Premiere of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a

[Natalia]

Paul, this segment was posted by YouTuber 'butterflysamar' -- he/she has posted a number of other clips...but not yet Hyppolita jumping through the fog with the wild horses...what WE ALL await. (ha-ha)

You can go to YouTube and search for other clips posted by butterflysamar.

[mussel]

Mussel, I am guessing that the Mariinsky house policy is the same as any other theater on earth but some people get away with it.

YouTubes are allowed on BA.

Thanks for the clarification, I thought at one point BA anly allowed official video posted by companies. Now I can post them away. State Theater is very fetish in enforcing its no photo policy even during curtain calls to a point of being disruptive to other audence.

[Natalia]

...at one point BA anly allowed official video posted by companies. ....

That was a while ago before YouTube became so major! Just last fall several of us posted substantial 'amateur' clips on major performances such as the POB La Source, the Scala Raymonda and the Bolshoi's Beauty, with BA moderators joining in the lively exchange of comments. We've posted links to Vaganova Academy graduations, etc. Not to condone the 'amateur filming' at all...but it's on YouTube and we don't really care how it got there. If a theater or choreographer complains, then the film will be yanked off YouTube and links will no longer work.

[Alexandra]

I hope somebody gets to see this and writes about it. It's a production I would dearly love to see.

[Natalia]

Alexandra, Catherine Pawlick is covering it for Dance Europe.

[Paul Parish]

Thanks, Natalia. So far butterflysamar seems mostly interested in kondaurova -- which is understandable, but I wish [selfishly] that s/he would just put up EVERYTHING -- at least Titania and the divertissement and the lovers [and Bottom], since I love everything I've seen. Sandra Jennings gave an interesting interview. I wonder what she thinks of the results.... sigh

[bianca]

YouTubes are allowed on BA. I found the following showing the first-cast in the culmination of the Wedding March that opens Act II. Kondaurova (as Hyppolita) is in the middle.

It's actually from second performance, with Alexandra Iosifidi as Hyppolota and Yulia Stepanova as Helena (red costume)

[Natalia]

Thanks, bianca. I was going by what the YouTube poster wrote. Well, this makes sense, since the Titania segments show Kondaurova...she couldn't dance both roles in one show!

[Natalia]

Here is one Russian review, from Kommersant newspaper, including 6 lovely photos (click on thumbnails near top):

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1953373

Bits of translation, to get the gist:

AWAKENING SHAKESPEARE: Midsummer Night's Dream at the Mariinsky - June 8, 2012 - by Olga Fyodorchenko

[The author attended the opening night premiere and, earlier, saw the 2nd cast in the dress rehearsal. However, she mentioned by name only the dancers mentioned below.]

Titania - Viktoria Terioshkina 1st cast - danced beautifully, with rare ease and 'elegant plastique'; brings out the nuances in the music; undoubtedly "a virtuosa in her prime"! [Reviewer makes no mention of the 2nd-cast Titania, Kondaurova...only of her Hyppolita, later on...]

Oberon - Timur Askerov, 1st cast - "so far, he's more the workman than the artist"; by contrast, 2nd cast Konstantin Zverev "dances more like the nobleman...a thoroughbred in looks and execution."

Mortal Couples ('the three couples' ) - the reviewer mentions only the two dancers essaying Hippolyta: 2nd cast Alexandra Iosifidi is considered more "stately" and powerful; 1st cast Ekaterina Kondaurova is more lyrical..."almost like Odette." While not naming the dancers, the reviewer pointed out that the 'fighting couple' Helena and Demetrius "seem to echo Soviet-style drambalet...like Zakharov's creations."

Act II PDD - none of the dancers named! The reviewer merely states "...there is a long romantic pas de deux for an unnamed couple, in a 16-minute segment."

Butterfly - Svetlana Ivanova was magical, "..like a moth flitting between reality and fiction."

No mention of either Puck. Brief mention of the corps and the Vaganova Academy students' participation.

