Kennedy Center Jan 2015- Rite of Spring and others

[kika]

Saturday matinee in Spectre, Selina and Latypov created a really charming well-expressed bit of theatre. At one point she is in a dreamy trance and he is leading her around, some kind of playful, strangely powerful influence on her, engaging her dream state/unconscious. The Rose seems a tricky role to navigate, and he made it fascinating without being camp or ridiculous. Both danced well, and Latypov appears to be a gifted natural performer. Selina projects well, even when she is in a trance. They were delightful to watch.

The Saturday afternoon Paquita was, overall, the best of the three Paquita performances I had seen, which included Wednesday and Thursday. Yermakov was rather sensational with some brilliant split jumps and a dynamic stage presence. Tkachenko was dynamic in the Pas de Trois, great elevation, and seems like he is eager to do more. Selina and Batoeva? (according to the program) had nice work in their variations. Of the others, Viktoria Brilyova is hard not to notice and it would be interesting to see her in some larger roles, as she moves elegantly and has an attractive, confident presence onstage.

Saturday afternoon the dancers seemed in general fresher and the performances were more satisfying. Paquita was mostly a pleasure this time.

When I first wrote I typed Sunday instead of Saturday. Just corrected it.

[lmspear]

It's only 2:30 pm est. The first intermission is just ending. Where you writing your predictions or about the Sat matinee?

[kika]

I attended Saturday afternoon. Thank you for calling attention to the mistake. Will correct it.

[lmspear]

:-)

[sandik]

Oh my! all those 'Sacre' naysayers would have been right at home in that Paris audience of 1913. For the past month I have been engrossed with the ballet---I am doing a talk on

it in a few weeks. There is a lot more to it than a weary ho-hum

I'd be curious to know what you'll be discussing in your talk (perhaps in another forum -- I think there's one on BA that's specifically about Sacre -- rather than here, where it's about particular performances)

[Amour]

Another thought I missed before is that Asaben (3rd variation in Paquita) kind of reminds me of Tiler Peck in her musicality and attack. I'd love to see her dance Balanchine.

You are talking about Oksana Marchuk, not Asaben! You are right that Oksana is a beautiful Balanchine dancer - I have seen her in Emeralds pdt and also as chief fairy (can't remember exact name of role!) in Midsummer Night's Dream, and she has softness, lightness and speed. Her musicality and use of arms are some of the best in the company in my opinion.

[Amour]

No. I know who Marchuk is (blond, big smile) and she is a lovely dancer. But something about Asaben ( darker hair, green tutu in Paquita) reminds me of NYCB's Tiler Peck.

[nysusan]

I'm on my way home from the Sunday matinee. I enjoyed seeing Sacre, I thought the primitivism of the choreography and the intensity of the Stravinsky score made for a very powerful experience. Not that I'd want to see it 3x in a row, but I'm glad that I saw it. While I would much prefer to see Pavlenko in a tutu role she was a fierce Chosen One, dancing with full commitment and great intensity. And the best part - I saw her when I was leaving the theater at the end of the performance, and was able to tell her how much I enjoyed seeing her dance.

A very last minute announcement made just before the curtain went up for Spectre informed us that Kim was replacing Stepin. This was my first time seeing him, and while I agree that he was not the most evocative spectre, I was till very impressed with him. Tall & lean his jumps were beautiful and high and he really hung in the air. I look forward to seeing him with ABT this spring. Shapran didn't impress me in this the way she did in the Millipied at BAM, but her dancing was lovely.

Kondaurova was magnificent in the Swan, but this has never been one of my favorite pieces.

The program for today's performance was missing Paquita, so thanks to all for providing the casting here - it was the Skorik/Ivenchenko cast with Selina, Bateova and Latypov in the pdt and Ivannikova, Kondaurova, Asaben, Marchuk and Matvienko doing the variations.

