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XVIII Mariinsky International Ballet Festival 2019


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Catherine Pawlick has written four Festival reviews that I've posted at the Writings on Ballet topic.

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/44688-catherine-pawlick-mariinsky-xviii-international-ballet-festival/

If I'm allowed to say so here, she has some particularly nice things to say about Maria Khoreva's Diamonds performance which you might have noticed  -- I liked. 😊 

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Yekaterina Kondaurova

Looking through my  programs I note these appearances — In The Night (Third Couple), Mekhmeneh Banhu (Legend of Love), Lilac Fairy (Sleeping Beauty) and Carmen Suite. They were all very significant roles and I thought that they all were very well performed.  I’ve mentioned them briefly. The first two were especially successful.

For me, her finest performance was in the third couple of Jerome Robbins’ In The Night. At the time I wrote that it was….

“….at least 90 Percent Pure Genius !

She made moves that I never saw her do before, in fact that I never saw anyone do before !

Another mega-step taken by this remarkable artist, who once again showed that she’s capable of doing anything.”

Over two weeks later, with so much having gone on since and so much to recall from a very brief, very quickly paced and very detailed performance, I wondered why I had written this. The first thing that I’m certain of is that it wasn’t just momentary, over the top enthusiasm.

Andrei Yermakov was her partner. He did very well and to the extent to which he helped her make it all possible he should be congratulated.

There is a video, but as I often have written about videos, it doesn’t really capture much of this. Why? Maybe because it’s only in two dimensions (very important here), dark lighting, the camera’s ability to correctly capture the subtleties of detail, etc. Still I search for an outline and if you study the video some of these highlights do flash by.

(By the way, I don’t mean to spoil all your video watching. Videos capture a great deal, and if you loved the video, it’s most likely that the actual performance was even better.)

The one thing that I do have a definite but general memory of, is how many of her moves were done in a way that was ’nuanced’ as I’ve never seen before. She did them all according to Jerome Robbins design, but within that was her own shaping, timing, intent — in a sense, a completely new dance vocabulary. It was remarkably well accomplished. There was also the way that she combined such things as very difficult but beautifully executed moves (especially lifts) with brilliant expression, both facially and physically. How she put this all together was masterful.

“At least 90 Percent Pure Genius” — I continue to maintain that it was.

 

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I’d like to add something to what I wrote yesterday. In regard to the ‘high theater’ aspect, that I’ve mentioned over the past several years, of Yekaterina Kondaurova’s exceptional, multi-dimensional prowess, I feel that her husband, Islom Baimuradov, ‘character dancer supreme’, surely has something to do with this. He seems certain to be the heir apparent to the amazing Vladimir Ponomarev, but with a much different emphasis. His Carabouse (Sleeping Beauty) this year, as it has been for the last several, is a work of art. His Hans (Giselle) has a poetically rendered fineness.

Alina Somova has also shown extremely fine characterization and overall expressiveness for quite awhile. I think that Kristina Shapran might also shine in this area, as very interestingly, Viktoria Tereshkina has recently been doing.

Once again I’d like to return to The Young Choreographers evening. One good reason is that it can be seen on the internet. Another is that it was totally first class and quite interesting. With two of the major classic and Festival highlights, Don Quixote and The Sleeping Beauty, being effected with last minute cancelations by their visiting leads, with their Mariinsky replacements doing the best that they could, other presentations had more impact. The Young Choreographer’s evening was certainly one of them, being, in addition, the finest of these that I’ve yet seen. Overall the works played to the strengths of the Mariinsky dancers with a very pleasant breath of freshness.

I”ll single out one more of these. It’s Alexander Sergeev’s (Mariinsky First Soloist) At The Wrong Time. He’s a very popular and likable artist, as applause on his stage entry as Espada (Don Quixote), a complete rarity for a secondary character, made apparent. There’s a somewhat Jerome Robbin’s In The Night feel to this work with it’s three couples.

Starts at 1:29:10 with the entry of Kristina Shapran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvKOV8xuMns

Perhaps the most delightful part is the third couple, Maria Shirinkina and Alexei Timofeyev (seen at 1:40:00). She’s as relaxed and as much fun as I’ve ever seen her. Their performance, except for the brief moment when they take a poke at each other, is a real pleasure.

It was the only chance to see Kristina Shapran [correction: and Street Dancer (Don Quixote}] at the Festival. She did fine with Konstatin Zverev. (starts at 1:35:20).

