Amour

A few brief thoughts because it's late.

Tonight's SL was a bit of a mixed bag. This is the first time I have seen Kondaurova dance SL live. She is a beautiful, long limbed, versatile dancer who looks great in contemporary work (like Forsythe's In The Middle Somewhat Elevated) as well as classical work. The last time I saw her SL was almost 2 years ago in a 3D cinema relay filmed by Hollywood director James Cameron. I'm sure that was slated to be a DVD but unfortunately Kondaurova came off pointe during the battu, finger turn sequence. Well, that was the end of that.

Tonight, Kondaurova was an exquisite Odette. She has a long neck, very arched spine and those famous Russian high attitude derrière ( which she can sustain in long balances). Her footwork in the fast passe/relève sequence was excellent. She didn't do very many battus (during the above mentioned sequence) but I didn't care. And I think her artistry since that filmed SL has greatly improved. She seemed very soulful and sorrowful. Not as good as the great Lopatkina, but I thought much better than opening night's Tereshkina.

Unfortunately, things came a bit undone during the Black Swan act. In her entrance with Askerov (tonight's Siegfried), Kondaurova lost her balance in the second supported pirouette from a la seconde. Someone who was watching through binoculars said she was pitched a bit forward during the pirouette, then Askerov yanked her back. The result was she fell off pointe, folded over (which is how the sequence begins) and nearly tumbled to the floor. Although unhurt, Kondaurova seemed to lose her confidence at that point. Her Odile did not glitter and was not seductive. Her fouettes travelled a lot, downstage and to the side. To my eye, it looked like the mistake was a result of Askerov's partnering but it's hard to tell. Anyway, other than the national dances, that act did not go especially well.

Kondaurova did recover for the final act as Odette, however. She was just as heartbroken and sorrowful as in the first lakeside scene. There is a lot less dancing for her in this act so any lingering confidence issues were unseen (by me, at least).

As for Askerov, I am not a fan. He might be a better technician (although he's not that great; certainly no Shklyarov) than Ivanchenko but I don't think he's a better partner. His acting is bland and I just don't find him interesting to watch. I'm sad that Kondaurova is seemingly stuck with him as her partner (he's not even a principal). Certainly they don't seem to have great chemistry. And I keep wondering if these blunders were really his fault.

Finally, we again had the great PDT with Batoeva (who will also be subbing for the injured Nikitina in the second cast), Stepin and Selina. Yermakov was a great Rothbart with his high, powerful jumps and menacing demeanor. And we again saw the virtuosic, comical Vladislav Shumakov as the Jester. And last but certainly not least, the magnificent Mariinsky corps. And as Waelsung noted, Gergiev did not conduct, (Gavriel Heine did) which meant a lot more predictable tempos.

Effective today, Yulia Stepanova and her husband Kamil Yangurazov have landed at Moscow's Stanislavsky Ballet.

Stepanova is a soloist: http://stanmus.com/person/1171

Yangurazov is in the corps de ballet: http://stanmus.com/person/1172

Actually, Yulia is listed as a first soloist.

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.

I tweeted the NYT arts section that he didn't even know the right casting.

The good news is maybe now that NYCB is in season (he was at opening night, as were Lopatkina, her coach and Andrei Yermakov) he won't go back to BAM again.

BTW, a little off topic but Yermakov is really tall. I would say about 6'4". And very narrow and slender. It's not so evident on stage but in real life you can pick him out of a crowd because he's a head taller.

Now, did anyone see Batoeva and Shklyarov in Cinderella? Please post.

Well, tonight was opening night. Before I get to my thoughts, LOPATKINA WAS THERE!! With her coach and Andrei Yermakov. They were very gracious when I spoke to them.

