volcanohunter

Of course. Thank you.

The acid reference is unfortunate, but this paints a less malignant picture than I would have feared, especially after Ratmansky referred to said claque as "disgusting." As Drew says, they're "wild (if corrupt) fans." And I can understand where they're coming from, because I often take it upon myself to lead applause during performances. If I'm positioned properly, I'll usually be the one to start applause for the conductor when he or she enters the pit, and during the performance mine is usually the last clapping you hear when the applause dies away, unless the music has already resumed. I'm very sympathetic to the situation of the male dancer during a pas de deux, so I'll try to applaud for as long as possible after the adage in the hopes of helping him to catch his breath before his variation. And if I happen to be more familiar with an opera than others in the audience, I try to applaud in the "correct" places. I can't really do much effective hollering because I'm not very loud. No one rewards me with free tickets or anything else, and I do the same things irrespective of who's performing, but on some level I understand the instinct of these claquers to support their favorites in this way.

The Nerina exhibit mentions that she also appeared in films of Firebird and Petrushka, so hopefully these will make their way to DVD as well.

I don't agree with that characterization either. On the one hand I can see what they're trying to say, because of all the Bolshoi's ballerinas she is the one who most reminds me of the big, unbridled Old School, which I mean as a compliment. But her sensibility is more modern. In certain repertoire I can't help but think of her as a Bolshoi-American hybrid.

Swan Lake, August 14 Odette/Odile: Ekaterina Shipulina Prince Siegfried: Ruslan Skvortsov Evil Genius: Artem Belyakov Jester: Igor Tsvirko pas de trois: Kristina Kretova, Anastasia Stashkevich Dowager: Kristina Karasyova Tutor: Alexei Loparevich Master of Ceremonies: Vitaly Biktimirov Waltz demi-soloists: Yanina Parienko, Anna Leonova, Maria Vinogradova, Ana Turazashvili, Karim Abdullin, Denis Rodkin, Mikhail Kryuchkov, Yuri Baranov Cygnets: Svetlana Pavlova, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova, Yulia Lunkina Big Swans: Olga Marchenkova, Angelina Vlashinets, Yulia Grebenshchikova Hungarian Bride: Angelina Vlashinets Russian Bride: Anna Rebetskaya Spanish Bride: Chinara Alizade Neapolitan Bride: Anna Tikhomirova Polish Bride: Anna Okuneva conductor: Pavel Sorokin Ekaterina Shipulina and Ruslan Skvortsov make an extremely glamorous pairing. Immediately I could feel my American prejudice for the tall and the fabulous asserting itself. Chronologically speaking, this is probably the Bolshoi partnership of the longest standing, begun in the classrooms of the Moscow Ballet School, which they completed in the same year. Yuri Grigorovich has been persuaded to allow his Sleeping Beauty to be redesigned, so the Bolshoi really ought to work to get his permission to change the costumes and decors for Swan Lake as well. When the corps de ballet dances the opening waltz as well as they do, it seems almost criminal to dress them in costumes that appear to have been sewn out of camouflage fabric bought at an army surplus store. There was a flawless pas de trois for all concerned, and Igor Tsvirko was also near perfect as the Jester. Because he was acting vigorously, he was perhaps more conspicuous that I would have liked, but I can’t blame the man for trying. So far I think he was the only Jester who managed to catch the flower the first pas de trois soloist threw in his direction. This was my first look at the Evil Genius of Artem Belyakov, who made his debut in the role this spring. I thought he acquitted himself very well, dancing with a great deal of force and elevation. Shipulina is an august, expansive Odette. Those who seek Russian grandeur and pliancy need look no further. She took the adage at a slow pace, but was able to sustain it. The first lift of the middle section was a little noisy, but all of the subsequent lifts were remarkably quiet, and while I suspect that a tall dancer like Shipulina may not always be easy to partner, Skvortsov did not let on. In the end the pas de deux was very satisfying. Old Hollywood couldn’t have produced a more splendid pair of lovers. The swans, small and big, who followed were excellent. Toward the end of her variation Shipulina seemed insecure as she performed the final sequence of turns, and indeed at the end she lost her balance. It occurred to me that she might be fatigued, as she was performing for the third day in a row. But she came back strongly in the coda. It was notable how fiercely her Odette resisted being turned back into a swan at the end of the act. Shipulina and Skvortsov brought real dramatic tension to the scene. In the Hungarian dance I was pleased with the épaulement of Angelina Vlashinets. Anna Rebetskaya must be the personification of the Sweet Young Russian Thing. Chinara Alizade had style but couldn’t match Anna Tikhomirova for elevation as the Spanish bride, while Tikhomirova took the Neapolitan dance and knocked it out of the park. Anna Okuneva’s jumps looked a little labored in the mazurka. Shipulina is a natural Odile, so she burst onto the scene and took command of it, not really trying to impersonate Odette. The adage had an up-to-the-minute urgency on both sides. Again, often times Skvortsov seems ready to surrender, but no sooner does Odile begin to impersonate Odette than he feels in his gut what a vulgar fraud she is, and he hesitates once more. Like Ekaterina Krysanova, Skvortsov does a lot of things the “hard” way. He does not dance through the music, evening out a phrase to make it physically easier to perform. Instead he will descend from a jump and hold the landing until the next musical phrase begins. Shipulina’s solo dancing was stronger than had been at her previous performance, and by the time she got through her perfect single fouettés, it was obvious that she wasn’t suffering from any sort of fatigue. Superb dancing from both from start to finish. Perhaps once you’ve seen this version enough times you can start to make peace with Grigorovich’s idea of Siegfried’s victimization at the hands of a Cartesian Evil Genius, in which Odette was never real and Siegfried is doomed to end up alone, but nothing worse. Even the swans are no longer swans but rather turbulent waves conjured up by the Evil Genius to separate Odette and Siegfried. Certainly Shipulina, Skvortsov and Belyakov gave it their all to put this across, so the ending was not without drama, and it was not uninvolving, even if it was not catastrophic. Since it turns out he is flexible in these matters, I’ll add that this time Skvortsov’s Siegfried ended by kneeling down slowly on one knee before raising his arms toward the amphitheater as the curtain fell. So he finished each of his three outings in Swan Lake differently. At the end of the performance there were three curtain calls, the most there have been at the nine Bolshoi performances I’ve attended so far. In truth the audience may not have been clamoring for a third call, but as soon as Shipulina and Skvortsov appeared before the curtain, they were greeted enthusiastically. We’ll see how Smirnova does tonight. I sat among the well-heeled of the grand tier, who are a stingy bunch, not willing to applaud much of anyone or anything, leaving it to the rest of the hall to do such a vulgar thing. If you’re looking for a fun crowd, I’d sit higher up. Excellent views, though.

