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1 hour ago, MadameP said:

Apparently there is so much that can be considered "politically incorrect" or offensive these days,  to the extent that many think  it should not be seen on stage, that very soon there will be little left to see .

 

If you mean in the West, then you're probably right :D. No such issues is Russia ..... I love it there !

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2 hours ago, Quinten said:

Uh....Nureyev? :angel_not:

 

I personally am still hoping it will get the axe when the date approaches. I would like to

see state-funded Balshoy preserve and carry on the classics to the next generation, not

put on "contemporary" rubbish loads of which are available in London and Paris. I don't

hear Strapless being talked about in Moscow and hope Nureyev will go the same way.

No problem if "brilliant ideas" like Nureyev are staged in experimental or avant-garde

theatre ! :devil:

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On 10/14/2017 at 2:05 PM, Mashinka said:

If so I'm disgusted that the Bolshoi used London as a try-out, the company gave us a number of sub standard performances last year including Smirnova's below par Kitri on opening night, but Stapanova's dreary mistake ridden Medora was the absolute nadir. 

 

(Between you and me, so as not to enrage our Stipanova fans)  She also couldn't do the fouetté properly

at her Medora debut at the Balshoy this year !  And much as I admire Smirnova I can't visualise her as Kitri,

somehow doesn't fit.

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4 minutes ago, Quinten said:

I like Zakharova in the role because she excels at both adagio and allegro

 

Corsaire not being my top ballet, I would still dearly like to see Zaharova and Krysanova consecutively as

Medora some day, hopefully on same day at matinee and evening, which is possible once in a blue moon

at the Balshoy when the stars match up. I am not too analytical re technique, for me the "drama", the cha-

racterisation is most important : whether the dancer is the character or trying to pass him/herself as the

character. Last week Stipanova did not make me feel she was Medora, was too hesitant, but Krysanova did.

 

Technique wise Zaharova is my most beloved dancer but she is not my top eg Giselle in Russia. All this is quite

subjective and personal anyway - as I tried to reason in an earlier post we all maybe seeing what we want or

would like to see.

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My impressions from the broadcast are virtually the same as Quinten's. Krysanova was highly confident and competent, especially in the last act, where she effortlessly wove her dance steps together with vibrant, lighthearted comedic acting. But as Medora she lacked that special type of feminine beauty and charm that can make one believe that all these male characters would go crazy over her, the irresistible appeal that Julie Kent or Svetlana Zakharova possessed in that role, or someone like Olga Smirnova could have brought to the character. I am surprised that people did not find Stepanova as convincing a Medora, I thought she would fit the role pretty well, but I never saw her, so cannot tell.

 

I was really disappointed by the odalisques. Turazashvili was totally out of synch with every single musical accent, Ibraimova displayed a ton of sloppy, unsightly movements and poses, and only Zhiganshina won me over with her radiant countenance, though I feel that doing lengthy preparations before her pirouettes was not really how that piece should have been danced as they were breaking the continuity of the sequence of movements.

 

Very pleasantly impressed by Artem Belyakov: such elegance, composure, nobility!

 

Overall, despite the claims to authenticity, I could not help but being jarred by some pretty ugly movements that popped here and there in the choreography, something I do not normally notice in tried and true Petipa classics such as Swan Lake or La Bayadere. I get the feeling this is a lot more Burlaka-Ratmansky than genuine Petipa.

 

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6 hours ago, mnacenani said:

 

Fouetté was fine at this performance, no issue here.

 

The fouettés at "Stipanova's Balshoy debut" were fine too, done at a very fast speed, with a little travel sideway, but totally acceptable by all standards, your information is inaccurate, mildly speaking. That performance you admitted you did not see. I did. It was terrific, the best "Corsaire" since Asylmuratova, perhaps.

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7 hours ago, Fleurdelis said:

Very pleasantly impressed by Artem Belyakov: such elegance, composure, nobility!

 

Have you seen Belyakov as the "Evil Genius" ?? If you haven't you probably would find

it hard to believe it was the same person if you somehow missed the casting for role.

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4 hours ago, Laurent said:

That performance you admitted you did not see

 

That's true but I reported what a diehard Stipanova fan mailed me after that performance.

