alexaa1a

100% that is Anastasia Zaklinskaya, daughter of Zaklinsky and Asylmuratova. In that May 2010 Vaganova concert from the Hermitage Theatre, 6th year students danced The Frescoes from Little Humped Back Horse. In the beginning of the video, 4 girls are standing and each girl starts dancing based on who is on the right side. The first girl to dance is the first girl on the right. The second girl to dance is the second on the right in the beginning. The 3rd girl on the right, in the beginning, is Zaklinskaya and the 3rd girl to dance. Zaklinskya was the main soloist in the second half of the video and when they finish, she is on the far right and the only girl the camera person did not zoom in on.I am 100% certain about what I am saying and not 99.99%. She is entering her 8th year and will graduate in 2013 with the June 2013 graduation performances.

This is what all of London would have seen if Alina Somova had remained in London, not going to Berezhnoi's funeral.

Concerning your photo, why do people keep showing old videos and photos when she had Chenchikova coaching her, who was the wrong coach for her, but Chenchikova's husband was director, so nothing could be done. With the removal of Vaziev, Terekhova took over and made big changes in Alina. Except for her 5 week absence after her Swan Lake injury, Alina has been very busy with 7 full length ballets in December, plus many Jewel performances in May. She has not suffered from lack of work. Look at her website schedule and she is also doing Mariinsky's first Giselle on October 9, which is not posted on her site, but is posted on Mariinsky.ru playbill. This is her website schedule http://www.alinasomova.ru/content/?page=8 with everything she performed during the period in question. Here is a different snapshot taken from a 2010 Rose Adagio video where you can see that Chenchikova’s influence on Alina’s attitude line has been corrected by Terekhova

But she stayed for her Swan Lake, and In The Night which were both after the funeral? Mariinsky News Section in mariinsky.ru says that the funeral was on August 9. You can look at many different locations to find out when she performed Swan Lake, In The Night and her only other performance, which you did not mention, Ballet imperial. Swan Lake was on July 27 In The Night was on August 4 Ballet Imperial was on August 5 The funeral was 4 days after Ballet Imperial and 4 days before her scheduled Bayadere on August 13 when she did not return to London. Still, there will be people that see your comment and will be convinced that she was removed from Bayadere, which is not true. [Admin note: Last warning about discussing what the administrators should or shouldn't do on this board]

I have photo proof to debunk what George Ou shows. He took Somova from a different section of the ballet and when she was getting in position and off balance. I can easily show a photo of Somova in the same point of the Bayadere adagio where Alina's shoulders are at least as square as Zakharova and her arabesque leg is not more open than Zakharova. Also, poses is not what ballet is about; artistry, acting, arms and hands, upper body, technique, movement of entire body and look of entire body, facial expressions, portrayal of roles, etc. Anyone can pick bad points, particularly transitional points and say how bad a dancer looks at that peculiar point.. [Admin note: please see our rules and policies against discussing the discussion and to use the "report" button if you have a problem with a post. You are also welcome to post a link to photos that show Somova in a different light, as long as they aren't part of another discussion board.]

She performed Swan Lake at the Mariinsky on February 19 with Vladimir Shklyarov and was injured during the performance, although she finished to the end. That was why she did not dance in Canada or YAGP. Why she did not perform in Bayadere on Saturday is that she is very close to her coach, Tatiana Terekhova, and very close to her coach's husband, Sergei Berezhnoi, whose funeral was last Tuesday. Like, Anastasia Kolegova, who paid for her own airfare to leave Japan for her husband's funeral, Mariinsky does not pay airfare for special circumstances and like what happened with Kolegova staying at home instead of returning to Japan, Alina stayed home after the funeral on Tuesday. Regarding 2011 Mariinsky Festival, Alina had been offered Swan Lake , but since Alina had performed many Swan Lake performances recently with Leonid Sarafanov in Italy, she did not want to dance another Swan Lake. That performance also was given to Kondaurova. Alina did close the Mariinsky Festival with the lead in the full length Dimanonds in the final piece of the closing Gala.

Barbara Last year David Hallberg performed Sleeping Beauty with Alina Somova at the 2010 International Mariinsky Festival. This year, he performed Swan Lake with Ekaterina Kondaurova at this year's International Mariinsky Festival. This month, he performed Scotch Symphony with Maria Shirinkina and unless there have been changes that I am not aware of, he is scheduled to dance Swan Lake tomorrow with Viktoria Tereshkina. To my knowledge, I believe this is his full extent of roles danced with the Mariinsky, but plans exist for him to do much more dancing with the Mariinsky next season. I do not know details.

100% agree, except our opinions of her

You are 100% correct in everything that you said, but it is obvious that some people have been afraid of speaking their opinion because they feel that they will be attacked and ridiculed. Every person has their own traits. Some love the color orange and others will make fun of their love of orange colors, but that should not exist in ballet forums. It is appropriate for someone to say that they completely disagree with someone's opinion, but it is definitely wrong to make comments that make this person feel ridiculed.