Xander Parish, with a look of astonishment, gets a surprise kiss on the cheek from Anastasia Nuikina and the work ends on cheerful high. (Their duet can be seen at 1:32:00)

The much loved Daria Pavlenko, former Principal and Alexander Sergeev’s wife, designed the costumes, and appeared at the curtain call, receiving a very warm applause.

Correction noted above: Kristina Shapran also appeared in Don Quixote.

 

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As an aside of sorts I was in Paris for several days after the Festival and I stumbled upon an exhibition comparing the art of Pablo Picasso and Alexander Calder at the Picasso Museum. The exhibit will continue until the middle of August.

It’s a remarkably beautiful and fascinating show that illustrates the genius of these two great artists in experimenting with form, space and feeling with Calder even introducing motion with his famous mobiles. For me, it fit in perfectly with what I had just experienced at the Mariinsky.

And another aside of sorts. After much of my recent noting of brilliant moves and great expression that characterized a large part of the Festival and my current reading of reviews of the Mariinsky in Washington DC, it’s the mention of Loveliness and Beauty that almost brings a tear to my eye.

 

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Loveliness and Beauty

The lyrical beauty, perhaps best displayed by the Mariinsky, is a representation of the ‘soul’ of dance. At the Mariinsky, it’s the flowing waves of motion, the grace and the feeling of transcendence.

The artists that have the loveliness and purity of motion are, for me, the ballerinas. At the Mariinsky, Oksana Skorik perhaps shows this the best. She wasn’t able to perform at the Festival. This left such lyrically fine artists as Alina Somova, Yekaterina Osmolkina, Maria Shirinkina and others to try to compensate.

Who actually did it? Out of nowhere, for me, came the 18 year-old Maria Khoreva with her performance with Xander Parish of the duet from Diamonds, which I consider after Swan Lake and Midsummer Night’s Dream Divertissement to be the most beautiful. Her performance was elegantly crafted and enchanting.

The multi-dimensional Alina Somova did exceptionally well as part of the lovely second couple from In The Night. She did the same in Dmitry Pimonov’s Concerto Bianco, which had a slightly more animated character, that increased with the other works that she appeared in.

Yekaterina Osmolkina who has the very fine ability to dance like a butterfly and still hold her own dramatically in the presence of Olga Smirnova had a beautiful set of appearances including Shirine from The Legend of Love, but this year the high drama side of Yekaterina Kondaurova, for instance, seemed to take the spotlight. Maria Shirinkina who performed in In The Night was eclipsed somewhat, as would anyone have been, by Alina Somova’s extremely fine, following duet. She did do a delightful performance in Alexander Sergeev’s charming At The Wrong Time.

And then I’ll once again mention the young Maria Iliushkina with her very, very lovely and proficient dancing. She appeared in Serenade and Emeralds and I was once again captivated.

Throughout were individually lovely efforts. Such exceptional artists as Yekaterina Kondaurova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Nadezhda Batoeva and the visiting Polina Semionova shone with lyrical highlights.

There’s also the overall Dreaminess that permeates the Festival. This is perhaps best instilled by the Remarkably Beautiful Corps de Ballet. These dancers were exceptionally fine throughout. I can’t praise them enough. Among their most captivating appearances were the tableaus. The opening of George Balanchine’s Serenade, continuing on to his Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds with their gorgeous settings, drew gasps from the audience. Mariinsky gems such as the ‘Dream Scene’ openings from Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, the wavelike unfolding of the Willis from Giselle and the Entrance of the Shades from La Bayadere* were absolutely entrancing. On top of that was the always mesmerizing violin solo from The Sleeping Beauty’s Tchaikovsky Entr’acte ‘Concert.’

Once again, the season’s gift of dreamlike enchantment unfolded — Loveliness and Beauty.

 

* Correction: La Bayadere was actually seen at the Mikhailovsky the night before the Festival, but was a very fine performance that made an excellent beginning to my Festival viewing experience.

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This is the Gala Concert Divertissement information.  Only the dancers’ names were posted on the internet.

 

Divertimento  (Dmitry Pimonov)  (Osmolkina, Shapran, Yermakov, Zyuzin)

A Flashback  (Ili Zhivo)  (Kondaurova, Belyakov)

Solo  (Hans van Manen)  (Sergeev, Stepin, Baibordin)

Closure  (Julian Nunis)  (Khoreva, Parish)

Sarcasm  (Hans van Manen)   (Igone de Jongh, Daniel Camargo (National Ballet of the Netherlands))

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux  (George Balanchine)  (Alina Somova, Kimin Kim)

Duet from Herman Schmerman Ballet  (William Forsythe)  (Hannah O’Neil, Hugo Marchand (POB))

Grand Pas Classique  (Victor Gsovsky)  (Viktoria Tereshkina, Jacopo Tissi (Bolshoi))

It was a fine series of performances, more upbeat in general than the Young Choreographers evening to which I associate it. I particularly enjoyed the Hans van Manen Solo which was an all male high energy blast. I don’t recall the Dmitry Pimonov performance, but I’m sure that it was lovely, based on the Young Choreographers evening. Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux may have been the best with Kimin Kim sailing all over the place.