"In sum...this is a good acquisition, with something for every audience member, from children to casual theater goers to serious ballet-goers, who would especially enjoy the classic Balanchine work in Act II..."

[Paul Parish]

Natalia, I've been looking for more youtube clips of the ballet but don't find anything with Titania in it -- only a few butterfly's uploads, including the Maryinsky curtain, a 4-second clip of the forest scene, and a couple of clips of the wedding march.

If you would PLEASE upload links of anything including Kondaurova, I'd be SO grateful.

The production from photographs, looks sumptuous, and SHE from photographs looks staggeringly beautiful as Titania -- but you can't tell how she moves. from still shots, nor how much wit is present in the pdd with Bottom.

[Helene]

Many thanks for the highlights of the review, Natalia!

[pherank]

Here is one Russian review, from Kommersant newspaper, including 6 lovely photos (click on thumbnails near top):

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1953373

Bits of translation, to get the gist:

AWAKENING SHAKESPEARE: Midsummer Night's Dream at the Mariinsky - June 8, 2012 - by Olga Fyodorchenko

[The author attended the opening night premiere and, earlier, saw the 2nd cast in the dress rehearsal. However, she mentioned by name only the dancers mentioned below.]

Titania - Viktoria Terioshkina 1st cast - danced beautifully, with rare ease and 'elegant plastique'; brings out the nuances in the music; undoubtedly "a virtuosa in her prime"! [Reviewer makes no mention of the 2nd-cast Titania, Kondaurova...only of her Hyppolita, later on...]

Oberon - Timur Askerov, 1st cast - "so far, he's more the workman than the artist"; by contrast, 2nd cast Konstantin Zverev "dances more like the nobleman...a thoroughbred in looks and execution."

Mortal Couples ('the three couples' ) - the reviewer mentions only the two dancers essaying Hippolyta: 2nd cast Alexandra Iosifidi is considered more "stately" and powerful; 1st cast Ekaterina Kondaurova is more lyrical..."almost like Odette." While not naming the dancers, the reviewer pointed out that the 'fighting couple' Helena and Demetrius "seem to echo Soviet-style drambalet...like Zakharov's creations."

Act II PDD - none of the dancers named! The reviewer merely states "...there is a long romantic pas de deux for an unnamed couple, in a 16-minute segment."

Butterfly - Svetlana Ivanova was magical, "..like a moth flitting between reality and fiction."

No mention of either Puck. Brief mention of the corps and the Vaganova Academy students' participation.

"In sum...this is a good acquisition, with something for every audience member, from children to casual theater goers to serious ballet-goers, who would especially enjoy the classic Balanchine work in Act II..."

Natalia, I've been looking for more youtube clips of the ballet but don't find anything with Titania in it -- only a few butterfly's uploads, including the Maryinsky curtain, a 4-second clip of the forest scene, and a couple of clips of the wedding march.

Natalia, Paul - I believe that Ekaterina Kondaurova was made a principal as part of the buildup to this program. It's interesting to me that a Mariinsky dancer could be promoted based on preparation for a Balanchine ballet. That has to be a first for that company. A bit like Marie-Agnes Gillot being promoted to Etoile after dancing Carolyn Carlson's Signes.

RE: Any video clips of the performance - it's very difficult finding unauthorized video of Balanchine ballets, not to mention authorized ones. ;)

[Catherine]

Actually Kondaurova was promoted after a performance of "Swan Lake" in June, not after the Midsummer's performance.

[pherank]

Actually Kondaurova was promoted after a performance of "Swan Lake" in June, not after the Midsummer's performance.

I finally found one of the URLs where I had heard this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SotoZDXkSw4

"Coinciding with Ekaterina Kondaurova's debut as Titania in George Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream, the Mariinsky Theatre website disclosed that Kondaurova has been promoted to principal ballerina status, several hours before her debut in one of Balanchine's rare full length ballets."

It's an interesting statement (and I don't have a way to verify). Of course there are internal promotions, and there are official, publicly announced promotions. And the Russians are good at making all this confusing.