Buddy

I thought that I might have stopped, but then MadameP got me started again. I’m often trying to refind that place where Olga Smirnova left me after her La Bayadere, somewhere in the heavens. And there I would be happy to linger. Yet, there is so much of beauty and dreams that this Festival has offered and I won’t be seeing another until next year, if I’m fortunate enough to return. So writing is one way to keep it all alive and hopefully share. Yekaterina Kondaurova Most everyone I talk to, inside and out of the Mariinsky, seems to agree that there isn’t anything that she can’t do. Starting at 1:36:20 of the page two posted video is what she can do with modern. I can’t imagine anyone doing it better. As for Swan Lake, when she’s at her dreamiest and most flowingly graceful, she’s very, very special. At the Mariinsky that’s saying a lot ! Her acting prowess has amazed me. She once said in an interview that she doesn’t think that she wants to teach when she’s through dancing. How about something like Hollywood or Broadway is my simple answer to that one. Added thought: And if she took her husband, Principal Character Artist, Islom Baimuradov (Acteur Extraordinaire, Danseur Versatile-Extraordinaire), along with her, they could launch a new era of Turner Classic Movies. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about A Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers. One reason is that it’s about the only video coverage of the Festival that I can find. Another is that the Dreamer’s portion and Garret Smith’s Celestial are first rate, in my opinion. The Mariinsky excels in the classics, so when they can shine in contemporary, it’s an added treat. Sofia Ivanova-Skoblikova Born in St Petersburg. Graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2013 (class of Veronika Ivanova). Joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2013. (Mariinsky bio) Over the last few years she’s crept into my awareness. No big splashes at all. She’s just always there. Mainly it’s been modern. Maxim Petrov started featuring her (although I really miss seeing his first muse, the radiant Viktoria Brilyova) and then Garret Smith gave her the opening and probably the most important part of his Celestial. Her only significant lead in the classics according to her bio is Effie in La Sylphide, not bad. She does seem to be everywhere in the secondary rolls. I thought that she did a lovely performance in the company’s beautiful take on Rubies. So let’s see where she winds up. It should be somewhere prominent. Yekaterina Chebykina A similar sort of feeling, except she’s already done Odette-Odile ! She’s also quite young. I’ve mentioned her ability to move back and forth from expressiveness to pure refinement. At the end of Dreamer’s she was cute as can be. If I had seen her do that few seconds ‘at the hop’ when I was in high school I would have gone crazy. Her Diamonds this year was perhaps the best thing that she’s ever done. Great to see ! Renata Shakirova She’s quite something ! The Men I don’t mention them much, but they’re quite amazing. For me, they often fade into the background because my love is the ballerina. Yet, among many things, they accomplish athletic miracles in letting her shine. They are often the shot of adrenalin that keeps things sailing and they’re pretty darn impressive on their own.

Thanks, MadameP, for your comments. I guess that we'll have to get the tape measure out . I've also stood next to all the ballerinas that you've mentioned, except for Anastasia Kolegova, and thought them to be tall. But, I'll say that I'm not exactly at my objective best in their presence, it's usually in a crowded reception situation and they do have the remarkable ability to appear the way that they want to, even in public. Heels can throw you too. I never check to see if they're wearing them. So for the sake of this discussion I'll say that there are some ballerinas that at least 'seem tall' to me and some others that don't. Hope that you had a good trip back and that you'll be able to enjoy next year's Festival and many other fine performances. Let us hear about them if you feel like it.

