Buddy

It’s nice to read this, Mtthwbrehm. Thank you. I thought about attending a second performance of Angela Vorontsova’s Cinderella at the Mikhailovsky, but it would be quite a rush getting from the airport. Thus, I may have to attend her 1:00 pm, March 10, performance — twice. I like your choice of the word “effervescent” very much. Looking at a few other video clips, that’s how she seems. I’d like to discuss her, because although she’s not (not yet, anyway) part of the Mariinsky Festival, she will be part of my festival. Much of her identity has been associated with the ‘Felin attack,’ of which I know little, like many. I would hope that time will show that she was perhaps naive and an innocent bystander who should be discussed here primarily as a fine artist. If you just look at her as an artist, I think that she’s very noteworthy. If you look at some of the internet interview video clips, she seems as innocent and precious a person as you could imagine. Again, my justification for mentioning this here is that I think that it reflects highly in her stage presence. It explains her ‘effervescence.’ One interesting thing that I’ve noticed during a Giselle video clip is that I can hear a professional camera clicking. It always occurs at the most picturesque highlights. What it doesn’t seem to do is try to capture some of the transitional moments, where her facial expression, for one thing, is more subtly soulful and embracing. So I greatly look forward to seeing her along with the Mariinsky Festival artists, whose names have not yet been announced. Maybe she’ll be one of them.

And she seems to be a lovely Giselle from a video clip that I'm watching. She has a very nice combination of flow and sculpture. She also seems to fit the character quite well with a touch of Bolshoi liveliness. Sometimes the Festival, for me, extends beyond the Mariinsky performances. Occasionally I go to the Hermitage Theater. I saw a lovely Odette-Odile two years ago. Also several years ago I saw Yevgenia Obraztsova perform what I thought was an absolutely beautiful Odette-Odile with the Royal Ballet in London immediately after the Festival. Remembering her lovely history at the Mariinsky, where I had seen her quite often at the Festivals, I considered her's, perhaps, the finest performance of 'the Festival'. I thought that Angelina Vorontsova might move to the Mariinsky. In any case she's as beautiful as many of the 'best' that I've seen at the Mariinsky and perhaps will be the best that I've seen at the Milkhailovsky.

Thanks so much, Mnacenani. I just bought a ticket to see Angelina Vorontsova. Never seen her on stage, but have liked her very much from video clips.

Hi Birdsall. Could you post the link to this information ? Thank you. Added: I found it, Birdsall. There will also be five of the other version on the new stage in March and April. Right now I've tickets for the reconstruction.

On the other side of things, the prices that I've checked are about 50% higher than for the same events last year.

Well, this is sort of interesting. Maybe we have a Festival after all, at least in title. What form it takes this year, who knows? But apparently there is a future. This year it's currently being announced as a two month affair. MAIN “MARIINSKY” 18TH INTERNATIONAL BALLET FESTIVAL "An annual festival, featuring the stars of the Mariinsky Theater and leading dancers of the largest ballet companies of the world, presents masterpieces of the classical repertoire and new productions of young choreographers. In 2018, Russia will widely celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Marius Petipa. During the festival, the Mariinsky Theater will present famous ballets of the great choreographer". Hosted by: Organizing Committee (326-41-41) From: 01 March 2018 Till: 30 April 2018 address State Academic Mariinsky Theater, Mariinsky-2 Website: http://mariinsky.ru http://new.spbculture.ru/en/kulturnye-sobytiya/culture_event_details/36859 (thanks once again to Sophia at Dansomanie for finding what I couldn't after quite a search)

For one reason or another for the first time in 18 years there will not be a Mariinsky International Ballet Festival, at least during the usual season. I do hope that they will be continued. So what does that season contain. If you take the entire month of March with space for more performances still available, we have a very substantial mix of ballet’s greatest classics. 3 Swan Lakes 1 Giselle 2 La Bayaderes 5 Sleeping Beauties 3 Don Quixotes Quite good for a start. At the XVIII Mariinsky Festival topic I mentioned the names of Anna Pavlova and Galina Ulanova and tried to relate them to some of our current ballerina stars. The young Olga Smirnova and the very young Alyona Kovalyova are perhaps the most compelling to me. They are both at the Bolshoi, but it should be remembered that they received their training at the Mariinsky’s Vaganova Academy. Alyona Kovalyova, along with the Mariinsky’s Oksana Skorik, perhaps best represent a significant difference between the ‘magic beauty’ of Anna Pavlova and Galina Ulanova and today. These two were might be called ‘Soulful Expressionists’. Alyona Kovalyova and Oksana Skorik are perhaps most noteworthy as being ‘Pure Poetry of Motion.’ Olga Smirnova can do both and it will be very interesting to see which directions she choses. So what might we hope for this March at the Mariinsky. Alina Somova is a most fascinating prospect. She’s sort of a wild card. I’m never quite sure what will predominate because her range is so broad. She’s appearing less, possibly because of being with her two young children. Yet, in the mix of Expression and Pure Dance she’s perhaps the most likely to shine at both. Oksana Skorik is also quite interesting in that she has the ability to move into sublime expression when she choses. Physically and stylistically resembling Alyona Kovalyova and Oksana Skorik would be the young Yekaterina Chebykina. Yekaterina Osmolkina and Maria Shirinkina are very noteworthy for their pure beauty of motion. They are more subtle, although Yekaterina Osmolkina has very fine maturity of expression. Neither of these artists are linear which makes them distinct from the other current ballerinas that I’ve mentioned. Kristina Shapran could also be included. She is just returning to a regular schedule. I would also include Yekaterina Kondaurova and Renata Shakirova as being very fine and very interesting. These are just some names that I find beautifully exciting and look forward to seeing. I’m sure that everyone has their own list and their own preferences.