I fully support admin policy that hearsay should not be posted and will take care going forward.

And to make up for my indiscretion I will now try to get the video from a source and come back

to this issue after I have seen it.

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On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 9:54 AM, yudi said:

 

Sorry for confusing you. I didn’t mean that. :unsure:

 

As discussed in this forum the casting of Medora, the first option is Smirnova, then second Krysanova. And you mentioned Stepanova, so I thought the final choice of Medora(dancer) may get input from the choreographer Ratmansky.

 

 

The choreographers of course have a deciding say in casting. These "Corsaire" casting changes have nothing to do with this, however. Stepanova and Rodkin were the first choice (her debut in April was magnificent) but Rodkin couldn't dance, while Stepanova danced it only twice, both times with him. Medora's part in Burlaka/Ratmansky's production is extremely challenging, Smirnova for example decided it was too much for her to prepare it on a short notice, hence withdrew, and we've got Krysanova and Tsvirko. Krysanova, an excellent dancer, fast, acrobatic tricks, etc, and, compared to, for example, Stepanova, she is very, very experienced. Unfortunately her dance is often mechanical, dry, lacking nuance, no singing lines, and, like in the broadcast -- not filled with meaning. All of this was very noticeable in the broadcast.

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18 hours ago, Laurent said:

 

The choreographers of course have a deciding say in casting. These "Corsaire" casting changes have nothing to do with this, however. Stepanova and Rodkin were the first choice (her debut in April was magnificent) but Rodkin couldn't dance, while Stepanova danced it only twice, both times with him. Medora's part in Burlaka/Ratmansky's production is extremely challenging, Smirnova for example decided it was too much for her to prepare it on a short notice, hence withdrew, and we've got Krysanova and Tsvirko. Krysanova, an excellent dancer, fast, acrobatic tricks, etc, and, compared to, for example, Stepanova, she is very, very experienced. Unfortunately her dance is often mechanical, dry, lacking nuance, no singing lines, and, like in the broadcast -- not filled with meaning. All of this was very noticeable in the broadcast.

 

 

Moreover, I have seen Krysanova dancing live in Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Spartacus, Etudes, The Bright Stream, Carmen Suite, Giselle, Jewels, La Sylphide, The Flames of Paris. But, I have never got the impression that she is "mechanical, dry, lacking nuance, no singing lines, and, like in the broadcast -- not filled with meaning."

 

I think her performances are always with clear musical rhythm, full of inspiration. Her classical ballet technique is super.  Although she is not that LADY-type of beauty, her body language can completely express the theatrical idea and sensibility of traditional and modern ballets. She is very beautiful on ballet stage.

 

BTW, when I select a seat to watch ballet in a theater, I like to have one in front raw on the 2nd or 3rd floor, the view angle is between +/-60° from the center line. Maybe, you like to take a seat and watch differently? :P

 

If Radmansky did choose Krysanova to dance as Medora, I could totally understand that. Krysanova is one of the best Radmansky dancers in the world, no doubt.

 

Plus, I saw Stepanova dancing live in Etudes. She was hesitant and unsure, made some obvious missteps in fouette turns and the trio with Chino and Tissi, which cannot convince me that Stepanova could be a better Medora than Krysanova was.

 

 

 

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mnacenani,

      Every great artist ends up getting very divided opinions, because everyone's tastes are different. I spent years following opera, before I started following ballet, and all the great singers have their fans and their detractors. Maria Callas divided people and she still does due to her importance in opera history (so people continue to listen to learn why she is so great). Her artistry changed opera for good but people who want beautiful singing are dumbfounded by her squally high notes and wobbles (although her early 50s bootlegs show beauty). Her voice acting will probably never be improved upon in any of her famous roles like Norma and Violetta. In complete contrast, the amazing technical Dame Joan Sutherland has always been criticized for her mushy diction and poor acting. However, I don't think anyone sings coloratura the way she does in this day and age with such roundness of tone and absolutely no sound of strain. Today we have Radvanovsky, and I am flabbergasted at anyone finding that voice beautiful or finding her adequate in the role of Norma. But I am outnumbered by her many fans. Personally, I think Bellini is rolling over in his grave.