So if I can cite an aura , a dream beyond the reality To reflect this Festival and all the others that I’ve seen I’ll once again call upon the lyrics of Jimi Hendrix — “Angel” And she told me a story yesterday About the sweet love between the moon and the deep blue sea And then she spread her wings high over me Silver wings silhouetted against the child's sunrise And I said "fly on my sweet angel, Fly on through the sky, Fly on my sweet angel, Forever I will be by your side"

In response to your post, Fatova, I’ve liked both Daria Pavlenko and Tatiana Tkachenko very much over the years. I hope that they’re both given as wide and beautiful a repertoire as possible in the coming years. Maybe I could use this occasion to take another quick look at some of the dancers. Yekaterina Osmolkina. (Folks might have noticed that I’ve mentioned her .) And Anastasia Kolegova. They’re both ‘not tall dancers.’ When you see Yekaterina Osmolkina alongside the physically towering presence of Olga Smirnova, Yekaterina Kondaurova or Oxana Skorik (all quite tall) you might not even notice her at first. Also Olga Smirnova and Yekaterina Kondaurova can be very expansive in their expressiveness, whereas I find Yekaterina Osmolkina to be more contained, as is Oxana Skorik. Yet, it doesn’t take long to notice that Yekaterina Osmolkina is quite special. She’s very dreamlike. Even in works that are upbeat and outwardly expansive, her quiet dreaminess still shines and she fits in perfectly. Also, her restrained, but compelling ability to portray, just shines through. Anastasia Kolegova radiates with loveability and a more contained, but effervescently embracing manner. Her technical ability is always noteworthy, doing such things as cambres(?), turning backbends, as well as I’ve ever seen them done by a ballerina dancer. Also her arms are not long so she has to use emphasis and expressiveness more than a taller, long limbed dancer. At this year’s Festival she did this as well as I’ve ever seen her do. And a quick mention to Alexander Sergeyev. His adaptability and range are highly noteworthy. This year he introduced real character into his performances, as usual. He can be nobly sensitive or expansively outgoing. He’s also very technically competent and exciting. He’s a real artist.

I would also like to see Olga Smirnova, along with Semyon Chudin, guesting as much as possible with the Mariinsky. I'd really like to see them as regular guests at the Festivals. I like to wonder at times what Olga Smirnova would be like if she were at the same level now at the Mariinsky as she is at the Bolshoi. Keep in mind that she wasn’t long out of school when Clement Crisp and Merrill Ashley described her. At this point she would have still had a lot of Vaganova/Mariinsky in her. I could visualise her as a dreamily pure ethereal, maybe even harkening back somewhat to Galina Ulanova. But she’d probably be closer to today’s Ulyana Lopatkina, whose space, I feel, is now being carried on as much as possible by the basic beauty of Oxana Skorik. Also Yekaterina Osmolkina reminded us at this year’s Festival what a remarkably graceful and dreamlike dancer she is. I think that Olga Smirnova would probably be a ‘sensation’ no matter where she was. I think that she’s flourishing at the Bolshoi. I can also see her reaching into her Vaganova background someday and producing an amazing, Mariinsky-like resemblance. I look forward to seeing her perform as much as possible.

As I mentioned a couple posts back, Mariinsky Festivals cover a lot a ground and so I keep writing and writing. The more I watch Garret Smith’s Celestial (performed twice) (at 43:10 of the video posted on page two of this topic) from A Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers the more I'm impressed. The Young Choreographers' evening was probably the best that I've seen taking in a wider scope with some very fine quality. This video contains a brief interview and shows him at work with Yekaterina Osmolkina and Maxim Zyuzin(?), her husband. In it he says that he's been saving this work for something special and I believe it. https://mariinsky.tv/1102 Some modern choreography does really work for me and this is becoming one example. There is a great deal of interest and beauty here. The way he combines and shapes the dancers and the flow and rhythms of motion across the stage and in groups are among the things that have brought me back to the video many times. I think that if he continues in this direction with this quality that he'll produce some more very fine work. This and Maxim Petrov's fine contribution in Dreamers seem to almost compliment and play off each other.