This is now the 3rd time I've seen Skorik in a leading role in the past 3 weeks and, I have to say that she is just not my cup of tea. I think she was best in Swan Lake because it allows her to use her extraordinary plastique to full effect, but I found her static and lifeless in Chopinianna and now brittle and perfunctory in Paquita. There were no major technical problems, she travelled a bit during the fouettees but thats no big deal. I just don't see Vaganova epaulment or any perfume in her dancing.

Kondaurova, on the other hand was ravishing in the 2nd variation and, like just about everyone else I was enchanted by Marchuk in the 4th variation. I also really loved the PDT. Selina and Bateova were both great, Selina was especially bright in her variation and Latypov was stunning. He has the most amazing batterie. Between him and Kim the Mariinsky has some wonderful men on the way up. I may just have to travel to see them in California in September.

Sent from my iPad

[Amour]

I'm on my way home from the Sunday matinee.

A very last minute announcement made just before the curtain went up for Spectre informed us that Kim was replacing Stepin. This was my first time seeing him, and while I agree that he was not the most evocative spectre, I was till very impressed with him. Tall & lean his jumps were beautiful and high and he really hung in the air. I look forward to seeing him with ABT this spring

Yes, Kim is so terrific, a real virtuosic dancer. Spectre might not be the best role for him but ABT's Bayadere should be great! I think NYC will love him. I hope Stepin (who was supposed to dance) is ok.

[Amour]

Just for fun, I fished out my DVD "Kirov Classics" to watch Paquita to compare it to what we saw at the Kennedy Center. Filmed around 1990, the Paquita leads are Julia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky. Larissa Lezhnina does the 4th variation and Vinogradov was the AD. Boy, watching this you can see the old Vaganova epaulement has now totally vanished (except maybe in Brileva). Most striking is the use of the head. Back then it was lifted up and back (really pretty far back). Now, seeing that is a rarity. In the PDT, one of the women in the DVD does a series of brise volées. I don't recall seeing that at the Kennedy Center. And Lezhnina is gorgeous in the 4th variation (as always); so much better than Marchuk was at the Kennedy Center. Of course Lezhnina was a principal and Marchuk (who is lovely) is, I believe, a coryphee. Back then, legs are lower, balances a bit less sustained. But seeing this made me feel sad about the current state of the Mariinsky. But of course, NYCB has also changed how it dances radically in 25 years. I guess time moves on, styles change and ballet is a living art. Still, I'm feeling nostalgic.

[Birdsall]

Had to literally run out of Sunday's matinee, get my bag out of coat check, get into a taxi and catch my plane back to Florida, so just now writing a review.

Rite of Spring thoughts:

For the final show yesterday I sat higher up (row 1 second tier) and the sound of the orchestra was so much better. Someone above commented that it was a shame the Mariinsky Orchestra did not come to DC for these shows, because they would have been louder, and I thought the same thing sitting in Orchestra for the other 3 performances, and it is possibly still a correct thought. But yesterday sitting high up the orchestra was so much louder for Rite of Spring which made it a more exciting musical piece. Rite has moments that should be very loud. I know when I used to mainly attend opera I preferred to sit higher up because you could gauge how well a singer's voice filled the auditorium. Orchestra seating is notoriously bad in some theatres for sound and the Kennedy Center Opera House seems to have muffled sound while sitting in orchestra. So opera lovers out there, DO NOT SIT IN ORCHESTRA at the Kennedy Center judging from my experience this weekend. For ballet orchestra is good to see faces, etc.

Sitting high up I could see that the floor was indeed green (with maybe a few other colors mixed in) so Natalia was correct about them using the entire sets. I do love the colorful sets and costumes of Rite.

