87Sigfried87

Converting to US measurements so everyone understands, you're 5'9" or a bit more if you've grown some.

Sorry for not converting myself the measurements but I actually don't know them so well....I hope it will not be a problem.Here in Europe it seems as if they're requiring and taking only tall male dancers...in this moment I have some galas to dance in,but was wondering about the moment in which I'll have to audition for a company...Thanks again.

I'm getting quite paranoic about being too short.In many auditions for male dancers they require 1,80 m height at least (from Bejart's company,to Nederlands Dans Theater,to Bavarian etc)and I unfortunately am a little bit less.I was 1,75 m last year but I think i've gained 1 or 2 cm.How important is in your opinion the height of a dancer?do you know how tall are some of them?Do you think it is a real problem nowadays to be less than 1,80?

I know Bolle is 1,87....I wonder if Malakhov or Corella are as tall or less.Please understand the paranoia of a young(mmmm....getting old;-)) dancer:D.

Who danced Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio?

Tybalt= Alessandro Grillo

Benvolio=Mick Zeni

Mercutio=Antonino Sutera.

Just a few lines to describe the first of the ballet,MacMillan's version(as usual!I don't even like MacMillan as choreographer....),Roberto Bolle and Alina Cojocaru playing the two protagonists.

Alina is one of the best Juliets i've ever seen!she is a very beautiful ballerina,both for her lines,her technique,her extensions(used with a very good taste!),and for the perfect interpretation.A friend of mine told me she was able to keep the role for the whole performance without missing one single moment and expression.It was so.Amazing scene of Juliet playing with the Nurse,a very young and naive Alina...so real(which is not so common in ballerinas nowadays!)!

The balcony scene was so moving!also because it was one of the few moments in which Roberto was there not just physically but also with his mind.

I knew Alina was such a great ballerina,I loved her when I saw her Sleeping Beauty,but couldn't imagine she could be such a real Juliet too.A very different one from Ferri's way of performing the role.Ferri was more a "nasty" girl,also in playing with the nurse,Cojocaru was on the other hand very sweet and naive.

I was surprised also by the fact that she didn't stereotype her character in one or two expressions but she had a big range of emotions and you could see her growing with her love for Romeo, becoming a woman,changing with the situations.It was really like watching a movie.

Bolle is always the same:In some moments he was there and he was credible in the role,in many other moments he "wore the mask"of the melancholic prince(better for Swan Lake)or it seemed as if he was making a big effort to feel the moment,the situation,but looked instead much faker;this happened especially in the death scenes.Technically perfect anyway!

Congratulations to the corps of ballet and especially to the two friends of Romeo and the soloist of the mandoline:Zeni,Sutera ans Licitra.Very,very good both technically and expressively talking.

I enjoyed the performance very much,i never got bored,which is not so common in ballets like this one,and got the autograph of the very shy Alina!

On learning roles, I think that varies from school to school. Some have "repertory" courses in which students learn specific variations. Others have performances for which the students learn variations. Students learn roles for competitions -- and many learn them in private coaching, because a teacher thinks they'll benefit from it, or because they take private lessons.

Well.....at school any young dancer learns more or less the same pas de deux or variations: Paquita pas de deux,Peasants pas de deux from Giselle,Kitri variation,Cupid variation,Slave variation from Corsaire etc....they're in the programme of the repertoire and pas de deux in any ballet school.You can learn other variations and roles if you take part to galas,competitions,performances...but this is personal knowledge.

Nobody asks you in a company what role you'd like to do,what variations you know....absolutely not!

The corps of ballet has no decisional power....the director himself,the ballet teachers of the company or the choreographer are the only ones who can choose who is gonna dance what.They make their decisions following their own judgement and sense and,knowing the dancers and their capabilities,guess which one is more suitable for the role.Only Etoiles or principal dancers can choose what to do and what to avoid.I think Ferri is a very good example.She always chose to dance more neoclassical roles than strict repertoire.In fact the characters for whom she is world famous were Manon,Juliet,Chauve-Souris....all examples of non-strict classical repertoire.I guess she never danced a Petipa Swan Lake or a Kitri....or maybe she did only at the beginning of her career.

