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Bolshoi 2021/2022 Season


Buddy

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On 1/23/2022 at 7:35 PM, On Pointe said:

The Bolshoi has bought into the aesthetics of rhythmic gymnastics for its female dancers

Can we actually call it an aesthetic? It seems more like an anti-aesthetic to me. I often say that ballet suffers from a bad case of not seeing the forest for the trees. I, for one, think that ballet's current ideals of line and proportion are not objectively beautiful and should be reevaluated honestly. It often happens that insular fields gradually develop ticks and mannerisms, which are accepted by the initiated, but which appear odd or peculiar to the outsider. I think of this when I see the strange twitches of English-style ballroom dancing or the bizarre gestures of synchronized swimming (both of which I may catch a glimpse of, maybe, once in a decade).

Everyone in ballet would probably agree that on a stretched foot, the top of the big toe's metatarsal should line up with the ankle bone. Difficult to stand on pointe otherwise. If a stiff ankle prevents a dancer from stretching his toes at least level with his shin, we would probably agree that this is not a nice line. But does it follow that bulging insteps are desirable? Beyond that, is it really a good thing for a dancer's stretched toes to be level with the back of the heel rather than the ankle? Ballet values flexibility. The bulging insteps and hyperextended knees often come with the bargain. I think it would be wrong, though, to assume that this necessarily has to be the case. Among the Bolshoi's leading women, Alexandrova, Kaptsova, Nikulina, Shipulina, Stashkevich, Stepanova, Kretova and Vinogradova do not have hyperextended joints. None of them has tight hamstrings. They were all there before Vaziev arrived six years ago and began favoring exaggerated physiques.

I think we now see that a dancer can be too tall, too slender, with a head that's too small and body that's too plaint to be stable. They're called "willowy," which is like a euphemism for elongated, angular and emaciated.

Personally, I dislike banana feet and hyperextended knees--a lot. I don't like the meandering, wavy (un)lines, because they dilute the visual outline of the body. I think of the impact of Zizi Jeanmaire's rapier-like legs in Carmen and how Alessandra Ferri, for all her dramatic skill, looked flaccid in the same choreography. I think banana feet look terrible in chaînés, and how is the corkscrew effect of a hyperextended knee during a pirouette any better than a bent knee? I remember seeing Claudio Coviello doing double tours in Giselle with his toes stretched so hard that they pointed sideways, his feet like criss-crossing sickles. It was not a pretty sight.

Often times the conventions don't even make sense. Princess Aurora begins the Rose Adage on stage left, with her suitors standing to her right. So she does an à la seconde with her right leg to six o'clock and gives each of them in turn an unobstructed view of her crotch. What sort of a courting ritual is that? Basta!

On 1/23/2022 at 7:35 PM, On Pointe said:

The corps looks like an ensemble of beautiful clones,  with very little personality on view.

Indeed, the Bolshoi's corps now dances like joyless little automatons. Little wonder, given how the AD screams at them. 

On 1/23/2022 at 8:47 PM, Drew said:

The Bolshoi of the 60s/70s is long gone--like the NYCB of that era. Vaziev may be injecting more of his own aesthetic into the company (for good or ill) vis-a-vis his more immediate predecessors but the company he came into was already a different one from the Bolshoi of Maximova etc.

Watching the various films of Spartacus in chronological order, it's undeniable that each new iteration is weaker than the one that came before. However, it's not as though a distinctive Moscow style was entirely gone by the 1980s. Dancers like Alexandrova, Shipulina and, on the other end of the height scale, Kaptsova are distinctively Bolshoi in style. They are all now in their 40s, but the point is that they joined the company in the late 1990s and came into their own in this century. 