      My point is that all great artists divide people's opinions. Mediocre singers or dancers tend to not get anyone arguing or excited enough to argue. But the singers and dancers who stand out as unique always divide people and create vehement reactions.

      My love of Stepanova's dancing comes from the way she uses her upper body and arms and her natural acting. I hate stiff upper bodies and arms. I do not judge dancers by the pony tricks like fouettes because even the best can have a bad night and the worst can master a technical feat. To bring it back to opera, Radvanovsky can sing a great high note or pianissimo (she can do the "wow" technical feats) but it is the overall artistry that I do not like in her singing. I find Radvanovsky's acting laughable and the actual sound of her voice annoying.

      So that is why.

    

     

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[Admin beanie on]

 

We are not a fan board or a scoreboard.  We are not a chat board or the lobby.  If you want to chat, use PM.

 

Post what you think, not about what others think.  

 

If you need to point out a factual error, that's fine.

 

And all casting changes need official sources, like dancer X decided not to do the role reported in the press/on Dancer A's public facing Instagram/in an interview.

 

[Admin beanie off]

 

 

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17 hours ago, yudi said:

Plus, I saw Stepanova dancing live in Etudes. She was hesitant and unsure, made some obvious missteps in fouette turns and the trio with Chino and Tissi, which cannot convince me that Stepanova could be a better Medora than Krysanova was.

 

Not true. Neither hesitant nor unsure. I saw that performance too. Mark Chino, a boy straight out of school, this was his first month at Bolshoi, and a last minute replacement at that, after a single rehearsal with her partner with his hands literally trembling when touching her. The situation was saved by her. Partnering by Tissi was fine even though it was their first duet together. The long Adagio was pure, unmatched lyricism of the most Romantic style. Nobody can dance like that.

 

Ballet is not a circus, is not a sport competition, even though some novices mistake it for one or another, imagining themselves, by the way, to be the verdict passing jurors. An occasional misstep doesn’t make a master artist a lesser artist, or a lesser master of dance. Similarly, a never erring machine is not automatically a great artist, or even a great dancer, she may be little more than a fast moving, high jumping dancing machine.  Classical dance has many dimensions, and the most ethereal and sophisticated ones are the domain of a very select group of dancers.

 

A principal deserving of such a distinction doesn't need to be technically the strongest. In the same company there can be equally strong or stronger soloists or demi-soloists. Listen to what Natalia Makarova has to say on this subject in her "Ballerina" BBC documentaries, a veritable Bible for an aspiring ballerina, and for an aspiring balletomane as well.

 

A great, even a supreme artist, may have a serious difficulty with or feel panic faced with the fouettés, to the point of being completely unable to do them. This is the reason why we rarely or never see some of them doing the fouettès. I would like to point this out to the person who has been pedaling this issue for a month in multiple threads, in countless posts, as if it was a decisive moment on which a ballerina stands or falls.  Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, and a few supreme ballerinas still alive, obviously must be deserving the damning verdict "fail" (the ballerina who has been a constant object of her inquisitive mind, by the way, has no difficulty with fouettés at all and, while not a fouettés machine, does them at ease while many don't, I saw her fouettés a dozen of times, all in grand spectacles).

 

Ludmila Pagliero in her three Swan Lakes last December in Paris was short on the number of prescribed fouettés. A mortal sin, I suppose, for a novice, except that it is irrelevant. Pagliero is a supreme artist, currently by far the best ballerina at the Opéra de Paris, and one of the very-very few in the World.  Her performances were artistically absolutely exceptional. They stand at the very top of 25 Swan Lakes I saw last year, all danced by the principals of the leading companies (along with the November Bolshoi debut by Stepanova, artistically the most moving Swan Lake I saw since I can remember). So, if ballet is still counted as Art and not a form of competitive gymnastics, it doesn't matter if an artist occasionally missteps, it counts if she can uplift us with the ethereal qualities of her dance, if she is capable of filling stage with Light, if she can charm us with her soul.

 

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Perceptions are neither true not untrue.  One person's secure is another's shaky. 

 

Facts are "She didn't dance that performance." "X is listed as the choreographer, but in an interview with Y that Z took over." "Her Facebook lists her as a soloist in company A."