Which in no way compares to my half turn waltz jump, single turn flip, 1/10 of a turn loop combination that I've been perfecting for at least ten years. I'm also working on a documentary, but I've yet to find a cameraman. If so I'll try to post it. Added: John Curry was a remarkable Artist from what I've seen. I don't really follow the events anymore as ballet has become my primary spectator love in this area. Is there anyone doing this kind of fine artistry now ?

Well I just got my tickets. 3 Swan Lakes 1 Giselle 2 Sleeping Beauties 2 Don Quixotes 1 Gala and More, in 14 days, on the home stages. Somewhat hard to pass up, I do believe.

Sunday, March 11 "Marking 200 years since the birth of Marius Petipa. Gala Concert" https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill?type=ballet&year=2018&month=3

At another quick glance there are spaces missing, for instance the Saturday night before the Sunday gala. This and depending on whom they chose to dance (Invitees?) could be tweaked into something still quite interesting. As I've always felt about the Mariinsky, no matter what happens in the planning stages, the performances and performers ultimately make it all worthwhile.

To you too

I had a dog named Snark What he loved to do was bark So I said one day Let’s go to the ballet Now Snark just prances And loves graceful dances

I'll chime in a minute about the Mariinsky Festivals. I've been to thirteen in a row. The first few years there was a large guy who seemed to be a claque. He demonstrated noisily only for one or two particular artists at a time, whether the performance merited it or not, in my opinion. It was usually way overdone and stood out as totally inappropriate, again in my opinion. I have not seen him in about eight years or anyone else like him since, except in one other instance. There may have been some claquish like instances since, but they were minimal and I really don't recall any specifically.

It appears that there will not be a Festival at the usual time spot anyway -- the first time in 18 years. The March schedule has just been posted and it's a mix of ballets with five by Marius Petipa being shown several times at different intervals, each one listed under the title "200 years of Marius Petipa." There is also a "Marking 200 years since the birth of Marius Petipa. Gala Concert" on the Sunday that would normally be the final Festival gala night. No casting posted that I have found at a quick glance. April listing is complete with no further mention of Marius Petipa. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/?year=2018&month=3&type=ballet I actually telephoned the Mariinsky 'foundations' yesterday (and again today) in New York and London (too late for Saint Petersburg) and have only been able to leave a message. I would certainly hope that they'll be continued. The quality has been of the highest order showcasing the company and a small group of invited guest 'stars' at perhaps their finest. Besides that, it's been a colorful and enchanting series of performances. Added: Tickets for the Marius Petipa ballets aren't yet available, but are for the others.

Maybe I take a slightly more idealistic approach to some of what you’re saying, Helene. Art, of which I include ballet, seems to be essentially about love, beauty, hopes and dreams — the things that make life worth living. Best expressing this might be the goal, but the process of creating and interacting with it should strive for the same values. A truly good person, to me, is at least as valuable as the greatest artist (or the greatest anyone).

That might be the reason that we have Art, Helene.

Maybe that's one reason I prefer the fifth row. Haven't seen or been 'rained on' yet.

I would probably start at 23:20. There are some sections of beautiful dance in this work. Maria Shirinkina was lovely and Igor Kolb did more of his fine partnering. Although not very big, he managed to keep his partners afloat in many physically ‘adventuresome’ moments. It’s nice to see that she and her husband, Vladimir Shklyarov, are back. She gets Giselle this month and he gets three performances. I like to put her in the same group with Yekaterina Osmolkina. Both are so airy and graceful. Neither is tall, but I notice in this video how Maria Shirinkina projects. I also notice for the first time how beautiful her hands are. I wish Renata Shakirova much success in everything that she does and I hope that they give her the best material possible. She's highly talented, versatile and, if I could, I’d like to add one of the loveliest individuals that I’ve had the pleasure of saying hi to (which shows in her performances, allowing me, maybe, to say so here.)