Nerina's Giselle is available on DVD, paired with Markova's Les Sylphides. http://icartists.co.uk/classics/catalog/dvds/les-sylphides-giselle At the moment there is an exhibit on Nerina at the Royal Opera House. Costumes and photographs are scattered throughout the theater. Among the things mentioned in the displays is that she was one of the first ballerinas to take television seriously. Apparently many of her colleagues wanted nothing to do with it. This is why we're fortunate to have so many of her roles preserved on film. http://www.roh.org.uk/visit/exhibitions

The Cineplex chain has announced dates for Canada. As in the past, Bolshoi and Royal Ballet performances will probably be broadcast same-day rather than live. September 18 - Swan Lake in 3D (Mariinsky Ballet) + September 22 October 16 - Don Quixote (Royal Ballet) October 20 - Spartacus (Bolshoi Ballet) November 17 - An Evening with Crystal Pite (Nederlands Dans Theater) December 12 - The Nutcracker (Royal Ballet) + December 22 January 19 - Jewels (Bolshoi Ballet) January 27 - Giselle (Royal Ballet) February 2 - Lost Illusions (Bolshoi Ballet) February 23 - Moulin Rouge (Royal Winnipeg Ballet) + February 26, March 8 March 19 - Sleeping Beauty (Royal Ballet) + April 13 March 30 - Golden Age (Bolshoi Ballet) April 28 - Winter's Tale (Royal Ballet) They're finally getting around to the Crystal Pite program. Canadian content and all. Too bad it's the sole offering from NDT. http://www.cineplex.com/Events/DanceSeries/Home.aspx