 

Added:  Of possible interest the forum Bolshoi — Ballet and Opera (Ballet Friends) has had 68,342! look-ins and 20 pages! at its Festival topic. I'm just beginning to glance at some of this.  Over the last several years, this forum, which is essentially devoted to covering the Bolshoi, has offered the most complete coverage of the Mariinsky as well. The Mariinka forum, devoted primarily to the Mariinsky, is picking up a bit with 6,868 look-ins and seven pages (and some good video listing) at its Festival topic.  Both these forums are almost completely in russian. The essentially American based forum, Ballet Alert! has had....😊

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What I prize from a performance is the overall effect. There are two elements that I’m most aware of — Characterization and Dance Beauty. The one that probably dominates my memory is Characterization. From this Festival that would include Viktoria Tereshkina’s Swan Lake, Polina Semionova and Kimin Kim’s Giselle and Lauren Cuthbertson’s Marguerite and Armand.

But that isn’t necessarily what I prize most, which is probably the Dance Beauty. Pure Dance Beauty is possibly best represented today at the Mariinsky by Oksana Skorik. Some other dancers with this would be Yekaterina Osmolkina and Maria Shirinkina. That one performance that stood out, for me, was Maria Khoreva’s Diamonds duet. With an equally touching and lovely presence — it may have had both.

Among all the performances that I’ve seen at the Festivals, Olga Smirnova’s Nikia from La Bayadere several years ago had the most compelling Character along with excellent dancing. Ulyana Lopatkina’s Swan Lake from over ten years ago had the most Beautiful Dance along with some very fine portrayal. One performance that may have had both equally was Alina Somova’s The Swan (Fokine).

Then there’s an area that’s harder to recall in detail, because it’s where Character and Dance merge wonderfully, more to remember. This would include Alina Somova and Yekaterina Kondaurova’s appearances from In The Night and Yekaterina Kondaurova’s Mekhmeneh Bahnu from The Legend of Love.

But let me take one more look at something.

Loveliness and Beauty.

Which performance has most touched my heart. I think that I’m still waiting for that one.   😊

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Future Dreams from Times Before 

The artist/dancers that I saw more than a week ago created a world of dreams and enchantment. While stylistically rooted in the past, their beauty is timeless.

The more dreamlike works by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, are a path onwards. Works by Christopher Wheeldon and others also carry this sort of gentle magnificence into our times. All of these show the way to a world of Future Dreams of Timeless Beauty.

I consider George Balanchine’s 2nd Act Divertissement duet from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be, after Swan Lake’s, perhaps the most beautiful duet ever created. I might then add the duet from his Diamonds. Such classic ones, as those from Giselle and La Bayadere, are certainly among the finest. Balanchine’s take things a step further.

The Mariinsky dancers are what I loosely call Lyrical dancers. They are Poetry and Grace — above all — Grace.

Such Mariinsky artists as Alina Somova are highly capable of carrying this into a meaningful future. I don’t know Jerome Robbins’ works well enough to recall exact details from her In The Night performance, but I do know that I was extremely impressed. I can view what she did in Dmitry Pimonov’s very lovely Concertino Bianco and superimpose that over video clips of other artists performing the In The Night’s second couple duet.

Here she is again starting at 1:12:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvKOV8xuMns

This also gives some insight into how the Mariinsky and Balanchine/Robbins can come together. In addition, there are several video clips, found easily on the internet, that can show this.Two are of Maria Kowroski and one is of Olga Voloboueva, both performing the In The Night duet. Maria Kowroski’s are very interesting in that there’s almost a ten year difference between the two. The second one is actually her Mariinsky performance. Her approach has become much more gentle and flowing, much more in common with the Mariinsky. Olga Voloboueva was trained at the Vagonova, but then went on to dance in America. Both these performances show how beautifully the lyricism from Russia and the modernism from America can be merged.