I’ve been watching the video of Boris Akimov teaching his class at the Bolshoi during World Ballet Day. I guess he’s already a legend after having taught for over fifty years. It’s a pleasure to see someone like him behind the scenes. He has a gentle and warm presence and his own dance ability is almost magical. Also viewing Olga Chenchikova, Makhar Vaziev’s wife, coaching Alyona Kovalyova, she seems kind enough and respectful. This is the sort of thing that I would hope for at a great art institution such as the Bolshoi. Added: I guess I have to get this off my chest, although I didn't want to. I watched the video clip of Makhar Vaziev coaching what looks to be the corps de ballet of La Bayadere during World Ballet Day. Although he doesn't look that overbearing, I have no idea what he's saying. The main thing is that I've never seen so many unhappy faces among the dancers. Not good.

I guess I’ve always leaned slightly towards the Mariinsky, Helene. It’s simply my love for the more delicate and dreamlike. With Olga Smirnova and the just beginning Alyona Kovalyova, whom I consider perhaps to be the stars of this generation as well as coming from the Mariinsky’s Vaganova school, now at the Bolshoi, I’m more attracted to the Bolshoi than ever. Also, when I saw the Bolshoi dancers perform for the first time on their own stage about two years ago I was extremely impressed. They were electric. The best I’ve ever seen them. One difference, for me, is subtle, but meaningful. The Bolshoi has a very fine sense of theater. The leads I saw at the Bolshoi Theater performing La Bayadere, Svetlana Zakharova, Anna Nikulina and Ekaterina Krysanova, at her more delicate, did have a ‘Mariinsky feel.’ I viewed Svetlana Lunkina the same when she was at the Bolshoi. Similarities can exist, but also significant and beautiful contrasts.

I’ve been watching video clips of Anna Pavlova and Galina Ulanova. All I can say is Wow ! What a World Apart they inhabited on the stage. Why mention this here. Because of the several performances that I’ve seen that might come close, almost all happened here. Also, it’s from this place that both these great artists began. And it’s also the place where the following four artists began and in two cases remained. I feel that I’m entering into artistically ‘sacred’ territory, one that only ‘a poet or an observer’ of their magnitude could begin to describe, and I’m not that person. Still it certainly seems worth thinking about and appreciating. If there’s a lineage from Anna Pavlova to Galina Ulanova I would put Anna Pavlova as the Goddess, an Ideal, not necessarily forever, but perhaps for now. Galina Ulanova would be The Celestial Poet. What did both these great artists have that makes them this special. They went beyond themselves and did it with an artistry that has been perhaps unequaled. Probably my two favorite performances would be Ulyana Lopatkina’s “Swan Lake” and Alina Somova’s “Swan” (Fokine). Ulyana Lopatkina essentially finished her career on this stage and it’s where Alina Somova continues her’s. Ulyana Lopatkina may have taken Galina Ulanova’s ’Spirit’ and translated it into pure beauty of motion. This is a realm more characteristic of the current generation of ballet artists. Alina Somova in one brief performance came possibly the closest to ‘This Other Realm.’ (I do have to say that there is a video clip, but to me it only hints at the greatness that I saw, as does one of Ulyana Lopatkina performing “Swan Lake” at another occasion). I would then add Olga Smirnova’s “La Bayadere” from last year. She has both the magnificence of expression and the immense beauty of motion that brings her closer to this world. I would also include one of Veronika Part’s many remarkable “Swan Lake”s. It wasn’t performed here, but she’s another that does come from here. So how to try to describe what made Anna Pavlova and Galina Ulanova so special ? What makes their Artistry a culminating something to strive for ? For the moment I could suggest this. They didn’t see themselves while performing. They didn’t try to convey themselves.They conveyed something wonderfully beautiful, perhaps from beyond, but that came from within. And they did it in a manner so Wonderfully Special that it might define what to strive for in the Art.

I've always felt that the artists should be treated with love and respect. I certainly hope that this is the case (or becomes so) with Alyona Kovalyova and everyone else.

I do too, Laurent. And I share your admiration for Alyona Kovalyova. As you say so well, "Fresh and alluring like a white lily, yet gracious and natural". But....I also consider Olga Smirnova one of the greatest ballerinas ever. A slight difference of opinion. Santé (Cheers)

Quinten, in all fairness from my point of view I think that they are doing well by her, but I might be missing something. I don't follow this that closely. I do favor giving her as much high profile exposure as possible, but at the same time Makhar Vaziev is giving her secondary leads, I believe rightly to broaden her range and experience. And I have to think that many of the things that I believe she does so well have to be the result of good coaching. I do appreciate your kindness in your above quote and hope that you continue to enjoy the art form and contribute to the discussion as much as possible.