Since we had members of the Mariinsky in the audience, I hoped NYCB would pull out all the stops. Unfortunately, to my eyes, the first piece-Serenade-was a bit of a mess. The corps looked especially ragged. Everyone's arm was at a a different height, spacing between the corps girls was off as was their musical timing. I am not a big Hyltin fan and I did not like her as Waltz girl. Nothing was big enough, not her jumps, her low arabesques. I also didn't like Peirera as the 3rd girl (same complaint). I did, however, very much like Tess Reichlen as the a Russian girl. She held her arabesques, did very clean pirouettes, had a deep, smooth backbend. Robbie Fairchild did an adequate job as the main male but didn't look in the best of shape. I think the SAB kids did a better job in their workshop than what I saw in this performance,

Luckily, NYCB turned things around with Agon. I thought it was pretty masterful (maybe not as good as 20 years ago but for now). Maria K, Andy Vyette, Amar, Megan LeCrone, Lauren King,Ashley Laracey, Daniel Applebaum and Devin Alberda danced. Maria and Amar were especially wonderful in the PDD. Her penchées, split legs when lifted, balances, everything was wonderful. And Amar was a masterful parter, making sure she had her balance before letting go of her hand, lifting her, supporting pirouettes. Their rapport was evident. Similarly, the two PDT (Andy, Lauren, & -Ashley; Devin, Daniel, Megan) went very smoothly, very little evidence of the transitions between the poses. I love Stravinsky but have no idea how anyone dances to this music, since it has no melody or consistent rhythm. All the more credit to these dancers. And Devin Alberda is a personal favorite of mine. It's time to promote him to soloist.

Finally, the evening concluded with the gorgeous Symphony in C. The great Ashley Bouder (in, I think, a debut) did the first movement with Chase Finlay. She came out like the energizer bunny, all attack, quick passées, pirouettes, jetes. This is just the right role for her. She completely kept up with the music's fast tempo. I loved her. Chase was fine as her partner but you can tell he still has more work to do to go to a higher level of technique and artistry.

The second movement looks like it was made for Sara Mearns and she danced it that way. She does dramatic adagios best and here she has them: swooning back bends, high attitudes en derrière,6 o' clock penchees where she touches her face to her shin, everything stretched out like a piece of taffy. And with her expressive body and face she makes the most of every moment. Jared Angle, her kind of invisible partner, does everything right to show Sara off and be unseen. Lifting her is no mean feat. He should be commended.

Lauren Lovette danced the third movement (which is speedy but the briefest), partnered by Gonzalo Garcia. Upon entering, she immediately slipped but luckily didn't fall. Garcia is a good partner and, I think, helped her look better than she is. She did get through the rest of this speedy movement fine but it was nothing to write home about.

Finally, the fourth movement with Brittany Pollack and Adrian Danchig-Waring (his debut). This is the fastest movement in the Symphony and Brittany got through it very well, no flaws in sight. I like Adrian a lot and was happy for him to get this debut. There is not as much partnering in the beginning of the movement so you can really appreciate both Brittany and Adrian's crisp dancing. But shortly, after their work, the other leads enter: first the first movement, then the second, then the third. Then they all dance together. This is where Ashley truly excelled. She was the only lead who not only kept up with the music but had time to play with it a little. For me, this extra musicality is really distinguishing her as an artist (though I still love her tricks and jumps). Unfortunately neither Lauren nor Sara (especially Sara) could keep up with the tempo and were about half a beat behind. For me, this kind of detracted from Sara's overall performance. She is a great dramatic and adagio dancer but, like Polina Semionova (well not as bad as Polina) she can't dance too fast. And that's a problem when you are performing Balanchine. Still, the finale, was basically danced well by everyone: leads, demis and corps. And with the glittering crystalline tutus, it looked beautiful. It was a great ending to a good night.

A DVD of the Mariinsky performing Ratmsnsky's Cinderella in now available in Japan. You can get it from HMV or Amazon Japan. Mine arrived within a week, a few days before the first performance by the Mariinsky.. Indeed, if any of you attended the opening night performance, the DVD is very similar; Diana is the lead, Kondaurova the stepmother and Shklyarov the Prince. I think I liked the live performance better, even though Zverev was the Prince just because of the live energy. But I highly recommend the DVD for those who like the ballet or who haven't seen it and want to.

BTW, Rebecca Krohn looks like she's out at least for the first 2 weeks. Again the casting sheet doesn't reflect the change. You have go into the "buy tickets" for a date to see that she has been replaced.