After yesterday's show I advise people to sit high up for Rite if possible also whenever they see it, because I was able to see patterns in the choreography that I never caught from the other three performances of this run or from the commercial video of this. There are some interesting things, but I still view this as "modern dance" and not really ballet (my own personal opinion; others can disagree). I know this is considered an "important" work in the history of ballet and of music, and I do enjoy the music (as a great example of 20th century music), and I guess it is fascinating to see it as a ballet to some extent. I think seeing it 4 times in a row almost killed me though! LOL I don't think I ever need to see it again! I actually enjoyed seeing it live the first night (Friday) and thought throughout, "Oh, I don't remember that from the video...." so it kept me interested, but the second and third times felt like an eternity but then the final time seeing the patterns made it more interesting.

To me Rite of Spring is like eating your spinach that you mother tells you to (actually I like spinach as an adult). But it wears me out! I even said this after one of the Rites, "That ballet wears me out!" and two people walking past me laughed out loud.

I agree that Pavlenko was the best Chosen One. She even seemed ultra committed during curtain calls staying in character with turned in feet. I have to hand it to her that she gave her all.

Petushkova can be excellent in some things, so do not dismiss her for future roles. Her Indian Dance in Bayadere last summer knocked my socks off! So even though her Chosen One at other performances were weaker than Pavlenko, don't avoid her. She can be great in the right role.

Le Spectre de la Rose

Out of the two Girls I saw I preferred Yana Selina. She had the flowing arms I associate with Mariinsky dancers. I thought Shapran was good at times, but there is less flow there and I wonder if her time at the Stanislavsky (Moscow style seems to want less flowing arms) changed her style. Just a wild guess. I don't dislike Shapran at all. I just felt like Selina had the stereotypical Vaganova/Mariinsky style. Selina also kept her eyes closed, although Shapran did too at yesterday's performance, so maybe she simply needs more performances. To my disappointment Stepin was replaced by Kim yesterday as the Rose (I had already seen Kim). Kim impresses with his leaps but I was wanting to see how Stepin would do in this Rose role to compare. Latypov was the best Rose (for style) at the Saturday matinee although his final leap out of the window was not as impressive as Kim's leaps. As said above, Kim does have the ability to look as though he is hanging in air for a split second.

Dying Swan

Yesterday was Kondaurova again and overall she was the best of the 3 Dying Swans I saw (Kondaurova, Shapran, and Skorik). Despite minor mistakes each performance (during Paquita when she did a variation and even as the lead one day) Kondaurova has a way of carrying herself and moving that beat out the other two, in my personal opinion. To clarify, she did not make mistakes in her two Dying Swans....it was always during Paquita. I know this is a picky detail but her back bend (when the swan bends backwards with chest in the air) was the most amazing. Shapran stayed up not even really attempting the famous pose, although maybe the back bend is a modern add-on. Does anyone know? Maybe Shapran did it traditionally.

Paquita Grand Pas

Yesterday was Skorik and Ivanchenko again, and I have to honestly say that Skorik did the best fouettes out of the three leads I saw (Skorik, Kondaurova, and Matvienko). I am pretty sure she threw in triples. Can anyone confirm this? So technically she is world's apart from when we were first noticing her. She also seems to have much more confidence on stage judging from her demeanor. My only hope now is that the confidence will enable her to start to create a "perfume" or regal/noble carriage that many of the corps girls already know how to present in the smallest roles or in corps dancing.

Ivanchenko is Ivanchenko. He is a solid partner and nice arms for a male. Nice lines. But you almost want to fall asleep. I have always wanted to like him but there is something so ho hum about his dancing. In contrast, the best male of this weekend was Andrei Yermakov (or Ermakov depending). In his turns the way he moved his arms and hands were so beautiful. I think Yermakov and Latypov were the stand outs at the Kennedy Center at the shows I saw. And that is unusual because normally I fixate on the ballerinas.

RUN to see Yermakov!!!! He is amazing! He has gorgeous port de bras for a male coupled with dynamic acrobratics!