ISince the house is usually so dark and the light so bright, typically, it must be rather impossible to see the audience, and regardless see any reaction in any but the few close up... after all most of the audience requires binocs to see the performers facial expressions. Of course there is the applause at the appropriate times. So, in a sense being on stage might be like going into one of the interrogation rooms with a one way mirror, you can't see those who are observing you, but you know they are right there.

Then of course, there is the issue that you need to perform the work and be into it and not distracted by the reaction to it by the audience... a strange dichotomy. You perform for them (and you) but you don't want them to break the moment and the concentration by being too present. I find it hard to imagine what that emotional space must be like... and then of course, the performers come and go off the stage into the wings, back down to "reality", perhaps waiting for another turn. When you think of 20 or 40 or more even, people working as one on that stage creating those exquisite illusions of reality or the reality of illusions, it boggles the mind.

Performing dance on stage appears very emotionally (and of course physically) demanding, doesn't it? Or is it ever just fun?

It's true that you don't actually see the audience,or at least the single person....you can't!but When you walk on stage,even if you were blind,you'd feel the audience.When I'm on stage,I imagine there's a camera with a close up on me all the time,so that I do not forget being expressive only because i'm behind someone else or so....The audience doesn't really distract you as you don't really look at it!you just stare at an imaginary point in the darkness of the audience trying to express your feelings,with your own eyes,to that specific point.

Getting in and out of a character as you walk on or off stage is like when you are a child and you play a game in which you are someone else....as if a child is playing Zorro with his friends and suddently Mum calls him to go home and he gets back to being himself and goes home...at least to me!It's a game:-) a very demanding one of course!!!

I saw the Kirov in La Bayadere on opening night here in DC Tuesday. Divine. But in the 25 minutes before the curtain lifted, I wondered what the dancers were doing. I'm sure it differs from person to person, but would we see much scurrying about? Meditating or guided imagery? Cracking of jokes? Resting on chairs? Stretching muscles? Throwing up because of anxiety?

All of the above? (A Washington Post preview article said the powers that be forbade any non-member backstage during the dance of the Shades.)

So, just what is the general mood in the run-up moments before the start of the show?

That's what I personally do before performing:First I eat and drink something energetic but light at the same time;then I put on the costume and start the make up.When I'm made up I wear something that keeps me warm over the costume and start warming up:I first do some excercises of barre à terre,then stretching and then some little jumps and aplombs.In the end,half an hour before the curtain lift I turn my I-Pod on,with the music of the ballet i'm going to dance,and revise the parts of the choreography I'm not sure about and rehearse the most tricky passages or difficult combinations and steps to check if I do them well.If I have to dance a pas de deux I also rehearse the lifts once,not to get too tired before the show.Ten minutes before the start I have to get isolated to concentrate and,if I have to play a particular role,to get in the character.

As an intimate ritual I always pray God for the performance to go well.

That's what I do,but any dancer does more or less the same.Maybe some have other rituals or things to do but the "programme" doesn't vary that much ;-).

Resting on chairs is not good because you get cold and when You are cold on stage you can't stand on your feet!Throwing up...I've never seen dancers throwing up because of anxiety,because if you do this job,you get used to anxiety.

To answer your last question about the mood I'd say: we are always anxious and getting crazy before starting,you feel like you don't know the choreography you rehearsed 1000 times,you don't want to talk to anyone if not strictly necessary and you are about to drive crazy if you think you missed something:-).

Everyone seemed to enjoy the Most Handsome Male Dancers discussion, so I thought I'd start a similar search for the most beautiful female dancers.

I've decided upon Julie Kent, Stella Abrera, Janie Taylor, and Irina Dvorovenko. (In no particular order)

Zakharova,Saidakova,Semionova,Abbagnato(only her face!!!),Osipova,Cojocaru,Aurelie Dupont....

The woman must hold her body very strongly in order for a man to be able to lift her. The body must be light, and I do not mean weight at all, not rigid. This is only accomplished by training. Also, a very strong jump is required. Most partnering is about coordination of movement and timing. The two dancers must be on the same page or nothing will work.

The physical size of a woman has little to do with how easily she may be lifted, just as the physical size of a man may have no bearing on how strong he is.