In my post about the Mariinsky Festival I used the term “Angel Wings” to describe Olga Smirnova. I can partially borrow from Clement Crisp’s words to somewhat explain this. “Angel” — A “magical presence,” “an indefinable authority,” a “transfixing effect” — that “touches the spirit.” “Wings” — Flight — to be elevated above the stage and to float through your senses, carrying you along, with the physical perfection and magical beauty of “Angel Wings.” Can I offer one further thought about the idea of Epaulement? Her entire performing range can almost be seen as an épaulement, something composed of “the subtlest contrasts and oppositions.” [the term “magical presence” was actually Clement Crisp quoting Merrill Ashley, who was coaching Olga Smirnova in the performance of Diamonds]

So now it’s four and a half years later and the article rings truer than ever. https://www.ft.com/content/f16dc240-06f4-11e2-92ef-00144feabdc0 I was just at the Mariinsky Ballet Festival where Olga Smirnova, performing La Bayadere, may have given the greatest ballet performance that I’ve ever seen. How to describe her? Well, Clement Crisp did and it’s as good a description as I’ve read. She has “an indefinable authority.” “She has the most exquisite upper-body, and a magical presence.” “She creates something magical and it touches the spirit.” He gets into a beautiful definition of épaulement, which we assume is meant to describe her as well. And here is where I would like to add something that relates to his statement, “And her stage manner is simple, authoritative, gracious and allied to a technique that finds no unease with Balanchine’s tremendous dances, but rather brings them to a fascinating life.” It’s the idea that épaulement, a traditionally static, sculptural quality in art, the "pose" in dance, is actually carried over into her motion. Elsewhere, I’ve used the word ‘phrasing.’ It’s meant to describe how she can time and position her moves so that they become a dynamic épaulement. For example, one part of her body may move forward while an arm lingers behinds creating a different rhythm, a different thrust. It can add up to an image of one unified, flowing motion that is actually made up of differently directed elements. All ballerinas seem to float, it’s what ballet is about. She can do it magnificently by using the “subtlest contrasts and oppositions,” part of Clement Crisp’s definition of static épaulement. This is just one of uncountable attributes that she has, but it’s one that so impresses me at the moment.

In regard to what was probably the highlight of the Festival and perhaps the greatest ballet performance that I’ve ever seen, as performed by Olga Smirnova In The Sense of Earth Conceived Enchantment, Think Angel Wings Combine this with the life giving sunshine of Little Children at Play in The Park Fairy-Angel Wings and that would sum up much of the magic of my visit.

There’s one more general feeling about the Festival that I’d like to emphasise. It’s a feeling of enjoyment. The material, for the most part, was quite pleasant — the Paquitas, Don Quixote, Jewels, A Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers and the Gala, which was highlighted by George Balanchine’s Symphony in C. Even Swan Lake and La Bayadere had an overall uplifting aura. This isn’t to say that the Festival lacked substance. The art and the artistry were of the highest level. One artist, of many, is a personal favorite. Maxim Petrov An exciting part of the Festival was another group effort by this young and very likeable choreographer. He’s done a few works on a smaller scale, but, for me, he really shines when working with large groups. He’s done four of these, that I know of, ranging from about 15 to 20 minutes. One is in the Mariinsky repertoire. His work is both very enjoyable and brilliant. He’s very good at combining the highest level of classical dance with fine and timely entertainment. I would liken this to the more pleasant works of Jerome Robbins. If you go to 1:28:50 and 1:47:20 of the video posted on page two of this topic you will see his work. Starting at 1:36:20 (and 1:44:30) is Yekaterina Kondaurova's very fine contribution to the evening. Also Garret Smith’s work at 43:10 (performed twice) has a somewhat similarly impressive inventiveness in his creating of group shapes and motion. I would hope that Maxim Petrov would have a rewarding future on both sides of the Atlantic as he has a fine feel for both. The entire presentation, conceived by the highly successful ballet impresario, Sergei Danilan (Ardani Artists) for A Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers, of which Maxim Petrov was perhaps the largest contributor, was high quality and up lifting. It’s titled — Dreamers which along with it’s closing work maybe sums it all up Lose Yourself to Dance.

