Sacto1654

I KNEW a riot would break out when Alina Somova was promoted to Principal status. Now, when will we see Ekaterina Kondaurova get the same status, given her artistic success within the last two years (especially the triumphant Swan Lake performance around two weeks ago). (Mind you, I think Kondaurova could be the next to get Principal status, though.)

In my personal opinion, Russian ballet during the 20th Century developed along two lines--one at the Kirov/Mariinsky Theatre and one at the Bolshoi Theatre. The Kirov/Mariinsky style was perfected by Agrippina Vaganova, and it is a true descendant of the "Imperial" style of ballet that Marius Petipa perfected in the second half of the 19th Century. Konstantin Sergeyev evolved this very style during the Kirov era--and most of the "classical" ballets performed at the Mariinsky Theatre today are (more or less) the work of Sergeyev. The Bolshoi style came from the work of Alexander Gorsky, who emphasized stronger acting skills on-stage. You can see this clearly with both Galina Ulanova and Maya Plisetskaya, both legendary for their acting ability on-stage during their heyday. Interestingly, the Bolshoi style evolved to the "big, muscular, showy, overtly athletic works" mentioned in the quote above, probably (in my opinion! ) because of the influence of Stalin and his preference for "big" things. The ballet Spartacus--which is a "showcase" ballet for the Bolshoi--is by far the best-known example of this, especially with the current 1968 choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. During the second half of the 20th Century in the Soviet era, the Bolshoi style of ballet was vastly better known in the West, since Bolshoi troupe toured a lot longer in the West and many Bolshoi dancers in this period became household names among Western balletomanes. In my opinion, in 2008 I find it to be the reverse, as many Kirov/Mariinsky dancers have become household names Western to balletomanes.

If President Obama does end the boycott of Cuba, I'm sure there will be a catfight on where the next time the Ballet Nacional de Cuba plays in New York City. Like I said, most younger Americans have missed out on seeing the later career of Alicia Alonso as choreographer, and it would be very welcome to see her in NYC again for the first time in over five years (ABT would welcome a visit from Alonso, a former ABT dancer, for very obvious reasons! ).

I just want to add that the Blu-ray high-definition version of this performance will start selling on 18 November 2008, according to Amazon.com. I hope it looks really good, because the DVD version already has pretty sharp video even limited to the 480-line resolution of standard NTSC-standard DVD's. Now, I'm hoping that the Roberto Bolle/Svetlana Zakharova performance from 2004 at the La Scala Theatre in Milan will be available on Blu-ray, too, since I believe that performance was also recorded with HDTV cameras.

A couple of comments: 1) Don Quixote as a ballet was never intended to tell the full tale of the novel--that was definitely out of the question when Marius Petipa first presented the ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1869. But what it did was still a lot of fun to watch, especially it was from one of the more interesting chapters in the novel, a side story where Quiteria hatches a plot to avoid marrying a much older man she doesn't love. 2) What I find the ballet even MORE interesting was I read online Soviet-era balletomanes LOVED this ballet, probably because it had so many dancers on stage and its very colorful design for both the costumes and scenery design contrasted strongly against the dull, colorless life most Russians had during the Soviet era. 3) This ballet demands the use of a larger stage. I'd love to see either the Mariinsky or Bolshoi companies do a full-scale version at the Kodak Theatre or the new Nokia Theatre at the LA Live venue in Los Angeles.

This ballet festival is a living tribute to Alicia Alonso, perhaps one of the four greatest ballerinas of the 20th Century along with Margot Fonteyn, Maya Plisetskaya and Galina Ulanova. Pity that the poor state of US-Cuba relations has deprived almost all Americans (except balletomanes more than 60 years old! ) of seeing her work as dancer and choreographer.

By the way, you can find a full set of images of Kondaurova's debut at this source: http://mariinsky.livejournal.com/883184.html#cutid1 The page is maintained by a user named "Mad-For-Mariinsky", who is also a moderator on the www.mariinka.org Russian-language forum (and I believe is working for the Mariinsky Theatre itself).