I firmly believe that Vaziev has no right to inject his own sham aesthetic into the Bolshoi. If a Balanchine or Neumeier or Maillot builds/transforms a company into a vehicle for his own choreography and artistic vision, that's one thing. But directors of great and venerable institutions like the Paris Opera Ballet or the Royal Danish Ballet or the Bolshoi are caretakers of a stylistic legacy that must be preserved, and they have no business imposing their fetishes and preoccupations on them. Under Vaziev the Bolshoi style is being eradicated at a rapid pace, although it was already taking place under Filin, who also liked importing the hyperextended, trained somewhere other than the Moscow Academy.

On 1/24/2022 at 3:27 AM, Drew said:

...when Tikhomirova took the stage as the Neopolitan Princess in the ballroom scene. The difference between her and the other dancers was palpable--she danced her solo with such life and rhythmic energy that the other dancers looked faded and dull.

Vaziev has very little use for Tikhomirova. She was favored by Filin, but she no longer dances many of the principal roles she once did. She still dances Ramzé, Prudence in Lady of the Camellias and occasionally Olga in Onegin. Possokhov made the role of Polina in The Seagull on her, although it is a quasi-character role on heels. (In any case, Tikhomirova's performance is a caricature, whereas her alternate, Anastasia Meskova, is excellent and very true to life; you instantly recognize a sort of woman we all know well.) Tikhomirova no longer dances the Sylph (which was always misguided casting) or Swanilda, Gamzatti or the cabriole variation, Marie, Ratmansky's Mireille de Poitiers or Ballerina, the pas de trois from Swan Lake... Myrtha would seem an obvious role, but no. She often appears as the Street Dancer. As strange as it may seem, Vaziev doesn't seem much interested in women who can jump.

Like Maria Vinogradova. Apart from Igor Tsvirko, promoted to principal dancer for services rendered, the dancers Vaziev has been advancing are not recognizably Muscovite. The person who earned a promotion to principal dancer but didn't get it is Vinogradova. Not that I'm a great fan, but her work over the past year in Orlando, The Seagull and Master and Margarita, her technical strength, versatility and the number of times she danced two performances in a row should have been strong arguments in her favor. Her extensions are at least as high as Zakharova's. But Vaziev doesn't seem interested in a dancer of Moscow schooling with straight legs and a big jump. (I don't really like the flattened fingers of the Moscow school either, but it is part of the style.)

By my count, I have seen the Bolshoi Ballet 97 times since 1979, although the largest proportion of those performances have come in the last few years and in Moscow. I missed all of last season, but I have been back since the borders reopened to American tourists. I have seen all of the company's principals and soloists, so my opinions are based on my live experiences. When I attended Don Quixote in October I was hoping for a different Queen of the Dryads, but I was there to see someone else. Experience has taught me to be wary of Vaziev's protégés. His newest find horrified me, and I won't be seeing her again if I can help it. The discombobulated Italian fouettés and the legs flying up in the diagonal of oversplit non-jumps made me want to cover my eyes. I haven't been inclined to follow up by watching videos.

There are a number of Bolshoi dancers I avoid if possible, including one I once came close to booing. I am no fan of Smirnova. Zakharova also. I have seen her, of course, but there were just as many times when my tickets to her performances were returned, re-sold or unused. I'm neutral on most of the dancers, but have enormous affection for a handful of the 20+ year veterans now being pushed aside, and with them the Bolshoi style, which is criminal.

On 1/23/2022 at 1:30 PM, Buddy said:

I didn’t realise that the Bolshoi doesn’t have a Coryphee level above Corps de Ballet

The Bolshoi does have a coryphée rank. It is one of three ranks within the corps de ballet: artist, artist first class, artist first class - coryphée. Incoming corps members may be hired for any one of those levels. In her day, Angelina Vorontsova, for example, was hired as a coryphée. To look at a list of the Bolshoi's corps, it is impossible to determine to which category each dancer belongs. Prior to 2015 the Bolshoi published a full company list at the back of the souvenir programs for each production, the ones the ushers call "librettos." On those lists the coryphées were teased out and listed between soloists and corps. Traditionally, there were about 25 of them. The most recent list I have is from 2014. Among those dancers, two are now soloists, one is a first soloist, and one is a leading soloist. About half of the remainder have retired, and the others are still coryphées.