In Friday night's performance, when the curtain was coming down at the end of the ballet ,with Ivanchenko next to her grave, the audience erupted with screams of bravos that did not happen in any other performance as the curtain was coming down. They definitely were screaming because of Somova and not for any of the other leads, Ivanchenko or Iosifidi. Somova was dancing with the weakest leads of all those performing, so these bravos as the curtain came down was in appreciation of Somova and solely Somova. The two ballerinas that received the greatest applause were Vishnveva and Somova. Somova received more applause than Tereshkina or Lopatkina, despite having the weakest principal male as her partner. Vishneva on opening night received tremendous applause, but it was not significantly more than Somova on the next night and Somova did not dance with a stronger Fadeyev and much stronger Kondaurova. However, on Friday night, Somova received more applause than she did on Wednesday and very close to the applause Vishneva got on opening night and more applause than Vishneva got on Sunday. It is irrelevant who got more applause, but the audience on both nights Somova danced, particularly on Friday night, yelled many bravos at different sections of her performance. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I know many knowledgeable ballet people, dancers, teachers and ex of both varieties, plus fans that adore Alina Somova. As others have mentioned, Ballet Alert seems to be plaqued by an anti-Somova movement that is blind to the remarkable improvement in every aspect of her being a ballerina and i hope that other Somova lovers will not be intimidated by the many Somova haters that discourage her many fans. Her Giselle on both nights was vastly superior in almost every section and every detail of the performance, except her grave entrance, where Vishneva was the clear champion. It is a tragedy how Somova haters have frightened Somova lovers from praising her because of fear of being insulted. Now some of these Somova lovers have come out of the woodwork and spoken their minds, despite getting insulted again with comments about phoney reviews and internet trolls that eventually get kicked out when their provenance is disclosed. People are not antiques or collectibles where provenance increases the value. I do not want any verbal battles, but I cannot be intimidated and will speak the truth, which is contrary to what has been said on Ballet Alert as the truth about Alina Somova. As far as I am concerned, we have grossly different opinions and you are entitled to hate her, just as much as anyone else is entitled to love her. When someone is severely criticized and frightened for stating their opinion, then that is seriously wrong.

In the rare situation of Alina Somova, 18 months is a long time, where she has changed dramatically. Most likely you have tastes that will never allow you to enjoy her dancing ability, but acting is a different story. If you get a chance to see her from the wings or close to the stage, you should see her as Giselle or Nikiya and you might be shocked what a great actress she is and 100% natural, nothing artificial.

However, even the Tsar did not have an adequate seat to evaluate Giselle's mad scene, but if the Tsar only watched a particular young ballerina, several years ago, he had no right to evaluate her in anything, when she has been improving greatly. I will give a specific example from Washington. I saw opening night with Vishneva from close up and in act 1, her acting was not natural and she over emoted. In act 2, her acting was shockingly absent, as if only her body came out of the grave and her face with expressions and emotions was left in the grave. From close up, there were only two brief moments where her face changed in act 2 and the rest of the time, she had a fixed expression. This was a performance where the Washington Post critic raved about her acting, which was a big disappointment from close up. In contrast, I watched her closing performance from the back of the orchestra and her acting was much more convincing from far away, where I could not clearly see her expressions or emotions. Yes, when it comes to acting, nobody watching from far away, can accurately judge that aspect. Technique, style, stage presentation(other than acting), use of arms and upper body, use of feet and legs, partnering ability, and more, can be accurately evaluated from the worst seat in the house, but few seats in the house are sufficient to adequately evaluate acting. In Vishneva's case, her fame led people to think she was doing a great job acting and not what their eyes could clearly see. Most of my friends with close seats were shockingly disappointed with Vishneva, but a few of my die hard Vishenva fans were not willing to criticize her, with comments like she is doing an expressionless act 2, but I countered with her two instances of sudden expression/emotion in act 2. Her two moments were when she left Fadeyev to start her solo adagio for the main pas de deux; and after his variation, when she came with the white camellias, she suddenly showed emotion after she saw him.

Are you seriously saying that a dancer considered by audiences and her peers as a bad joke is the world's best? I have also seen classes by the Bolshoi (and Kirov) and watched both companies over a period of 37 years and in that time I have never seen in either company a principal dancer so lacking in line, musicality, technique, acting ability and artistic taste. The only ability she has over others is the ability to display her crotch at every opportunity no matter how inappropriate choreographically. She has become a byword for low standards and tasteless presentation and in her last London performances was greeted with a scarcity of applause that marked a nadir in the long-standing appreciation of Russian dancing in that city. I want to confine my question to Mashinka concerning the acting ability issue. When, where and in what ballet was the last time you saw Alina perform? I and several of my very knowledgeable ballet friends have seen her perform recently at the Mariinsky Theatre and recently in Washington. I missed her Swan Lake on Saturday at the Mariinsky, but did see her Legend of Love prior to Washington. I saw all 3 Legends. I do not have one knowledgeable friend, who considers her acting ability, anything less than exceptional. I suspect that you have not seen her recent Mariinsky performances and definitely did not see her in Washington where she got many bravos. If your friend, Natalia, says she did not get many bravos, I have friends who heard all the bravos, many times. However, she does get more bravos at the Mariinsky than in Washington, but that can be said about every Mariinsky dancer in Washington. Also, anyone who is not sitting very close to the stage is not in a position to accurately comment on any dancer's acting ability because the expressions and emotions need to be seen close up. Alina's expressions and emotions are superior to every principal ballerina in the world. Friends, who have seen her close up in Saint Petersburg or in Washington, will agree. Anyone who has seen Alina acting from a distance has no right to make any comment on her acting. I happen to have friends that love her and you happen to have friends that hate her, but I and my friends have seen her recently and you and your friends boycott her.