I just read reports of Ekaterina Kondaurova's debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake just a couple of nights ago (October 30, 2008). It appears she had an excellent debut, and Kondaurova's red hair made her performance stand out all the more. I've seen pictures of her debut and Kondaurova is ESPECIALLY striking as Odile. Alas, they next time she dances the role of Odette they need to be more careful with her hairdo because you can visibly tell where they parted her hair, which kind of detracted from what could have been a perfect look. (EDIT) Here are a couple of pictures of her from this debut performance: As Odette (during the curtain calls after the performance) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/299092...4a9b049d0_o.jpg As Odile (with Danila Korsuntsev in the background) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/299177...c70ee72ab_o.jpg

Remember, the original performed versions of Spyashchaya Krasavitsa and Bayaderka were major, complicated productions that even the Imperial Mariinsky Ballet performed rarely in their heyday. That's why during the Soviet era, both ballets underwent major changes to make them less expensive to perform on a more regular basis. From what I've read about Dudinskaya, she was one of the most beloved ballerinas in the Kirov company during the 1930's and 1940's (probably only Galina Ulanova was more beloved with the Kirov company before Stalin transferred her to the Bolshoi company in 1944), with a career unfortunately cut short because of her poor physical health during her dancing days. Dudinskaya became even better known for her teaching and coaching work with the Vaganova Academy, and of course her husband Konstanin Sergeyev set the standard for ballet choreography in the Kirov troupe for several decades, including several well-known versions of famous ballets (of which the 1950 version of Lebedinoye Ozero is certainly the best-known). As such, it's not far-fetched that Ulyana Lopatkina maybe around 15 years from now becomes the Deputy Director of the Ballet Company at the Mariinsky Theatre. She has GREAT respect for the 20th Century history of the troupe and wants to keep that legacy going well into the 21st Century.

Let's try this corrected link: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle2073183.ece I would LOVE to see Ratmansky attempt this with the American Ballet Theatre--if he can find the right dancers!

One thing people forget is that in most of the ballets Petipa choreographed when he worked for the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, it was mostly a major showcase for prominent female characters in the ballet (Paquita from the ballet of the same name, Giselle from the ballet of the same name, Medora from Le Corsaire, Aspicia from The Pharaoh's Daughter, Nikiya from La Bayadere, Princess Aurora from The Sleeping Beauty, Clara from Nutcracker, Odette from Swan Lake, Raymonda from the ballet of the same name). Since she has danced many of these roles herself, Lopatkina understands how important they are worth preserving, even in a modernized form. This is one more reason I am hoping she gets a chance to become the Deputy Director of the Ballet Company about 10-15 years from now.

If any ballet company were to try to do a "historical reconstruction" of the original 1895 Petipa/Ivanov version, the way Odette/Odile is danced by Ulyana Lopatkina or Svetlana Zakharova is out of the question--their dancing styles are too modern for a "historical reconstruction." By the way, the old Sergeyev Collection at Harvard University does include a full dance notation for the 1895 production of Swan Lake, so doing an authentic historical reconstruction is quite possible.

Asylmuratova was actually kind of lucky that her career peaked just when the Kirov company started to tour the West again starting in 1986. As such, she's really well-known to older Western balletomanes, and a number of her performances have been recorded on video or film. She has done very well heading the Vaganova Academy, and I can see over the next 4-7 years a really good generation of dancers coming out of the Academy. However, I still think Lopatkina--based on the people who know her well from what I've read--is eventually going to be the type of person the Mariinsky Theatre wants as Deputy Director of the Ballet company (not now, of course!). Lopatkina's clear understanding of the history of the Kirov/Mariinsky troupe makes her a good choice maybe 10-15 years from now to do this role, in my humble opinion.

According to the metric converter online, she's 5 feet, 5-3/4 inches tall. She's shorter than my late mom, who was 5 feet, 6-1/2 inches tall.