Jewels, August 13 Emeralds Anastasia Stashkevich, Dmitry Gudanov Ekaterina Shipulina, Ivan Alexeyev Daria Khokhlova, Yulia Lunkina, Denis Medvedev Rubies Kristina Kretova, Andrei Merkuriev, Yulia Grebenshchikova Diamonds Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin Anna Leonova, Ana Turazashvili, Angelina Vlashinets, Anna Okuneva Denis Rodkin, Artem Belyakov, Mikhail Kryuchkov, Dmitri Efremov conductor: Pavel Sorokin I’m having connectivity issues, so I’ll have to try and hustle. Problematic issues first, like the designs by Alyona Pikalova. Each section of the ballet is preceded by a garish gold front curtain that has little visual relationship with what follows. If it’s supposed to represent the cover of a jewel box, the image is clumsy, and it would be best to skip it altogether. Emeralds and Rubies appear to take place in front of columns of colored glass blocks, while Diamonds takes place against a slightly cheesy nighttime sky. In Emeralds Elena Zaytseva’s costumes are closer to Christian Lacroix than Karinska, except that Zaytseva is not Lacroix. The bodices are excessively glittery, and the light they reflect is white, not green. The vertical stripes of the two-tone tutus are also not especially pretty and particularly distracting in the Sicilienne. In Rubies the dresses are awful and the headdresses are worse, and the Diamonds tutus are a little too big; they flop too far behind the music in allegro sections. But the tiaras are suitably Russian. On the matter of performance style, I don’t lament that company A, B or C does not look like New York City Ballet. In the case of the great companies I am interested in seeing their unique approach to Jewels. As long as the music and choreographic accents are respected, and the dancing is large and committed, I am satisfied. The Bolshoi performs the longer version of Emeralds with the double ending. I had a few doubts going in about Anastasia Stashkevich in the principal role, because while she is an extremely dynamic dancer, her movement, and especially her port de bras, can have a brittle quality sometimes. But she recently made her debut in La Sylphide, and it shows. On balance she was alright, although she was a little hit-and-miss rhythmically, which, as you can imagine, was a problem in her solo. However, when Ekaterina Shipulina appeared on stage, all luxuriant and dreamy rapture, my mind was put at ease, knowing that I would come away completely satisfied with at least one performance that evening. In the “walking” pas de deux, she did for the most part walk on the music’s pulse, which happens far less often than I’d like. In the trio Yulia Lunkina was especially lovely, since the air of gracious serenity she always projects seemed especially suitable in her solo section to the violin solo. The men had a few problems staying together in the allegro finale, but in the second finale is was obvious how Jewels benefits from a great company like the Bolshoi: a chain of seven dancers, the women all on pointe in arabesque, perfectly positioned, perfectly synchronized and entirely secure. As Rubies began the orchestra seemed to lack rhythmic bite, and initially Yulia Grebenshchikova appeared not entirely secure in her échappés, so I was worried that her turnout may betray her. However, when the musical theme repeated itself, and she came out a second time more confidently and emphatically, I was reassured that everything would be alright. Kristina Kretova has a lot of fun and she’s very game, though for my taste there isn’t yet enough dynamic shading in her performance. Perhaps because she tends to hold her arms very straight, she doesn’t always appear quite as slinky as she could. Andrei Merkuriev was better and Grebenshchikova was better still. Tall, long-legged and charming, she did vary the dynamics of the way she bent and re-straightened her elbows and wrists again and again; she managed being “manhandled” with aplomb, and the big, wide échappés, pliés and penchées were all there. The audience reacted enthusiastically, but then I’ve yet to encounter an audience that wasn’t won over by Rubies. Nina Kaptsova’s husband Alexei Melentiev was the piano soloist. The Diamonds corps was excellent, that was apparent immediately from my vantage point on the balcony. However the main demi-soloists Anna Leonova and Ana Turazashvili looked a little mismatched, Leonova’s more straightforward style contrasting with Turazashvili’s very grand manner. Olga Smirnova gave a very confident performance of her long and fiendishly difficult pas de deux, only it didn’t seem difficult. She appeared to have no fear as she dove right into all the plunges and off-balance turns and twists. There have always been hints of Swan Lake in Diamonds, but in Smirnova’s interpretation it is an all-out abstraction of Swan Lake, with her undulating arms and broken wrists. If there was an aspect of her performance that bothered me, it was the very exaggerated way she walked on pointe. Semyon Chudin’s manner was more straightforward, and the audience was made ecstatic by his solo dancing. However, I was bothered by the jerkiness of his coupé jetés en tournant: by the excessively aggressive way he seemed determined to split his legs (you know the feeling you get when you think a dancer’s legs are about to undergo the wishbone treatment?) and by the fact that he allowed the rear arm to rise above the shoulder and higher than the front arm. His next sequence of pirouettes à la seconde was really beautiful, but by then the audience reaction was way over the top. Not that I have any right to tell an enthusiastic audience how they ought to respond, but once they start reacting to a performance of Diamonds as they might whoop and holler at an Ailey show, I feel some sort of line has been crossed. Sadly, for me the ending of Diamonds fizzled. The great unison promenade, which follows all that swirling counterpoint, is probably my favorite moment in all ballet. And yet here it didn’t have the usual effect. I don’t know whether this was because the preceding counterpoint hadn’t swirled enough, or because the conductor didn’t slow down sufficiently for the grandeur of the moment to register, or whether the dancers, accustomed to dancing on a larger stage, felt a little cramped. For me, at least, the usual euphoria of Balanchine’s evening-ender ballets was missing, though the audience was very appreciative and rewarded Smirnova and Chudin with two curtain calls. Smirnova was the only ballerina to receive flowers on this occasion.

You can drop off flowers for the ballerina of your choice at the stage door on Floral Street. You can leave them for male dancers as well, but in London it's not the custom to give danseurs flowers on stage.

The Telegraph live streamed a morning class by the Bolshoi this morning. A predominantly men's class taught by Alexander Vetrov was promised, but in fact what was filmed was a predominantly women's class taught by Svetlana Adyrkhaeva, and it could really more accurately have been described as a warm up rather than a full-blown class, especially since it lasted less than an hour. The large studio was not particularly filled up. There were maybe two dozen or so dancers present. Most visible, because they were standing at the barre opposite the camera, were Ekaterina Shipulina, Ekaterina Krysanova, Ruslan Skvortsov, Anastasia Stashkevich, Chinara Alizade, Daria Khokhlova and Vladislav Lantratov. Later others came into view as well, including Kristina Kretova, Anna Leonova, Yulia Lunkina and Ivan Alexeyev. Adyrkhaeva began with lots and lots of tendus and every manner of rond de jambe, integrating pirouettes into the exercises almost immediately. Once she moved to center pratice she threw the dancers into the deep end right away: a grand plié, into pirouette, into développé, into promenade à la seconde combination. Being a female-oriented class, there was lots of petit allegro. Only at one point did she stop to give a dancer, Dmitri Dorokhov, I think, a correction. (He was unfamiliar to her and when asked, identified himself as Dima.) Once center practice began the dancers began to drop off very quickly. Many did only one or two exercises, and ultimately only three women made it to the end, none of whom, I'm sorry to say, I can name for you. No doubt the dancers are simply very tired and conserving their strength. A three-week season may not be as tough as an eight-week ABT marathon, but the Bolshoi has been performing continually since mid-September and these dancers have basically been deprived of a summer vacation. Here is a Reader's Digest version of the class. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10238195/Behind-the-scenes-at-Bolshoi-Ballet-class.html