I responded to nysusan that I expressed beauty solely in their faces. Vasnetsova has an exceptional face and Oksana is plainer. Both dancers have different talents that distinguish them, so both can be described as beautiful dancers, but I think that Vasnetsova would win a beauty contest.

WOW. Having just gotten back from the Sat matinee performance I have to say that Oksana Skorik looked rtaher beautiful, although Vasnetsova's dancing certainly had a lighter, more delicate sheen to it. Skorik has darker hair and lighter skin and she did dance the first solo. The program indicated that Anastasia Petushkova was dancing Myrtha but it sure looked like Kondaurova to me. Who ever it was, she was beautiful. Tereshkina & Shklyarov were wonderful, her dancing is so pure and he showed beautiful elevation, perfect line and great acting skills. They were both particularly good in the second act where she was spectral & wraithlike. Petushkova was ill so Kondaurova performed both times on Saturday. I was talking about their faces in terms of beauty. Vasnetsova has an exceptional face and Oksana is plainer.

In response to Elizaveta, same first name as Cheprasova, who danced Friday night peasant pas de deux, it is easy to distinguish between Dasha Vasnetsova and Oksana Skorik. Dasha is the beautiful girl, who enters first on the audience's right side and stands on the left side and does the second solo. Oksana is not the beautiful one who enters on the left side and stands on the right side and does the first solo.

As an ex-dancer and teacher and someone who spoke often with George Balanchine, I am making this comment with many years of ballet experience and viewing. I have seen every Mariinsky Giselle this week, starting with the dress rehearsal on Tuesday, continuing with Vishneva, Somova, Tereshkina and Somova again last night. I applaud Ilya for his accurate appraisal of Somova's Giselle, but his comments are slightly understated. While Olga Spessivtseva is recognized by many as the quintessential Giselle, the interpretation presented by Alina Somova is destined to go down in future ballet history as one the all time great Giselle performances. Having seen her only Mariinsky Theatre Juliet and her last Mariinsky Theatre Nikiya, she has proven to me that her acting ability is her greatest strength, even stronger that her highly criticized extension. From her entrance from her cottage to the closing curtain, her acting dominated a remarkable performance. She showed such a wide range of emotions and her mad scene was unlike any other mad scene. Her acting is very unique and totally unlike any previous ballerina. You do not need clones of previous ballerinas and Alina does not copy anyone and Terekhova, who never danced Giselle, has done a remarkable job coaching Alina. Having seen Alina's remarkable acting as Juliet and Nikiya in SPB, I expected a superb mad scene and that is what she produced. What i did not expect was the revelation of act 2. It has been many years since I have seen a breath taking Giselle pas de deux and what I saw was mind boggling. Alina was fully entranced as Giselle. she showed such a wide range of emotions and her severe criticism as being unmusical is way off base in her Giselle. Her musicality in the pas de deux brought Giselle to immortality. Her phenomenal adagio work seemed so minor in comparison to her overall interpretation. Her magnificent arms and amazing use of her upper body, thanks to years of Vaganova training, were unlike any other Giselle I have witnessed. I have seen all the great Russian ballerinas of the past 50 years and Maximova, Bessmertnova, Makarova were nothing like this girl, although I loved Natasha and Katya(yes there are 2 Natasha).Her flawless dancing was secondary and unimportant when compared to her historic interpretation. Having seen Vishneva and Tereshkina this week and having seen Lopatkina recently at her home theatre, i feel sorry for all the ballet fans that did not want to get stuck with Somova. Unfortunately, they will get stuck this week with the scrubs, a sports term for second stringers. Alina Somova is currently vastly superior to ever star ballerina in the world and I recently spent several weeks at the Bolshoi Theatre, viewing company class, rehearsals and performances, so the Bolshoi has nobody at Alina's level and none of the current Mariinsky stars can approach her.

She is at least a foot taller than he. Her arms and legs are both extremely long. Physically, she's not in proportion to his physique, so this is not only a mismatch, but yet another miscast. She has long acrylic fingernails that are hazardous, and that's dangerous for Leonid (and other partners), because they have to worry about being slashed by them. Add to all of that the fact that she is a gymnast, devoid of port de bras, epaulement, turnout, competent technique - (never mind professional), and a footlight flirt, and you have what may shape up to be one of the most, uh, entertaining Kitri debuts in the Maryinsky Theatre's history. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein Look at this photohttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/artic...HEUL.DTL&o= Based on this recent photo, Somova is much smaller than Sarafanov and is shorter on pointe than Sarafanov.