Thanks for mentioning that interview! I think she's being very humble from the tone of the interview. She has enough "old time" knowledge of classic ballet and the "right connnections" (she's beloved by almost everyone in the Mariinsky management and inside the Vaganova Academy) to eventually get the position of Deputy Director of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre if she wants it down the road. She would be better suited for this future role than to become Artistic Director of the Vaganova Academy (I don't see her as a "teacher type"). By the way, I am particularly impressed she is following in the footsteps of Maya Plisetskaya, more willing to do something more experimental and modern (Plisetskaya was doing a lot of modern ballet work with Western ballet companies by the early 1970's). I can tell she is impressed by the 50th anniversary of the marriage of Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya, two persons who have mightily contributed to the arts in Russia during the Soviet era (famous as Lopatkina is now, she's nothing compared to the achievements of Shchedrin and Plisetskaya). It's interesting Lopatkina mentions all the changes to Saint Petersburg since the end of the Soviet era, mostly because because she mentioned this in an interview with the Times of London back in 2005. Mind you, she was disappointed with all those McDonald's showing up all over Saint Petersburg, though.

A couple of comments: 1) I've LOVE to see the Royal Ballet do a true reconstruction of the 1895 Petipa/Ivanov version of this ballet. Given that several people here say the Royal Ballet version is closest to the 1895 original, it wouldn't take much to pull it off. The Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet could do it but given Fateev's dislike of "historical reconstructions" and the fact the dancing style of the 1895 original is quite different than the 1950 Sergeyev version, that could be a bit of a challenge. 2) I wouldn't be surprised that Fateev has his way and Irina Kolpakova returns as a coach. Kolpakova is a highly-respected name in the history of the Kirov/Mariinsky company and she would be more than welcome to return as coach to the ballet company by almost everyone there. 3) Mel, you wrote "Perhaps the time has come for a museum company, which could stage the "reference" versions of classics and historically important ballets, and perform them in ways that would both enlighten AND entertain a modern audience." All I can say is The Kirov/Mariinsky company was during the latter half of the 19th Century the most influential ballet company on Earth, and I would love to see them revive many of Petipa's old ballets, NOT in the original dancing style of the period, but in a more modern dancing style that today's balletomanes can appreciate.

I think Mr. Gergiev is not thrilled about performing the "reconstructed" versions of Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadere because they require very expensive stage props and equally expensive costumes. A "reconstructed" performance of the original 1895 Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake could be done, but it would require an older dancing style (not Vaganova method!) and probably a simpler choreography. I'm note sure if modern audiences will enjoy the old corps de ballet choreography in Act II (or Act I Scene 2) compared to the changes that Aggripina Vaganova incorporated in 1933 that found their way into many modern versions.

It's understandable--they're EXPENSIVE to do and the reconstructed version has a totally different dancing style than the versions originally done during the Soviet era. I think we could revive the 1895 original choreography for Swan Lake with little problems, since it doesn't require the enormous expense of re-creating the original costumes and sets like they did with Sleeping Beauty or Bayaderka.

From what I've read, the most significant change in the Vaganova-choreographed version from 1933 was the complete redoing of how the corps de ballet danced. I believe these changes were incorporated into the "definite" Sergeyev version of 1950 that the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet performs today. I believe there are three significant versions of the ballet performed inside Russia today: the Sergeyev 1950 version by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet, the Grigorovich 1976 version for the Bolshoi Ballet and the Bourmeister 1953 version for the Stanislavsky Ballet (Moscow). The Dowell 1987 version for the Royal Ballet is probably the closest thing to a "reference" version done in the West (based on what some posters have said here), mostly because it adheres fairly close to the Petipa/Ivanov original. It would be very interesting to see if any ballet company in Russia is willing to go back to perform the Vaganova 1933 version, let alone the original 1895 Petipa/Ivanov version!

