Maria Iliushkina — “ ”Zvezda" (Star) material ?? “

[Buddy]

“And Marie's the name of his latest flame” (Elvis Presley)

Hey, let’s go way out on a limb. Why not?

Unlike her ‘Vaganova sister,’Alyono Kovalyova, who was admitted to the Bolshoi and made an immediate star (justifiably in my opinion), the young Maria Iliushkina, who may actually be older, is apparently making her way up the ranks of the Mariinsky at a much slower pace.

From the very little I can see of her from a very limited number of video clips she is both lovely and precious. She moves like an angel and she radiates like a sunbeam.

Let’s see where she goes. Drew likes her. That’s a very good start. I often would want to write when I’m praising a dancer that “I don’t own stock in her so this is an unbiased opinion.” Well, if it were possible to invest in this young lady’s future I’d seriously consider it. As Mnacenani is so proud of introducing us at this forum to Alyona Kovalyova (although others claim to have spotted her early on as well), I’d be delighted to say about Maria Iliushkina someday that — “ You heard it here first! ”

Admittedly, it’s so early to make a judgement and, for me, based on so little, several very brief video clips. And I’ve seen several similar Mariinsky dancers who are equally lovely just not make it quite to the top. Will she? Does she deserve to? Let’s see.

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_women/iliushkina

Edited May 10, 2018 by Buddy

[Buddy]

And she still looks the child. Such a wonderful thing to hold on to. If she could do this along with her loveliness of art it would be quite an accomplishment.

 

With a child’s eye

Can see to fly

[Buddy]

" Maria Iliushkina — “ ”Zvezda" (Star) material ?? “ " -- And in certain ways, does it really matter ?

When it was announced that May Nagahisa would represent the Mariinsky at the Bolshoi TV contest (no relation to the Bolshoi Ballet Company) I was thinking that this was really going into the ranks of the very young. May Nagahisa is listed as a “Trainee” (the only one) at the Mariinsky.

And I thought, “Why not the very young Maria Iliushkina?”

I only have video clips to go on, but the thing that makes May Nagahisa special in my mind is that she has tons of personality, both in her character and in her dance. This could make her very special as a someday star and certainly as a current tv offering. I have to add that she also has the beauty, quality and fineness to make her a potentially outstanding ballerina.

So what about Maria Iliushkina, who doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast and maybe doesn’t have any knock-em-dead qualities? If anything she might be a little coltish at the moment.

I still find her highly talented and in certain ways — precious. She has, for me, a delightful, childlike manner. She doesn’t yet seem hung-up on herself. She’s just there doing what she seems to really enjoy doing.

What does go into the realm of high art is her ability to highlight, to make definitive, beautiful images and gestures.

Also she ‘floats,’ almost magically. It’s a very subtle thing. I liken it very much to what I see in Yekaterina Osmolkina. I see definite parallels. And for the same reason that Yekaterina Osmolkina doesn’t project into a wider range, may be the case for Maria Iliushkina. This may (or may not) keep them from every becoming ’superstars’ or Principals. But does it really matter? Yekaterina Osmolkina does what she does as well as anyone. She’s singularly outstanding at conveying a dreamlike artistry, which for me is the essence of ballet.

Maria Iliushkina may not have been chosen as the Mariinsky’s promising young tv offering for the same reason. Yet, for me, in her own way, she does what she does as well as anyone. She has a touch of her own fairylike magic. I’ll be curious to see where this might carry her as far as recognition is concerned. In the meantime, she’s a pleasure to experience and in certain delightful ways I hope that she never grows up.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Buddy
typo correction(s)

[MadameP]

Buddy, I agree with you.  Why not indeed Maria Iliushkina for the Big Ballet competition?  She is a lovely young, Vaganova trained,  ballerina.  I saw her Paquita variation when Paquita was premiered and she has beautiful arms and flow of movement and the has the most gorgeous long lines.   Love her!

[Buddy]

2 minutes ago, MadameP said:

Buddy, I agree with you.  Why not indeed Maria Iliushkina for the Big Ballet competition?  She is a lovely young, Vaganova trained,  ballerina.  I saw her Paquita variation when Paquita was premiered and she has beautiful arms and flow of movement and the has the most gorgeous long lines.   Love her!

Thanks for your thoughts, MadameP. I'm very glad that you like her as much as you do. If there are enough others who agree, well maybe she will be a 'star' someday.

I will say once again that the reason that I think that May Nagahisa was selected, aside from her fine technical ability and beauty , is that she projects. She's definitely a new and potentially exciting presence.

