TempsdeCuisse Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 I will be attending Sunday's matinee and will report back Link to comment
Dreamer Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 38 minutes ago, Xiaoyi said: Can anyone be so kind to share the full cast with minor roles? Thx. The cast of April 9 performance: Conrad: Timur Askerov Medora: Maria Khoreva Ali: Kimin Kim Gulnara: Nadezhda Batoeva Lankedem: Alexei Timofeyev Birbanto: Yuri Smekalov Said Pasha: Soslan Kulaev Odalisques: Daria Ionova/ Anastasia Nuikina/ Maria Bulanova I will have to look at the playbill to post the names of character dancers as I don’t remember them. Link to comment
Xiaoyi Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 29 minutes ago, Dreamer said: The cast of April 9 performance: Conrad: Timur Askerov Medora: Maria Khoreva Ali: Kimin Kim Gulnara: Nadezhda Batoeva Lankedem: Alexei Timofeyev Birbanto: Yuri Smekalov Said Pasha: Soslan Kulaev Odalisques: Daria Ionova/ Anastasia Nuikina/ Maria Bulanova I will have to look at the playbill to post the names of character dancers as I don’t remember them. Thanks for sharing, Dreamer. Link to comment
annaewgn Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 6 hours ago, Dreamer said: Thank you! I am not familiar with younger Mariinsky dancers and would not have recognized her. At the open dress rehearsal that part was danced by Shamala Guseinova but, according to the playbill, she is not scheduled for any performance. Interesting! I know from friends that the Open Rehearsal was Tuesday’s cast, but interesting that’s Guseinova did it. Possibly to rehearse for a performance back home? No clue. Was there a program with casting for the open rehearsal? Link to comment
kbarber Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 31 minutes ago, annaewgn said: Interesting! I know from friends that the Open Rehearsal was Tuesday’s cast, but interesting that’s Guseinova did it. Possibly to rehearse for a performance back home? No clue. Was there a program with casting for the open rehearsal? The Open Rehearsal on Tuesday afternoon was not Tuesday evening's cast. It was Wednesday's cast. Link to comment
annaewgn Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 1 hour ago, kbarber said: The Open Rehearsal on Tuesday afternoon was not Tuesday evening's cast. It was Wednesday's cast. Oh yeah-- I meant Wednesday! This week seems to be dragging on 😥 Link to comment
Dreamer Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Ok, the casting mystery for Odalisques has been solved. In tonight’s (April 10) performance, Shamala Guseinova replaced Valeria Martynyuk, whose name was printed in the playbill. There was a sheet of paper about the substitution inserted in the program. I take it that Martynyuk will not appear at the KC. Too bad, as she is one of Mariinsky’s underused ballerinas who I really like and am always excited to see. Link to comment
Kaysta Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 On 3/27/2019 at 1:00 AM, Drew said: Weeellll that is now three of the dancers I was most looking forward to seeing off the tour--Tereshkina, Shakirova, and Shklyarov. Since Tereshkina is not injured, I find her absence especially painful. (I don't know what the story is with Shklyarov...and Shakirova's injury has already been mentioned upthread...) I have no complaints about anyone who IS coming--though I could wish the company had another Ali who was as potentially exciting as Kim. Edited because there is no point in worrying about Mariinsky casting until one is in the theater and the curtain up. So I will stick to worrying about my travel plans going smoothly. I find it a bit irritating to see Shyklarov is performing with Staatsballet in Diamonds with Somova after pulling out of KC. Guess he felt he had better things to do. Link to comment
TempsdeCuisse Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 (edited) Apparently Tereshkina feels similarly. I had thought she was injured but she is listed as dancing Kitri at MT on the 14th. She also danced Zobiede in Schereazade on the 9th. It's understandable if she wants to stay at home to avoid the stress of going abroad and Shyklarov wants to guest in Berlin but these both sound like issues that could have been planned out way in advance to present more accurate information to ticket buyers. It's just frustrating. Edited April 13, 2019 by TempsdeCuisse Small typo Link to comment
annaewgn Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 23 hours ago, TempsdeCuisse said: Apparently Tereshkina feels similarly. I had thought she was injured but she is listed as dancing Kitri at MT on the 14th. She also danced Zobiede in Schereazade on the 9th. It's understandable if she wants to stay at home to avoid the stress of going abroad and Shyklarov wants to guest in Berlin but these both sound like issues that could have been planned out way in advance to present more accurate information to ticket buyers. It's just frustrating. I heard somewhere that Tereshkina stayed behind because of her child, though I could be wrong on that one. Link to comment
