Makarova at the Mariinsky

[California]

The Mariinsky Theatre has posted a wonderful 30-minute video of Makarova coaching Lopatkina in the White Swan Pas de deux. They've even included helpful subtitles in English!

http://media.mariinsky.ru/Play/#/en/cat4

http://media.mariinsky.ru/Play/#/en/cat4/cnt348

[ksk04]

This was so interesting to watch, thank you. I saw the small snippet on youtube but didn't know there was a longer version.

It seems clear no one has tried to change the way Lopatkina does the pas in a long time. Her hesitance and resistance are clear; but the concessions she makes are really enhancing to the performance. I love that Makarova gets on her about the 180 degree penchee. It's true--it does completely block Korsuntsev's face!! It looks much better when Lopatkina cranks it back to just around his shoulder level. This should be going out on memo regularly in coaching sessions.

I wish they subtitled a little more, we seem to be missing a lot. Oh well--it's better than many Russian broadcasts I watch completely clueless as to what is being said!

[Amy Reusch]

Interesting for such a petite dancer to coach such a tall one... I would think it a little trickier than coaching one more similar to oneself... but it doesn't seem to be a problem.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I had never realized how petite Makarova is...!!

[Cygnet]

. . . It seems clear no one has tried to change the way Lopatkina does the pas in a long time. Her hesitance and resistance are clear; but the concessions she makes are really enhancing to the performance. I love that Makarova gets on her about the 180 degree penchee. It's true--it does completely block Korsuntsev's face!! It looks much better when Lopatkina cranks it back to just around his shoulder level. This should be going out on memo regularly in coaching sessions.

Hi ksk04! You're right: Uliana has meticulously worked out her own interpretation. When I saw this clip I asked a company friend to view it, and if Uliana had implemented Makarova's suggestions. She recalled that " . . . Uli didn't change anything" that night. The Mariinsky principal O/Os find their own way. The coaches guide them according to a combo of how they learned it, how they did it, company tradition and the management's aesthetics. Currently, they have 8 casts for "Swan Lake." Of these, one principal scribbles outside the lines, and three are lead by 1st soloists Kondaurova, Matvienko and Kolegova. Makhalina and Nioradze aren't cast. IMO Lopatkina and Pavlenko are the most interesting O/Os. Pavlenko's very much in the moment and more technically dazzling than Uliana who is remote and flawless. Tereshkina and Kondaurova are up there too.

[elena]

Thanks so much for these links! I absolutely love Lopatkina's O/O, especially this PDD... it just touches me.

[avesraggiana]

I clicked on the video link but it was not available. I watched a two minute clip on youtube and even that short video, I could sense Lopatkina's resistance. She would have been wiser to make use of Makarova's suggestions. I think it would have softened her interpretation of Odette considerably, making her Odette more "organic", more full-bodied.

[jsmu]

I clicked on the video link but it was not available. I watched a two minute clip on youtube and even that short video, I could sense Lopatkina's resistance. She would have been wiser to make use of Makarova's suggestions. I think it would have softened her interpretation of Odette considerably, making her Odette more "organic", more full-bodied.

Fascinating, and completely disheartening. The cold rigidity, superficial 'technique', and diva mannerisms which make Lopatkina's dancing so mediocre are also, it is clear, deeply ingrained in her personality. Resistance is not the word; willful rigidity and an utter refusal to be COACHED or TAUGHT is the phrase. Does she think Makarova was born yesterday and has no pedigree? is she really ignorant enough to think she has nothing to learn from one of the great Russian ballerinas of the 20th century? Now I understand why Lopatkina was so DREADFUL in the Bizet Adagio I saw her dance--she has not a clue, and thinks she knows everything.

[canbelto]

I clicked on the video link but it was not available. I watched a two minute clip on youtube and even that short video, I could sense Lopatkina's resistance. She would have been wiser to make use of Makarova's suggestions. I think it would have softened her interpretation of Odette considerably, making her Odette more "organic", more full-bodied.

Fascinating, and completely disheartening. The cold rigidity, superficial 'technique', and diva mannerisms which make Lopatkina's dancing so mediocre are also, it is clear, deeply ingrained in her personality. Resistance is not the word; willful rigidity and an utter refusal to be COACHED or TAUGHT is the phrase. Does she think Makarova was born yesterday and has no pedigree? is she really ignorant enough to think she has nothing to learn from one of the great Russian ballerinas of the 20th century? Now I understand why Lopatkina was so DREADFUL in the Bizet Adagio I saw her dance--she has not a clue, and thinks she knows everything.

At one point Makarova urges Lopatkina to hold Siegfried closer to her body, and Lopatkina says, "I don't LIKE that! I don't like our elbows touching." That little moment said a lot.

[balletgirl22sk]

Very interesting video! I used to see Mararova do SL and no one was better than her! She has a lot of info to give and the dancer didn't seem to want to listen.