I would reiterate what naomikage said; the tiers are not set nearly as far back as they are at the Met. They're stacked directly on top of each other, which makes for less than ideal sound on the balcony and, presumably, the stalls circle and grand tier also; I wouldn't recommend them for opera, but the sightlines from the center are fine. I also agree that the front section of the amphitheater, which is steeply sloped, is a nice place to sit. From there I had no problem seeing the multiple ramps of La Bayadere, for example, and I didn't feel the need to use any kind of magnification to look at dancers' faces. I definitely wouldn't sit at the sides.

I'm afraid you'll have to write the review, meunier fan, because I wasn't planning to be there until tomorrow.

Thank you. You are very kind to say so. I have indeed been enjoying my stay in London very much. If Londoners resent having their city overrun by tourists, they don't let on. I have found them to be invariably friendly and polite. I have also been enjoying watching ballet in a sensibly sized opera house, North American venues often being excessively wide and deep. I worry a little now about my endurance, because I've seen seven ballets, six plays and two concerts, and I've still got three plays and up to six ballets to go. Of course this is nothing compared with what the Bolshoi's corps de ballet has to manage over a three-week season.

Swan Lake, August 10, evening Odette/Odile: Ekaterina Krysanova Prince Siegfried: Ruslan Skvortsov Evil Genius: Vladislav Lantratov Jester: Denis Medvedev pas de trois: Daria Khokhlova, Anastasia Stashkevich Dowager: Kristina Karasyova Tutor: Alexei Loparevich Master of Ceremonies: Vitaly Biktimirov Waltz demi-soloists: Anna Okuneva, Yanina Parienko, Maria Vinogradova, Ana Turazashvili, Karim Abdullin, Denis Rodkin, Mikhail Kryuchkov, Artem Belyakov Cygnets: Svetlana Pavlova, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova, Yulia Lunkina Big Swans: Olga Marchenkova, Angelina Vlashinets, Ana Turazashvili Hungarian Bride: Yulia Grebenshchikova Russian Bride: Anna Rebetskaya Spanish Bride: Anna Tikhomirova Neapolitan Bride: Maria Vinogradova Polish Bride: Anna Leonova conductor: Pavel Sorokin When it’s danced like this, I can live with all the peculiarities and shortcomings of Yuri Grigorovich’s production. An excellent cast top to bottom, with the leads, dancers suited to each other in their sincerity, seriousness and absence of self-indulgence, producing a lovely, poignant performance. Ruslan Skvortsov came soaring out of the wings as Prince Siegfried, and even watching overhead from the balcony I was mightily impressed with his elevation. He maintained the big, easy jumps, the port de bras that move in expansive arcs and smooth pirouettes for the duration of the performance. Likewise Ekaterina Krysanova made an immediate impression as Odette, combining excellent balance with soft and flexible port de bras. But her arms are not excessively birdlike; Krysanova remembers that Siegfried falls in the love with Odette in her human state. Being a good deal smaller than Zakharova, Alexandrova and Shipulina, Krysanova naturally makes a more fragile and vulnerable Odette, and Skvortsov’s Siegfried was accordingly solicitous and protective toward her. The adagio was taken at a fairly slow, but not lugubrious pace. Helped by the fine playing of the violin soloist (Inna Li?), Krysanova and Skvortsov were pure, sensitive and heartfelt, a picture made that much more eloquent by the knowledge that it this love affair would soon be destroyed. He lifted her as though she weighed little more than tissue paper, and in supported pirouettes she turned so quickly that it was as though she were spinning on a lathe. Unfortunately, right toward the end of the adagio for some reason she slipped off pointe during a finger turn, which broke the spell of what had been a rapt and very moving performance. In Odette’s variation, Krysanova does not cheat and chooses to do a lot of things the “hard way,” such as performing arabesques where many opt for attitudes, and her final sequence of turns is remarkably smooth and controlled. Of the Bolshoi Odettes I’ve seen so far, Krysanova is the most convincing in showing her transformation back into a swan at the end of Act 2. It’s here that her port de bras become that much larger and more wing-like. Having comprehensively established her credentials as Odette, Krysanova then reappeared equally convincingly as a fiery and voluptuous Odile, conquering every jump, turn and balance. There is also an interesting detail in the way Skvortsov approaches the “Black Swan” adagio, because it’s when Odile imitates Odette most obviously that he seems most uncertain of her intentions. I also have to mention that the press lift he did while Odile was standing on pointe in arabesque was done with breathtaking speed. Incidentally, Krysanova reserves high extensions en avant for Odile only. As Odette she deliberately keeps most of these extensions under the 90-degree mark, which is a fitting sort of modesty more Swan Queens should probably adopt. At the risk of fetishizing a single step, I have to send another valentine to Skvortsov’s tours en l’air. They take off and land from a tight fifth position--or finish in a solid arabesque--they are high, his legs are held very close together with feet pointing straight into the ground, and there is no discernible swing, jerk or twist of the arm in preparation. Krysanova turned ferociously during her variation, and in the coda she alternated double fouettés and turns with her right leg extended directly in front of her, before switching to single fouettés in the second half of the sequence. As the Evil Genius Vladislav Lantratov showed no sign of injury. Daria Khokhlova and Anastasia Stashkevich were both very fine in the pas de trois, as were the demi-soloists in the waltz, especially Yanina Parienko. Although I object to Siegfried’s would-be fiancées doing the national dances in principle, each was lovelier than the one before. Yulia Grebenshchikova and Anna Rebetskaya demonstrated contrasting schools of charm, while Anna Tikhomirova and Maria Vinogradova took part in a formidable jump-off. Perhaps as a fitting close Anna Leonova showed the best of both worlds, combining big jumps with lovely port de bras. The corps de ballet was especially fine in the first act and the final scene. Indeed, Grigorovich does some very nice things with floor patterns in the swans’ group dance as the final scene begins. Of note was that Skvortsov finished the ballet differently on this occasion. If with Alexandrova he was emotionally broken but still standing, here he fell to his knees and stretched his arms forward as the curtain fell. Krysanova and Skvortsov took their first curtain call by running out in front of the falling curtain--and nearly overshot their mark. After some hesitation, during which the dancers were probably debating whether there was sufficient applause to justify another appearance, there was a second curtain call for Krysanova, Skvortsov and Lantratov.