Drew Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 (edited) Not much posting about the performances...l saw all three casts and, though each cast had different strengths, had a very good time at all the performances. And it was very nice speaking to several people I know (virtually) from this site. Lots of new talent was on show this visit—not just Khoreva, but Nagahisa making her debut as Gulnare, and the trio of Ionova, Nuikina, and Bulanova as Odalisques. In fact, thinking of how much I enjoyed the Odalisques this afternoon, I cannot help but reflect how the rush to post youtube videos of debut performances at the Mariinsky, however intriguing for fans like myself who don’t often get to see the company live, does not really show these inexperienced dancers to best advantage. I guess everyone understands that, but still the video lingers.... Lots more racing through my head, but am eager to read other people’s thoughts. And very much looking forward to Paquita in October (knock wood). Edited April 14, 2019 by Drew Link to comment
meunier fan Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 (edited) On 4/13/2019 at 12:25 AM, Kaysta said: I find it a bit irritating to see Shyklarov is performing with Staatsballet in Diamonds with Somova after pulling out of KC. Guess he felt he had better things to do. It could be that Balanchine's Diamonds/Jewels (with Bouder incandescently brilliant in the Rubies segment) was being broadcast live on television (read exposure) - and has been picked up for download in a variety of places. Shyklarov was excellent in it ... but thought Somova was ... erm ... not. Edited April 14, 2019 by meunier fan Link to comment
Liotarded Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 I attended the Tuesday April 9 and Saturday April 13 evening performances. This was my first Le Corsaire anywhere in person. My wife and I both LOVED IT and for sure would've been happy to go to more than two shows. I have a specific question that places me squarely in the unreliable witness category. For both, Ali's role was played by Kimin Kim. During Saturday night's Act II pas de deux a trois, the last half of the solo, Kimin finishes off diagonally. I'm 100% positive this is what I saw. But during Tuesday's night's show I could have sworn he finished off doing the circular version. And no I'm not mixing it up with the subsequent coda. I still am new to ballet so my grasp of the vocabulary and recognition of steps leaves a lot to be desired, I hope I'm making myself understood. I have a theory that since I've seen Le Corsaire plenty of times on YouTube and it seems to me the majority of uploaded Ali variations finish off circularly, my brain made me see what I wanted to see because that's what I was expecting. There's no way he'd do different choreography, right? 🤔 P.S. Audience went nuts both nights but on Saturday there was the biggest collective audible gasp I've ever heard at the Kennedy Center during the coda. Link to comment
nysusan Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 I went to the three weekend performances. Corsaire is my least favorite Petipa ballet but it contains some spectacular dancing so when its performed by great dancers it can be a lot of fun. All of them were enjoyable, each had its strengths and weaknesses. My favorite, by far, was the Saturday night performance led by Ekaterina Kondaurova and Andrei Yermakov. Kondaurova was a fabulous Medora. Her technique dazzled , as did all 3 Medoras, but she was the only one who truly commanded the stage and was dramatically present throughout. Yemakov was everything you could ask for in a Conrad - high leaps, great elevation and quite the swashbuckler. May Nagahisa was a lovely, delicate Gulnara and its always wonderful to see Yana Selina - she, Gonchar and Shamala Guseinova were great as the 3 Odalisques. Kimin Kim brought the house down both Saturday night and in the Sunday matinee. When he did Tchai Pas at the City Center Balanchine festival recently, even though it was obvious how amazing he was the small stage took a lot away from his dancing. On the big KC stage he was absolutely gasp-inducing and the KC audience erupted for him numerous times. While all of the elements of his dancing were amazing I think his grand jetes were the most amazing of all. I've seen a lot of great dancers as Ali - Carreno, Corella, Bujones, Baryshnikov & Nureyev, among others. Kim definitely belongs in that company. I don't think I've seen the height and hang time in those grand jetes since Baryshnikov. The only weak spot in that cast was Victor Caixeta as Lankedem, his dancing was very sloppy. I really loved the Saturday afternoon cast's Medora, Ekaterina Chebykina. A tall blond she had the requisite high extensions and strong technique but her dancing was very soft and lyrical. Philipp Stepin on Sat afternoon and Alexi Timofeyev on Sunday were my co-favorite Lankedems - both danced brilliantly and were suitably evil. It was a pleasure to see the tall, darkhaired beauty Maria Bulanova with Ionova & Nuikina as the Odalisques. All danced well but Bulanova was especially notable for her strong, floaty turns. Unfortunately, Timur Askerov was no more than adequate as Ali. As for Khoreva, its clear that she is immensely talented and will be a big star but I think they're pushing her too fast. While her dancing was awesome she didn't make much of an impression as Medora. She needs to develop more stage presence to take on major full length roles. Her Conrad, Konstantin Zverev was great and Batoeva was my favorite Gulnare, she's really one to watch. Link to comment
