Roach

Well, just saw this company perform Giselle last week here in Columbus, Georgia. Alexandra Badina played the main role. At the time I didn't know about this name issue and just assumed that there was only one St Petersburg Ballet Theater. I can't say I'm really moved one way or the other about the whole thing, but it has taught me to do my own research and not rely on the local yokels to give accurate info regarding who is performing and whether or not there will be a live orchestra. The box office specifically told me there would be an orchestra but I knew by looking at the seating chart that the orchestra pit area was also available. So either I would be sitting next to a horn player or there would be no orchestra. Too bad about that, but Russian ballet doesn't happen every day here so I value the opportunity and will forgive the taped music. By the way, I'm in love with Alexandra Badina.

A somewhat older topic but one that deserves a bump to the top. I recently bought both Don Quixote and Swan Lake with her and the State Perm Ballet. Add me to the list of admirers! I was also interested in seeing Elena Kulagina as "Dancing Girl" because I recently saw her perform Swan Lake here in Columbus with The Perm. The only problem is that because of my unfamiliarity with the libretto I didn't know which dancer was "Dancing Girl." Was she the one that danced with the three men in the tavern?

Thanks again!

Unfortunately I lack the technical knowledge of ballet to describe why I like this version in terms like the ones used above, so I must say that it succeeded at levels other than technicality which a layman like myself can appreciate and even love. In terms of story telling, I like Grigorovich's presentation of Rothbart. I don't find it conflict's with Siegfried's character at all but rather accentuates it. Rothbart is presented as a sort of symbol of man's dark side when he mirrors Siegfried's moves and thus gives more of a human reason (rather than magical) for the deception of Odille . . . that is, Siegfried is decieved more by his own desire than by the spell of Rothbart. Anyway, my points of course don't conflict with the ones above. I'm only speaking for the common man.

What a great forum! Where else can I get reliable answers except from a forum of ballet devotees like you all. Thanks for coming through for me again (I also got great help on a Swan Lake DVD trivia question before). The only downside is that I'm sold on all of the recommendations now and will have to dig a little deeper into my wallet.

Giving this a bump in hope of a response.

Hi all, I'm looking for recommendations on performances of Cinderella on DVD. I'm open to any ballet company but if possible would like to start with Bolshoi. But please, no studio performances . . . live with an audience only. Would also appreciate comments on multiple aspects of the DVD to include production quality as well as the performance of the dancers. Thanks! I look forward to adding to my growing collection. PS. Let me take back the part about "no studio." I prefer live with an audience but am open to suggestions. Thanks.

Paul, yes, the music is definitely great. And rest assured, I will eventually get my hands on the Royal Balet version you are refering to (as well as a good overall Royal Ballet collection including that Sleeping Beauty with Anthony Dowell as Carabosse, 1972). I'm also intrigued by the Swedish Royal Ballet version of Swan Lake; I read that it's in a Gothic style setting. I'll have to get it. Interesting what you say about the happy ending and the Soviet influence. Personally I like both endings, but it is unfortunate if the happy one was in fact imposed politically.

First of all, thank you all so much for responding. I'm a little embarrassed that I mistook Zubkova for Bessmertnova, but just tonight I am watching Swan Lake again and thought I'd skip back and forth between the pas de trois and the Spanish dance. I was about to post here that I think I figured out who is who, but I'm glad that you guys have confirmed what I finally saw. It's hard to find pictures of the less famous balerinas like Tatyana Bessmertnova except maybe the one shot I found of her with her sister in a non-balet setting (looks like a vacation shot). Bilova has more pictures at the Ballerina Gallery, so she's easier to ID in Swan Lake . . . my problem is that being a novice, I'm not exactly sure what makes a pas de trois so I wasn't sure if the dance with the yellow tutus was in fact the pas de trois. I know it means a dance for three, but to someone just learning I can confuse it with other dances that involve three people. Well, a mystery is solved. I am now officially a fan of Tatyana Bessmertnova and Maria Zubkova (who I realized last night was the white cat in Sleeping Beauty, 1989 Bolshoi). Not having the background to make critical judgment on technical details, I go with that certain something that strikes me in a dancer's stage presence. Those two always make me want to see them more. By the way Herman, to answer your question . . . I have seen a few other version of Swan Lake including the Perm State Ballet (or Tchaikovsky Ballet) here in my hometown just half a month ago. There was no jester and I didn't miss it, but I must say that overall I have an affinity for Grigorovich's version for various other reasons (including his representation of Rothbart not only as an individual character, but as a sort of symbolic dark side of Sigfried). Also, when a version doesn't include that one Russian dance (correct me if I'm wrong) that starts with the violin solo, I am a little dissappointed. I like it's subtlety in the 1989 Bolshoi version. By the way, I have also seen a Kiev version that seemed recent because of the very good video quality . . . I'm trying to see if I can find it on DVD. I think it was performed in Japan because it starts with a Japanese woman introducing the performance and interviewing the principal dancers. I also own the Plisetskaya version that has alot of parts edited out (probably old damaged film). I like the fact that half-way through they play some piano versions of some of the Swan Lake music as I'm sure Tchaikovsky must have played it when first composing it. Really beautiful. I plan to order as many Ballet DVDs as my budget allows. So far I have eleven and tax return time is coming soon! Okay, I really went off on a tangent but that's because I'm not around anyone in everyday life who appreciates ballet so I have to temper my enthusiasm in order to avoid putting my friends and colleagues to sleep. Thanks again for your help!