Mariinsky Festivals cover a lot of ground, which is why I sometimes feel compelled to write as much as I do. Not only do they present a wide range of works, but they also introduce stars from other countries and everyone tries to excel and usually succeeds. Maybe it’s the aura of the theater or the history of its artistry that makes everyone try so hard, but the result is that I’ve seen some of the best performances, from my viewing experience, that many of the artists have ever given. These have ranged from one by ABT’s Gillian Murphy to another by perhaps the most beautiful ballerina in the world today, the Mariinsky’s own Ulyana Lopatkina. Olga Smirnova I have to emphasise once more how incredibly talented I think that she is and how brilliantly amazing I thought her La Bayadere performance was. If she had performed throughout the entire Festival, I’m sure without question, that the ten days would have belonged to her. It might have been one of the greatest events in ballet history. Based on the one performance only, I’m certain that many feel that the Festival did indeed belong to her or that she was at least its highlight. It might be wonderful that in the tradition of inviting Alina Cojocaru back year after year (six?), giving some years perhaps the best performance of that Festival, that Olga Smirnova might become a regular guest. She comes from a Mariinsky related background, the Vaganova Academy, and is she’s certainly someone that they should be proud of and embrace. As a quick aside, I’ve been watching a video clip, and one of the things that strikes me about her dance magic is her phrasing or timing of her moves. One thing in a million. I was too entranced at the Festival to notice much in the way of detail, but I certainly noticed and felt the overall beauty. (I’ll say again that as good as videos are they should not be used as the final word. There’s just a lot that a print or copy cannot reproduce. Yet for studying or reviewing each detail they can be extremely helpful. Also talking about greatness can probably never be the same as actually experiencing it.) My experience was almost overwhelming. I just sat in my chair, almost limp, after each of her Acts, and then walked(?) back to my hotel lost somewhere in the clouds. Yekaterina Osmolkina In my last post I mentioned her wonderful effect. I referred to the dreamlike beauty of her dancing. I felt that she represented the overall aura of this year’s Festival. In the absence of Ulyana Lopatkina and Oxana Skorik, both not appearing, I believe because of injury, it was probably her who carried the Mariinsky banner of ethereal beauty. What I didn’t mention was her remarkably mature artistry, best seen in her Gamzatti. Last year she ‘was’ Giselle and because of her artistry or portrayal and her absolutely lovely dancing, I considered it to maybe be the best performance of that Festival. I hope we’ll see a lot more of her prominently at future Festivals and although I don’t usually get into this, it wouldn’t bother me at all if she was made the next Mariinsky Principal (and I told her so at the Reception ).

I always have feelings and memories that linger long after the Festival. In my last post I tried to express what I feel most about this Festival. It's a feeling of uniform enchantment. It's the landscape of a beautiful dream. Olga Smirnova most strongly launched this sentiment with her Dream Act performance (final Act) from La Bayadere. In addition, what she did was Greatness ! I would predict that she'll be one of the greatest ballerinas ever, if she isn't already. Yekaterina Osmolkina Yet it was her constant presence throughout the Festival (she appeared five times) that became the essence, the fabric of my appreciation. She seemed to sum up what I love most at the Mariinsky -- the lyrical grace. She floated like a beautiful vision throughout. Other artists, giving remarkable performances mentioned in the last post, contributed greatly. Yet, it's to her, perhaps more than anyone, that I owe my greatest appreciation for the aura and memory of this Festival that I'll carry with me.

Dream Nights Festival Waves of Enchantment The Lyrical Flow of The Ballerina Dancers Olga Smirnova — The Dream Act Following the magical entrance of countless angel-looking dancers, she poetically glided across the stage and set a dream in motion that remained throughout the Festival. Her lyrical, floatingly graceful dancing became spellbinding. Yekaterina Osmolkina Always a dream, in the work, Celestial, performed a series of high, backward bent-leg sweeps that were as beautiful and compelling as anything that I saw. Yekaterina Chebykina in “Diamonds” embraced us from the stars. Anastasia Kolegova in “Paquita” and “Emeralds” was love and delight. Inna Bilash from Perm selflessly took flight with a remarkably lovely “Swan Lake.” The Space In Between — filled magnificently by The Corps de Ballet and The Supporting Dancers As expressionist as some of the Mariinsky dancers can be, they will probably shine brightest because of their lyrical dreaminess. Thus, I can see Renata Shakirova, who performed a vibrant Kitri, someday being an enchanting Odette or Giselle. She is known for her technical prowess, but I also saw beautiful gracefulness and she’s absolutely loveable ! Nadezhda Batoeva, whom I remember as being extremely vibrant several Festivals ago as Kitri, was poetically captivating this year. Other young dancers, such as Sofia Ivanova-Skoblikova and Yekaterina Ivannikova, were often present in the same manner. All This Together One Overall Image of Dreamlike Grace Waves of Flowing Enchantment Across The Artist's Canvas of One’s Mind