Now officially confirmed by the Royal Opera House. Cast change for the #Bolshoi's Jewels: Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin to dance both performances (tonight + tomorrow). https://twitter.com/RoyalOperaHouse

Not necessarily. As company manager Pronin was Filin's right-hand man. It probably wasn't at all unusual for dancers to ask Pronin about Filin's schedule. I say that as someone who used to be gatekeeper for my boss.

Osipova and Vasiliev are in town. Spotted outside the opera house this evening.

There is actually little new in what Dmitrichenko and Zarutsky had to say. According to information leaked from police interrogations back in March, Dmitrichenko said that he was sorry for what had happened, never authorized the use of acid and was willing to pay Filin compensation. It's in the last paragraph of this story posted on March 8. http://lifenews.ru/news/111507 Zarutsky assumed complete responsibility for the attack from the beginning, which was immediately suspected to be an attempt to get rid of conspiracy charges. This story is from March 12. http://izvestia.ru/news/546475 And because Dmitrichenko had asked Pronin about Filin's whereabouts, Pronin did fall under police scrutiny for a while, but was quickly dropped from the list of possible suspects. I could ask a co-worker where our boss was at the moment, and then, upon finding out from said co-worker that she was out, could go into her office and hack into her computer or steal something from a file cabinet, but that wouldn't mean that the person who provided me with information would have had any idea of what I intended to do with it.