Edited by volcanohunter
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Volcanohunter, thank you for taking the time to write all this up and for the wealth of knowledge, observation and thoughtful opinion. Much appreciated. And interesting that you note the bulging insteps. In the Bolshoi's Jewels broadcast I mentioned earlier, it looked to me as though both Evgenia Obrazstova and Svetlana Zakharova were wearing padded arch enhancers. They look lovely when the foot is pointing, but create a knobby hump on the top of the foot when it is flat on the ground.  The closeups on the large movie screen make the wearing of these gimmicks more noticeable than it is in the theater. Both of these dancers - like Osipova who also wears them in films I have seen - already have beautifully arched feet! I'm guessing they are trying to achieve the aesthetic you described.

And although her physique is not her fault, I always found Misty Copeland's appearance less than ideal in classical roles for the very thing you describe: her hyperextended legs and overarched feet create wavy lines rather than straight ones. In Misty's case the disrupted line is accented by her knotty calf muscles. The visuals do matter to me. I tend not to like any stylistic look taken to extremes anyway- for example although I enjoy the lines created by a long lean leg, I'm still happy with the look of Margot Fonteyn too. Skeletally thin dancers distract me - I worry for them!

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The hot rumour in London is that the Bolshoi will be coming this summer.  The last visit was 2019 and I was very unhappy with the ballerinas for the reasons outlined by  volcanohunter.  That things have got worse is no incentive for me to look forward to seeing them.  A lot of the fans will be excited to get a glimpse of Tikhomirova as she is almost ludicrously popular with the fans here considering the very little she does.   The other big favourite is Krysanova.

I first saw the company in 1974 and how I loved the Moscow style, so bold, so uninhibited and so exciting.  How can it have vanished to become a parade of crotch flashing stick insects?

One last thing, yes, Vaziev is a bully towards the corps, I've heard him in action.  Not nice.

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6 hours ago, Mashinka said:

 

One last thing, yes, Vaziev is a bully towards the corps, I've heard him in action.  Not nice.

I’m very sorry to hear another confirmation of this, Mashinka. If this is indeed his prevalent behavior, with no ill-will intended, maybe it’s time for him to reconsider this sort of thing.

In further regard to Eva Sergeyenkova, in my opinion and apparently many others’, but apparently not everyone’s, in her very special way, she’s a very, very lovely artist.

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5 hours ago, Buddy said:

I’m very sorry to hear another confirmation of this, Mashinka.

I have been assuming everyone's source for "Vaziev is a bully towards the corps" is the same one source--his yearly appearances on World Ballet Day. Is there another?

Re World Ballet Day: I thought his relatively brief appearance in 2021 was the most unpleasant to watch of any of his appearances as he singled out one person for humiliation and that seems to me worse than acting the martinet towards many or calling out a lot of different people (especially when you know you are on camera).

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I was in a lift in a continental theatre when the door opened onto a lower floor and some twenty corps girls were in the corridor with MV who was literally screaming at them.  A friend of mine told me had an experience with him while watching a rehearsal when he was aggressively shouted out and told to stop taking photos, my pal not only wasn't, I don't think he's owned a camera in his life.  Some tempers in the ballet world are legendary.

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39 minutes ago, Mashinka said:

I was in a lift in a continental theatre when the door opened onto a lower floor and some twenty corps girls were in the corridor with MV who was literally screaming at them.  A friend of mine told me had an experience with him while watching a rehearsal when he was aggressively shouted out and told to stop taking photos, my pal not only wasn't, I don't think he's owned a camera in his life.  Some tempers in the ballet world are legendary.

How disconcerting for your friend...

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The Bolshoi has launched a new production and it's given us a chance to take an ongoing look at Olga Smirnova. It's The Master and Margarite based on a Russian novel from almost a hundred years ago and it doesn't have a lot of dancing highlights according to the only review that I've found. It does have an impressive duet as performed by Olga Smirnova and Artemy Belyakov that's on video. He, by the way, seems quite good at allowing his ballerina partners to radiate with expression. 