I'll first briefly mention that there were two times before the ballet performances when the audience was asked to rise in silence in respect to those who suffered from Monday's tragedy. I read that three days of national morning had been declared, but the only change in the Mariinsky programming, I was told by the lady at the hotel desk, was a cancelation of Wednesday's opera to be replaced by a requiem. For casting of all the performances, please go to the top of page one of this topic and click on the title. I wrote after Saturday night's presentation of Jewels that I've never seen George Balanchine performed more beautifully. Emeralds and Diamonds would be understandable, but Rubies, well that's sort of a 'rocker,' isn't it? No, Rubies too. Each of the Acts opened with a silent tableau of Mariinsky dancers. The beauty was breathtaking. The rest just flowed from here. This beauty remained unbroken for the entire evening. The first couple in Emeralds was Anastasia Lukina with Fuad Mamedov and the second was Anastasia Kolegova with Roman Mamedov. Anastasia Lukina was caught up in a dream and Fuad Mamedov, well I don't really know how best to describe him beyond being the idealised escort. Anastasia Kolegova, always loveable, had beautiful arms and floating moves ably assisted by Roman Mamedov. Sofia Ivanova-Skobikova and Alexander Sergeev were the couple in Rubies with Yekaterina Ivannikova being the not-tall, 'tall girl.' It all worked remarkably well. The Balanchine liveliness was strongly felt along with the loveliness at which the Mariinsky excels. In Diamonds, I've never seen Yekaterina Chebykina perform more beautifully ! She was different from anything I've seen of her before. Having been excited about her way of combining expressiveness with refinement, here she had an embracing purity. She was truly a Mariinsky ethereal dream. Xander Parish, her partner, is making remarkable progress as a theatrical phenomenon as well as being a 'paragon' of charm and male elegance. He has an extremely fine stage presence and theatricality that he's able to modulate with wonderful effectiveness so as not to ever overwhelm the delicacy of his female partner. His dancing is as linearly graceful as can be. And once again he breathtakingly performed a critical series of highly impressive jumps, which were described on the internet as being tours à la seconde with a manège de grand jetés. (). (Thanks, Haydn, at Dansomanie). What the Mariinsky artists did that was so special was to embrace George Balanchine by combining his excitement and genius with their own remarkable sense of restraint and dreamlike enchantment. It worked exceptionally well ! And yet more George Balanchine. The Gala Evening This ended with his Symphony in C, which is always a highlight and has been used at least once before, I believe, to end a Festival Gala. The evening was devided into three parts starting with a new work by the Mariinsky's Anton Pimonov, followed by the Divertissement. By far the most enthusiastic audience response, among all the fine performances until the arrival of Symphony in C, was for Lucia Luccara, bless her delightful heart, and Marlon Dino, dancing a work by Russel Maliphant during the Divertissement. Since they had both been recently released from the Bayerisches Staatsballet, where they were stars, this was wonderful to see. It was a complexly difficult effort of statuesque beauty featuring all sorts of finely sculpted overhead lifts. Symphony in C had four couples starting with Yekaterina Osmolkina (once again) with Maxim Zyuzin and Yekaterina Kondaurova (once again) with Yevgeny Ivanchenko. It was a great pleasure to see these two beautiful ballerinas consecutively. Yekaterina Osmolkina danced with lovely effect in her airy, flowing manner while Yekaterina Kondaurova was more linear-statuesque and somewhat more Balanchine 'edgy.' I believe that she even did a Balanchine off-center falling out, which is the first time that I've ever noticed this from a Mariinsky dancer. Both ballerinas contrasted each other beautifully. All in all it was another extremely fine performance by everyone to end another extremely fine Mariinsky Festival.