Sleeping Beauty, August 8 Princess Aurora - Ekaterina Krysanova Prince Désiré - Semyon Chudin Lilac Fairy - Olga Smirnova Carabosse - Alexei Loparevich King - Alexander Fadeyechev Queen - Kristina Karasyova Catalabutte - Vitaly Biktimirov Candide - Daria Khokhlova Fleur-de-Farine - Maria Vinogradova Breadcrumb - Nina Golskaya Canary - Svetlana Pavlova Violente - Anna Tikhomirova Fairies’ Cavaliers - Mikhail Kryuchkov, Mikhail Kochan, Dmitri Efremov, Artem Belyakov, Maxim Oppengeym, Batyr Annadurdyev Suitors - Karim Abdullin, Yuri Baranov, Ivan Alexeyev, Denis Rodkin Aurora’s Friends - Angelina Vlashinets, Anna Okuneva, Olga Marchenkova, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Yulia Lunkina, Elizaveta Kruteleva, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova Duchess - Maria Zharkova Gallifron - Sergei Minakov Peasant Dance - Anna Antropova, Alexander Vodopetov Diamond - Anna Leonova Sapphire - Chinara Alizade Gold - Anna Okuneva Silver - Yanina Parienko Princess Florine and Bluebird - Anastasia Stashkevich, Artem Ovcharenko Red Riding Hood and Wolf - Anna Voronkova, Anton Savichev White Cat and Puss in Boots - Viktoria Litvinova, Igor Tsvirko Cinderella and Prince Fortuné - Svetlana Gnedova, Artem Belyakov conductor - Pavel Klinichev Ekaterina Krysanova was a lovely, assured Aurora, not quite perfect technically, but very, very strong. Again, I thought she fared best in her second-act variation, where she showed beautiful port de bras and excellent control. Krysanova is an admirable artist. She respects the choreography and the music, and does not indulge in willful rubatos, showboating balances or any other kind of excess. I thought she deserved a better partner than the somewhat blank and asexual Semyon Chudin. Helene’s posts always include a helpful exhortation to distinguish between taste and merit, and my problem with writing about Chudin is that he is simply “not my kind of dancer.” I find him mannered, not exactly effete, but perhaps a little prissy. What I see is great force--such as the enormous circle of jumps her performed at his entrance--but not ease. Whenever I find myself excessively distracted, for good or ill, by a dancer’s physique--and Chudin makes a big deal of his feet--rather than being captivated by his movement, I am put off by it. He has technical accomplishment, but I don’t see it translated into what I’d call real dancing. The steps are beautifully executed but separate entities. In this he is nothing like Krysanova, who really and truly dances. His attitude toward music is, shall we say, flexible. But he partnered Krysanova well. By the end of this tour I will have seen Chudin dance quite a bit, but in the future I do not see myself seeking out his performances. Still, he obviously had many admirers in the audience, and I hope that he will continue to bring them many years of enjoyment. Fortunately, Olga Smirnova’s Lilac Fairy was not falling out of pirouettes as she apparently did on Tuesday. There were a couple of fudged finishes, but it was the sort of thing you often see in the Lilac Fairy’s variation. On the other hand, during the coda I was afraid that she would careen out of control during her turns in arabesque, though ultimately she salvaged the sequence with a pirouette on demi-pointe. Her most obvious stumble came after a renversé as she cast her spell over the kingdom at the end of Act 1. Smirnova lacks Ekaterina Shipulina’s munificent manner, but this is obviously a role to which she is suited. How well her style fits into the Bolshoi is more of an open question. Dancing together with five other fairies, all born-and-bred Muscovites, she did look very different. Alexei Loparevich was a fine Carabosse. He uses his large hands so expressively that I was sorry this production doesn’t retain more of the original mime. I would like to have seen Loparevich perform it. Instead he was often reduced to twirling around with his big cape. My favorite performance of the night came from Vitaly Biktimirov as Catalabutte. Perhaps he shouldn’t be so conspicuous, but I got a kick out of his florid, energetic and very funny characterization. This performance was conducted by Pavel Klinichev, and initially I was very optimistic. Despite the odd quack from the winds or brass, I thought the music sounded much better than it had under Pavel Sorokin. But my hopes were short lived. Most of the prologue fairies seemed to have difficulty staying in sync with the orchestra, and initially so did the jewel fairies. In the case of Carabosse’s minions it was a lost cause. When Aurora began her final manège of piqué turns in her Act 1 variation, the orchestra required a couple of bars to get coordinated. On the other hand, when Krysanova and Chudin were at risk of falling behind the music in the vision scene, as Obraztsova and Gudanov had the night before, Klinichev waited for them. Therein probably lies the difference. Sorokin is more of a metronome, while Klinichev follows the dancers, perhaps too much; he tries so hard to be flexible that his tempi become difficult to predict. The biggest beneficiary of his conducting seems to have been Anna Leonova’s Diamond Fairy. On opening night she appeared to have been thrown by a not-quite-on-the-ball triangle player, whereas at this performance she followed the main orchestra and fared much better. I liked Yanina Parienko’s easy and graceful Silver Fairy. Anastasia Stashkevich and Artem Ovcharenko were admirable as Florine and the Bluebird, though he clearly wanted a much faster tempo and his variation was nearly over by the time he got it. Anton Savichev was a buoyant Wolf. Viktoria Litvinova was an aggressively vampish White Cat to Igor Tsvirko’s Puss in Boots, which is a valid interpretation, though I found it less charming than that of their alternates. Aurora’s father did not reappear in the second half. The 100-year stasis the Lilac Fairy applied to the kingdom seems to have failed in the case of King Florestan. When during the final bows Smirnova received a bigger bouquet than Krysanova, she immediately and discreetly put it down behind her. There was a single and rather brief curtain call for Aurora and Désiré. I was sitting in the front section of the amphitheater next to some Sleeping Beauty neophytes, who quite reasonably wondered why the Bolshoi program lists the prologue fairies about two-thirds of the way down the cast list, underneath all the characters who appear in Acts 1 and 2.

Conflicting information again, but it's possible that Krysanova will dance Flames on the evening of August 17 with Vasiliev. That's what the updated information on the ROH site indicates. At the moment the Bolshoi site has both Osipova and Krysanova dancing that performance, but clearly that's a mistake one way or the other. Lantratov will not dance the Evil Genius in Swan Lake on August 15 as originally scheduled and will be replaced by Artem Belyakov. This is now also reflected on the ROH site, which, for the moment, is giving Belyakov a debut as Siegfried. That would be quite a coup for Belyakov, but it doesn't quite reflect reality. Lantratov is still scheduled to dance the Evil Genius on the evening of August 10, Emeralds on August 12 and Philippe in Flames on the matinee of August 17.