Among the soloists in the grand pass... I thought they all did well all nights. Ivannikova messed up the Italian fouettes one of the nights, but the other shows she was terrific, and yesterday the audience roared after her Italian fouettes. Kondaurova's style was at her best in the 2nd variation (and Shapran at other shows was good too) even with a fall off pointe (Kondaurova, not Shapran). I suspect Kondaurova is going through some kind of injury b/c she keeps having slight tiny mishaps which was not the case in years past. Asaben was nice in the Amor variation. Marchuk lights up the stage with her smile and cute, delicate personality in the 4th variation. I think she would be a delightful Masha. Matvienko was great in the grand jetes variation.

Yesterday it was a treat to see Latypov again in the pas de trois with Batoeva and Selina. All three were wonderful!

Overall when casting was announced I felt it was B casting and B repetoire, but overall it was very enjoyable! Glad I went!

[canbelto]

Here is probably the earliest extant video of Dying Swan. You can see the majestic back bend. I think it was part of the original choreography.

[maps]

Marchuk and Brileva have uniquely beautiful stage presence as does another dancer not identified in Paquita [first onstage in the second group of 4 in brown]. After about a minute of googling, I believe she's Margarita Frolova.

Shklyarov had the aura of Baryshnikov but Baryshnikov's Rose costume [less petals and no floral bathing cap] is preferable.

I hope the lighting was adjusted from Tuesday so the Swan was seen adequately from all seats. Skorik's Pacquita was exquisite and intense. Kondaurova was ravishing, golden. Matvienko was flamboyant and high energy. Lopatkina had elements of all the others. I am so happy the Mariinsky was here this week.

[Birdsall]

Thanks, Canbelto. That is nice to compare and contrast. It seems as though the back bends are slightly different in that video although still far back. Kondaurova and Skorik and other Mariinsky dancers do the back bend like in the third act of Swan Lake where they come down to the floor and then move the one leg back behind them and then bend all the way backwards. I think Tereshkina often looks like she is folding herself in half like a suitcase when she does this in Swan Lake. I believe Lopatkina does this also in the Dying Swan but not quite as deep. Kondaurova did it deeply. Shapran seemed to just put her arms behind her and maybe tilt back an inch if even that. Skorik did a deep back bend too.

[Birdsall]

By the way, what in the world is going on with ushers in America nowadays???? A young boy a couple of seats in from me was taking a selfie of himself and the Kennedy Center auditorium (and I was too), and the usher came over and chastised us. I asked her why we couldn't take pics of ourselves before the show started since it should disturb nobody and she said it is not allowed to take pics inside the auditorium. I told her I understood why that rule is in place for DURING the performance but not before and told her everyone is snapping photos of themselves at the Mariinsky Theatre before the show (and many take pics during the show at the Mariinsky) and it is much more beautiful and needs more protecting from bulbs flashing, but they allow selfies and pictures there all the time. She told me, "That is Russia!"

I also snapped a shot of the NYCB theatre when I was in NY last and an usher rushed over and chastised me. It was 30 minutes before the show was starting. So I wasn't disrupting a performances or bothering performers and I did not use flash (and I didn't use flash at the Kennedy Center either).

I read on here that someone was taking pics with her friends during an intermission at the Met, and an usher chastised her.

I find it really ridiculous that these ushers are stopping people from taking pictures of themselves at very plain 1970s theatres while gorgeous theatres like the Mariinsky allow it. The Kennedy Center, the Met, and David Koch Theatres are actually sort of ugly compared to European theatres, so they should be complimented anyone wants to take their pictures there!!!

Does anyone know the rationale behind not allowing pics BEFORE the show begins? I find it ludicrous, and I must have taught in public schools too long, because I came close to turning into a student and saying, "Nobody really wants a pic of your ol' stank theatre! Get out of my face!" LOL (it's a joke!!!!)

[canbelto]

Lopatkina seems to do it the "Pavlova" way. I actually thought the back bend you were talking about was when the Swan's back faces the audience and she drops her arms and back, at 1:07 in that video.