Does this make Maria Iliushkina any less beautiful or meaningful ? I think that she's just as beautiful and meaningful. 

[Buddy]

4 hours ago, MadameP said:

Buddy, I agree with you.  Why not indeed Maria Iliushkina for the Big Ballet competition?  She is a lovely young, Vaganova trained,  ballerina.  I saw her Paquita variation when Paquita was premiered and she has beautiful arms and flow of movement and the has the most gorgeous long lines.   Love her!

Your mentioning Paquita, MadameP, rang a bell. I recall a dancer from the final Paquita of last year's Festival making a very luminous impression. At the Festival I had totally forgotten Maria Iliushkina from some  video clips that I liked very much. So I just checked back to our posts at the time. 

  On 4/7/2017 at 1:13 PM,  MadameP said: 

"I thought tonight's group of friends was by far the best.  Maria Iliushkina, who danced the first variation, was outstanding.  She has the most exquisite long lines and was faultless - beautiful, lyrical, musical variation."

My response: 

"Backtracking somewhat to the excellent third evening of Paquita, I agree that all the variations were very good and that Maria Iliushkina, who performed the first, was "outstanding." I found her to be absolutely charming. She had the most loveable facial expression and her dancing beautifully echoed this." 

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/42180-xvii-mariinsky-international-ballet-festival-2017/?page=3

Wow !  What a most interesting confirmation of our current admiration. I do truly hope that she can hold on to that sunshiny 'aura.' It was something very special !

Edited June 14, 2018 by Buddy
last sentence(s) and several words of clarification added

[Buddy]

Could I just touch on the subject of ‘Sunshiny’ for a moment more. Maria Iliushkina is possibly the best example in ballet that I’ve come across, having now recalled her vibrant Paquita solo from last year’s Festival. She was delightful.

Anastasia Kolegova has always represented this to me as well as anyone. The first time that I saw her she performed Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) and I was, yes, delighted. I wasn’t prepared for a bundle of sunshine to be the artistically ‘sacred’ Swan Queen. I thought that she handled it wonderfully and meaningfully. She’s always smiling, inside or out. When she has to be a ‘heavy’ she somehow navigates it with dramatic fineness.

But what about pure sunshine? There are certain artists, that if they just did one style, would be as great as another who could do the whole range. For instance, if Veronika Part just did a handful of Swan Lakes each year (although she’s capable of much more) I think that it would justify keeping her in a company, even as its star.

Well, I would also say that if Maria Iliushkina could continue to do what I saw her do in her radiantly, carefree solo at the Mariinsky Festival I’d be happy if she never had to do a ‘serious’ role ever. Not very common in ballet, for sure — but true.

 

[Buddy]

There are some lovely video clips of Maria Iliushkina as the Lilac Fairy (The Sleeping Beauty) in the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre’s performances this month at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Of their four Sleeping Beauties she danced Princess Florine (Blue Bird duet) in the first two and the Lilac Fairy yesterday and today. She is the only St. Petersburg name that I recognize.

She’s so lovely. I like to make comparisons between her and the Bolshoi’s very young Vaganova graduate, Alyona Kovalyova. Alyona Kovalyova has had instant success whereas Maria Iliushkina is still in the Corps de Ballet.

 For me, Alyona Kovalyova with her long lined beauty and figure is immediately recognizable as being very special. Maria Iliushkina is a more subtle affair. She doesn’t have the same compelling long lines (but she could). What she has is basic loveliness and a phrasing of exceptional detail that is captivating. 

Also she has something that is very precious. She still has a youthful delight that I hope she will always have. This combined with artistic fineness makes her very noteworthy. 

I think that the Primorsky dancers have a lovely airiness and charm, worthy of the Mariinsky. I could probably get to like this company very much. And I do like the Sergeev version. It reflects decades of fine-tuning in it’s basic beauty and enchantment. 

Hopefully these appearances are another sign of recognition for Maria Iliushkina and we'll  see a lot more of her.

 

[Laurent]

Quote

Hopefully these appearances are another sign of recognition for Maria Iliushkina and we'll  see a lot more of her.

Far more likely this is a sign that while the rest of the Mariinsky troupe is on vacations, somebody had to toil: the show must go on while there are not enough of qualified dancers to make it happen.

