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mariinskyfan

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Posts posted by mariinskyfan

  1. While I think Somova is too thin, Bouder seems to be quite bulky and almost masculine in her build, which could contribute to her limited extensions. Somova has the ability to go too far in the other direction. I don't think Bouder is restraining her arabesque; I think that is just the height of her arabesque.

    Also, I know wasn't there to see Obraztsova or Bouder live, but I find it impossible to believe that Obraztsova didn't outclass Bouder in every way. Yes, Genia has danced the role before, but her Giselle was something special even from her debut several years ago. I hope someone who was there can report. Sorry to get off the Somova topic.

  2. Okay! We have new Bouder videos. Mind you, this is so far from her usual style, but I think in the adagio, she pretty well gets it. She's quite light, and I don't think I've ever seen a more seamless performance than
    . (The first 56 seconds are the Peasant Pas.) The allegros, where her City Ballet roots clearly show, I concede, miss the mark.

    Here she is in the

    .

    You may still prefer Somova, mariinskyfan, but I hope you take into consideration that Bouder is plunging into a role that in many ways is antithetical to the style in which her home company dances.

    Thanks for sharing these links! I agree that she looks better here than in the videos I saw of her earlier. I wish the video wasn't shot from so far and high.

  3. I just returned from a wonderful Sunday matinee with Anastasia Matvienko and Maksim Zyuzin. Matvienko really won me over with her confident and crystalline technique. She did fully raise her arms in between each suitor in the Rose Adagio, FYI. I thought she danced with great clarity throughout the performance (although, she could have had more articulate Rond de Jambe Sautes in the first act coda). She certainly has beautiful extensions as well as nice pirouettes. She was just slightly lacking in the acting department. If she can improve in that area of her performance, she would really have the complete package..

    Hello all, i will write more once i am back in NYC, and hopefully over my cold.

    BUT some quick notes. I had managed to see ALL 5 casting sets. And to Mariinskyfan - Did you skip watching act 2? Matvienko was constantly falling off turns and balancies (once totally jamming into Zuzin). I found it to be her fall, but the older experts told me that it takes "two to tango". After Tereshkina, Vishneva, Somova (yes Terehova IMPROVED her a lot), i would place Kolegova with Matvienko (listed in order of my fondness). Matvienko style of hyperextensions reminded me Somova (pre-Terehova), and as Somova - some steps were off music.

    Noise of point shoes- only one of perrormances i watched from Tier 1 and DID notice a much LOUDER points, i guess it's the sound resonating in the hall.

    more later - bravo to Tereshkina & Shklyarov - they reminded me what ballet & love should be. PS; Terehkina and Vishneva did raise their (2nd) hand slowly in balances between suitors in Act 1.

    I did see the near fall in act 2. I assumed it was Zuzin to blame. She seemed more balanced during the Rose Adagio. I wish I could have seen all 5 casts to compare. Lucky you!

  4. I just returned from a wonderful Sunday matinee with Anastasia Matvienko and Maksim Zyuzin. Matvienko really won me over with her confident and crystalline technique. She did fully raise her arms in between each suitor in the Rose Adagio, FYI. I thought she danced with great clarity throughout the performance (although, she could have had more articulate Rond de Jambe Sautes in the first act coda). She certainly has beautiful extensions as well as nice pirouettes. She was just slightly lacking in the acting department. If she can improve in that area of her performance, she would really have the complete package.

    Alexandra Iosifidi substituted as Lilac Fairy. Her dancing was unfortunately forgettable. I would have much preferred Kondaurova, Skoryk, or Kolegova in this role.

    Now, for the stars of the performance: Yana Selina and Valeria Martynyuk!!!!!!!! They BOTH stood out in their prologue fairy's variations, which made me all the more excited to see them again in the third act. As noted by others, Yana Selina's White Cat is very very special. So entertaining, funny, musical and expressive. Wow! And Valeria Martynyuk's Diamond Fairy was AMAZING! She just looked like she was having the time of her life. She is so petite but takes command of the whole stage. I really want to see her in a leading role now.