Is this the dance where the music starts with a rather lengthy violin solo? If so, then I too miss it when it's not in a production. I like how subtle the dancing is at the beginning (1989 Bolshoi version) and then dramatically picks up in tempo. By the way Dachnitsa, since you have this version of Swan Lake, could I bother you to check out my question in the Ballet Videos forum, please? My question Thank you.

Helene, I took your suggestion and e-mailed ArtHaus. Now to wait and see what happens.

Mom1, don't know if you're still posting here, but keep an eye on the River Center in Columbus for touring Ballet companies like the Russian National Ballet coming May 2 http://www.rivercenter.org/BoxOfficePage1RCPA.htm They will be performing Sleeping Beauty. I've learned to check their event calender because they don't seem to do much advertising except an occasional TV and radio spot. The Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra performed Swan Lake here last month and it was wonderful! Yet the place wasn't full . . . maybe 80% capacity crowd. We made up for it in applause, though.

I live 100 miles south of Atlanta and saw Nutcracker there at The Fabulous Fox Theater about 3 years ago. My experience was pretty much as Prisma described, except the Russian dance. Maybe it's different now, but the ending pose that the Russian dancers assumed was a hip-hop B-boy stance . . . all that was missing was some kind of "Put ya hands in da air!" After seeing the first half and being immersed in old-world Russia, that sort of threw me. However, the audience loved it. For me it's just a personal preference to see my ballets in a traditional presentation. Maybe that's why I'll hold out for a Russian company in the hopes that they are less likely to pull that kind of stunt.

Well, Tax Return time is coming and this will be on my list of DVDs to get. I already have Plisetskaya Dances, so Diva of Dance will be a logical addition. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for that insight, Helene. Since my hometown has been doing fairly well in bringing in more quality ballet to our new state-of-the-art facility (The River Center), I will plan to think in a more international way and clap when the music stops. However, when I do clap there will be at least one bellowing BRAVO in the Bolshoi style.

Thanks Helene. But just so future readers don't get confused, my question is about Tatyana, not Natalia Bessmertnova. Also, thanks for the advice about Arthaus. If it comes to that I just might start bugging them.

Being new to Ballet, I figured that a standard etiquette would be to wait until the music has stopped. On the other hand, I remember that in the 1989 Bolshoi performance of Swan Lake (Mikhalchenko) there are several instances where the audience applaudes in unison at moments that probably seem inappropriate to the sensibilities of some of these forum members. One would be when Odette first appears, another more obvious one is in the middle of the 32 Fouettés. In fact, it surprised me at first to hear that the general audience mood during any applause was more like excited soccer fans than prim and proper audience members concerned with formal applause etiquette. I am by no means inconsiderate or anti-etiquette, but I believe it bears mentioning that our ideas concerning this matter might be affected by our local cultures and not to be confused with some ideal of a universal etiquette. When the Tchaikovsky Ballet from Perm performed Swan Lake here last month, I was the lone applauder when Elena Kulagina first appeared as Odette. Realizing that my fellow locals were not familliar with the "Bolshoi Etiquette" , I toned down my responses somewhat out of general consideration.

Hi all, first of all, forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong forum. I see there is a Q&A forum as well but this one looked more appropriate for my question. If not, I'll gladly repost in the appropriate forum. I'm still fairly new to ballet, but I'm in love with it. I've watched Swan Lake more times in the past 4 months than is sane. I have a question about a particular performance; 1989 Swan Lake by the Bolshoi with Alla Mikhalchenko. Because I'm still learning about this classic art form, I'm not sure about all that is going on in the performance. I've been researching to learn more about the terminology, the dancers, their roles, and various other things as I can find them. One thing that has bothered me is that i can't match all the performer's names in the end credit roll with the actuall roles they played. Most are obvious like Odette/Odille, Von Rothbart, Prince Sigfried, etc . . . that is, if you know more about the ballets than me. For instance, there is a dancer credited for being part of a pas de trois; her name is Tatyana Bessmertnova. From what I could dig up, she is related (sister?) to Natalia Bessmertnova. However, I'm not sure I've identified the correct part of the performance as the pas de trois with Tatyana in it. The other problem is that I wouldn't know which one is Tatyana even if I knew what the pas de trois is. There is one dancer in this performance who I always assumed is Tatyana Bessmertnova but I'm not sure. One thing is for sure, she is one of my favorites because of her stage presence. She looks like she is in love with what she is doing. She appears in two roles; the first is early on where she and another ballerina share a dance with the prince (is this the pas de trois?). The second is where she does a Spanish style dance with a fan in her hand and male dancers alongside. Is this Tatyana? Thank you in advance.