Backtracking somewhat to the excellent third evening of Paquita, I agree that all the variations were very good and that Maria Iliushkina, who performed the first, was "outstanding." I found her to be absolutely charming. She had the most loveable facial expression and her dancing beautifully echoed this. Except for Anastasia Nikitina, I'm not familiar with any of these names. In fact, there were a lot of new names this year. It's great to be reminded of the depth of talent here and how there are so many ways to be beautiful.

Thanks, mnacenani. Gala Evening A very fine ending to this year's Festival. I have to start traveling tomorrow, but I'll try to describe some of the things that I haven't posted at another time.

Haven't had time to read your latest, MadameP, but I'll do so as soon as possible. It's been a real pleasure reading what you've written and sharing the experience. Have a very pleasant trip home. Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds I've never seen George Balanchine performed more beautifully ! During the duet from Diamonds, when Yekaterina Chebykina dreamily looked up from the poetically embracing partnering of Xander Parish, I could almost sense George Balanchine looking down at her and gently saying, "Think stars, my dear, thousands and thousands of sparkling stars."

Thanks, MadameP, for your fine Paquita summary which I’ll look at more carefully as well as your Swan Lake one. Anastasia Kolegova and Xander Parish I totally agree with your praise. She’s so loveable and he’s so likeable. They both overflow with personality. She could just smile and be a success. He could just stand there, he’s so handsome. But they both have very impressive dance qualities as well. She has extremely fine technique. I didn’t recognise her at first, she so well took on her character. There were instances when I was watching a dancer and I would think, “Gee, she’s good!” Then I would realise that it was her. Xander has great stage presence and great lines in his moves. He also did a series of jumps at the end that took my breath away. You’re sure right about the Children ! They maybe stole the show ! They were more precious than ever ! Tatiana Tkachenko did very well. All the variations were just fine. The entire evening just flowed seamlessly. Overall, it may have been the best of the Paquitas. “Don Quixote” Another Wonderful Evening Renata Shakirova She has a lot of everything. She has very fine dance capability. Her technique was solid, graceful and clear. She had some jumps in the first act that brought Natalia Osipova to mind. Her fouettes were almost all single, single, doubles. I remember on the Bolshoi competition when the judges agreed that they’d never seen a women before do some difficult moves that she accomplished. I also think that she has the ability to be a wonderful Odette or Giselle and I look forward to seeing this. She’s beautifully expressive in character and very loveable. Daniel Kamargo He’s a very solid and secure partner in such things as the one hand overhead lifts. He also has very fine bravura technique. Yekaterina Osmolkina She’s so beautiful ! She dances like a gorgeous cloud no matter where she is. They should just put her in an enchanted bubble and let her float through the entire Mariinsky repertoire. Tonight as the Dryad Mistress she was once again a dream with light, airy jumps as effective as those of Renata Shakirova. Yana Selina did very well in the final act variation. Great to see ! Nadezhda Gonchar did fine as the Street Dancer. Ivan Oskorbin, as Espada, had amazing backbends. Olga Belik, as Mercedes, had more amazing backbends. She was a firecracker ! And on and on I could go.

Paquita III A Pure Joy of An Evening ! Anastasia Kolegova Xander Parish Everyone Else About halfway home from the Theater a lady in front of me knocked off a few pirouettes. It was that kind of an evening !

"Swan Lake" -- The Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre Lots of wonderful things this evening. This was performed by members of The Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre only, using its own production, both being firsts at a Mariinsky Festival. The production had many differences from the Mariinsky's or any other that I've seen. One of the most lovely was a long duet in the final act with Odette and Sigfried. The Company is beautiful. It's performing is beautiful. Inna Bilash as Odette/Odile was absolutely lovely. She was an Airy Dream in the famous Odette duet. This would make her part of an unbroken chain of wonderful ballerina performances in the Odette duet over the past 13 years, one of which included six Swan Lakes and another two. Nikita Chetverikov as Sigfried did just fine and was most noteworthy for his very graceful, airy, high jumps. The Corps de Ballet was excellent, being very rich in grace and character. It was largely aided by very interesting choreographic arrangements and groupings of dancers and by very fine choices in the variety of costumes and the locating of the artists wearing them. There's a lot more that could be related about the beautiful performing and artistic arranging. Hopefully I can touch on this some other time.

