ksk04

It seems obvious that Iksanov is using the percieved ill-will in the press against Tsiskaridze to his own advantage. Filin has said he was not involved; his relationship with Yanin suggests that he was not involved in that. Obviously Tsiskaridze has been a thorn in Iksanov's side for a long time and now Iksanov has the perfect opportunity to try and force him out. The emotional maturity level of all those involved is low (and Tsiskaridze has not handled himself in the best manner), but to equate complaints about management/starting a petition with creating an environment where Filin was attacked seems absurd.

Well, that's a good point about whether or not acid was used in the attack. I would have expected Filin's face to have been severely burned if it was splashed with acid. Weak solution? Some other liquid?

I believe earlier reports suggested that much damage was prevented because he was able to immediately flush his face with snow that was piled on the ground, diluting some of the effects.

I think DQ will probably go to Novikova. She's got enough international renown and she did do the DVD a few years ago. Maybe they can convince Sarafanov to come dance with her on the Mariinsky stage again.

I think Skorik will do Bayadere, since she's been cast as that a lot recently (godspeed Vadim Muntagirov).

I think dancers today may not be smaller/weigh less, but they are certainly more sculpted in the arms/torso which changes their upper body appearance dramatically, and makes them look thinner. There's few dancers today that have soft upper arms--everyone's are sculpted to the max. Some women have taken it too far, imo; sometimes all you can see is the musculature and not the epaulment. Even Tamara Rojo (who used to be a bit softer, which I appreciated) has dramatically changed her upper body in the last few years, most likely through Pilates.

Thank you for the info! I quite like her, but had never heard about a debut in Bayadere.

That must have been a debut for Nikulina?? Wish some of that would pop up on youtube.

That's very good to hear and see that he is doing well. He looks much better than I anticipated. I am also happy to hear that he does not believe Tsiskaridze is involved, and is helping to clear his name. I think it seems fairly obvious that the attack on Yannin is probably by the same person, though Filin does not appear to be fading away in the same way Yannin did, as the attackers probably hoped.

Really gorgeous throughout--very assured. I hope this is a harbinger of good things though I worry she will suffer a fate similar to Batalov (who was thrilling--great work by him).

Well it must be good if they want a lot of press there? This is very interesting!

I know everyone has been anticipating her debut in Bayadere--videos are starting to roll in via youtube user zametkianny.

To begin:

Oh jeez.

This is truly bizarre.

"I want to develop a new identity, really challenge the dancers, make them dance ballets that are not just the classics.”

I guess he hasn't been paying much attention to Lefevre's tenure?

A random comment on sad state of arts: I've haven't had this many people interested in discussing ballet with me since Black Swan was released. Many friends/family members have forwarded links to news reports or brought it up in conversation.

Choosing Milepied might upset Hilaire and Legris equally and avoid chosing between them.

Yes, but it would also be an incredibly poor decision! I hope they do not do this; the POB deserves someone else who can help fix things

I seriously doubt that they would choose Millepied -- his pathway seems pretty clearly set in Los Angeles.

I don't want him here either!!!

Choosing Milepied might upset Hilaire and Legris equally and avoid chosing between them.

Yes, but it would also be an incredibly poor decision! I hope they do not do this; the POB deserves someone else who can help fix things

Mashinka, is Stepanenko still dancing Nikiya (or any other full-length classical role, for that matter)? Honest question; I have not kept up with her roles of late. Nadezhda Gracheva, from Stepanenko's generation or a tad younger, starred in the opening night of Burlaka's one-act Paquita Grand Pas shortly before her retirement to the coaching ranks (Nov. 2008)...so, yes, older ballerinas most certainly can perform classical roles to the end, especially one-acters or pdds.

Unless there is another Galina Stepanenko in the Bolshoi, there is a video of her dancing Myrtha to Obraztsova's Giselle in May of last year on youtube.

Obviously things can change in 7 months or so, but there are few Myrthas in their mid 40s. She looks in great shape to me.

Well this is a shame, in my opinion.

Filin seems remarkably positive-wow. Stepanenko seems like as good a choice as any; hopefuly she and Sergei can have a good working dialogue while he's in recovery.

According to the Google translate of this article (http://lifenews.ru/news/109568), the police are unaware of who the attacker is (or unwilling to say). Filin's mother says he's been threatened via phone, and his tires have been punctured, and this happened near his house, suggesting a correlation.

How incredibly awful for him.

I think her performances with Max were more mechanical than not, I guess, since they've been dancing together (and almost exclusively together) for so long. But her Romeo & Juliet with Bolle that I saw was incredible. The last time I saw Max was in Giselle w. Irina 2-3 yrs ago...he was serviceable and a good partner to Irina. I confess (not that I am ashamed of it or anything!) I do like Irina a lot and I hope she will take her time following Max out.

He did perform in Nutcrackers here over the holidays (at least as far as I know he wasn't replaced), so I'm sure he's fine. I guess the reason for the disappearance in the manner it occurred will be a mystery unless someone does an interview with him.

I don't think it's crazy to have a discussion about when she's retiring, especially since before the SL announcement she was only down for two ballets at the Met (though it's not hard to imagine she will be cast A Month..). She obviously won't be forced out, but I think we will see her retire in the next year or so. She might be waiting for a particular ballet to cycle through the rep, in order to have a last chance to perform it. Kevin has generously acquired a lot of vehicles for her to keep her engaged and wanting to dance, so that has been the one nice thing about this portion of his tenure.

Well, if any ballerina could impress as Solor, surely Alexandrova would be it.

Indeed!

Zakharova is also possibly the most commercially filmed of current ballerinas making it even less interesting to see her. I don't find her to be the kind of dancer who puts on a radically different performance based on different shows/partners. We can all just pop in her Bayadere filmed at La Scala with Bolle and probably see the same thing--she's too methodical. As a huge fan, I admit to not minding if Alexandrova gets the other lion's share of broadcasts, but there are many Bolshoi ballerinas I would be equally excited to see in place of Zakharova.

Alexei Loparevich Gamzatti, his daughter

Maria Alexandrova Solor, the noble warrior

How radical!

(I know it was the formatting)

Why does Kevin keep borrowing short male dancers?! He doesn't seem to like ABTs short girls or short guys (sans Danil). Mind boggling.

AT least ABTs dancers are getting something out of this, this time. Odd to borrow McRae for Lankendem, though I guess he probably wouldn't want the direct comparison to Vasiliev as Ali.

The women I've met who said that kind of thing usually seem to justify it with stereotypes of women's behavior: "Oh I don't like drama, so I have male friends" / "I'm not touchy feeling things so I hang out with men". It always seems about distancing themselves from cliches of women, when the reality of female friendship is usually not like that at all (if it is, perhaps it's tme to find some new friends). But to each his/her own!

I hate to say it, but the lack of emotional expression that she admits to having in her personal life comes across in Rojo's performances. I find her very guarded and closed off when I watch videos of her and struggle to see the great dramatic actress that she is hailed as. I guess this might change if I saw her live.