Recent Changes to Roster (promotions, etc.)

[Natalia]

The recently-published 2005 Mariinsky Festival Programme shows several changes to the roster of artists, compared to that in the 2004 Mariinsky Festival programme. [The rosters -- Russian & English -- on the Mariinsky website are both way out of date. They should not be trusted.]

Principal level - No new names. One name deleted: Alexander Kurkov (who must be coaching or guesting, as he danced Monsieur GM in Tuesday's 'Manon')

First Soloists - Promotions: Ekaterina Osmolkina (from 2nd soloist) and Viktoria Tereshkina (amazing leap-frog from choryphee level!) among the ladies. No promotions among the men. No departures...except that Veronika Part's name was finally removed from the roster.

Second Soloist: Promotions: Tatyana Tkachenko, Mikhail Lobukhin & Vladimir Shishov (all from choryphee level). One departure: Kirill Simonov (who left to be a full-time choreographer/ballet master).

Choryphee: Promotions among women: Ekaterina Kondaurova & Alina Somova (the latter after only one year in the corps). Among men: Ivan Popov & Vladimir Schklyarov.

Natalia Nabatova

St. Petersburg

[DancingGiselle]

Wow, the webiste is indeed a bit out of date, but until the International Ballet Festival it was my only source of information about the dancers.

I'm most excited about Victoria Tereshkina. I've only seen her in Swan Lake as Odette/Odile but I liked her quite a bit. When did she join the company?

[Natalia]

Terioshkina graduated in June 2001. Her rise has been meteoric, creating a major role (one of the 2 stepsisters) in Ratmansky's 'Cinderella' during her first season and dancing her first Odette/Odile shortly thereafter. She is blessed with perfect proportions, in a not-too-tall frame. Although she ran into slight problems in the Festival's 'Swan Lake', those were really minor moments, in the whole scheme of things. I adored her 'Ballet Imperial' during the final gala.

On past trips, I have thoroughly enjoyed her Lead Ballerina in 'Etudes' -- best of the Mariinsky ballerinas in this, IMO! Finally, I'll note her shaprness in the final ('Choleric') movement of 'Four Temperaments'...indeed, Terioshkina was one of the saving graces of this most disappointing work in the Kirov-Mariinsky's Balanchinean repertoire.

Natalia Nabatova