Drew Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 (edited) I'm largely on the same page as NYSusan in my reactions to what I saw down to details--though as a minor aside I would give Askerov as Ali credit for landing his double assembles in tighter, cleaner fifth positions than Yermakov managed in his (very enjoyable) performance as Conrad. I'll underline, too, how delighted I was with Batoeva's Gulnare which I saw Friday night. I have seen her just a handful of times in the past (and only once in a leading role) and always found her an appealing classical dancer, but this was the first time that I really felt I saw a ballerina. Her characterization, too, was pitch perfect--she captured the full pathos in Gulnare's situation (in this production) and yet never punctured or disturbed the light comedic texture of the ballet. And, of the young women just out of the Vaganova Academy, Maria Bulanova seems to me already to have some of the on stage "it" factor that the prodigiously gifted Khoreva has still to develop. (Though I should add that the audience Friday received Khoreva very warmly.) Among other newer company members that we got to see this visit, Nagahisa on Saturday night often danced exquisitely--I thought she was like a little hummingbird in her movements only with idyllic classical lines. But her slight girlish frame and manner is maybe not ideal for Gulnare. As much as I enjoyed all the performances I saw, Kim's Ali both Friday and Saturday nights made the weekend an "event" for me. I own I have trouble remembering seeing jumps that high from anyone though I'm sure NYSusan must be right that some of us have seen them in the (not recent) past, and Kim's whole performance just sizzled with fire and energy. On Instagram Khoreva included a photo of herself as Medora in arabesque with Kim as Ali at her feet and wrote as a postscript to her excited comments on dancing in D.C. the following: "OMG it should have been me bowing in front of Kimin because this dancer is just beyond all the words!!!" This past weekend in D.C. I, too, found him "beyond all the words." Edited April 16, 2019 by Drew Link to comment
Dreamer Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) Resist! Edited November 9, 2019 by Dreamer Link to comment
NinaFan Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I saw the Friday night and Saturday matinee performances. I’ll try not to repeat too much of what everyone else has been saying. While I enjoyed both performances , Friday night was the absolute highlight for me. It was my first time seeing Khoreva and she blew me away as Medora. Zverev was wonderful as Conrad, and as most have noted on here, Batoeva made for a gorgeous Gulnare. Needless to say, Kim's Ali was breathtaking. Not only does he get incredible height and hang time, but he has such beautiful and soft landings. They made a replacement announcement at the start of the performance, so I’m not sure who I saw as Lankedem. Saturday matinee was just as energetic with Chebykina as a lovely Medora, Parish made for a fine Conrad, as did Askerov’s Ali and Stepin’s Lankedem. And kudos to the rest of the cast and corps on both days. What a fun visit to DC! Link to comment
maps Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 On 4/14/2019 at 12:10 AM, Drew said: ...Nagahisa making her debut as Gulnare, and the trio of Ionova, Nuikina, and Bulanova as Odalisques. ... On 4/15/2019 at 11:14 AM, nysusan said: ... It was a pleasure to see the tall, darkhaired beauty Maria Bulanova with Ionova & Nuikina as the Odalisques. All danced well but Bulanova was especially notable for her strong, floaty turns. .. https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2019/6/6/1_2000 And so Bulanova is Medora on June 6. Link to comment
Drew Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, maps said: https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2019/6/6/1_2000 And so Bulanova is Medora on June 6. I loved Bulanova as the third odalesque....thought she had real stage presence too. (More so at this early stage than Khoreva.) And wonderful eyes! Very intrigued she is gettng a chance at Medora and wish I could be there. P.S. I see that I already oohed and aahed over Bulanova above. I’m going to let the repetition stand! Edited June 1, 2019 by Drew Link to comment
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