What was sadder was seeing the ever-radiant Yana Selina dance the third act "dancing girl" in Ratmansky's Cinders. I first saw Yana Selina maybe 10 years ago and she was so beautiful and radiant. 10 years later her smile still lights up the entire auditorium ... and she's still dancing smaller variations.

Speaking of smiles, what about Oxana Marchuk. She is noticeable to me because of her smile whenever she's on stage. Sunday she was one of the spring fairy's sidekicks. Too bad she's still in the corps:(

Just found out from Leena Hassan that Sergeyev is scheduled to dance in St. Petersburg this Friday. So I guess Sunday was his only performance on this U.S. tour. Very sad and perplexing. Why bring a dancer for just 1 performance? Anyway, I'm glad I got to see him.

I've never been to the Kennedy Center so I'd like to know, too.

Didn't like the ballet last night but oh, it was so much worse today without Vishneva and Kondaurova (instead we had Matvienko and Petushkova). The one saving grace was Sergeyev as the Prince. He's great!

Cinderella. Nope. A big nothing of a ballet. I got it a few days ago on DVD so I was not surprised tonight but still it was a disappointment.

The sets and costumes are very minimal. They have a sort of industrial look, like Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The story is very confusing though. If I hadn't seen the Ashton and Kudelka versions I'd be totally lost. Who are the four seasons and why are they here? (There were none in previous versions, if I recall correctly) I understood that the prince runs into some prostitutes during his journey to find Cinderella but who were the guys in blue and black? Gay men? Trans? You couldn't tell from the dancing and the program notes did not enlighten us.

Now the dancing/choreography. Well there's not much in Act 1 except for the stepmother and stepsisters. I have to say I thought Kondaurova (even if she was wasted in the role) was spectacular. Her long limbs flying up to her head or her foot pounding the floor in petulance. Lots of pointe work and pirouettes. And, with a crazy orange wig, a funny yet shrew like cartoon character. I like the dancing of Zverev (the Prince) more than I did in London. It was clean (tour, pirouettes) and I like his upper body elegance.. The choreography for the Prince was nothing to write home about though. Though I didn't understand the function of the seasons, I liked their choreography and dancing. (They were:spring-Tkachenko,summer-Latypov,autumn-Ivkin winter-Solovyov) I've only seen Tkachenko as the Jester in SL before so it was nice to see him in a role a little more interesting. I also liked Latypov. Natalia has said he is a recent Vaganova graduate, so I was pleased at his strong technique (He was behind the music, though). He is also very slender and so vaguely reminded me of a young Farukh Ruzimatov. The other 2 seasons -Ivkin and Solovyov - were also very good. Unfortunately, the dancing for the corps was dull and failed to show their talents at all (the ballroom dances). What a waste.

About Diana. She is very beautiful and, as abatt says, dances with fluidity and plasticity. However, I've begun to feel that a "sameness" has crept into her ballet portrayals. A sweet, young girlish demeanor. Tonight's Cinderella was very much like her R&J. Also her Act 1 of Giselle. I also feel she doesn't really look like she fits into today's Mariinsky. I think as a result of her constant guesting, a kind of "international style" may have crept into her dancing. Or perhaps the Mariinsky style has evolved and just isn't what it was in 1996 (I think the year she graduated). In any case, while I thought many of the passages she danced (there is one nice solo) were beautiful, they looked a bit like someone not in the company was dancing them (i have even worse problems with non-Vaganova trained Mariinsky dancers like Parish, Skorik and Bondareva).

On the basis of all this, if you don't have tickets to this ballet don't try to go. You're not really missing anything. If you have them (especially more than one cast) consider selling.

I

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.

Really you have said it all Waelsung. Tonight it was all about LOPATKINA whereas last night it was more about the ensemble & corps. I think Lopatkina is one of today's great artists and the role of Odette just belongs to her. She is sorrowful, anguished, scared, soulful; every emotion you could want from an Odette. I thought Ivanchenko was serviceable, He is like her consort; he can't be (and doesn't need to be) that good because it's her show. But he seems to be a solid partner. He can lift her high overhead, support her pirouettes, etc. He is understated because he knows it's her show, she's the one people want to see. Nevertheless they seem to have a good rapport and chemistry onstage. BTW, I'd like to add that because of Gergiev's capricious conducting, tempos were totally different from last night. Some tempos by the lakeside were unbelievably slow; Lopatkina was trying to do her jumps as slowly as possible and almost made it. OTOH, he decided to conduct the passage where BS fouettes are at a reasonable tempo (not super fast like last night). So Lopatkina was able to get through 32 singles and barely traveled. In fact I found her Odile quite fine, maybe not very malicious & evil, but some lesser degree of that. Overall I liked her performance better than the one she and Ivanchenko did in London in August. It seemed somehow more real and believable.

