volcanohunter

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.

No, I don't think so, but in truth I haven’t seen enough of her to say. If anything she seems so eager to capture the “Indian-ness” or “swan-ness” of a character that she quickly veers into exaggeration.

Good to know I'm not a minority of one. Now you and I can be pilloried together, Cristian!

La Bayadère, August 3, evening Nikiya - Olga Smirnova Solor - Semyon Chudin Gamzatti - Ekaterina Krysanova High Brahmin - Alexander Fadeyechev Rajah - Alexei Loparevich Fakir - Anton Savichev Toloragva - Yuri Baranov Slave - Denis Rodkin Aya - Anna Antropova D’Jampe - Svetlana Gnedova, Viktoria Litvinova Manu - Anna Rebetskaya, with Olivia Jones and Erin King Golden Idol - Igor Tsvirko Drum Dance - Denis Medvedev, Anna Antropova, Vitaly Biktimirov Grand Pas - Elizaveta Kruteleva, Daria Bochkova, Yulia Lunkina, Svetlana Pavlova; Maria Vinogradova, Olga Marchenkova, Ana Turazashvili, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Ivan Alexeyev, Karim Abdullin Shades - Anastasia Stashkevich, Daria Khokhlova, Chinara Alizade conductor - Pavel Sorokin Well, mine will probably be the minority view, but I did not come away thrilled with Olga Smirnova’s performance. In keeping with my newfound resolution to be a net contributor of positivity in this world--despite my natural inclinations--I will refrain from an entirely frank assessment of her first two acts. In general I found her to be very mannered: every vertebra and every joint in her shoulders and arms excessively articulated, her elbows constantly hyperextended; whenever her arms weren’t placed in a position in front of her body, they were way behind her spine, almost resembling insect wings. I felt like I was watching a contortionist rather than a ballet dancer. I was hoping for something more academically pure in the Kingdom of the Shades, and she was better there, but there are still shortcomings. She does not jump easily, and the shape of her legs make it impossible for her to achieve a beautiful line à la seconde in promenades--both of which are prominent features of the adage. During the scarf variation she fell off pointe in her pirouettes to the left, but her turns were very, very fast in the coda. She has many obvious gifts, but in general I found this to be an interpretation in need of drastic simplification. I’m sorry I missed Obraztsova’s Nikiya; I could really use some classical understatement right about now. I can’t say I’m really looking forward to Smirnova’s Swan Queen. But you never know. I liked Semyon Chudin much more here than I had in Swan Lake. Perhaps because so much more of the mime has been retained in this ballet, his character had a dramatic arc to follow. I would have liked a bit more stalwart strength, to counterbalance Smirnova’s non-stop undulating, but he was entirely plausible. In his variations he showed beautiful turns, though his jumps were still too effortful for my taste in the betrothal scene. In the Kingdom of the Shades they were better. The jumps he performs in a backward direction, entrelacés and the like, tend to be smoother. It’s as though going forward he uses too much force, so the landings are jarring. Incidentally, in the betrothal scene he steered well clear of Ekaterina Krysanova as they jumped past each other. On balance I liked Krysanova best. She was not the most glamorous or formidable Gamzatti I’d ever seen, but she performed with complete physical and dramatic commitment. I appreciated her directness, which struck me as very Bolshoi. Here and there the corps had difficulty staying together. I can’t imagine why. Minkus’ rhythms are not obscure, but you know you’re in trouble when the supers playing the temple priests are better at keeping time than Solor’s band of warriors. And the company was uneven in that regard. During the grand pas Maria Vinogradova and Ana Turazashvili were perfectly in sync in their entrance, but Olga Marchenkova and Yulia Grebenshchikova who followed were not. Anna Rebetskaya did a lovely Manu. Igor Tsviko’s Idol got a big response from the audience, though to be honest his vertical jumping, which dominates the first part of the dance, was better than the chaîné turns with which he ended. The drum dance was a great guilty pleasure; Denis Medvedev danced perfectly, and Vitaly Biktimirov was marvellously over the top. The entrance of the Shades was too fast, and personally I found the multiple ramps too busy visually. But there was a palpable satisfaction from the audience when the Shades, all 32 of them, fell into their lines. The trio of solo shades was not always perfectly coordinated, because only Chinara Alizade was right on the music, but they shone individually. Again, credit to Alizade for doing well in a variation in which Agnès Letestu set an almost impossible standard. But the circusy speed of the final coda was perfectly dreadful. It was entirely impossible for the corps to stay together, and it looked and sounded absurd. Audience applause during the final act was enthusiastic, so it’s strange that of the performances I've seen so far, this one had by far the shortest curtain call. I don’t know whether this was a question of the ballet’s length, its somewhat indeterminate ending (though as far as indeterminate endings go, Grigorovch’s Swan Lake is about as enigmatic as they come) or something else. You’d think, though, that if the audience were genuinely thrilled at having witnessed the Next Great Thing, they would have called her back a few more times. Instead on a couple of occasions, after Smirnova finished dancing and went into the wings, the applause would fade away, only to have to start up again when she re-emerged to take a bow. I sat at the front of the amphitheater. Optimal location for watching Shades.