[Drew]

A few spots of technical unease notwithstanding, I thought Iliushkina looked beautiful in these excerpts from her Lilac Fairy performance ... I had wondered if her appearance with the Primorsky troupe meant she was going to depart or be sent away from the (St. Petersburg) Mariinsky to their "Primorsky" theater, but if Laurent is correct then at least I can hope that is not the case. I would be happy to see her develop and go from strength to strength at the Mariinsky--in St. Petersburg.

 

[MadameP]

However Iliushkina got her Lilac Fairy, nevertheless it was an important debut and good news for her. I think she is a lovely, lyrical ballerina and hopefully she will dance the role with the main Mariinsky troupe soon. 

[Buddy]

Not to belabor the point, but I will. At the 2017 Mariinsky Festival, in the final performance of Paquita,  the face of Maria Iliushkina during the solos was perhaps the brightest burst of sunshine that I've ever seen on a ballet stage.

“Know that I will love you 

Someday I will love you very well”

(From a respectfully artistic and grandfatherly distance 😊)

[slightly altered Joni Mitchell]

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by Buddy

[Buddy]

I’ve been watching the video clips of The Sleeping Beauty. There’s one sequence that really attracts me. She appears as the Lilac Fairy in her full gown as the entire court is carrying the entranced Aurora up the stairs. It’s a monumental scene full of lavish costumes, a grand set and lots of regal posturing.

Maria Iliushkina has to hold the center of attention and she’s not an outwardly commanding presence like an Olga Smirnova. She’s childlike and airy. Yet in the middle of all this pomp she has to take prominence with her somewhat off to the side of things dancing as the grand parade is carrying the reclined Aurora off in another direction.

I can’t recall a more vulnerable feeling in all my ballet viewing. She succeeds with loveliness and a sense of vulnerable innocence. I think that this is characteristic of her entire performance and of her in general. This is perhaps her ‘magic.’

Edited August 15, 2018 by Buddy

[Buddy]

Just had a quick internet video glance and she's looking more beautiful than ever. Here's hoping.

[Drew]

I continue to be very much taken with Illiushkina. Here she is in a recent performance of Emeralds--I don't know if she has danced the role before or not. Edited to add: According to an article I online, she has. (There is also footage posted on youtube of Daria Ionova who was definitely making a debut at this performance, in the other Emeralds ballerina role. And on instagram, I found footage of Khoreva making her debut in Diamonds and Bulanova in Rubies--all part of the same performance of Jewels. Perhaps more footage can be found elsewhere as well.)

 

Edited January 28 by Drew

[howpureisivory]

12 hours ago, Drew said:

I continue to be very much taken with Illiushkina. Here she is in a recent performance of Emeralds--I don't know if she has danced the role before or not. Edited to add: According to an article I online, she has. (There is also footage posted on youtube of Daria Ionova who was definitely making a debut at this performance, in the other Emeralds ballerina role. And on instagram, I found footage of Khoreva making her debut in Diamonds and Bulanova in Rubies--all part of the same performance of Jewels. Perhaps more footage can be found elsewhere as well.)

 

I've seen these and I'd very much be interested in discussing how this group has fared performing this. In reading some other threads, I know the Russian companies often get a poor reviews, but I wonder if the younger group of dancers have improved those images.

Not being in the know about what is correct, I would say that both Illushkina and Ionova do impress me with their lyricism.

[Buddy]

19 hours ago, Drew said:

I continue to be very much taken with Illiushkina. Here she is in a recent performance of Emeralds--I don't know if she has danced the role before or not. Edited to add: According to an article I online, she has. (There is also footage posted on youtube of Daria Ionova who was definitely making a debut at this performance, in the other Emeralds ballerina role. And on instagram, I found footage of Khoreva making her debut in Diamonds and Bulanova in Rubies--all part of the same performance of Jewels. Perhaps more footage can be found elsewhere as well.)

 

I also continue to think that she's quite wonderful, Drew.

Her lyrical loveliness is what I love most at the Mariinsky and ballet in general. For the moment she shares this with such artists as Oxana Skorik, Alyona Kovalyova, Yekaterina Osmolkina and Maria Shirinkina. 

Maria Khoreva is also absolutely lovely in the Diamonds excerpt. She has a certain maturity and range, as well, which is probably why she's rising as fast as she is.

Maria Iliushkina is more quiet but no less compelling. She has a quality that I love -- a childlike manner. I find it to be precious and hope that she holds on to it for the rest of her life. Yet, for the first time, in the instagram duet I see that's she also has a heart-touching maturity.

She'll be appearing again as the Lilac Fairy from The Sleeping Beauty the middle of next month with Maria Shirinkina and Xander Parish. I hope that this is just one of many more wonderful performances that she'll be giving.  