The happy ending is actually kind of going back to the Julius Reisinger original 1876 version. If I remember correctly, Soviet-era censors didn't like the tragic ending of the Petipa/Ivanov original, and as such they had to go back to the happy ending, as noted by the 1933 Vaganova version, 1950 Sergeyev version and 1953 Bourmeister version. The jester character is actually a pretty old one, first shown in the 1901 in Alexander Gorsky's production for the Bolshoi Ballet. Given it this character was pretty well-received, it's small wonder why it ended up in the later Kirov/Mariinsky versions.

This is turning into an interesting discussion. The Royal Ballet version is probably closer to the 1895 Petipa/Ivanov original, but the set design is probably not what Petipa and Ivanov quite had in mind. I do agree that the changes Agrippina Vaganova did in 1933 for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet substantially skewed the choreography of this ballet, but her version was very well-received when it first premiered. Sergeyev took that version and improved on it for the 1950 version that is pretty much the staple of the Kirov/Mariinsky troupe since then--they're still performing that version more or less intact 58 years later! Given that longevity, that's why (in my humble opinion! ) it's my choice to be the current "reference" version of Swan Lake. I still think somebody ought to try to do a true reconstruction of the 1895 original version, complete with the pre-Vaganova style ballet dancing. Very few companies could pull it off, possibly the Royal Ballet because their version is close to what Petipa and Ivanov envisaged, and possibly the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet because of their work in "reconstructing" Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere and The Awakening of Flora to how Petipa envisioned it originally.

I think I should clarify myself--what I mean by "reference" is that it's the version that everyone is more or less familiar with that doesn't extremely diverge from what Petipa and Ivanov envisioned (outside of the end of the ballet, which has all kinds of different endings depending on if it originated outside or inside the Iron Curtain during the Soviet era). Anyway, I still consider the 1950 Sergeyev version the closest thing to the "reference" version because of the fact it originated in the same troupe that performed the Petipa/Ivanov original. Sure, there are substantial changes compared to the 1895 version, including adding the jester (based on changes done around 1905), removing most of the mime, and adding in the changes done in 1933 to Act II (aka Act I Scene 2) by Agrippina Vaganova that substantially changed the way the corps de ballet moved, but the fact the 1950 Sergeyev version is still performed more or less intact 58 years later is good reason why I consider it a "reference" version of the ballet for a currently-performed version.

Given that since Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov successfully produced their version of Lebedinoye Ozero 113 years ago, there seems to as many major new versions of the ballet since that time as the number of weeds in my back yard during the summer. Even the Russians have not been immune to revising this ballet--choreographers at both the Kirov/Mariinsky and Bolshoi troupes made some significant changes during the Soviet era, and of course we know of the famous Vladimir Bourmeister version from 1953 that went back to (mostly) the original music order Tchaikovsky used. But here's an interesting question: what is the closest thing to a currently-performed reference version of this ballet? In my humble opinion, it would have to be the 1950 Konstantin Sergeyev version, because this version is currently used by the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet troupe, the same troupe that premiered the Petipa/Ivanov version. Sure, there are adherents to the 1953 Bourmeister version and the later 1976 Grigorovich version for the Bolshoi Ballet (not to mention all those versions done in the West!), but because this ballet is so closely associated with the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet from a historical perspective, that's why I consider the 1950 Sergeyev version as the closest to a "reference" for this ballet. (By the way, I'm surprised no one has in recent years tried to produce an authentic reconstruction of the original Petipa/Ivanov 1895 version. It would be a natural production for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Mariinsky Theatre building coming in 2010, since the theater officially opened back in 1860.)

Given today's announcement from ABT, you will get that wish!

For those who don't know, Ulyana Lopatkina did not appear in the September 27, 2008 performance of La Bayadere at the Mariinsky Theatre or went on the current fall 2008 US tour. It appears she had a minor injury that prevented her from performing but she will perform at a gala at Moscow's Operetta Theatre on November 11-12, 2008. You can get information about this (in Russian) at this web site: http://www.mosoperetta.ru/main/index.php?_...1&i_news=74