Waelsung has mentioned the injury and yes, in this cast there were some problems. Anastasia Nikitina fell in the middle of the pas de trois (looked like a slick spot on the stage) and immediately walked off the stage. Somehow Yekaterina Ivannikova and Xander Parish managed to improvise a PDD. And Yaroslav Baybordin (the jester), Soslan Kulaev (the tutor) and Ivanchenko did as well. I believe Batoeva replaced Nikitina as one of the two swans in Act 3. As for Xander, he has really improved since August, especially his carriage , epaulement and stage presence. He also has lovely long legs and does big sissonnnes that travel and have height. Yet, somehow he still doesn't feel like a Mariinsky dancer. I certainly preferred Stepin last night. I also preferred Yermakov to Smekalov (tonight) as Rothbart. But in the end it didn't matter because it was Lopatkina's show.

As for the stage, it is small and a bit noisy. But nowhere near as noisy as the ROH stage, where the corps sounded like a herd of elephants.

In short, the night belonged to Lopatkina. At the end of the performance the house got on its feet and roared its approval. She looked genuinely pleased. I hope she was.

So - is he saying that no Vaganova student is good enough for soloist/principal status and that all they are good for is the corps? That is a terrible thing to say.

That is exactly how I interpreted his answer to the question. I wanted to know if others felt he said that.

I felt that he said that as well. The list that MadameP compiled on dancers who have left says it all. Olga Smirnova told Dance Magazine she danced for 1 month without a contract at the Mariinsky before leaving for the Bolshoi. She felt neglected and unseen. Yet within 1 year at the Bolshoi she became a star. So how can he say Vaganova grads are only good for the corps.

I wonder how much this has to do with Fateyev never having been a principal dancer himself. He wasn't nurtured along and so doesn't know how to nurture other dancers. I believe Vahziev was also never a principal but he could at least spot talent (Zakharova). Fateyev is just a disaster. It's a wonder more dancers don't leave for the West, where they could both dance and earn more.

I just got home from the Mariinsky's opening night of Swan Lake and thought I'd try to string together a few thoughts.

First, from the moment the corps came onstage in Act 1 I was in ballet heaven. Everyone is about the same height, they are all long legged (stretched long legs) with perfectly pointed feet and beautiful epaulement. They move in unison as one. While I have criticized Fateyev as an AD, his failure to promote means there are top level dancers in this corps who would be soloists or principals anywhere else. We also have, as Cygnet says, the rigorous coaching the corps get from Nina Ukhova. In any case the corps is, IMO the best in the world. And this production is based on Sergeyev's interpretation (in1950) of Petipa/Ivanov's work shows them off. So we get girls wearing dresses with short filmy skirts and guys in tights with more elaborate tops. (No long heavy dresses or maypole here, thank you) they dance together in a way that makes sense and boy they do dance beautifully. In Act 1, Yana Selina, Nadezhda Batoeva & Filipp Stepin were near perfect as the Prince's friends (the pas de trois). Their energies and steps were in unison and they all have wonderful technique (I'm especially a fan of Stepin). Vladislav Shumakov was entertaining, virtuosic and dramatically clear as the Jester, interacting with more of the characters than I've noticed previously. And then, of course, there was Shklyarov - the boyish Prince Siegfried. He doesn't play the character as a tortured soul, just as a boyish guy who hasn't gotten around to settling down. His technique in the first Act was impeccable and impressive.