Sleeping Beauty, August 7 Princess Aurora - Evgenia Obraztsova Prince Désiré - Dmitry Gudanov Lilac Fairy - Ekaterina Shipulina Carabosse - Denis Savin King - Alexander Fadeyechev Queen - Kristina Karasyova Catalabutte - Alexei Loparevich Candide - Daria Khokhlova Fleur-de-Farine - Chinara Alizade Breadcrumb - Daria Bochkova Canary - Svetlana Pavlova Violente - Anna Okuneva Fairies’ Cavaliers - Mikhail Kryuchkov, Mikhail Kochan, Dmitri Efremov, Artem Belyakov, Maxim Oppengeym, Batyr Annadurdyev Suitors - Karim Abdullin, Yuri Baranov, Ivan Alexeyev, Denis Rodkin Aurora’s Friends - Angelina Vlashinets, Ana Turazashvili, Olga Marchenkova, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Anastasia Gubanova, Elizaveta Kruteleva, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova Duchess - Maria Zharkova Gallifron - Vasily Zhidkov Peasant Dance - Anna Antropova, Alexander Vodopetov Diamond - Anastasia Stashkevich Sapphire - Viktoria Litvinova Gold - Maria Vinogradova Silver - Yanina Parienko Princess Florine and Bluebird - Kristina Kretova, Denis Rodkin Red Riding Hood and Wolf - Anna Voronkova, Anton Savichev White Cat and Puss in Boots - Yulia Lunkina, Denis Medvedev Cinderella and Prince Fortuné - Anna Tikhomirova, Karim Abdullin conductor - Pavel Sorokin Along the way the Bolshoi made so many principal casting changes to The Sleeping Beauty that ultimately this was the only combination of dancers I was really anticipating, and for the most part I was not disappointed. Evgenia Obraztsova is, of course, a natural Aurora, but not in the Bolshoi manner. It’s fascinating to compare the way her ports de bras differ fundamentally from the arms traditionally used by Bolshoi Auroras. The Bolshoi style uses more deliberately bent elbows, as if to emphasize the Baroque origins of the positions. Obraztsova’s arms are not so stylized. In the Rose Adagio I wish she could somehow make her à la secondes and penchées appear a little less emphatic; it’s awfully hard to make a six-o’clock position look demure. She also slowed down the final series of promenades to such an extent that it sapped the music of its propulsive drive. There were a few technical glitches. She fell out of her pirouette à la seconde in the Rose Adagio, and some of her footwork in the vision scene was less than entirely immaculate. There were also times when she appeared to be on different wavelengths with the conductor. During the first-act solo the music was too slow during her hops on pointe, and she could not maintain a consistent rhythm through the sequence. On the other hand, during the second act she appeared to want a slower tempo than the conductor was offering. I suppose I was hoping for perfection, but it was not forthcoming this time. After Aurora falls seemingly lifeless in Act 1, her parents seem oddly unperturbed. While this could be taken as a sign of their great confidence in the Lilac Fairy, it does not jive with the King’s determination to execute the (thoroughly charming) illicit seamstresses earlier in the act. Dmitry Gudanov was a beautiful, elegant Prince, and what he may lack in power owing to his slight stature and build (by Bolshoi standards), he more than makes up for in refinement and technical purity. While his solo dancing was uniformly wonderful, he struggled a bit with the lifts in the vision scene, so he and Obraztsova fell behind the music on the supported back-and-forth développés toward the end of the adagio. But by the final act all the difficulties had been ironed out, and the grand pas de deux was splendid on all counts: radiant, gracious and musical. As the Lilac Fairy Ekaterina Shipulina seemed to have heard the secret wish of my heart and gave her dancing an extra dose of opulence that made her thoroughly splendid. I would like a fairy godmother like that! But her lighting is still a problem. From where I was sitting I could see that she indeed had a lilac-colored spotlight. Even her tights and shoes took on a lilac hue, and on top of her lilac costume and her lilac wig, it conspired to make her fade into the background. I don’t like Carabosse’s red spotlight either, but at least it contrasts with the black costume. Denis Savin was wildly memorable in the role: petulant and tetchy rather than horribly nasty, and dancing with a great deal of vigor. It wasn’t just a matter of good acting; his dancing was expansive and had an enormous degree of physical control. The prologue fairies were uniformly excellent. I would single out Anna Okuneva, who danced with a lot more dynamic variety than you typically see from the Finger Fairy. A tip of the hat also to the fairies’ cavaliers, who managed to stay synchronized in the coda even as the music sped up. A big virtual bouquet to Kristina Kretova, who was breathtakingly flawless as Princess Florine. She’s got a phenomenal degree of control. Denis Rodkin was a strong foil for her. And another virtual bouquet to the cats of Yulia Lunkina and Denis Medvedev. The languid way she would unfurl her legs really was feline, and you could understand exactly how she held his charming rogue in her thrall. A prize to Karim Abdullin for getting Cinderella into her lost pointe shoe in record time. A special mention also to the Royal Ballet School pupils who danced the children’s roles in Act 3. My ears may have been playing tricks on me, but during the final bows it seemed that first Savin and then Shipulina initially got louder cheers than Obraztsova and Gudanov. But after an enormous basket of roses was brought out for Obraztsova, it was clear that the evening belonged to the princess and her prince. Perhaps conscious that the audience’s demand for curtain calls was not as great as all that, Florine and the Bluebird did not get a bow before the curtain tonight, and that’s too bad, because I would have given them a cheer. I watched from about a third of the way up the amphitheater, and, yes, the floor looks even worse from up there. I sat directly in front of a row of talkative North Americans. No wonder we have a lousy reputation abroad.