 

 

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At a gala performance all sorts of liberties are allowed that would be a no-no in a formal performance. Asylmuratova, of course, lost stability here, probably a result of insufficient concentration before entering the stage, this is why she "finishes" her fouettés in the wings. it is notoriously difficult to concentrate in the coulisses during many gala performances, the weariness due to travel, the unfamiliar stage, off-season timing, lack of space and time for proper preparation before going on stage, etc, are all the contributing factors. Some "international ballerinas" like Yana Salenko or Maria Kochetkova know how to cope with that, gala performances around the World are a part of their job, after all, others, without a similar experience, don't.

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9 hours ago, Quinten said:

[...] Then comes Romeo and Juliet in January and probably more Krysanova (she was first cast and got 2 of the 5 Moscow performances) even though many of us outside her rabid Moscow fan base would really prefer to see Obraztsova in the role.   It's shaping up to be a Krysanova year for Bolshoi in Cinema, don't you think?  Le Corsaire, Shrew, Romeo & Juliet (probably), Flames (probably) and Coppelia (possibly, although we can still hope and pray for Kovyaleva or even Sevenard!) That would mean 4 out of 4 of the live transmissions and 1 of the 4 rebroadcasts could feature Krysanova for a total of 5 out of 8 (the remainder starring Zakarova (twice) and Nikulina (once))!  I really don't enjoy it when Bolshoi features the same ballerina for a whole year -- got really tired of constantly seeing Zakarhova a couple of years ago, then too much Smirnova and now I'm plenty tired of seeing Krysanova.  They have eight wonderful and capable primas and I'd like to see them all at the movies, especially the neglected ones.  Anybody know how to do a write-in campaign to Bolshoi? :lol:

Krysanova's fan base doesn't strike me as any more "rabid" than the fan base of any other major Russian ballerina. (I must admit I'm not crazy about the word "rabid" here since I'm a fan of several ballerinas myself. Let's say we're passionate!)

I, too, though would love to see a range of ballerinas in these broadcasts--though from my perspective, when it comes to Coppelia much better to keep Kovalyeva or Sevenard to solo roles (Dawn, Prayer, Spinner) if they must be cast in featured roles at all. I can't say I want to see either of them as Swanilda at this point--nor do I think it's necessarily to their career benefit to have their earliest efforts at any role on endless youtube loops in the coming years which is likely what would happen if they were to be cast in one of the broadcasts.

The Vikharev Coppelia is wonderful! There are not italics or exclamation points enough to express how much I loved it when I saw it on tour in London. If I can fantasize myself in charge of Bolshoi casting for Swanilda, then what about Kaptsova who has danced it in the past and, from what I can judge from video, is ideally suited? Probably won't happen since she is now only on contract with the Bolshoi, but I would be happy to see her in the role. 

In London I saw Stashkevich (as well as no-longer-with-Bolshoi Osipova).   Stashkevich was very good and likely would be better now, so I'd be comfortable with her as well though she is not a principal [Quinten and Mnacenani corrected me below: she is].   From among the company principals and, by the by, also from among their Vaganova alums, I wouldn't mind seeing Obraztsova take on Swanilda either: I think she could be terrific.  And though she might be new to the role, she is a very experienced ballerina in a wide range of roles. Well, we will see...

Edited by Drew
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5 hours ago, mnacenani said:

Looked for a possible webcast (via VPN) today in vain, as I suspected they probably do simulcasts of live cinecasts only. Hate "modern" choreo but wanted to see Katya in a different role soon after her (imho) magnificient Juliet.

This is a very modern Shrew indeed, so you might well hate it; I found it entertaining in spite of my better judgment regarding what Maillot had done with the story etc. But....Krysanova's performance as Katherine is ON FIRE!

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4 hours ago, Drew said:

Krysanova's fan base doesn't strike me as any more "rabid" than the fan base of any other major Russian ballerina

Boy ..... you dare to criticize another Bolshoy prima promoted to principal last season and you have had it ..... better run and hide ! 

Stash has become a principal, she really shone in the Corsaire Pas des Esclaves I saw last month.

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