Anyway here's Lopatkina's and she seems to do the whole variation very similar to Anna Pavlova:

[Birdsall]

The moment I was talking about was about 2:27minutes and I guess Lopatkina stays fairly upright. I thought I saw another video of her going all the way back. So maybe Shapran was doing it the "traditional" way.

[Birdsall]

maps, I think the lighting must have been adjusted, b/c I saw the Dying Swans easily in all 4 shows I saw. I mean, it was dark, but you could see the dancer without any problem.

[lmspear]

I think your question should be directed at the house management. Ushers have no power or discretion in setting policies for audience behavior. They are on the bottom of the totem pole.

[nysusan]

There was a cable TV documentary maybe 15 years ago called "Fighting over Fokine" where his granddaughter Isabelle Fokine staged The Swan and Polovtsian Dances and maybe also Scheherazade for the (then) Kirov from Fokine's notes and other materials in his archive. There was a "bible" for The Swan which included Fokines's wife in photographs of each pose. She asserted that all current versions, including Lopatkina's were "improvisations" that had little to do with the original. She also maintained that Markova's version was not the original, although I don't recall whether she said anything about Pavlova's, though she did say that Diaghalev changed Fokine's ballets during his lifetime, to which he objected.

I recall that there was a lot of opposition from the Kirov dancers to changing steps that they considered traditional and eventually she taught Yulia Makhalina the original version, which was contrasted with Lopatkina's. I found this video of Makhalina in the Swan from 2013. It doesn't state which version it is, but it sure isn't the Lopatkina version!

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIWBw89UfXMArfr7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWc0dGJtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMQ--?p=yulia+makhalina+dying+swan&vid=2e745afa08bade5154d297e4120a21c9&l=2%3A53&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608006505860501025%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcX_JkJUWg6Y&tit=The+Dying+Swan+-+Yulia+Makhalina&c=0&sigr=11bjhstt3&sigt=110nbo6jo&sigi=11rrv0vcv&age=1377313955&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&tt=b

[FauxPas]

Salmon-pink tutus: Androsova & ???????

Do you know if Androsova is blond? We've been seeing this one blond corps girl for AGES. She's even in the SL Blu-Ray with Lopatkina (and I think that dates from 2006). And I'm not thinking of Marchuk, I know who she is. Plus, again I will stress how brilliant Brileva is. She dances like a previous generation of Vaganova dancers: the epaulement, long neck , slightly tilted back head, the perfect arms. I hope she will be promoted but,sigh, Fateyev doesn't like Vaganova:(

Here is Androsova: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_women/androsova1/

She is blonde with a heart-shaped face and strong pointed chin. The picture on the Maryinsky site makes her look uncharacteristically dumpy and mature. She is neither in person - piquant and tiny.

You know how in every company there is one ballerina in the corps who you always notice and look for? For me it is Androsova - she joined the company in 1996 after training in Perm, so she is a veteran.

[sandik]

Perhaps a company will change Sacre to "based on Nijinsky" retaining the costumes, backdrops, patterns. Sat eve Sacre was more high energy from the corps than the others I saw this week. A fellow who has seen the Joffrey perform Sacre several times said it's even more high energy than the Sat evening performance.

There are almost as many different works choreographed to this score as there are Nutcrackers, and many of them give some kind of recognition to the Nijinsky/Roerich production. I've seen a few that I didn't think really worked, but most of them have had something truly thrilling about them.

After yesterday's show I advise people to sit high up for Rite if possible also whenever they see it, because I was able to see patterns in the choreography that I never caught from the other three performances of this run or from the commercial video of this.

...

To me Rite of Spring is like eating your spinach that you mother tells you to (actually I like spinach as an adult). But it wears me out! I even said this after one of the Rites, "That ballet wears me out!" and two people walking past me laughed out loud.