All was completely normal at the historic Mariinsky theater tonight.

And I just want to talk about Maxim Petrov, MadameP. Doesn't really surprise me, Drew. I only wonder how they knew about him. It seems like a very good fit and a chance to give him much wider exposure. Besides being very comfortable with his own Russian culture and the high art of the Mariinsky he also has a fine vocabulary in Western entertainment, such as the world of Charlie Chaplin. In this respect I sort of see him as a combination of a nice Jerome Robbins and Hollywood's legendary, film choreographer, Busby Berkeley, among many other things. I'd like to discuss him more at another time.

Mariinsky seemed normal to me last night, MadameP. Thanks to everyone who has expressed to us here from Ballet Alert! their concern and best wishes for our wellbeing.

I hope that next year will be just as good or even better for you, mnacenani. "A Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers" The evening started with everyone being asked to rise for several minutes, surely as a gesture of sorrow for those caught up in yesterday's tragedy. After that the performances began. It can possibly be seen on the internet for several days more. The very cool, large group dancing starting at 1:29:50 to 1:36:20 and then ending the evening -- well that's my Maxim Petrov ! So glad to see this and I hope for much more from this young and highly talented young choreographer. High five to Yekaterina Kondaurova as well in the following segment. Also enjoyed Garrett Smith's "Celestial" starting at 42:40. Added comment: Having just viewed the Maxim Petrov section 1:29:50- for the first time, I have to say that it was much better seen live when you could view the entire stage and all the dancers at all times and other visual effects, such as the lighting, were more effective.

I think that we're in agreement, MadameP, about everything here, from yesterday's tragedy to the remarkable La Bayadere performance the night before. Returning to our thoughts about the La Bayadere evening, in addition to Olga Smirnova, I would first single out Yekaterina Osmolkina. Probably not having the time that she would have wanted to prepare for her substitute performance, her dancing was just lovely as usual. Her portrayal, for me, was excellent. She held her own very well in response to the expressionistic genius (and I do mean “genius”) of Olga Smirnova. She did indeed create a brilliant and sensitive multi-dimensional character. She was both humanly vulnerable and life demandingly imperious. Semyon Chudin was the usual perfect partner for Olga Smirnova. He's also highly impressive on his own. The Golden Idol, tonight Vasily Tkachenko, is always a show stopper and Anastasia Petushkova is crazily amazing as the Indian dancer. As on Friday, she's given pure ballet roles from time to time in which she does very well. The entrance of the Shades was magic as usual. As the third Shade, I thought that Anastasia Lukina did very well, perhaps the best she's done at the Festival. There's always more, much more. Olga Smirnova But in summation I have to say that the evening almost certainly belonged to her. Visually, she’s a goddess. Often each of her moves looked like masterpieces that should be placed in the world's great art museums. Seamlessly, she looked into your eyes and touched your heart as she drew you into her world of soulful enchantment. In the final act, a dream introduced by a chorus of spirit-like, angel-looking women, she established a spell. All was hushed, a silence not to be broken by loud response, until you were compelled to enthusiastically do so just to let her know that she’d indeed drawn you into a world of magical beauty. Her's was one of the finest ballet performances that I've ever seen. This puts her in the company of Ulyana Lopatkina, Svetlana Zakharova, Alina Cojocaru (all at previous Festivals), Veronika Part (originally from the Mariinsky) and maybe one or two others. In fact, it may have been the greatest ballet performance that I've ever seen ! In fact, it may have been one of the greatest ballet performances ever ! -- and she's just beginning ! On the way home I was totally tranquil and at peace, only wishing to write a few words of deepest appreciation and to embrace the memories and feelings of what she had done.