Perfect! you mentioned everything!I once had a partner for a modern pas de deux who was not very thin but jumped so much that I had less problems in lifts than with other thinner partners.And then if a girl doesn't keep her abdominals strongly or her back compact it is very hard to do even a simple promenade...coordination is very important in lifts such as the ones taken from jumps.The single second is fundamental.From the male point of view I'd say that a good partner is not just the one who lifts well but also the one who is very sensitive towards the woman.You have to feel and understand how to hold the partner,guide her body to the right position or axis.This is the most difficult thing to learn about pas de deux.

Sounds very festive -- an EXCELLENT way to approach midnight on the last day of the year.

Thanks for the report -- I'm coming to LOOK for your reports, dancerboy -- it's really great to hear what's going on at La Scala.

What does "Bolle was ... as ever" mean? How do you feel about him? I can imagine -- the hype is like that around David Beckham; but when I look at him, not having had the chance to become jaded, I find that I like him very much -- he's responsible, an "answerable" dancer; not as spontaneous as I'd like, by any means, but still, there's such honesty in the way he pulls up I find myself admiring him, and grateful. And he's willing to be beautiful -- that's probably no big deal in Europe, but around here we see people still husbanding their glamor, saving it for someone else.

Bolle.....well....Bolle is deemed to be not very expressive as a dancer.I've seen him in many roles....well,he's expressive only in a few roles,as Jeune homme et la Mort.He tends to put on his prince mask and looks like somebody who's on stage but thinks about what to buy at the supermarket...he's very beautiful and charming,he has a very good technique but he hardly interpretes a role as it is supposed to be done.He has been improving so much since the Swan lake in dvd....but he's not still a good Sigfried.Especially during the PDD he looks like he's thinking about how to catch her and lift her and stop.Anyway he's among my favourite dancers....you can't stop staring at him when he's on stage!

Like Helene, I've always assumed that "ca" is a hard sound in Italian. La Scala's website has it as dancerboy87 spells it, but with the hacek. A number of other Italian websites I Googled omit the hacek.

Do Italians simply know that this is how you pronounce the Russian name, regardless of whether or not the "C" has a diacritical mark? Do Italian keyboards usually have such a letter?

I don't have hacek on my keyboard sorry....

The real question is whether she will stay and accept the contract or gets back to Russia and refuse the opportunity.She can't be at the same time principal dancer at Bolshoj and at Scala....

Is there a contractual reason that this can't be the case? I thought that Ferri had been a Principal at both ABT and La Scala. Vishneva and Malakhov are/have been Principal Dancers at more than one major company.

They tell me she's coming for some ballets and does others in Russia or anywhere.Until next Swan Lake in april with Matvienko,i think she's in Russia.

Normal people go to clubs for new year's eve...i go to theatre:-).What to say about this performance?

First of all it was a mix of the three caikovskijan classics: Nutcracker,Sleeping Beauty,Swan Lake.The expedient was the feast of the third act of Swan Lake.At the ball unsusual guests were invited:Aurore and the Cavaliers performing Rose Adagio,Clara and Nutcracker performing Nutcracker PDD,Bluebird and Florine performing their PDD...mixed with the dances of Swan lake third act and Black Swan PDD.

Very good Marta Romagna performing Rose Adagio,high legs and nice aplombs;Perfect Sutera as Bluebird,Licitra was a strangely sad Fool.Nadja Saidakova as Clara could have been better...I know what she can do on stage and i don't think she gave her best.I've fallen in love with her talking for a while outside the theatre....she is so beautiful and so charming...I couldn't stop staring at her!!!Ronald Savkovic was a good Nutcracker prince,is a very handsome dancer and I think could have done more.Very nice as person anyway.Bolle was the same as always,Semionova as Black Swan was......shocking!so beautiful!!!!very gifted and very good at interpreting the role....better than Zakharova for sure!and the fouettés were perfect and all double.And she's also very beautiful as a woman!!!

At the end there was a toast on stage with all the dancers wishing happy new year to the public with confetti fall.

