Waelsung

A couple of brief words on the Jan. 21 performance. Askerov was somewhat better than in the cinemacast, but almost dropped Kondaurova at the beginning of Act III. At the thought of what would transpire I gasped, but, thanks Terpsichore, the disaster was averted, although some E.K.'s steps became tentative as if she was testing whether or not she'd been injured. She regained her confidence later on. Yermakov was a fantastic Rothbart, so overpowering and menacing, gave me chills. Kondaurova did the dualism and drama of the O/O like probably nobody else today. She was truly the Fire and Ice, and the kiss she gave Siegfried at the end of Act II felt like a kiss of death, even from where I was sitting. The first renverse of Act III was absolutely gut-wrenching, turned everything inside out. Fouettes took EK all over the stage (not her strongest suit and never has been), but Odille was evil incarnate regardless. No Gergiev meant much more predictable tempi and no injuries - pas-de-trois was performed in its entirety as a result. Overall, a very passionate, dramatic rendition that had nothing in commmon with what I saw last Friday. Totally different story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/arts/mariinsky-ballet-in-cinderella-under-alexei-ratmansky.html?ref=arts&_r=0 According to the NYTimes main dancing connoiseur, an ardent hater of classical ballet and an even more ardent Ratmansky's champion, Daria Pavlenko danced the Stepmother on Sunday. Does he even attend the events he writes about? OTOH, I did draw some satisfaction from the fact that even he could not unabashedly defend this hideous production and had to inject his usual Ratmansky's exaltation with at least some criticism. Coming from him, it speaks volumes.

Lopatkina really was wonderful. I had no idea how much I would love her in this. As for Ivanchenko, his lines were fine--when he landed in arabesque he kept his leg high etc. but he cheated every double tour so horribly it was almost laughable--especially when he was doing them coming forward towards the audience--about half a tour was cheated in the preparation. As for his "interpretation," I've seen pieces of bread with more personality... I know the prince in SL is kind of a sappy character but he was the milquetoastiest of them all. At least it wasn't hard to believe he'd be stupid enough to confuse Odile for Odette. Aurora, I agree, the preparations were pathetic, but I think Gergiev was also responsible for this - his tempi are murderous. Not only Ivanchenko, but almost everybody suffered from them. I wonder if the pas-de-trois disaster was also (at least partly) the result of Gergiev constantly rushing the dancers

Brief report: Lopatkina was absolutely divine tonight. I rather liked Ivanchenko, not so much his interpretation, but his lines. The pas-de-trois was marred by an injury and ended up being a pas-de-deux. The dances at the ball were very solid. The corps is good (to be honest, I expected more), but what's up with this elephant-like thumping. Probably the stage at BAM is not really well suited for ballet, or maybe the dancers haven't gotten used to it yet. Anyway, the night clearly belonged to Uliana, and deservedly so.

Amazon.jp carries it too, but I think I'll wait for the European/American version - hopefully, it will be less expensive:)

Mariinsky's Cinderella with Vishneva has been just released on DVD in Japan, and Vishneva has confirmed on her Twitter that it would be also released in the West later on. Of course, it's not a substitute for a live performance, but something to be considered as you ponder which casting to see or even whether to see this ballet at BAM at all

A third performance of Cinderella has been added at January 20th but no casting announced at the time. The casting for the second Chopin performance on January 25th has been confirmed though and it's practically identical to the one on January 24th. If Pavlenko is given the newly added Cinderella, I might even be tempted to go see it, despite the fact that I absolutely detest this production.

Just got all the BAM tix I really wanted. Please, Terpsichore, let these castings hold - I promise I'll be a good boy and will keep on offering my sacrificies at your altar in the form of exorbitant sums I have to pay to attend ballet nowadays

I live in Brooklyn too. I've seen The Nutcracker and with my beloved Vero Part to boot. I probably wouldn't go see it again even if it played down the block from my house, so I am afraid we have to dismiss the notion that Ratmansky is not fully successful because he creates location-specific ballets that appeal to dwellers of certain NY boroughs only. Waelsung, to clarify--That part of my response wasn't directed at what you said. Indeed you never made Brooklyn part of your equation. Others did that! Aurora, no offense taken - we Brooklynites have to stick together and look out for each other

I live in Brooklyn too. I've seen The Nutcracker and with my beloved Vero Part to boot. I probably wouldn't go see it again even if it played down the block from my house, so I am afraid we have to dismiss the notion that Ratmansky is not fully successful because he creates location-specific ballets that appeal to dwellers of certain NY boroughs only. I also saw On the Dniepr and Bright Stream after which I've made a resolution never to spend another nickel on anything AR does. Of course, the upcoming Spring season will be a huge test for my resolve, as I don't think I can miss SB. We'll see. After all, if nobody knows about my self-imposed vow to stay away from AR ballets, I won't really be breaking it, right?

I agree 100% that he should've been working for the NYCB and of course, my heart bleeds for his starving family On a more serious note, am I correct in my understanding that ABT pays Ratmansky top $$$$ because he creates a lot of innovative, popular and financially profitable ballets for other companies?