Act 1Scene 2 we meet the Swan Queen Odette. I have never seen Tereshkina perform this role and I have to say I was slightly disappointed in her at this point. Though when looking through opera glasses you could see the pain and anguish in her face, it didn't communicate itself through her body well enough (and I sat dead center, 5th row of the mezzanine) Technically she and Shklyarov did their PDD well but it felt a little soulless compared to what you see from Lopatkina or even Somova. I found her swan arms not liquid enough. But there was the fantastic corps and they were truly the star. The cygnets (Asaben, Mikheikina,Sogrina and the wonderful Marchuk) were again near perfect. Of course, when you have someone like Marchuk dancing (she should have been promoted long ago) you might expect that. The big swans were marvelous, too. And of course, the great, powerful Andrei Yermakov, with his high jumps and big lifts as Rothbart.

As we moved to Act 2, Tereshkina was a more successful Odile than Odette. She was glittering and seductive and the hardness that bothered me in Act 1 was a virtue in Act 2. The folk dances were well performed by everyone but I especially liked the Spanish dance with Kozharskaya, Petushkova, Belyakov and Beloborodov. As for the fouettes, Tereshkina did a lot of triples. But unfortunately, Gergiev really speeded up the tempo here (I've never heard it so fast at the ballet) so she traveled half-way downstage and fell (but not too obviously) out of her last one. The tempo was also tough on Shklyarov, who had a series of tours alternating with pirouettes. He did them all perfectly until the end when he kind of fell out of his pirouette. But these are really minor criticisms. The overall level of dancing was so high (and the tempo so fast) that the Act was a great success.

The final Act opens with a beautiful tableau of swans arranged in groups of beautiful patterns. They then dance and are joined by about 10 black swans. The act is much longer than in either ABT's or the Bolshoi's version. The choreography is very beautiful and the level of dancing unbelievably high. Again, we had the great Batoeva and Selina as the 2 swans who do solos. Tereshkina seemed more relaxed in this Act and you could now feel the anguish with her every gesture. Both Shklyarov and Yermakov were terrific as they fight over her. Both the technique and the acting skills were completely there. As the audience we were totally swept up in their story. Finally, Siegfried vanquishes Rothbart by tearing off one of his wings (he has a pretty terrific costume complete with scary face makeup), leaving Rothbart to die, writhing around with one wing. And Siegfried and Odette have their happy ending as they walk into the sun (don't you love the Soviets).

It was truly a great performances and the audience was on its feet, shouting bravos and generally whooping. This was much more enthusiasm than the restrained Londoners showed in August. They raised the curtain twice and allowed each of the 3 main characters to take their bows. There were also in front of the curtain bows (in London, only Lopatkina had that honor). Tereshkina glowed with happiness and Shklyarov looked pleased. Yermakov, too. It was truly a wonderful evening.

As always ABT not developing dancers is tied to its rep being so loaded with full length story ballets. You don't develop as an artist or even a technician doing the corps of big ballets night after night. Soloists doing peasant pas & Swan Lake pas de trois, year after year don't develop either. Even principal dancers like Boylston - how good is your Swan Lake going to get, if you do 1 or 2 a year? They import guest artists who have been giving opportunities for growth in other companies.

At NYCB they have the advantage of rep in which lots of soloist and principal roles are danced in an evening's performance, and there are a lot of challenging corps parts. Peter Martins can take a chance throwing a corps member into a bigger role here and there, because that dancer doesn't have to carry the entire evening.

Speaking of Boylston, she will now be given the opportunity to do this fraught PDD from With A Chance of Rain with Gomes and Stearns on Jan. 26 as part of the Dancers Responding to Aids at the Joyce. Wonder which version she'll do?

BTW, Sarah's on vacation in Spain so is unavailable to perform the PDD. I don't know about Misty. Anyway, I'll be curious how these 2 dancers perform the roles.

Well, we all get to experience that PDD again, this time with Boylston, Gomes and Stearns on Jan. 26th at the Joyce as part of Dancers Responding to Aids. I've had enough of this piece, but if anyone sees it, please report back.

Well, now I'm wondering what actual dances they've got here, at slow-motion and regular speeds.

To see a current great documentary on ABT watch Frederick Wiseman's "Ballet" filmed around 1992. The first part of this 3 hour film focuses on rehearsals in NYC. In the 2nd part, we follow ABT on tour. There is some great footage of Ferri and Bocca performing the R&J balcony and bedroom scenes.

