Lidewij

Looking forward to your reports, Birdsall! I was there in May, and I have no idea when I'll be able to return there. So I'll have to live off reports and videos for a while!

I wasn't able to watch this one in time. I wish they would make all past livestreams available to the public for a longer time!

I hope not. I will be attending that performance, and would much prefer to see Lopatkina or Kolegova in the role. I guess we'll have to wait and see (and pray to the casting gods).

Rolando Sarabia is currently guesting als Basilio in the Royal Ballet of Flanders' New Don Quixote. I saw him on Tuesday (I bought a ticket especially to see him), his first performance of the run. He was the only one with good stage presence, catching my attention the whole time he was on stage. He was also a very caring partner. However, he did not perform his 3rd act variation and coda, which really disappointed me. I don't know if this was planned or if he got injured during the performance (if he did, I didn't notice a thing). But still, he gave a very enjoyable performance.

I will be going to St Petersburg in May 2015, and I've been looking around on the internet for things to do there. I noticed that on the website www.balletandopera.com they offer backstage tours of the Mariinsky theatre, for 113€ per person (! this is more than double what I paid for an orchestra ticket to a Saturday night Mariinsky ballet performance that I already booked). The Mariinsky website does not seem to offer this kind of tours. Did anyone here take this tour? Or can you book this somewhere else (read: less expensive)? Would love to do this, but I'm not sure I want to at this price.

I"m pretty sure that Sarafanov also dances his Basilio variation that way. I looked it up, here he does it back in 2006 (at 00:48)

I think that's a matter of taste. I saw Somova this summer in London and was disappointed; I had expected more of a dancer with so much experience in this role. I saw Kondaurova in 2009 (her second or third performance of the role) and was quite impressed, even if her portrayal of Odette isn't very convincing; she doesn't look particularly vulnerable, but her dancing is beautiful with gorgeous lines. Her Odile, on the other hand, was terrific.

Wow, this news makes me sad. The most talented Vaganova graduates simply belong at the Mariinsky in my head, where they are complemented by the very best corps de ballet and supported by the best coaches in the world. However, I do wish her the best, wherever she may go. I just hope it wasn't the internet campaign about her that made her life inside the Mariinsky theatre so difficult she felt the need to leave. Edit: after reading Drew's comment, I wanted to add that I agree she is a very traditional Mariinsky dancer. There doesn't seem to be much place for those old school dancers there nowadays, even if they are what makes the Mariinsky ballet troupe so special. This makes me think of Larissa Lezhnina's story, also a very traditional Vaganova-schooled dancer who left the Mariinsky company. I saw her farewell performance this year, and I have to say she still had that very refined technique and old school Vaganova style, 20 years after leaving Russia. All is not lost.

I was also there at the August 5th performance. I have seen the Sergeyev production on DVD many times, as well as live back in 2009, and only this time I noticed how bland the choreography for Act I is (except the pas de trois). Also the music wasn't entirely as I like it, however I can't put my finger exactly on what was wrong, it just felt off. The pas de trois was lovely. Nadezhda Batoeva stood out to me, but Krasnokutskaya and Parish were very good as well. I loved his soft, deep pliés when landing his double tours. His confidence in the variation made the lack of it in Konstantin Zverev's solo all the more striking. I liked Zverev's acting and partnering very much, but his variation just looked too cautious and he seemed stressed. Somova, on the other hand, looks very comfortable on stage and her 2 variations were beautiful. And as always, the character dancing was a highlight to me, Anastasia Petushkova was on fire in the Spanish dance. Another standout was the man in Neapolitan, I will look up his name later today. The jester was very sloppy in Act I, in Act II he did much better. The star of the evening was the corps de ballet, they were truly perfect. My companion noticed Oksana Marchuk in the corps (and Little Swans) for her beauty, I could not keep my eyes off Yulia Stepanova whenever she was on stage. Overall I had a wonderful night, but I was a little underwhelmed by the principals, they were not up to my (admittedly, high) expectations.

Tonight I will attend the performance of Swan Lake. I did a guided tour of the Royal Opera House this morning, I caught a glimpse of one of the morning classes and saw Diana Vishneva and Maria Shirinkina at the barre, I loved it!

Thank you for your report, wish I could've been there and I'm glad to hear the audience loved it. Did anyone stand out in the minor roles?

That's what I'm holding onto as well, I have not much interest in seeing Xander Parish, and am very curious to see Konstantin Zverev dance next week.

I also feel cheated, but I'm afraid not much can be done at this point. Alina Somova has probably already been rehearsing with Konstantin Zverev, and I don't think Stepanova can rehearse this entire ballet with a new partner in just a week. (Or is that possible? I have no clue how long it takes to prepare a full-length ballet) Yulia did say on Instagram she is not performing any other roles in Swan Lake, but that probably means that from 3rd August on she's rehearsing Firebird. I am so incredibly disappointed, I've been feeling bad about this since it's been made public. But I guess I'll just make the best of it, and enjoy the (surely wonderful) performance that Alina Somova and the Mariinsky corps de ballet will give us..

Daria Pavlenko also has (used to have) Nikiya in her repertoire.. But she hasn't been dancing much for a very long time, I do not know what shape she is in.

Casting for early August at the Mariinsky theatre is up, meaning we can see who will surely NOT be in London. David Zaleyev, Elena Yevseyeva and Sofya Ivanova-Skoblikova all have Swan Lake pas de trois in their repertoire, but won't be dancing on the tour. Novikova and Kolegova seem to be the ones who have to guard the home theatre, but it's nice that they get to dance a little more now. (Also, Oksana Bondareva and Kristina Shapran get to dance lead roles, and there also is the guest performance by Veronika Part)

There are several videos online of Shapran at the Stanislavsky, and also of a quite recent Giselle at the Mikhailovsky, but I have to say I'm not very impressed. Of course, when looking at the videos of her Vaganova exams, the potential is certainly there, but it unfortunately doesn't really show imo.

