Rosa

The triple bill is Birthday Offering, On the Dnieper, and Variations on a Theme by Haydn.

From the Bolshoi site:

Ruslan Skvortsov is promoted from Leading Soloist to Principal; Yekaterina Krysanova - from First Soloist to Leading Soloist; Anna Antropova, Anna Nikulina, Vyacheslav Lopatin, Ivan Vasiliev are promoted from Soloists to First Soloists; Anastasia Stashkevich, Yuri Baranov, Pavel Dmitrichenko, Artem Ovcharenko - from Artists to Soloists.

Thank you everyone for the fascinating reviews! It has been a pleasure reading this thread.

I found this production visually stunning. Beautiful costumes and sets. I liked Burmeister's choreography; I thought it was a very clever touch having Odile appear at various times during the international dances in Act III, vanishing as Siegfried rushed for a closer look. He was all set up to be duped by the PDD. The La Scala corps I thought were very good in the first and third acts, a notch down in the white acts. Bolle was a noble handsome prince and good partner, yet didn't seem involved emotionally. I found Zakharova too cool as Odette, yet a perfectly wicked Odile.

I was puzzled by the end of Act III. Siegfried did not swear to love Odile (at least not that I could tell). So why did she and Rothbart leave the ball in such triumph, and Siegfried in such anguish? What had he done that was so terrible? Perhaps someone familiar with this production can help me understand...

He is Polina Semionova's partner in the YT clips of Malakhov's "Cinderella" for the Berlin Staatsoper Ballet, too.

Artem Shpilevsky is a leading soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet . From 2002 to 2006 he was with Berlin Staatsoper Ballet Company. I believe there are some videos of him on youtube.

Won't it be a bit exhausting for Gomes to do Other Dances and Everything Doesn't Happen at Once (New Millepied Work) back to back Oct. 2nd?

Ketinoa had at least two versions of the complete 1890 Sleeping Beauty reconstruction, which many would never have seen otherwise. And at least one of them included Veronika Part as the Lilac Fairy.

I believe it was the premiere with Vishneva and Fadeev that featured Part's Lilac Fairy.

Ketinoa's videos gave me the opportunity to see dancers (past, present, and perhaps future) and ballets I will likely never see live. She is greatly missed.

Here is a wonderful piece on Veronika Part from The Ballet Bag blog earlier this summer.

http://theballetbag.wordpress.com/2009/07/...eautiful-woman/

Hands down, Swan Lake (Sergeyev's and Sir Peter Wright's productions).

In the Dutoit's full SL...

I own that recording with the Orchestra symphonique de Montreal, and think the Tchai Pas very good.

Very sad news.

Wasn't he with the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet as well? I seem to remember him in a book about Sir Peter Wright staging Swan Lake for that company in the 1980s -- I think he did the role of Siegfried.

George MacDonald: A Biography of Scotland's Beloved Storyteller by Michael Phillips

The Cater Street Hangman by Ann Perry

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Lousia May Alcott

Sounds like juicy reading, Rosa. What distinguishes the Really Bad Girls of the Bible from just the Bad Girls? And is Washington’s Lady a biographical novel or a biography? I've always been partial to biographical novels, even the less than great ones.

That is a good question, dirac. All the girls in both books are shady characters. What may distinguish the really bad girls is that what they did was considered very terrible in their time (and today): dabbling in the dark arts, committing scandalous adultery, murdering (and in some cases lovin' it), passing off as a prostitute, and suffering from an illness that labeled the woman as a sinner and being untouchable.

Washington's Lady is a historical novel. I enjoyed it very much.

I'm reading Elizabeth Gaskell for pleasure.

On TV: Larissa Lezhnina and Yulia Makhalina.

Live: Veronika Part.

Gomes -- for his commanding stage presence, ability to convey emotions through his dancing, and being a magnificent partner.

Zelensky -- I've only seen him on video, but his jumps were breathtaking. A true prince.

And what are you reading this summer?

So far...

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

Washington's Lady by Nancy Moser

Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs

Cast Two Shadows by Ann Rinaldi

*sigh* How lovely Gelsey is in that clip! (If only there was more...)

Any reports of the Ananiashvili/Gomes opening night?

Those three young Billys were fabulous!

I loved their acceptance speech. They were so sincere and adorable.

Stella danced Myrta in 2006.

Thank you everyone for the great detailed reviews of the Prokofiev program! It has been a delight reading this thread.

I just got 'round to watching my recording of the broadcast.

The camera work left a bit to be desired. Quite a number of times half of a main dancer's body was cut off from the screen. Distracting.

To me this came across as an abstract sort of Romeo and Juliet, with most of the dancers simply dancing their characters, not being the characters. While set in a historic time, something about this performance -- I can't place my finger on what -- seemed to give it a 21st century vibe.

I didn't mind the single...box, unit that served as the set too much. But the costumes were very unappealing, particularly Tybalt's and Juliet's. (Was none of her family embarrassed that Paris saw her in her short short short (night)dress??)

Martins' choreography was uninteresting. The balcony PPD did not seem to build with the music. The bedroom pas de deux I interpreted as Juliet dealing with her cousin's death, whether to reject Romeo or forgive/love him, instead of delaying his departure as in other versions. The Mandolin Dance had the strongest choreography IMO.

In Act I I did not care much for Sterling Hyltin's Juliet and Robert Fairchild's Romeo, especially in the ballroom; I was not able to believe that they fell in love like *snaps fingers* that. Yet as Act II went on I warmed up to their performance more and more, and by the end was quite impressed. Lovely dancing and good acting from both.

The best parts of this production were Antonio Carmena's and Daniel Ulbricht's fantastic Benvolio and Mercutio, and the realistic sword fights.

The Shurale casting for both performances has been removed.

The premiere of a new production of Yakobsen's full-length Shuraleh takes place on June 29, repeated June 30.

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/news1/pressa/xviiwnf_programme/

Casting is now up.

June 28

Siyumbike: Yevgenia Obraztsova

Ali-Batyr: Mikhail Lobukhin

Shurale: Leonid Sarafanov

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbi...09/6/28/1_2000/

June 29

Siyumbike: Yekaterina Osmolkina

Ali-Batyr: Denis Matvienko

Shurale: to be announced

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbi...09/6/29/1_1900/