I have seen Tchai Pas danced by many, both live and on YT. When it is danced by non-Balanchine dancers it is usually too slow (Obraztsova, Zakharova). Still it is danced with technical command and artistry.

......

I don't quite understand what is the mean of "too slow". Do they dance with the same music? Did they make music slow down for Russian Ballerinas?

Any one has a video clip of Krysanova's Tchai Pas? I have only seen photo of her dancing Tchai Pas. She is fast!

Yes, the music is the same. But just like any piece of music, you can play it faster or slower. I have a recording of Bizet's Symphony in C played so fast that no one could dance to it. So most ballerinas, other than NYCB, have the music played a little slower because they can't dance to a very fast tempo.

There is a signficant portion of the ballet going public who refuse to see rep programs, so NYCB is not an alternative for them. It's story ballet or nothing for such people.

I absolutely agree with abatt that if you want to see a story ballet, NYCB is not the company for you. On the other hand,15 years ago, my husband liked only story ballets. ABT was still pretty good then and we went a lot. If I could drag him to NYCB it was only to a performance of something like Firebird. He didn't understand or like Balanchine.

Well 15 years later the tables have turned. My husband loves NYCB and Balanchine (and NYCB is dancing Balanchine much better these days). He adored the SAB workshop. Now he grouses about what an inferior company ABT is. However, when danced by a good company (the Mariinsky) he still likes the story ballets.

If people are going to turn out for all these warhouse story ballets ABT does, it better up its game. Most major companies do these ballets and many do them much,much better than ABT. If not, I'll sit home with my Blu-Ray of MT's Swan Lake with Lopatkina.

KM does not make promotions early in a dancer's career, unlike Martins. Of the recent promotions he's made (Stearns, Seo, Boylston, Whiteside, Simkin) not one seems to be succeeding. Maybe we should put that down to the coaching staff at ABT. But it doesn't give KM a good track record. Nor does it bode well for ABT.

Now, I'm going to repeat something I've posted on this site at least two or three times before. Kevin isn't going anywhere. Remember the performance a couple of years ago that celebrated his anniversary as AD? At that time, he was signed to another ten-year contract. Barring some kind of financial debacle that the board attributes to him, and he is compelled to leave, he's here for another eight years. Got that, everyone? Complain all you like, and I agree with most of you, but he isn't going anywhere.

Ethan, do you think you can wait eight years? I hope so.

Oh no! Can ABT survive another 8 years going in this direction?

Sorry I missed you, Amour. (See you at BAM.) I enjoyed seeing these dancers and the Bournonville choreography. I definitely could not live on a steady ballet diet of Bournonville, but it was refreshing to see this style done with such expertise. (Amy Watson is injured/ill. Since I don't have my program I don't recall the name of her replacement.) The lightness and quick footwork of the lead male dancers was especially impressive.

I thought we might see Peter Martins there, but he was not present. I wonder how the NYCB dancers will do with the Bournonville style during their All Danish program in the Spring. I spotted several NYCB dancers in the audience.

Caroline Baldwin replaced Amy Watson. I, too, saw several NYCB dancers last night. But not Martins. Also, not Hubbe (maybe I just didn't see him?).

See you tomorrow at BAM, abatt:)

How much of a loss was Michele Wiles?

I don't think Michele Wiles was much of a loss. She was always so stiff in her upper body.

Plisskin, I think you've forgotten Gillian. But yes, the ballerina front is even worse than the male front. There's been plenty of room to bring up Misty, Sarah and Stella. Will that happen? No. Again, ABT needs a new AD. If it keeps going this way, it may not exist in 5 years.

The ad for the movie's showing at Filmlinc is here: http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/ballet-422

At today's prices and economic situation, I refuse to pay for more than one show of which the longest ballet is SACRE. I won't sit through 45 minutes of stomping just to see 4 minutes of Kim Kimin

I'm sorry we are not seeing Latypov at BAM (I think) but I'll still take those 4 minutes of Kim, thank you.

I'm happy that you 'll see Kim, abatt.

BTW, it's me, Amour, that's seeing Kim Natalia, not abatt. She's not coming to DC this year, I believe.