[Emma]

Honestly, in the video she's very pretty and seems to have much potential, but Emeralds seems to be out of her depth at the moment. She's not dancing with the maturity that the role requires: she almost hits a position, but never stretches it. In her waltzing balancés backwards, she doesn't move with gravity, like she's moving through water, but instead seems to swing her arms. To be fair, I felt the same way about Khoreva and Ionova in the instagram videos. 

[MadameP]

I like Ilyushkina very much also - she danced one of the best variations in Paquita recently - and she does have a lovely, lyrical quality with beautiful arms.  This was her debut in Emeralds, so of course she was not perfect stylistically.  She's very talented.  

[Buddy]

7 hours ago, MadameP said:

I like Ilyushkina very much also - she danced one of the best variations in Paquita recently - and she does have a lovely, lyrical quality with beautiful arms.  

Ah yes. The famous Paquita variation.

"She moves like an angel and she radiates like a sunbeam."

Who said that ?  Or for that matter this ?   😊 

"Not to belabor the point, but I will. At the 2017 Mariinsky Festival, in the final performance of Paquita,  the face of Maria Iliushkina during the solos was perhaps the brightest burst of sunshine that I've ever seen on a ballet stage."

Edited January 29 by Buddy

[Buddy]

A few more quick thoughts.

In character she can be so ‘quietly’ lovely that she could almost slip by unnoticed. But — She’s real — heart-touchingly real — The equal of anyone on the Mariinsky stage.

In pure dance she’s undeniably beautiful. The instagram excerpt of the Emeralds duet is as lovely as I could imagine.

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/44469-jewels-performances/

(thanks to Howpureisivory)

Like Yekaterina Osmolkina you could put her on a cloud and float her through the entire Mariinsky repertoire.

You didn't have to be so nice
I would have liked you anyway
If you had just looked once or twice
And gone upon your quiet way.....

You came upon a quiet day
You simply seemed to take your place
I knew that it would be that way
The minute that I saw your face

(by The Lovin' Spoonful)

 

 

Edited January 30 by Buddy
Song lyrics added

[Buddy]

On April 6 she debuted as the Dryad Queen in Don Quixote.

“I woke up today with this feeling  -- That better things are coming my way -- And if the sunshine has a meaning -- Telling me not to let things get in my way"

“Keep on movin'

Keep on movin'

Keep on movin'

Keep on movin’”

(Keep on Movin’)     😊

 

[Buddy]

Well, this is something that I never thought that I’d see so soon !

She danced Giselle.

It happened at a recent Gala and she performed the Act II duets. (It’s on video)

Just one of the wonderful things that she can do is seemingly stop motion and still go on dancing, suspend time and continue her phrasing.

Being lighter than air, she simply floats.

And — she’s Precious.

Hopefully we’ll be able to see her do this and much more on the Mariinsky stage as soon as possible. Until then, I’ve never watched the Corps de Ballet more carefully.

 

[Buddy]

Some of you who read my last few posts about the Mariinsky Festival might recall my reference to the mobile sculptures of Alexander Calder. These often have wire thin projections that glide through space like currents of air. If you’ve ever seen one you may have observed how a large mass might come to rest but a single element or two might continue to glide.

Marcel Duchamp in the Calder/Picasso exhibition catalogue is quoted with a charming tale of how he was sitting in Calder’s studio when a breeze put a large mobile in motion. Duchamp quickly got out of the way and when he thought that he could relax because the mobile had come to rest, one element unexpectedly glided by, almost caressing his face.

In the last solo by Maria Iliushkina she sails backwards, turning, with one leg fully extended behind. The Calders immediately came to mind. Most of her figure moved as one flowery mass, but her back  leg glided along almost as if it had an existence of its own.

I also recalled the video of Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Giselle, one of my favorite recordings. I remember the way that in the same solo she sailed backwards seemingly covering the entire depth of the stage — breathtaking !  I just took another look and the beauty of what she did and that of what Maria Iliushkina did, especially in the remarkably lovely use of the back leg in arabesque are somewhat different but perhaps equally beautiful. In a video clip of another performance there is a great similarity.

I would like to compare these performances more closely. They are absolutely lovely.

Edited April 21 by Buddy
an error calling Maria Iliushkina "Maria Shirinkina" has been corrected

[Buddy]

In my previous post I called Maria Iliushkina, "Maria Shirinkina." That's been corrected. I admire them both very much, but they are different individuals.