Krysanova made her debut as Jeanne a year ago. Here is a video about the five debuts that took place during that performance. English subtitles are available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBIZrEyyVvc

Apparently Galina Stepanenko says that Alexandrova has a snapped Achilles. According to other reports, doctors gave her a cast, and she's flown home for further treatment. What a shame. http://www.vmdaily.ru/news/2013/08/03/rukovoditel-baletnoj-truppi-bolshogo-u-marii-aleksandrovoj-razriv-ahilla-207845.html http://www.forbes.ru/news/243031-travmirovannaya-balerina-gabt-vyletela-v-moskvu

In the Russian original Urin is quoted as saying that he hoped British doctors would be able to get Alexandrova back "on stage" as quickly as possible. Since her injury is not life-threatening, I have no doubt they would be able to get her back to the "homeland" if necessary.

I did not attend tonight's La Bayadere, but lots of Twitter witnesses are reporting that Maria Alexandrova was injured onstage during the second act and was unable to complete her performance. Hope it's not serious!

Anderson admitted that he took no part in the rehearsal process until it reached the stage rehearsal phase, and he had not yet arrived in Moscow when Zakharova walked out. It's entirely possible that a dancer may have seemed suitable to him in theory, but then fell short of fulfilling expectations.

Olga Smirnova and Daria Khokhlova spotted looking at Titians at the National Gallery. That is all.

Swan Lake, July 31 Odette/Odile: Ekaterina Shipulina Prince Siegfried: Semyon Chudin Evil Genius: Vladislav Lantratov Jester: Denis Medvedev pas de trois: Anastasia Stashkevich, Daria Khokhlova Dowager: Kristina Karasyova Tutor: Alexei Loparevich Master of Ceremonies: Vitaly Biktimirov Waltz demi-soloists: Anna Okuneva, Yanina Parienko, Anna Rebetskaya, Anna Leonova, Karim Abdullin, Denis Rodkin, Mikhail Kryuchkov, Yuri Baranov Cygnets: Svetlana Pavlova, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova, Yulia Lunkina Big Swans: Angelina Vlashinets, Olga Marchenkova, Ana Turazashvili Hungarian Bride: Yulia Grebenshchikova Russian Bride: Yulia Lunkina Spanish Bride: Chinara Alizade Neapolitan Bride: Maria Vinogradova Polish Bride: Anna Okuneva conductor: Pavel Klinichev This time I sat in the second row of the amphitheater, an excellent place from which to observe the corps de ballet, which was superb from the waltz right to the end. Ekaterina Shipulina's Odette was perhaps more stylized and dramatically less urgent than Maria Alexandrova the night before, with an expansive range of motion in her arms and back. I wish there were a little more variety in the different sections of her adagio; she seemed most comfortable in the final section and tried to apply that dynamic throughout. There is a certain hard-edged glamour to Shipulina which would give her a natural affinity for Odile, though in her solo passages conductor Pavel Klinichev seemed to give her Alexandrova speeds, and Shipulina had a little trouble keeping up. (For those keeping score, she did single fouettés, but behind the music, so I don't know how many it worked out to in the end.) Where she really came into her own was in the final scene, where she was tragic and very expressive. Semyon Chudin appears to have a somewhat limited dramatic range and seems excessively preoccupied with pointing his feet and splitting his legs. (Personally, I dislike it when dancers worry more about splitting or lifting their legs than their elevation while jumping. I prefer dancers to jump vertically, not horizontally.) At this point his upper body seems to be a bit of an afterthought, which sometimes gives his jumps a certain awkwardness. My friendly advice would be to concentrate more on his port de bras while jumping, particularly continuing them after his landings, so the moment of impact wouldn't be as obvious. I wish he would also think more about connecting individual jumps into a dance phrase, so they wouldn't appear to take place in isolation. The legs will still be there. His turns, after a slightly nervous start, were beautifully controlled. Vladislav Lantratov certainly concentrates on elevation, and his high-flying Rothbart was exciting and dynamic. And there is always a sense of a larger dance phrase in his movement. Unfortunately both he and Chudin seem to arch their backs severely during overhead lifts, which makes me worry a bit about their long-term spine health. Denis Medvedev tried to make the Jester as un-annoying as possible, and Anastasia Stashkevich brought a lot of dynamism to the pas de trois. The cygnets were even better tonight, and among the big swans I liked Ana Turazashvili. For whatever reasons she seemed ever so slightly out of sync with her colleagues yesterday, but today there were no timing issues, and she really stood out. At the beginning of Act III Kristina Karasyova was apparently unaware that her rather un-queenly bopping in time with the music was visible through the curtain behind which she was standing upstage center. Yulia Lunkina was a gracious Russian bride, Maria Vinogradova made the Neapolitan dance look very easy, and Anna Okuneva had lovely port de bras in the mazurka. I couldn't tell you exactly how loud the applause was. Yesterday when I was sitting close to the orchestra and could hear the entire hall behind me, it seemed deafening at times. From up high I couldn't really hear what the audience below was doing. Certainly it was less prolonged tonight, but still very appreciative.