I'm so glad you got a good look at the floor patterns -- as I understand it, they had great significance to Nijinsky. (I haven't spent a great deal of time with his diaries, but he included geometric drawings that are related to his choreography for Sacre) And though I've always thought of Sacre as a pleasure rather than as a chore, as another spinach eater, I smiled at your analogy!

[Amour]

Here is Androsova: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_women/androsova1/

She is blonde with a heart-shaped face and strong pointed chin. The picture on the Maryinsky site makes her look uncharacteristically dumpy and mature. She is neither in person - piquant and tiny.

You know how in every company there is one ballerina in the corps who you always notice and look for? For me it is Androsova - she joined the company in 1996 after training in Perm, so she is a veteran.

Yes, thank you. That's exactly who I was talking about. She's had a really long career for a corps dancer. In the U.S. I think the longest career a corps dancer can have is 10-12 years. Then they are either expected to leave or do so voluntarily.

[mussel]

By the way, what in the world is going on with ushers in America nowadays???? A young boy a couple of seats in from me was taking a selfie of himself and the Kennedy Center auditorium (and I was too), and the usher came over and chastised us. I asked her why we couldn't take pics of ourselves before the show started since it should disturb nobody and she said it is not allowed to take pics inside the auditorium. I told her I understood why that rule is in place for DURING the performance but not before and told her everyone is snapping photos of themselves at the Mariinsky Theatre before the show (and many take pics during the show at the Mariinsky) and it is much more beautiful and needs more protecting from bulbs flashing, but they allow selfies and pictures there all the time. She told me, "That is Russia!"

I also snapped a shot of the NYCB theatre when I was in NY last and an usher rushed over and chastised me. It was 30 minutes before the show was starting. So I wasn't disrupting a performances or bothering performers and I did not use flash (and I didn't use flash at the Kennedy Center either).

I read on here that someone was taking pics with her friends during an intermission at the Met, and an usher chastised her.

I find it really ridiculous that these ushers are stopping people from taking pictures of themselves at very plain 1970s theatres while gorgeous theatres like the Mariinsky allow it. The Kennedy Center, the Met, and David Koch Theatres are actually sort of ugly compared to European theatres, so they should be complimented anyone wants to take their pictures there!!!

Does anyone know the rationale behind not allowing pics BEFORE the show begins? I find it ludicrous, and I must have taught in public schools too long, because I came close to turning into a student and saying, "Nobody really wants a pic of your ol' stank theatre! Get out of my face!" LOL (it's a joke!!!!)

I couldn't agree more with your sentiment. It's free word-of-month marketing when people posting pictures of themselves having a good time at a theater. Theaters want to attract young audience yet they have this outdated policy that chases away young audience. ROH has a very sensible policy that pictures are allowed as long as it's not during performance. Most Met ushers don't enforce no-picture policy during curtain calls, you can see sea of LED screens lighting up in the orchestra during curtain calls. What's MT's policy regarding pictures?

NYT review of DC reps: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/arts/dance/mariinsky-ballet-performs-at-the-kennedy-center-opera-house.html?ref=dance

[Birdsall]

The Mariinsky ushers tend to stay outside in the lobby, so they do not see the phones, and it was a shock the first time I went, b/c people whip out their phones and iPads and snap photos during the performance and even take short videos totally out in the open. I guess the majority are not doing this, but a lot of people do it compared to American audiences, and that is probably because the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg is like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Russians from all over want to have a memory and also all the foreign tourists. So people are snapping away before the performance, during intermissions and during curtain calls. Almost everyone. And as I said there are a few people doing it during the actual performances as well. It is not uncommon to see someone hold up an iPad and snap a picture during a performance far away from you. I have learned to tune this out for the most part, b/c you can't fight City Hall, and what is going on up on the stage is usually so wonderful that I can tune everything else out. But people here on BA should be aware. Don't expect it to be like the Kennedy Center! You will see cameras before during and after the performances snapping away!