[avesraggiana]

I finally, finally managed to watch the entire thirty minute clip. The tone of the whole coaching session was set wirhin the first two minutes. Lopatkina has just finished the series of supported developees devant followed by a deep, falling backbend into Siegfried's arms and Makarova interrupts them and says to Lopatkina, "you're very business-like". With that withering observation, the battle of diva-wills was on.

The truth is, Makarova was absolutely spot on. For all its formal beauty and avian mannerisms, Lopatkina's Odette has always struck me as a study in over-coaching and a

series of carefully studied effects. Her Odette doesn't breathe.

All anyone has to do is watch any video recording of Makarova's Odette/Odile to see right away that SHE lived and breathed those roles from start to finish.

It's also interesting to note that Lopatkina was a protégée of Natalia Dudinskaya, a ballerina that Natalia Makarova did not hold in such high esteem, according to her autobiography. .

[Brioche]

I couldn't watch the entire clip. It was entirely too painful to watch Lopatkina show such disrespect and basically waste Makarova's time (and everyone else who was in the studio.) Even renowned diva and editor of Vogue magazine Anna Wintour managed to put on a "happy face" for The September Issue documentary.

[carbro]

It was entirely too painful to watch Lopatkina show such disrespect and basically waste Makarova's time (and everyone else who was in the studio.)

My reaction was much like yours, Brioche. I watched it through for the first time last night, and was struck my Lopatkina's stubbornness. I hope that at some point, while she's still dancing Odette, she has the opportunity to re-view the videos (the full, unedited videos) and realize what a huge gift she was given. Even in just her sketchy demonstrations, Makarova's movements made Lopatkina's seem stiff and stodgy by comparison.

The tone of the whole coaching session was set wirhin the first two minutes. Lopatkina has just finished the series of supported developees devant followed by a deep, falling backbend into Siegfried's arms and Makarova interrupts them and says to Lopatkina, "you're very business-like". With that withering observation, the battle of diva-wills was on.

It's hard to be sure, since we were watching edited content, but it seemed likely that the session got off on the wrong foot (whoops!) when Makarova's early corrections were merely, "Do it this way," with no explanation -- just a judgment that Lopatkina's way wasn't good. As the video went on, Makarova sprinkled her corrections with praise and also explained the reasons for her suggestions. Perhaps her student would have been a bit more receptive if she, Makarova, had conducted the whole session that way, right from the start.

All anyone has to do is watch any video recording of Makarova's Odette/Odile to see right away that SHE lived and breathed those roles from start to finish.

Absolutely!

[anink]

Regardless of the interaction between two prima balerinas I am puzzled why Makarova was coaching Lopatkina at all.Uliana has a coach at the theatre( Irina Chistiakova)and it certainly wasn't her debut in this part.She's been dancing Swan Lake for years by now and is considered one of the great interpeters of the role.I am not saying that there's no room for improvement or that she can't incorporate some of Makarova's corrections into her performances, but they are two totally different dancers and as Makarova was one of the greatest O/O of her generation, so is Lopatkina of hers.They both graduated from Dudinskaya's class more than 30 years apart and times do change.

Artistry and dedication are constant,but approach and interpretations have a right to be different.

By the way nowhere in Makarova's autobiography there are unflattering words about Dudinskaya, who was one of the greatest Russian dancers of all times,Vaganova's favorite student and one of the best teachers at Vaganova school and a great coach at the theatre.Dudinskaya was very strict to Makarova but never stifle her individuality.There were lots of things that Dudunskaya can be accused of,but she was good to Makarova( see pages 50,51,52).

[ksk04]

The Mariinsky was having a special Swan Lake in honor of Natalia Makarova's birthday...Lopatkina danced the performance, and so Makarova had a special coaching lesson with her before the performance. That's why at the end Makarova says something like "Sing this for me tonight."

[anink]

The Mariinsky was having a special Swan Lake in honor of Natalia Makarova's birthday...Lopatkina danced the performance, and so Makarova had a special coaching lesson with her before the performance. That's why at the end Makarova says something like "Sing this for me tonight."

Thank you for explaining about this special performance.

[ginasf]

All these galas for people like Makarova and Plisetskaya are painful to watch. They sit there seeing dancers who are in every way inferior to them (and certainly not as individual) doing stamped out versions of roles the honored attendee made famous. There's a great video on YouTube of Plisetskaya coaching a ballerina from the POB in the black swan. 80 year old Maya gives her one great comment (and demonstration) after another but the younger dancer just CAN'T DO IT. Why... she doesn't have the artistry. Same with Lopatkina. I got more beautiful dancing from Makarova showing a few arm movements than watching robotronic Lopatkina going through her motions. She's incapable of making her body sing. Someone like Irina Golub is a much better dancer than her.

[Helene]

It's almost an non-starter to compare the greats who are coaching, often in street clothes, to the dancers being coached. In addition to artistry and experience, they can distill the movement down to an arm, hand, gesture, or gaze, without having to express with their entire body and with the amplitude needed to project from the stage.