I’ve seen the Mariinsky perform Balanchine in a manner that’s as beautiful as I’ve ever seen. This year with the presence of an actual ‘Balanchine dancer,’ Maria Kowroski, contrasting style could be compared. She, along with Alina Somova and Yekterina Kondaurova, were the most successful of the soloists in showing how the two approaches could succeed together. I mentioned earlier that I think that both approaches probably succeed better on their own, based on this year’s opening performances. Considering this more, I’m sure that both approaches can succeed beautifully together when appropriate.

The very fine Balanchine/Robbins works presented this year are a welcomed addition to the world of the Mariinsky. There’s a huge world of possibilities for the Mariinsky to expand into, but its perhaps unequalled, timeless beauty, I’m sure, will always be its Essence.

I dreamt that I was in a paradise

A fairy-angel placed her hand lovingly on my shoulder

And pointed to the pathway

Leading to the world before us

Then we began to dance

 

 

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On 4/1/2019 at 2:09 AM, MadameP said:

Somova/Kim in Tchaikovsky PD2 sounds fabulous and Tereshkina/Tissi is an ... interesting ... combination!  I like Tissi very much - such a beautiful jump and elegance!  

Hopefully never too late, I do agree with you, MadameP, that  Jacopo Tissi has some very fine qualities.

So let me get more into the male dancers for a moment. What embraces me about ballet is Beauty. This for me is found primarily in the ballerina, in the artistic beauty of a woman.

From this point of view, what the man does best in ballet is often invisible. He, on many occasions, accomplishes what appears physically impossible, lifts for example, to make the ballerina look as beautiful as he can, and you don’t even realize that it’s happening. I do want to add that in the lifts, for one thing, the ballerina also does a considerable amount that's invisible.

My eyes are generally glued to the ballerina. I appreciate it most when all that goes on around her focuses the attention on her. Rightly or wrongly, and I think that its a not an uncommon point of view, if a man, as brilliant as his performance might be, detracts from the ballerina, then maybe it’s not what it should be. The men I like most have a poetic sensitivity that allows for this. Such dance/artists as Danila Korsuntsev and Alexander Sergeev come to mind immediately.

The male dancer also can be brilliant on his own. It of coarse adds considerably.

So let’s get to two male dancers that really impressed me this year, Kimin Kim and Xander Perish.

Kimin Kim is a physical phenomenon. His moves are breathtaking. In Giselle, he also shone in his characterization. He does have great character potential. With more development and fine tuning he could be quite exceptional at this in all his roles.

Xander Parish has a mega-presence. As I’ve often expressed, he has such a handsome stage presence, that if he just stood still he would take your breath away. This extends throughout — his statuesque poses and all aspects his motion. He’s a rock solid partner and a very sympathetic one. His characterization, when 100%, is often the most successful to be seen on the Mariinsky stage. If he were on stage by himself he’d be an artistic sensation. Now here’s the challenge — how not to overwhelm the ballerina.

He had five major appearances in the last five days of the Festival !  He did most of the dancing in the last section of the Young Choreographers evening, Ilya Shivoi’s I’m Not Scared — 50 minutes long !  He was the male lead in The Sleeping Beauty. He partnered Maria Koreva very well in what I consider the best performance of the Festival, the duet from Diamonds. He seemed to be everywhere. Bravo, Xander !    😊

Other male dancers obviously shine, such as Vladimir Shklyarov with his jumps. He and Andrei Yermakov are also developing some fine characterization, but this year that was pretty much the domain of the women, such as Yekaterina Kondaurova, Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina and, in a delightfully fresh and unforced way, Maria Khoreva.

I’d also like to mention Konstantin Zverev, who I always felt should be allowed to expand beyond his outstanding Espadas (Don Quixote) and Rothbarts (Swan Lake). This has finally happened in the last several years. He comes through admirably with his fine versatility.

And there are so many other fine male dancers that deserve mention.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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So what does Maria Khoreva with her physical perfection and soulful loveliness, as shown in her outstanding Diamonds duet with Xander Parish, and the limitless, intellectual exploration and expression of a Pablo Picasso or an Alexander Calder from the Paris exhibition that I just saw, have to do with each other. I've already mentioned how connected they were for me.  Both depend on each other because one is physically alive and the other, which isn’t, is still a profound exploration from being alive. Marcel Duchamp while praising the fascination and genius of Calder’s amazing works, perhaps most touchingly described them as being Swanlike in beauty. So is a Maria Khoreva.

The Picasso works, I would guess done largely independent from his interest in and admiration for Calder, still complement, converse with and emotionally respond to those of Calder. The Calders float, whether attached firmly to the ground or actually suspended in space. A Maria Khoreva does much the same.