Swan Lake, July 30 Odette/Odile: Maria Alexandrova Prince Siegfried: Ruslan Skvortsov Evil Genius: Yuri Baranov Jester: Alexei Matrakhov pas de trois: Chinara Alizade, Daria Khokhlova Dowager: Kristina Karasyova Tutor: Alexei Loparevich Master of Ceremonies: Vitaly Biktimirov Waltz demi-soloists: Anna Okuneva, Anna Leonova, Maria Vinogradova, Ana Turazashvili, Karim Abdullin, Denis Rodkin, Mikhail Kryuchkov, Artem Belyakov Cygnets: Svetlana Pavlova, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Voronkova, Yulia Lunkina Big Swans: Angelina Vlashinets, Yulia Grebenshchikova, Ana Turazashvili Hungarian Bride: Olga Marchenkova Russian Bride: Anna Rebetskaya Spanish Bride: Anna Tikhomirova Neapolitan Bride: Anastasia Stashkevich Polish Bride: Yanina Parienko conductor: Pavel Klinichev Gorgeous performance. I won’t stop to enumerate the faults of Yuri Grigorovich’s production, because there are many, and no doubt they have been discussed on the board before. Fortunately I’m steeled to them by now. Safe to say that Alexandrova and Skvortsov transcended them. For reference, I sat in the fifth row on the house-right aisle. That meant a big dose of brass and percussion from the orchestra pit, and its biggest upside was that I could hardly hear the swans’ clomping. My view of some of the footwork on stage left was restricted because of the people sitting ahead of me, but I had fantastic views of faces and upper bodies, and being about level with the stage itself, I was in a great position to admire the height of jumps. Maria Alexandrova seldom dances Odette/Odile in Moscow. She last did it there almost three years ago when the ballet was filmed. http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/36/roles/#20100926190000 (Incidentally, a new DVD of La Bayadère was fast-tracked for sale during the tour, but that Swan Lake has yet to be released; perhaps it’s doomed to stay in the vault owing to Nikolai Tsiskaridze’s Rothbart.) But Alexandrova continues to dance the part on tour, recently in Japan, in Toronto and now in London. Obviously, she is not a delicate dancer. Perhaps she isn’t even particularly lyrical, but she has intelligence, individuality, wit, great speed and enormous technical accomplishment. Her Odette is no shrinking violet, and by Russian ballerina standards her tempos are positively brisk. I appreciated this directness, her refusal to milk anything, and greatly admired the flexibility of her arms and shoulders. In her variation the clarity of her footwork was remarkable, and her balances were rock solid. Not a budge or wobble. For once the sequence of entrechats and passés in the coda did not look frenzied or out of control. As Odile I got the feeling that she was not trying to impersonate Odette so much as seduce Siegfried in her own right. Grigorovich’s turning variation--taken very quickly--held no terrors for her, and her combination of fast fouettés and turns in attitude en avant elicited roars of approval from the audience. It was noted in almost every review of the opening-night performance that Svetlana Zakharova and Alexander Volchkov had no chemistry between them. In truth, following my eight-and-a-half hour flight, I could not muster the strength or enthusiasm to attend that performance and returned my ticket. Demand for this run being what it is, it resold almost immediately. (Thank you, buyer.) On the other hand it was obvious that Maria Alexandrova and Ruslan Skvortsov have lots of chemistry and a great deal of mutual trust. He partnered her splendidly, always setting her down from lifts quietly and gently. Both of them have enormously high jumps. Skvortsov was a Prince Siegfried of great beauty