    The corps was fabulous, too! My favorite moment was in the vision scene when they do all the Ballonnés in perfect synchronization in crossing lines. It was stunning. I wish I could have attended more SB's this week, but I have many memories to hold me over until next year.

  5. Well, I have some good news: because of a change in my teaching schedule (studio closed because of snow) I will now be attending the Saturday afternoon performance with Kolegova. :)

    That is good news! I hope you can post a report.

  6. Thanks, cinnamonswirl. I had to get a 'gift certificate' exchange on my ticket due to weather problems. It's very nice of the Kennedy Center to offer full-value certificates , good for future ticket at the theater for the next year.

    Also, our group's flights to the Vancouver Olympics - going to all figure skating events...look for a tall brunette waving Russian flag in front row, wildly cheering-on Pluschenko in the men's event -- are being altered so I may be departing DC on Thursday morn to make it to the games on time (DC to Vancouver, via Toronto). So hopefully someone else will be able to report on the Tereshkina/Schklyarov performance that I will most likely miss.

    Enjoy the Olympics, Natalia! I will miss your reviews, as I always look forward to them. Thanks to the other reviewers. I am getting pumped for Sunday! Hopefully the conductor will be "up to tempo" by then.

  7. Then there's Ashley Bouder, who managed last week to combine the two in equal measure.

    I've heard so many rave reviews about Ashley Bouder on this website, and I have never seen her dance live. So I searched for some videos of her on YT and this is what I found

    I am not sure if we are holding Alina Somova to a higher standard than we are for American dancers, but I would rather see Somova over Bouder any day. Am I insane????

  8. I agree with all of the other mentioned performances, and I would like to add one more. The new DQ with the lovely Olesya Novikova and dazzling Leonid Sarafanov is fabulous, IMO, though it's received some less than great reviews here. I think it's one of the best films of the current generation of Mariinsky dancers, and I've watched it multiple times since buying it. Although it does contain Alina Somova's controversial Dryad Queen, it also has Evgenia Obraztsova dancing the most perfect Amour. The corps is glorious as well.

  9. Has anyone from BT actually attended any of the performances yet? It seems as though only links to newspaper reviews have been posted so far (please correct me if wrong). Thanks to all of those who have posted those links, but I'm dying to hear about Obraztsova's performance from a BT'er, especially considering the rave review from the newspaper! :o

  10. Really? A forgettable performance is just that, out of mind when you leave the theatre, whereas on every occasion I've been unlucky enough to catch Ms Somova I've seethed with rage for the next 24 hours. Somova is never exciting and incapable of efficient dancing let alone brilliant. I too am a Maryinsky fan but I try not to let it stop me from being objective.

    I understand that I am in the minority by not completely disliking Somova's dancing. But, like I said, she also isn't my favorite. For instance, if I was expecting to see Evgenia Obraztsova but Alina Somova appeared on stage, I would be very disappointed. Having said that, I would still rather see Somova over Shipulina. When I saw Alina Somova dance in Don Quixote this past winter, she gave one of the most secure yet technically dazzling 3rd act Kitri's I've seen. I left the theatre excited and inspired. After Shipulina's Medora, I wouldn't say I "seethed with rage", but I was extremely let down and uninspired. I hope this doesn't sound biased.

    I will try not too talk too much more about Somova bc I know that is not the purpose of this thread.

  11. I appreciate everyone's opinions regarding Shipulina. I would love to give her another chance to wow me next time the Bolshoi comes around. And as far as Somova goes, while she isn't my personal favorite, she IS very exciting to watch and is capable of some truly brilliant dancing. I would rather see that any day over something forgettable.

    BTW, Celebrity Sighting: I saw Owen Wilson at the Sunday Matinee.