So basically, we have established that in all these years with ABT Ratmansky had created The Trilogy that some people like but that doesn't sell, and The Nutcracker that is even less liked by the public and sells even worse, which, come to think of it, is quite an accomplishment all by itself. Nevertheless, Ratmansky is still universally praised to high heaven by the critics and his contract has been extended to what feels like forever. The only reasonable explanation that I've seen: everybody at the ABT is even worse and no choreohrapher is creating anything of value anyway. I must be missing some crucial pieces of the puzzle here.

Thank you, Drew! Of course, everything is very subjective and I must take 'the long run" criterion back, as Ratmansky clearly has not been with the ABT long enough (even though for me he's overstayed his welcome already). I know critics adore and universally praise him, this is exactly why I posed my question about what he has really done to become a 'sacred cow' of such proportions. And I am not talking about his NYCB ballets, as I think he would be much more suited to be house choreographer there than at the ABT where his track record is somewhat less impressive for my money. I agree about the need to add new works to the ABT repertoire, but where are they exactly? What has Ratmansky created for the ABT that is likely to be performed on a regular basis to generate so much needed income for the theater?

I just wish they would ship Ratmansky to the West Coast along with his hideous Nutcracker before he does more damage to my beloved ABT BTW, what exactly has he done in NY that was really successful in the long run?

I was at the Saturday night performance with Bondareva (who replaced Vorontsova) and Vasiliev. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for either, especially Vasiliev who seemed unable to do anything except for a couple of same old tricks he always days, regardless of what ballet he's dancing and whether the role calls for them or not. But he does walk around the stage a lot, looking extremely self-absorbed and important. Unless he's out of breath after one of his acrobatic stunts, of course, and that's about most of the time. The brightest spots were Borchenko and Soboleva. Wish we could see more of them.

Last night, Vorontsova and Vasiliev completely failed to impress. She is too heavyset and too wholesome to be a credible Giselle, and he is out of his element in this ballet too. No chemistry whatsoever. The corps looked mostly like a joke, and the orchestra sounded as if it was a bunch of non-professional musians quickly thrown together.

Very happy with the castings (if they hold, that is)

So happy to be wrong! Best news I've heard in a lo-o-o-o-o-ong time

YID, so did I And believe me, there's nobody in the whole world who hopes that I'm wrong more than me

I think they're bringing only one full-length ballet - the ridiculous, boring and pretty much unwatchable Ratmansky's Cinderella. I feel really sorry for Mariinsky as they seem to be stuck with Ardani everywhere in North America outside of Washington, D.C. and are doomed by this company's inability to finance and produce a real tour. Just compare to what the Bolshoi did this past summer: what venues they played, how many ballets they presented, etc.

I was at the July 25th performance, too and came out of the theater absolutely elated. Until tonight I haven't seen Spartacus live in many years and didn't even realize how much I missed it. For me, it is definitely one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) ballet of the XX century, and nobody does it like the Bolshoi. Of the four principals, I thought Nikulina was the weakest link, although technically they were all amazing (as were the comprimarios and the corps). Volchkov did OK, Lopukhin was outstanding, and Zakharova gave a performance for the ages. Her lines, her drive, her perfectionism, her sense of the drama - probably, the best Aegina ever. Definitely, the scariest and the most arachna-like one:) Overall, a tremendous night at the ballet - I feel truly privileged to having been there. Unfortunately, I don't have tickets for tomorrow. Would love to compare casts, so will be eagerly awaiting the reports from others.

If ABT loses Part, there won't be much to see for me there until they acquire a ballerina of a comparable stature. This season I attended only three performances, because all Part appearances were matinees.

I saw the July 17 performance and liked very much. I have never been a big fan of Zakharova's and must admit that I have severely underestimated her - she has so much grown dramatically in the last few years and is in such a tremendous form technically that I find it extremely difficult to name anybody who in my eyes can compete with her today. Lopatkina is in the same class, but so much different that they are really hard to compare. Lantratov and Tsvirko did very well; Hallberg has visibly struggled with some of the overhead lifts and appeared to be rather intimidated by his Snow Queen O/O, which, BTW, was exactly what was needed. I know I'm going to be in a huge minority about this but I think the Grigorovich Swan Lake is a masterpiece - it's a very personal, innovative and powerful take on the original, realized by purely choreographic means and without retorting to the total rewrite a la Neumeier. Sure, it's not a love story we're all used to, but a rather philosophical parable about the duality (or even duplicity) of human nature. As Dostoevsky said, "God and devil are fighting, and their battlefield is the human soul" - this is what Grigorovich is all about here. The soul in his SL is, of course, Siegfried's who is being torn apart from the inside by good and evil forces contained within him. He loses the battle at the end and is defeated by the villainous, treacherous, destructive part of his own self. I found all this heartbreaking and was literally in tears as the curtain went down.

I would definitely second that if it weren't for a huge chance that he might be replaced by Ratmansky. I don't think Ratmansky has any interest in being an AD (he's been there, done that). On the other hand, at Sacha's farewell, Ethan was schmoozing with everyone. If anyone else is going after the ABT AD job, I'll bet it's him. But I'm totally fine with that. Anybody but Ratmansky is absolutely fine with me.

I would definitely second that if it weren't for a huge chance that he might be replaced by Ratmansky.