Some people didn't appreciate the mix of ballets and found it awful and some didn't appreciate also the missing White Swan PDD which was only played by the orchestra with closed curtains...for sure the dancers were very good and we got the occasion to see Savkovic and Saidakova,whom we don't see very much around Italy.I got all the autographs and talked to some of the etoiles:-).

Interesting that she's been named an Etoile. I understand better the Royal Ballet's title of "Principal Guest Artist." How much time does Zakharova spend at La Scala, dancerboy?

Svetlana has been coming many many times as guest dancer at La Scala.It was supposed to happen.In the last two years she went for Swan Lake,Sleeping Beauty,Don Chisciotte,Giselle and every gala.We saw her many many times.Something had to happen.The real question is whether she will stay and accept the contract or gets back to Russia and refuse the opportunity.She can't be at the same time principal dancer at Bolshoj and at Scala....

After the great success of these days' Swan Lake,Svetlana Zakharova seems to have been nominated new étoile of La Scala Theatre,after Alessandra Ferri's farewell.I don't know if it's good news.For sure I heard many bad comments on this.Thinking about what Ferri gave us from the emotional point of you I feel she will not be up to her level.We'll see....

Point of view...sorry

After the great success of these days' Swan Lake,Svetlana Zakharova seems to have been nominated new étoile of La Scala Theatre,after Alessandra Ferri's farewell.I don't know if it's good news.For sure I heard many bad comments on this.Thinking about what Ferri gave us from the emotional point of you I feel she will not be up to her level.We'll see....

Thanks forthis report, db87. It's wonderful to hear that both Bolle and Zakharova are maturing as interpretive artists -- they have SO MUCH to offer.

I agree, the Bourmeister is a very interesting version of this ballet -- The Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet danced it here in San Francisco a few years ago, and it is impressively coherent and powerful.

Gotta ask, did Carbone dance? How'd she look?

Carbone danced the pas de quatre as in programme....she danced well,very graciousely:-)

Last night I saw Bourmeister's version of Swan Lake with Roberto Bolle and Svetlana Zakharova.I have to say it was a magical night.I can't be impartial as this ballet is my favourite one.

When this wonderful music started i was about to jump on my seat and start dancing myself!Svetlana appears,as beautiful as always,very expressive even when picking flowers.

Act 1: I'm surprised to see Roberto Bolle perfectly in the role and not fake.He is more mature now.He looked really melancholic and a bit bored by the feast at court,which is not a bad way to interpret the situation.Very good pas de quatre,very beautiful Sabrina Brazzo in the role of the princess...and how to forget the Fool!As in the dvd,Sutera played the role:perfect technique,very good jumps,always with a real smile on face,so real in the pantomime that it made me laugh.

Act 2:Melancholic Roberto still didn't look fake but very real.Svetlana was a respectable sufferent Swan and even in the pas de deux she didn't shoot her legs up to the sky,she dosed very much her energy and the result was great!For the first time I saw the feeling in this couple,and not Zakharova dancing alone with Bolle behind.Of course I am not satisfied of the interpretation of the pas de deux from the male point of view.The prince should alternate sadness to moments in which he tries to comfort Odette,and the mood should change with the music.Anyway,as i never saw someone really taking care about these soft nuances I didn't pretend too much.At the end of the pas de deux the applause was like a cry for the strong emotions we kept inside.The audience was delirious!everybody shouted and applauded with so much energy!

The four swans were impeccably together in every single movement and the whole corps was many times better than two years ago.The lines were followed,the arms were not left to casuality...compliments to everyone!

Act 3: I didn't like the dances too much,many old people were supposed to do them and they are hard to be made if you're not young and trained enough.

The PDD was not as moving as the other one,even beacuse of the music which is "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" actually....but very well done.Bolle's variation was done with so much energy and so much interpretation that shot the heart of the audience.Svetlana did perfect fouettés with the double.She has really improved in this,which was her weak point.

Act 4: Happy ending of big impact.Bolle didn't look like he was fishing,when supposed to be nearly drown in the waters of the lake,which is a great improvement and at the curtain fall there were 15 minutes of uncessant applause.Everybody was very positively impressed and the comments were very good.An evening to remember.

Advices: don't buy the tickets in second gallery beacuse you see all the mistakes and imperfections and you discover how all the illusions in the scenery are made;-)!