  12. To call Shipulina 'a mediocre dancer' is very harsh.

    I would say based solely on her sunday afternoon performance, that Shipulina is mediocre, but I am sure that she would have danced much better had it not been her 5th or 6th Medora in a week. This might sound harsh, but I feel obligated to hold the Bolshoi to an extremely high standard. She had trouble with virtually every double pirouette, never completing two full rotations. She had some of the least attractive feet I've seen. And although she has a beautiful arabesque, she simply does not have the star-quality one comes to expect from a Bolshoi leading lady. I agree with other reviewers that she is far better suited as a soloist, and was completely out-shined by Kaptsova as Gulnare, who showed no signs of exhaustion after dancing in EVERY performance. Kaptsova was exquisite!

    When I think back, Shipulina's Medora was the most "blah" starring role I've seen from a Russian ballerina. I would prefer Osipova, Alexandrova, Zakharova, Tereshkina, Lopatkina, Vishneva, even Somova!

    Having said all the negatives, I truly am thankful that she was willing to step up and fill in for Osipova on Sunday. Like others, I do not fault Shipulina for the lack-luster situation. I wish the Bolshoi would have made wiser decisions.

  13. What a relief the arch-enhancers weren't an issue after all :lol:

    This makes me very sad if Osipova is wearing arch-enhancers. There is a video/documentary of her as a student in which she wears traditional shoes with no arch enhancer, and I much prefer her feet pre-gaynor-minden and pre-arch-enhancers. I find these hi-tech ways of hiding the feet distracting. Honestly, I think some dancers' feet are going to look beautiful(or not) no matter what shoes they are wearing, but almost everyone's feet would look best in CLEAN traditional pointe shoes! Is this too much to ask for? I want to see the foot not the shoe, etc.

  14. What a thrilling experience! Osipova was simply awesome and I could not take my eyes off her. If she was on stage, I was watching her, even during some of Hallberg's solo moments. All of her jumps made my heart stop. She really put her own stamp on every movement. I would point out a few of my favorite moments, but I would end up listing everything she did all night. She was dynamic, articulate, graceful, and I BELIEVED in her!

    I'm sad to say that Osipova made the rest of the dancers look like a bunch of students (sorry ABT). There seems to be a low standard for soloists and an even lower standard for the corps. YIKES!

    On the bright side, I couldn't be more excited to see Osipova dance Le Corsaire with the Bolshoi in D.C.!

  15. My DVD just arrived yesterday from presto classical. You can order it here:

    http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Decca/0743235

    You can also pre-order it on amazon.

    I've watched it twice already! I absolutely love it. The camera shots are very good with only a few annoying close-ups at inappropriate times. Novikova and Sarafanov are as spectacular as one would expect. All of the soloists are beautiful (Kondaurova, Esina, Selina, and Somova). However, Obraztsova is the stand-out as Amour. Everything about her is remarkable. Her feet look especially nice. I anxiously await a starring role for her in a full-length ballet on film.

  16. Another possibility would have been their delightful Massine triple bill or a 'mixed bill' that would have included their new Paquita Grand Pas, Messerer's Class Concert, Tharp's Upper Room and/or a Balanchine. But Spartak-Spartacus it shall be.

    I would have loved to see any of these, especially "Class Concert", but I am excited for the rare chance to see Spartacus.

  17. How about Sleeping Beauty 1890 or Raymonda or Ondine or Flora's Awakening or...or...or... Those are the ballets that would turn people onto the art form.

    Agreed! I am looking forward to seeing Kondaurova in Firebird, but since I already have the Vishneva Firebird, I would be much more excited to see a Mariinsky classic that hasn't been released in the last decade. I would die for Raymonda, Ondine, LA BAYADERE, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle....

    And as far as triple bills go, I would rather see their Forsythe or a mixed bill with Etudes, or Balanchine...

    And I really hope Obraztsova gets a starring role in a DVD at some point.

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