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Kondaurova Promoted to Principal!


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This is quite obviously overdue by several years.

Also, I wonder---does the Mariinsky have a press department? In most other companies, a promotion to principal is big news which merits a press release. Some companies even have a little on-stage ceremony when this happens. At the Mariinsky, the webmaster quietly moves the name from one category to another. Strange.

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Thanks for the lovely photo. They have every reason to smile nowadays!

Someone mentioned next possible promotions. Among the ladies, I would probably give the nod to Olesya Novikova, although her triumphs abroad -- especially in the La Scala Raymonda, as it is a Vikharev recon of Petipa -- may have hurt her chances. I hope not. Among the men, I would love to see this guy get the nod to 1st Soloist, although he performs less and less nowadays:

http://www.mariinsky...cers4/ivanovan/

Andrei Ivanov -- for over 10 years, a 'superstar' of Petersburg ballet in the Jacobson/Choreographic Miniatures troupe, where his main partner was his equal in technical wizardry -- Natalia Bashkirtseva. Ivanov was winner of top prizes in Helsinki, Varna, Kyev (Serge Lifar grand prix). First man to be given the honor to perform Vestris after Baryshnikov. After his transfer to the Mariinsky in '01, won the national-level Golden Mask for his performance in The Overcoat. And he's still a 2nd soloist...not even 1st soloist? Just like another man who 'should have been' -- Yuri Smekalov, for years the star of the Eifman troupe. So let's not forget the guys.

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This is quite obviously overdue by several years.

Also, I wonder---does the Mariinsky have a press department? In most other companies, a promotion to principal is big news which merits a press release. Some companies even have a little on-stage ceremony when this happens. At the Mariinsky, the webmaster quietly moves the name from one category to another. Strange.

It took one week, but the Mariinsky Theatre webmaster has finally gotten around to posting Katya's promotion announcement.

http://www.mariinsky...ws2/15_229june/

The Ballet of this Theatre has been on auto-pilot and "also ran" status behind the Opera, the Orchestra and international guest musicians for years. The slow gait to post Katya's promotion is just one example of where it is on the priority list. Impotant ballet announcements like this are posted by stealth. The Theatre site now looks like it's Maestro Gergiev's personal site or fb page. The consequences are that there doesn't seem to be any equality between the two companies in the Theatre. IMO that 50/50 "balance" has long since dissapeared. If one wants notable ballet news especially re specific company members on this site, one has to get a well lit desk lamp, rubber gloves, tweezers and a microscope to find it. This is true, especially when long overdue promotions, (in this case Kondaurova's), or of other dancers, (who promote at tortoise speed), happen. This includes lower ranked dancers who receive honorary titles or awards. On the other hand, the Head of the Ballet's classe politique trumpets debuts of favorites that he wishes to push - but that's it. At least Katya received a paragraph. That's alot more recognition than a certain Mariinsky alumna who: 1) Participated with great acclaim as one of the guest artists during the recent Mariinsky International Ballet Festival - but wasn't listed among the guest artists; and, 2) Was recently named a Bolshoi Prima Ballerina, but to this day hasn't been granted one syllable on the site acknowledging the fact.

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