'Expressionist' remains the best word that I have to describe Olga Smirnova's finest artistry. Another word would simply be 'acting' but in dance it's different because it's body language. 

In ballet, the Bolshoi excels at this. Its new, young star, Eva Sergeyenkova, is its most recent exceptional example. Olga Smirnova always seems to be intensely searching for, experimenting with, growing with and finding new essence. It's very visible and very highly developed. Eva Sergeyenkova seems to draw you and herself more naturally inside with her pure emotion and pure response. Both women can take you on very encompassing and very powerful journeys of self expression.

There's little in complete performances that's officially posted in videos, but this one does give some recent insight into Olga Smirnova. This is her Romeo and Juliet danced with Vladimir Shklyarov at an October, 2021, non-Bolshoi gala production posted by its producer, the famous dancer, Andris Liepa. As with many videos that I've seen of her, she's often trying something noticeably new, even with the same role.

I think that this video gives a good sense of how much she attempts and how proficient she is. At first glance, she seems almost Greek goddess-like. She composes one museum quality/theatrically compelling image after another. Enriching this are many touchingly human moments. The more that we watch, the more brilliant elements I'm sure that we'll find.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uCJjfllS1Q
 

 

Edited by Buddy
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Today the Bolshoi suspended sales for the premiere of Ratmansky's The Art of the Fugue, which is scheduled for the end of March. An announcement about the fate of the ballet hasn't yet been made, about whether Ratmansky is abandoning the project, and whether this is in response to the events of today. He is open about his pro-Ukrainian views.

A performance of The Bright Stream went ahead as scheduled today.

 

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30 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Today the Bolshoi suspended sales for the premiere of Ratmansky's The Art of the Fugue, which is scheduled for the end of March. An announcement about the fate of the ballet hasn't yet been made, about whether Ratmansky is abandoning the project, and whether this is in response to the events of today. He is open about his pro-Ukrainian views.

A performance of The Bright Stream went ahead as scheduled today.

 

Current events have caused Valery Gergiev to cancel his performances at Carnegie Hall this weekend with the Vienna Phil.  Denis Matsuev has also cancelled his appearance with the Vienna for tomorrow evening.  Now they are scrambling to find a replacement to play Rach Piano Concerto 2 tomorrow night.  Both Gergiev and Matsuev are Putin supporters.

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Yes, Gergiev is essentially Putin's official conductor, and Matsuev is basically his official pianist. If someone's going to perform classical music on Red Square on a national holiday, it's them.

Apparently Gergiev was booed yesterday at La Scala, and Milan's mayor is demanding he distance himself from Putin or be fired.

(The article was posted before the Carnegie Hall decision.)

https://operawire.com/valery-gergiev-under-fire-at-the-teatro-alla-scala/

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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

Today the Bolshoi suspended sales for the premiere of Ratmansky's The Art of the Fugue, which is scheduled for the end of March. An announcement about the fate of the ballet hasn't yet been made, about whether Ratmansky is abandoning the project, and whether this is in response to the events of today. He is open about his pro-Ukrainian views.

A performance of The Bright Stream went ahead as scheduled today.

 

Ratmansky posted just one thing on Instagram today - the Ukraine flag. Several years ago he proudly announced on social media that he had been sworn in as a US citizen, so presumably he can travel in the west without problem.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaVvYNlItK9/

He was apparently in Miami recently for their opening of Swan Lake, but not clear where he is today. https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ2vQfCP7iS/

It’s been a long journey, but we finally open tonight. SWAN LAKE is a ballet of genius and I sincerely hope we do justice to Petipa, Ivanov and Tchaikovsky with this production. Much love and gratitude to all at Miami City Ballet! So proud of you! Can’t wait to see you all shine on stage tonight 

In fall 2020, he posted on Instagram: "I voted today. Good feeling."

