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The Bolshoi under Vaziev


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I saw Tchapkina today as "Prayer" in Coppélia and I didn't see anything criminal, actually I quite liked her. She is very distinctive. Shrainer's Swanilda was, by the way, excellent, and Shrainer — radiant, light, artistic. Swanilda and Sylphide are her best parts so far, she is developing into a lovely artiste. There was a prolonged ovation in the third act after she completed a series of variations. Nonsense about the death of Bolchoï makes me laugh. It's the exact opposite. I experienced four days of joy, night after night, observing happy dancers who are still able to dance what is, actually, ballet. Maybe the last place on the planet where you can witness it. So refreshing, compared to every company in the West I know.

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REMINDER : COPPELIA WEBCAST COMING UP SUNDAY 10 JUNE !  The live cinecast of tomorrow's Coppelia will (should) also be livestreamed on the Bolshoy website under the videos tab http://media.bolshoi.ru/login   (at upper right corner of home page) and maybe also on the Bolshoy YT page from 6 pm Moscow time (3 pm GMT). This livestream is usually georestricted to RF but can be received via VPN. Then it will be in archive under same tab from ca. 2 hours after performance ends till ca. 4 pm Moscow time on Monday - on last couple of occasions this was free-to-web. Casting info https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/3333/roles/#20180610180000

Edited by mnacenani
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22 hours ago, Laurent said:

Nonsense about the death of Bolchoï makes me laugh. It's the exact opposite. I experienced four days of joy, night after night, observing happy dancers who are still able to dance what is, actually, ballet. Maybe the last place on the planet where you can witness it. So refreshing, compared to every company in the West I know.

Good to know there are two of us on this forum !  :D

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After returning from Moscow and answering a colleague asking about my impressions regarding the current state of Bolchoï, I found myself saying: don't be surprised if Shrainer is a better dancer than Smirnova, more naturally gifted, more harmonious, possessing a natural feeling for movement, something that Smirnova lacks, and this is, after all, among the most important qualities for a dancer. In her Coppélia two days ago, Shrainer demonstrated that she was making a real progress with her technique. We will see whether she is able to repeat her Friday success in the broadcast today. And, last but not least, she isn't plagued by those broken, angular lines that Smirnova has never been able to eradicate, in spite of all her efforts, and her pedagogues at the Vaganova Academy and later at Bolchoï.

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Margarita Shrayner was certainly a wonderful Sylphide - mercurial and vivacious, with light, high jumps and so very expressive.   She has lovely stage presence.  It is strange that, with so many solo and principal roles now, she is not at least at soloist level.  

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We could never know what's on her mind, but judging by her continuing committment to quality performances and the relentless work she is putting into her roles, I believe that she has no plans to slow down. Not saying it is not going to be an uphill battle, because the administration's youth focus is apparent.

The exotic locations could be reflective of a work hard, play hard lifestyle.

Edited by Fleurdelis
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On 6/11/2018 at 2:44 PM, Quinten said:

That's good to hear, that her position is secure.  But does she want to stay on? She posts so many photos of herself relaxing in exotic destinations that I thought she might have had enough of the Bolshoi life.  

She certainly can afford expensive escapades to exotic destinations and her position at Bolshoi is more than "secure", it actually shows signs of acceleration after she married a friend of Putin: despite her age (she turns 39 this year), she is now getting debuts in big roles she never before was seen as suitable to dance.

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Admin speaking:

Anything that can't be substantiated by an official source will be removed, including insider information. If you have an official source, cite it.  It needn't follow the citation rules for a dissertation, but it's not our job to hunt down whether there is public-facing official information: it's yours to post where you got it.

The only people who can post without official news have "Editorial Advisor" and/or "Board Founder" under their names.  And as most people who've been around for a short time have observed, they almost never do.

 

 

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I don't see any evidence that Shipulina started getting major debuts only after associating herself with "a friend of Putin". A quick stroll down her biography on the Bolshoi's website tells us that she debuted as Gamzatti at 22 in 2001, Odile-Odette at 23 in 2002, Classical Dancer from Bright Stream in 2003, Kitri and Aegina from Spartacus at 25 in 2004, Cinderella at 27 in 2006. She married Matsuev around 2006 according to the article at the below link (in Russian only, sorry). The lead debuts she got since then were Mehmene Banu in 2007, Medora in 2009, Fleur de Lys in 2011, Marchesa from Marco Spada and Giselle in 2013, and Carmen in 2018. Hardly looks like acceleration. Filin promoted her to prima in 2011 upon becoming artistic director, it was a well deserved promotion, but she was already 32, once again, hardly an acceleration, as most other Bolshoi primas achieved that rank while in their 20s.

http://ego-zhena.ru/blog/denis_macuev_zhena/2016-12-26-159

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For years Shipulina was considered as the second rank dancer. Her career took up after she married a man closely associated with Gergiev and soon, close to Putin himself. She got promoted to Principal for no particular reason, being one of the most uninspiring dancers I have seen, she got the highest distinction in Arts without dancing a single outstanding big role, now, nearly 39, she is getting two big debuts, one of which I had a chance to observe in detail, she is dancing now whatever and whenever she likes.

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Shipulina was the only Bolshoi dancer to dance Balanchine idiomatically in the "Jewels" DVD.  And after doing almost a full run of Medoras single-handledly after the others dropped out, matinees and evenings back-to-back in an exhausting tour in DC after the others had to drop out, I don't dismiss her that easily, husband or no husband.  I've seen far more uninspiring Bolshoi dancers, and she carries her own weight, like countless dancers in the Mariinsky and Bolshoi who also married influential men.

 

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That's right. It doesn't matter whether he is a pianist, good or bad, whether Gergiev is a conductor, good or bad. It matters that both are "friends of Putin". In the case of Gergiev it has direct consequences for the ballet community in Petersbourg at large, and for the community of ballet scholars and choreographers throughout the world (Gergiev obstinately refuses access to the Musical Library, over which he has total  control, and which is a repository of nearly all essential materials relating to the history of Imperial Ballet, the situation is grotesquely lamentable).

Edited by Laurent
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13 hours ago, Laurent said:

Gergiev obstinately refuses access to the Musical Library, over which he has total  control, and which is a repository of nearly all essential materials relating to the history of Imperial Ballet, the situation is grotesquely lamentable).

Why?  And how do you know this?  Is it in the public domain?

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