Sleeping Beauty, August 5 Princess Aurora - Ekaterina Krysanova Prince Désiré - Artem Ovcharenko Lilac Fairy - Ekaterina Shipulina Carabosse - Alexei Loparevich King - Alexander Fadeyechev Queen - Kristina Karasyova Catalabutte - Vitaly Biktimirov Candide - Daria Khokhlova Fleur-de-Farine - Chinara Alizade Breadcrumb - Daria Bochkova Canary - Anastasia Stashkevich Violente - Anna Tikhomirova Fairies’ Cavaliers - Mikhail Kryuchkov, Mikhail Kochan, Dmitri Efremov, Artem Belyakov, Maxim Oppengeym, Batyr Annadurdyev Suitors - Karim Abdullin, Yuri Baranov, Ivan Alexeyev, Denis Rodkin Aurora’s Friends - Angelina Vlashinets, Anna Okuneva, Ana Turazashvili, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Svetlana Pavlova, Elizaveta Kruteleva, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova Duchess - Maria Zharkova Gallifron - Vasily Zhidkov Peasant Dance - Anna Antropova, Alexander Vodopetov Diamond - Anna Leonova Sapphire - Viktoria Litvinova Gold - Maria Vinogradova Silver - Yanina Parienko Princess Florine and Bluebird - Kristina Kretova, Denis Rodkin Red Riding Hood and Wolf - Anna Voronkova, Denis Savin White Cat and Puss in Boots - Yulia Lunkina, Denis Medvedev Cinderella and Prince Fortuné - Anna Tikhomirova, Artem Belyakov conductor - Pavel Sorokin The last time I visited London I came to see the Royal Ballet’s justly famous production of The Sleeping Beauty. To be honest, this time I considered not going to see the Bolshoi’s version at all because so much of the music is brutally hacked away. The cuts are most obvious in the rump version of the fairies’ adagio in the prologue, but they’re pervasive, from beginning to the very end; for example, my favorite passage in the entire ballet ends up dumped from the vision scene. It would probably take truly great performances to overcome this fundamental flaw, and what I saw last night was fine, but not quite that. Ekaterina Krysanova’s Aurora makes an extremely fast entrance, but she can keep up. It’s true that in the Rose Adagio she doesn’t hoist her legs as high as many ballerinas are wont to do, but unfortunately she distorts her torso as much. In her first-act solo she got through all of her pirouettes without a hitch. There is an unfortunate tendency among Auroras today to aim for all triples, only to falter by the second or third pirouette; Krysanova delivers a single, double, triple and quadruple pirouette in sequence and without excuses. She’s got a light, airy jump. You get no sense that pointe shoes are slowing her down. I thought she was at her best in her lovely vision scene variation. Artem Ovcharenko’s Prince made his entrance emphatically with high-flying jumps, but finished the solo somewhat less strongly with chaîné turns on the flaccid side, and then stumbled a bit through the solo adagio that followed. His jumps have a beguiling lightness, but his port de bras have a throwaway quality; they appear under-supported and without a sense of energy extending all the way to his hands. (I know hands are tough, and I wasn’t really satisfied with Krysanova’s or Ovcharenko’s, but that’s a long discussion that should probably be conducted separately.) I thought Ekaterina Shipulina was a lovely Lilac Fairy, her dancing big and regal and gracious. In her variation I missed only a smidge of the luxuriant plushness that the Royal Ballet’s Lilac Fairies bring to the solo. Alexei Loparevich’s Carabosse was likewise about as good as transvestite versions get. Here I have to lodge a complaint against Vinicio Cheli’s lighting. Carabosse appears to have a reddish spotlight, which is no doubt intended to appear menacing, but mostly looks dark. The Lilac Fairy does not appear to have special lighting at all. Perhaps it’s a lilac spot, but the net effect is to make her nearly invisible on stage. The only time she catches a break is when she veers into Aurora’s or Désiré’s spotlight. Unfortunately, so much of the time what is supposed to be her benevolent presence at crucial moments gets lost somewhere in the dim upstage. Vitaly Biktimirov was a thoroughly excellent Catalabutte, younger and more energetic than you often see. Daria Khokhlova was admirable in the développé-tombé sequence of her solo, and Anastasia Stashkevich had amazing speed and elevation. Anna Tikhomirova was perhaps a little too “violente” as the Finger Fairy. Maria Vinogradova’s Gold Fairy stood out. Kristina Kretova and Denis Rodkin were excellent in the Bluebird pas de deux despite the funereal tempo at which they were forced to dance. Denis Savin. Finally! Even with half his face covered with a wolf mask he brought a small character vividly to life. Yulia Lunkina and Denis Medvedev were a sexy, witty pair of cats. I agree wholeheartedly about the quasi-marble floor. It’s hideous, and I imagine that it is extremely distracting for people watching from overhead. Besides, it’s been in use for less than two years, but already looks horribly marked up. By no means a terrible performance, but a flawed production, so I don’t think it justifies the high ticket prices. I watched this performance from the balcony.

Wrinkle: Before the curtain went up tonight it was announced that owing to injury the Bluebird would be danced by Denis Rodkin rather than Lantratov. Developing, I guess.

Thank you for the update. When I checked earlier Alexandrova's replacements had not been named.

I saw this yesterday and was disappointed. Kinnear's Iago was distressingly monochromatic. Adrian Lester was mostly a void, and the production itself is a little clunky. The only thing that saved it for me was Lyndsey Marshal's Emilia.