and poetry, very romantic, very sincere, unfailingly attentive to the music and characterized by plush dancing. His alignment is always exemplary; he does not engage in the single most common cheat seen today: opening the hip in arabesque. Speaking of upper bodies, he is one of the few dancers who invariably draws my attention to his. It wasn’t until The Pharaoh’s Daughter that I realized how dazzling his legs and feet were. Most of the time I find myself mesmerized by the stillness of his upper body in grand allegro. The usual arm flapping and heaving from the chest have been virtually eliminated, and the windup-free double tours are particularly remarkable. In the first act his was not a melancholy prince but an entirely gracious one. And since in this version there is no ultimatum from his mother regarding marriage, why should he be burdened by any anxieties? It’s not until Grigorovich has Siegfried wander into the third act, as if unaware that a ball in his honor is being held that evening, that he realizes anything is up. So essentially Siegfried has only the fiancées waltz to sketch out his inner conflict (and I have to say that on film Olga Suvorova’s Dowager gave Skvortsov more to work with than did Kristina Karasyova). In his interaction with Odile you could see him vacillating between fascination and a suspicion that she may be toying with him before letting himself give in to her charms. I don’t know whether his projects to the top of the amphitheater, but up close it’s all written on his face. Likewise, with Alexandrova there’s a lot to be gleaned up close from her darting eyes. As the Evil Genius Yuri Baranov was muy macho in the Grigorovich manner, not always comfortable with the tempos given to him, but always working around them successfully. Khokhlova and Alizade were fine pas de trois partners. I can’t really comment on Alexei Matrakhov because my conditioned response to Swan Lake jesters is to ignore them. The swans’ first entrance was very fast. The quartet of cygnets was excellent, heads bobbing almost perfectly in sync. Among the big swans I particularly admired big and bold Yulia Grebenshchikova and am looking forward to her “Rubies” Tall Girl. As the Hungarian Bride Olga Marchenkova displayed big jumps but sadly no épaulement. (What is a csárdás without épaulement?) Anna Rebetskaya’s Russian Bride got very far on the charm of her meltingly lovely smile, but the choreography inevitably reminds me of Balanchine’s Scherzo à la Russe, and I have a hard time taking it seriously. Anna Tikhomirova’s Spanish Bride flew high, but then Anastasia Stashkevich’s Neapolitan Bride appeared and jumped even higher. In the first-act Waltz Denis Rodkin tried very, very hard to outdazzle his colleagues. Pavel Dmitrichenko’s buddy Batyr Annadurdyev appeared in the waltz and mazurka and danced admirably. One of the things I genuinely admired about Grigorovich’s Swan Lake was that in the last scene he kept the action moving straight from the finale without any interpolations. A reconciliation duet may be deemed dramatically necessary, but it breaks up the musical flow of the score something fierce. Once the mandatory happy ending was no longer required, he returned to his original conception, and while the score still keeps chugging through the finale, at the very end, where the primary theme is supposed to change to the major key, Grigorovich reverts to the ballet’s introduction. The “it was all a dream” ending is more dramatic and successful in Nureyev’s version, so I think it can be made to work, but here it’s merely anti-climactic. Nevertheless, given the strength of this performance, on this occasion I even cried a little.