If there are some mistakes it's because i can't reread it as i'm going to class.

Stumbling around in the youtube archives, I hit on the peasant pas de deux from Giselle with young Roberto Bolle and a beautiful dancer, Beatrice Carbone, whom I'd never heard of before nor seen anythng of. At la Scala -- she has a fine musicality, lovely epaulement, wonderful feet, lovely sense oftiming -- kind of a Danish look to her ROmantic style. I loved her.

ANybody know anything about her? THis was from about 10 years ago...

She is a good dancer.She is still in the corps and I think i'm gonna see her tonight in Swan Lake;she is supposed to do the pas de quatre.She is soloist at La Scala.

Dancerboy,

Buon compleanno!

Grazie,thanks....italiano anche tu?/italian you too?

Today it is my birthday and guess what i bought myself as a present?The ticket for tomorrow's performance of Swan Lake by Bourmeister with Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle!I'm looking forward to going and watching it.Swan Lake is one of my favourite ballets and this couple is magical to me.I'll write about the performance for sure so that you'll be able to share my emotions!

In New York, you see a wide range of clothes. If you're comfortable in a cocktail dress, that's fine, but be prepared to sit next to someone in jeans, too! Formal wear is generally out of place except at a gala.

Most of the people I see fall into the range of business to business-casual. Except in the priciest seats (and sometimes even there), most men don't wear ties.

Here at Scala you can see people wearing jeans too.The most well dressed are old ladies,often going to afternoon performances,so really out of place.The awful thing is to see in this beautiful 18th century theatre,with all its neoclassical style,with people inside wearing jeans and t-shirt.Anyway,if someone is in the first places and it's a "first-performance" you should wear a cocktail dress,or a long dark dress for women and tie and jacket for men.If you are in the galleries you can dress as you want.I'd avoid jeans,but if you were a jacket and shirt to the top and you're young.Young people can dress less formally.

Oh Toronto!what a wonderful city!!!!I love it and hope to come back soon.Welcome!

Let's be drastic.

If you:

-are not strong enough to stand insults of people saying you are a fag because you dance,

-get complexes towards homosexuality

You can't be a dancer.Sorry!

Starting to say that dancer doesn't mean gay,no dictonary says so,I wonder why the problem is more relevant in the USA which are always shown off as a free country where racisism is abolished,it's a problem to be gay.And they say that Italy is an old-minded country because we have the Pope in Rome.Can't understand that!

"It says that if I put you in tights you must be a sissy."

What's wrong with tights?I've never understood why people find them ridiculous or feminine in a male.I find them sexy and masculine for a man...you show off what you got and noone can think you are a female then;-)hahahahahha.

Ballet is feminine for ignorants....females and males have different roles and qualities: females do adagios,are on pointe shoes adn are graceful...we,the males,jump and turn and do masculine technique.

Gay people are not only dancers and dancers are not gay surely.Some gay people are so masculine that you'd never think they are.Dancers are not only gay.I'm not and i know many others.Let's admit then that if you have problems towards homosexuality you can't be a dancer as you'll find many on your way.Ballet is deemed to be gay just because an homosexual would more probably do ballet than wrestling,but it's not necessary so.In our "special world" you just love or like somebody,it is irrelevant to what sex they belong.

"The boys in this study say that they feel alone and different."

We,the dancers,are different.It is true.but we are proud of being different.Every artist is!If a boy doesn't accept that,he's not meant to be a dancer.Sorry.

The only real problem is the family support.If you don't get the money from your parents to pay for your ballet classes,you can't attend them!Wonder if the movie Billy Elliot didn't teach anything about this!!!!

In conclusion,if your passion is really strong and you really want to be a dancer more than anything else you have to fight for it.Ballet is hard.if you stop at the first little obstacoles you're not gonna make it.You need a very srong personality to do this job...

This is not really a site designed to address the needs of dancers. You'll do better asking that kind of question on our sister site, Ballet Talk for Dancers (there's a direct link on the right side of the banner atop this page). I see you're already a member there.

It's that i know some teachers are often in the site and maybe know....the other site is for dancers and not for teachers so they could answer the same....I'm puzzled:-)