Lidewij

The Vainonen version for me, please.

Interesting to note that up till now Natalia Osipova hasn't danced either Aurora or Juliet.

Ah but she danced the Rose Adagio on the stage of the old Bolshoi Theater one sunny December afternoon in 2002, as part of a school performance that also featured a production of the Drigo Magic Flute (also starring Osipova). I can vouch for that as I was there.

And snippets of that are to be seen in the documentary (I think it's called "un an au Bolshoi") focusing on some Bolshoi Academy students, Osipova being one of them. The fragments shown are unfortunately not enough to be able to say anything about the performance..

I like the old one (1974 I think) with Bessmertnova and Lavrovsky very much, as well as some other versions that have already been named here.

For me, Lopatkina as well. I've only seen her live in Dying Swan, though. When I see her, I think she dances very well, but she just can't interest me. I also have the impression her Dying Swan (on different videos, live) is almost exactly the same, every time. And I just don't really like her style..

I also vote for the Kirov dvd; the only thing I don't like about it is that Terekhova doesn't dance the usual variation in act III.

One I like as well is the Bolshoi one with Nadezhda Pavlova; though I find the way it is filmed odd or even disturbing sometimes, the dancing is excellent.

Romeo and Juliet-1959 Is this Ulanova?

Struchkova perhaps?

Thank you for your reply, Natalia

I forgot to mention that I crossed Viktoria Terioshkina on the street when I was walking to the theatre. I wouldn't dare to bother her, though. And I was almost late for the performance already..

I got to see the O/O I had hoped for! (Even when I hadn't the slightest idea about casting it was her I wanted to see - or maybe Osmolkina).

I'll just tell you in short what I thought about the performance.

Ekaterina Kondaurova and Igor Kolb brought a Swan Lake as it should be, in my opinion. Odette was gorgeous and still had some personality (unlike Lopatkina's, imo), and her Odile was fierce! Her only flaw was that her fouettés were a bit wobbly, but that is easily forgiven seeing what a great overall performance she gave. The soloists were very fine as well, especially Tatiana Tkachenko as pas de trois girl and one of the big swans.

One dancer also caught my eye: a tiny, thin blonde girl I saw many times in the corps de ballet, and as one of the little swans; could this perhaps be Valeria Martynyuk? (the other little swans on the cast list were Elena Chmil, Elizaveta Cheprasova and Elena Vasyukovich..)

Forgive me my (perhaps a bit overdone) enthousiasm, but it was my first time to see the Mariinsky.

edited to add: And her gorgeous red hair!!

Larissa Lezhnina.

Ahh, I hope the casting will remain like this. I have my ticket for the Sunday matinee of Swan Lake, according to this list with Ekaterina Kondaurova as Odette/Odile (I am secretly fearing having paid such a lot of money to see Somova in the lead role. Though I have to admit I have never seen her live and am quite curious to see her dance, but I would prefer a soloist role for such an experiment). I might also go to the Don Q matinee.

Too bad Obraztsova won't dance Aurora in Amsterdam, but then I don't have to be dissappointed to miss her, since I know I can't go to any evening performances..

Well, I'll tell you guys all about it on Monday.

Well, since she is wearing "working shoes", isn't it possible he actually is wearing toe shoes?

I think Artyom Yachmennikov left the Dutch National Ballet last season and joined the Bolshoi ballet.

Thanks for letting us know.

I saw the broadcast of the 2nd act on Dutch tv a couple of weeks ago and I liked it, so I'm curious for the first act now.

The Mariinsky Ballet will perform in Amsterdam from the 22nd of July until August 1st, and then they will move on to London. The program consists of three performances of Romeo & Juliet, three of the Sleeping Beauty, two Don Quixotes and two Swan Lakes.

I suppose it is possible that Alina Somova will make her debut as Juliet in Amsterdam.. But, I just can't seem to find out the cast. If anyone could help; I would like to know before ordering any tickets. (I know the Mariinsky's castings have last-minute changes quite often, but still..)

Thank you

There is also something on youtube about her funeral:

How about the Mariinsky's older Nutcracker with Lezhnina? My personal favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVyUizt5Tg

This is the same pas de deux, but the film says the choreography is by Golovkina..

Oh, I'm so sorry, I read past it.. I only saw her mentioning of the Asylmuratova film.

How about the 1982 film with Gabriela Komleva? (rg, you maybe know the details of this film? I know the film also includes a Diana & Actaeon pdd with Tatyana Terekhova and Sergei Berezhnoi.) I like that version very much as well.

Did Elvira Tarasova retire? I believe she was still listed on the Mariinsky's website last year or so..

La Vivandière with Alla Sizova can also be seen on youtube, simply typing "sizova vivandiere" in the search box should lead you there.

I only got to see four performances this year, and three of them have been absolute high points of my year.

That would be:

- The Bolshoi ballet in Amsterdam, Spartacus; especially Maria Alexandrova as Aegina.

- Again the Bolshoi ballet, this time in Moscow, Don Quixote with Galina Stepanenko and Ivan Vasiliev.

- Once more the Bolshoi ballet, gala performance in honour of Ekaterina Maksimova and Vladimir Vasiliev.

The other performance I went to wasn't a high point, but I wouldn't call it a low point either.. The Royal Ballet of Flanders' Sleeping Beauty.

In the Vaganova Academy's performance of last school year there was a dance to the Classical symphony as well - here.

edit: by the way, the concert was really amazing; it has actually convinced me to start taking violin lessons again. For the rest I can't say much about it, only that I enjoyed it very much..

Thank you for this, Dale, even though I won't be there in New York. I will be attending a Prokofiev concert with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mr. Gergiev next week in Brussels. I don't know Prokofiev's music very well, but I'm working on it right now.

They will play these parts:

Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 (“Classical”)

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19

Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111

I have never been to a real concert before (other than those I played in myself), and, as I said before, I'm not very familiar with Prokofiev's music, but I'll tell you about it as well as I can.

Thank you so much, rg!