I also find I enjoy the classics more when I know the choreography, the steps. Only when you know that, you can see what is 'standard' text and what are individual touches of the dancer.

Ik also bought (really good!) tickets to see Stepanova. I'm not unhappy with Alina Somova, but would've preferred to see Stepanova. But, as you say, I do expect the corps de ballet to be the real star of the evening.

Esina seems to be out of the tour. Yulia Stepanova takes her place for the sold-out performance with Xander Parish. Stepanova's performance on the 5th of August has been changed to Alina Somova.

A longer clip (30 minutes) is up on Youtube, featuring Ekaterina Krysanova.

I bought a ticket for the August 5th performance, now we only have to hope casting will not change. Unfortunately the past tells us that casting in the Russian companies is unsure until the curtain goes up..

Ulanova did dance the solo, I found this little snippet on video: It is the Bolshoi's production.

What happened to Svetlana Strebko? Isn't she graduating this year as well?

This website says that the performance will be available as 'recorded title' (don't know what that means) from September 2014. Also, casting is already announced on the Mariinsky website: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2014/7/14/1_1900/

kbarber, I did not read your post until after I got home from the theatre.. The programme ('Ballerina') started with Paquita, which was mediocre at best. I found the orchestration of the music awful. Actually I really like Paquita, but since it has no content at all, it's just boring when not executed (near-)perfectly like the Mariinsky does. The leads (Anna Tsygankova and Jozef Varga) were decent, but they did not blow me away. His variation started out quite spectacular, but he couldn't keep it up until the end. Corps de ballet was lovely. Also, the children's Polonaise/Mazurka was included, and they did really well. There were only 16 of them however, and ranged from very short to very tall which looked a bit strange at certain points in the dance. (e.g. the shortest dancing with the tallest one) Next up was the balcony pdd from Romeo & Juliet (choreography by Rudi van Dantzig), danced by Igone de Jongh and Casey Herd. It was fine, but not very memorable. Can't tell you much about it now (6 days later) Duet by Christopher Wheeldon suits Anna Tsygankova and Jozef Varga much better than Paquita did. I am not really familiar with this piece (or even the choreographer), so I can't say much about it, other than I liked it. The bedroom pas de deux from Manon was danced by Jurgita Dronina and Isaac Hernandez. They made a wonderful couple, and the choreography suited them well. Of course, for this programme, the female leads could choose what they wanted to dance, and they probably picked something that would show off their strengths. And then, just before the second intermission, we finally got to see Larissa: Raymonda Grand Pas Hongrois, danced by Larissa Lezhnina and Artur Shesterikov. This was the last great classic she wanted to add to her repertoire, as she told in the personal video that was shown before each piece. I wasn't sure she was the type for this role, with her doll-like face and petite body. But she pulled it off very well and filled the stage on her own easily during her variation. It's very clear that even after 20 years away from St Petersburg, she still has the Vaganova classicism in her. From her dancing, and from her choice for this Pas. Unfortunately, the corps de ballet was cut in half, and therefore the music for the entree also had to be cut a little. Also the girls variation was cut. The piece for 4 men was included, and was done very nicely. (I can look up who danced if you wish) The final part of the programme started out with Tchaikovsky pas de deux. I love this piece, as well as its music (there was live music! Yay!) and Maia Makhateli and Remi Wörtmeyer did a wonderful job. They showed the most ease in their dancing of the entire evening, even though their piece was one of the most technically challenging. Also, this was my first time of seeing this performed live. After that we saw Replay, a new piece by Ted Brandsen, danced by Igone de Jongh and Vito Mazzeo. He really impressed me, she just can't seem to catch my interest. The choreography also wasn't very captivating in my opinion, reminded me a little of things like In the Middle Somewhat Elevated. The programme ended with The Old Man and Me, by Hans van Manen, which includes 3 very different kinds of music (John Cale, Stravinsky and Mozart). Dancers were Larissa Lezhnina and Alexander Zhembrovskyy. I did not know what to expect, but I really liked it. As was said in the introduction by AD Ted Brandsen, Larissa is an excellent comedienne, and this piece was ideal to show off that part of her. Nothing in it came anywhere near classical dancing, which is what I associate her most with. But her range is so much wider, and that became clear through this piece. Before every piece (except Paquita), a video of the ballerina dancing was shown, in which she told her thoughts or feelings about the piece/choreographer, or why she chose it. The videos were very well made (mostly voice-overs on top of rehearsal footage) and it was interesting to hear what the dancers had to say. After Larissa Lezhnina ended her final piece, her partner quickly left her alone on stage. She's a very humble woman, and it was clear she doesn't like to be in the spotlight as herself. Even though she was completely at ease as Raymonda. And then, Alexander Zhembrovskyy appeared again, to offer her a lovely bouquet. After that, Vito Mazzeo did the same. All of the male leads of the evening came on stage one by one to give her flowers, it was really sweet. After that she received even more flowers, the whole company came on stage and lots of gold confetti was released on the stage. However, at this point, what we call 'Hollandse nuchterheid' set in. She had to give two curtain calls, after that everybody seemed to think: "Ah well, she's had her goodbye, let's go home.", while I felt she deserved at least 16. Applause continued behind the curtain as the auditorium emptied. I quickly left as I had to drive all the way back to Belgium. Overall, I really enjoyed the night. I had expected Paquita to be one of the highlights, as it is a wonderful ballet to show off your talented soloists, but they seemed to have an off-day and it was actually my least favourite. Well-worth the drive (145 km), but in my opinion the audience should have been a little warmer on a farewell performance of a loved principal of 20 (!) years.