get and the one time that I snagged one for a Swan Lake (Heaven!), even made a hotel reservation, the ticket was annulled. But persevere I do. 🙂 Another ballerina that I loved, by the way, and did get to see twice, was Delphine Moussin.

It's still "a bright sunshiny day" where I am and the vibrant Maria Bylanova once again comes to mind. She'll be performing in the Pas de Trois (Le Corsaire) next Wednesday and The Lilac Fairy (Sleeping Beauty), June 9. I just watched her as the Lilac Fairy from over a year ago and she's charming and vibrant. Her performance will be during a "Ballet Evening" which will be an assortment of famous solos, duets, etc. It looks like a very fine grouping. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2021/6/2/2_1930/ Another vibrant dancer is Viktoria Brilyova. She's being given more this year than I've ever seen. Here's a very brief glimpse of her with Andrey Ermakov from Maxim Petrov's delightful, "Cinema", starting at 1:03:00. (posted by the Mariinsky)

INDESTRUCTIBLE LIGHT And probably the best reason for liking this. It made me smile ! 🙂

INDESTRUCTIBLE LIGHT Stilled glued to it. This might be the last night that it can be seen on the internet. For me, it's an instant ABT Classic. It's really nice when something different really works. This does. I hope that it'll become part of the repertoire and I can't imagine a better cast. There's a lot of Cool Stuff here. Choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie Dancers: Betsy McBride, Jacob Clerico, Anabel Katsnelson, Melvin Lawovi, Hannah Marshall, Duncan McIlwaine, Scout Forsythe, Joseph Markey Music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, and Billy Strayhorn Songs: “Battle Royal,” “Little Pony,” “Tricky’s Licks,” and “The Star-Crossed Lovers”

I just found a video of Elizaveta Kokoreva excerpts. I've liked this vibrant young Corps de Ballet dancer since I first saw clips of her debuting in January as Swanilda (the lead) in Coppelia. She's vibrant and a lovely dancer. I wish her a fine future. I also return often to the video clip that I posted of Alyona Kovalyova in La Bayadere. We all have elements of ballet that we admire and for me it's her absolutely lovely and overall essence. As I've mentioned, she'll be debuting as Mekhmene Banu (the lead) in Legend of Love in next Saturday's matinee. I continue to feel that she's much more of a graceful apparition than a dramatist, but she's already shown that she's capable of these demands. I think that she's lovely, lovely, lovely and how this is displayed in next Saturdays highly dramatic and physically challenging presentation is something that I'd really like to see. I wish her much success.

June's programming and casting have been posted. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/nextplaybill/?type=ballet Things start with Nadezhda Batoeva and Timur Askerov scheduled for two Giselles in three days. Some personal highlights: Alina Somova, Kimin Kim, Maria Iliushkina and Oxana Skorik, Philipp Stepin, Maria Bulanova in The Sleeping Beauty. Yekaterina Kondaurova with Timur Askerov and Alina Somova with Philipp Stepin, featured in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Nadezhda Batoeva, Victor Caixeta and Renata Shakirova, Kimin Kim (this couple I'd especially like to see) in the poetically lovely Act II Divertissement Duet. And another dancer that I like, Maria Bulanova, continues along with the Lilac Fairy (Sleeping Beauty, June 9) and Myrta (Giselle, June 22) and recently with Medora (Le Corsaire), and one of four in Parc. Her very slightly 'buxom' appearance (a pleasant change) and her vibrant character both have a very nice healthiness about them. In addition, for fouetté fans, she does all doubles with two triples in Le Corsaire, Also The Mariinsky is working on a new production of the Pharaoh's Daughter staged by Alexei Ratmansky. I always enjoyed Pierre Lacotte's 'interpretation' featuring Svetlana Zakharova and Sergei Filin at the Bolshoi. The costumes, scenery, choreography (most?) and staging, all beautifully done by Pierre Lacotte. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPGmt39FBHT/ (thanks to Sophia at Dansomanie) "Rehearsals of the ballet Pharaoh's Daughter staged by Alexei Ratmansky are underway at the Mariinsky Theater - the premiere is scheduled for December. Together with the artists, the choreographer is working on a new interpretation of the plot about the struggle for the heart of an Egyptian princess in dreams of exotic antiquity. ⠀ "Created in 1862 based on the novel by Théophile Gaultier to the music of Caesar Pugni in an extremely short time, it was The Pharaoh's Daughter that became the first full-scale production by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Theaters." (Google translation)