Picasso’s works, totally grounded physically, take as much flight as his imagination and his genius talent could allow. It’s all done with things but packed with humanity. A Maria Khoreva actually brings this to life. Her scope may seem much more limited, but everything she does is Alive with beauty.

The Calder and Picasso exhibit explores space, form and feeling with a genius that I’ve never seen before. This is something that could add enormous dimensions to what is normally seen on the Festival stage. Yet what is seen on the Festival stage is meant to highlight what remarkable works of art human being are even if it doesn’t attempt to push the boundaries of the imagination.

So the two worlds play off each other, complement each other, enrich each other and love each other — The Mariinsky Festival with its living human soulfulness and the Calder/Picasso display with its voyage of the mind through the same world of shape, space, motion, emotion and above all — Love and Beauty.

 

Added:  Picasso designed sets for the Diaghilev ballet company and his first wife was one of its ballerinas, Olga Khokhlova.

Added added: From my current reading Picasso actually returned to classical realism (along with more cubism) right after inventing cubism (with George Braque), making the connection between the Festival's classical type reality and the Calder/Picasso exhibit even more embracing, one to the other. 

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Dignity

This is a word that might sum up the Festival and the Mariinsky in general.

Yesterday I mentioned how the Calder/Picasso exhibit that I just saw in Paris fit in so well with the Festival. I now enjoy that exhibit immensely through the catalogue. As I’ve written the exhibit fascinated me and the catalogue continues to. So where’s the excitement and fascination when I switch to the few video clips that I enjoy most from the Festival? I’m not sure that it’s there, certainly not in the same way or with the same intensity, but what is there is Quality — Quality and Dignity.

Videowise, I’ve settled into the Maria Khoreva duet from Diamonds. I continue to consider it the Festival highlight because of its pure dance beauty and embracing aura. I would also include Alina Somova’s second couple duet from In The Night if it existed. Of the second couple duet videos that do exist I tend to like very much the one featuring Olga Voloboueva, Vaganova graduate who also danced in the US. I perhaps like it more than ones by American Balanchine/Robbins-style dancers. Why? She has a feel for Balanchine/Robbins and she also has that wonderful Vaganova sensitivity that works so well with the lovely Chopin music.

In a footnote yesterday I noted that after creating (with George Braque) the very revolutionary and exciting cubist style, Picasso returned, for awhile anyway, to pure classical realism. He produced two absolutely beautiful portraits, one of his wife and former ballerina (make what you want of this in terms of his change in direction) Olga Khokhlova and one of his little boy. I’ve seen the portrait of his little boy dressed as a Harlequin and I consider it one of the most beautiful portraits that I know of.

I have the same feeling of transition when I switch from viewing the catalogue to watching the Festival videos. It’s a change from artistic fascination and excitement to pure Loveliness and — Dignity.

I’ve often mentioned that the Festivals haven’t really been nearly as much about inventiveness as they have been about the quality of the performances. This year the closest that the Festival came to my Calder/Picasso experience was in its very brief Forsythe work. This was an exploration into form, space and motion. Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and the brilliant group patterning that concluded George Balanchine’s Diamonds also touched on this. Perhaps the most artistically adventuresome performance that I’ve seen at the Festivals was in the Mariinsky’s very fine and high class interpretation of Angelin Preljocaj’s Le Parc. Certain scenes, especially the one with the swooning, gowned women, move into a charming surrealism.

So Dignity it is. If it was good enough for Picasso, it’s good enough for me.   😊

 

   

 

     

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Here’s one more glance that gives some added insight into this year’s Festival. It’s the first six minutes. Of interest is Maria Khoreva, featured, and Yekaterina Osmolkina in the right background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeL-4hVkw7o

Young dancers were given a lot of prominence this year and highly expressive performers often dominated. These dancers became the highlight alongside more ‘lyrical’ ones that I adore, such as Yekaterina Osmolkina and Maria Shirinkina. One  such dancer who was noticeably lovely in her brief two appearances was the young Maria Iliushkina.

Here we see more of Maria Khoreva’s exceptional range and ability. She gives a highly expressive and technically exciting performance.

Yekaterina Osmolkina dances with her typical, dreamlike loveliness. My love for this draws my attention. The featured Maria Khoreva, who as I mention again and again, gave a similar and remarkably beautiful performance in Diamonds. And I don’t lose sight of her here because of her youthful, sunshiny and endearing essence along with her exceptional talent. But again, it’s Yekaterina Osmolkina’s dancing, perhaps overshadowed, but still so lovely, that embraces my attention. When Alina Somova appears next with her outstandingly beautiful, lead performance the ‘spell’ is sealed.  This is what I probably prize most in all of dance.

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