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGyT4rqAdSR/

Edited by California
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As a dual citizen he can also travel to Russia more easily than most.

I honestly don't expect an explanation on Fugue from him or the company. For him to speak in black-and-white terms would bar him access to the Bolshoi for the foreseeable future. And the Bolshoi sure isn't going to give dissident views a platform, not as "the country's main stage," with all that implies. But people will draw their own conclusions from timing and laconic social media posts.

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2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

As a dual citizen he can also travel to Russia more easily than most.

I honestly don't expect an explanation on Fugue from him or the company. For him to speak in black-and-white terms would bar him access to the Bolshoi for the foreseeable future. And the Bolshoi sure isn't going to give dissident views a platform, not as "the country's main stage," with all that implies. But people will draw their own conclusions from timing and laconic social media posts.

Completely agree. Abstract responses work best in these situations - showing an image of the Ukrainian flag says nothing specific, and that's likely to be best for Ratmansky when dealing with Russian companies, and authorities.

It's always been hard to tell how much Gergiev actually agrees with the party line, but he's definitely caught between a rock and a hard place. If he falls out of favor with Mr. P. then his career will sink like a stone in a Siberian pond.

Edited by pherank
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Gergiev has been such a loyal and effective apologist for the regime for so long, no matter what the issue, that I'm going to assume he agrees with the party line entirely. And his career hasn't just flourished, he has become by far the most powerful figure in the Russian arts. Want a dedicated concert hall? No problem. A second theater? Sure. Appropriate a couple of opera houses in other cities? Okay. So no sympathy over his rock and hard place. The man is ruthless.

As for Ratmansky, if the political atmosphere is so uncomfortable, perhaps he'd be better off not working with Russian companies. There's plenty of work for him elsewhere, and he'd probably never feel pressure to make moral compromises.

Edited by volcanohunter
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The Bolshoi acknowledges that The Art of the Fugue has been postponed because of "current events." The Bolshoi "hopes" that the project can still be realized, and Ratmansky "hopes" the time will come when he can return to Moscow to finish the ballet. 

But honestly, when looking for replacement repertoire for those dates, the Bolshoi could have come up with something slightly less fossilized than Don Quixote and Spartacus.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaZfLlrLsPu/ 

P.S. Oh, and in the comments Nikolai Tsiskaridze accuses Ratmansky of being ungrateful.

Edited by volcanohunter
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6 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

The Bolshoi acknowledges that The Art of the Fugue has been postponed because of "current events." The Bolshoi "hopes" that the project can still be realized, and Ratmansky "hopes" the time will come when he can return to Moscow to finish the ballet. 

But honestly, when looking for replacement repertoire for those dates, the Bolshoi could have come up with something slightly less fossilized than Don Quixote and Spartacus.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaZfLlrLsPu/ 

P.S. Oh, and in the comments Nikolai Tsiskaridze accuses Ratmansky of being ungrateful.

Either ballet could be read as political commentary; however, both are favorites with conservatives and non-conservatives alike. And the dancers likely know these roles in their sleep.
I think I'll skip it.  😉

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Plans to bring the Bolshoi Ballet to London next summer have been cancelled. https://www.startribune.com/munich-rotterdam-may-fire-gergiev-london-drops-bolshoi/600150558/

In addition, the Royal Opera House on Friday canceled a planned tour to London by Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet.

The Mariinsky and Bolshoi are among Russia's most renowned arts institutions.

"A summer season of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Royal Opera House had been in the final stages of planning," The Royal Opera said in a statement. "Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, the season cannot now go ahead."

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1 hour ago, Mashinka said:

If Mr Ratmansky is in need of a job, perhaps he could consider the vacancy at ENB.

If Ratmansky were willing to become a company director again, I suspect ABT would be ecstatic to hire him. But from things he said when NYCB wanted him to be their choreographer, exclusively, he seems to want the freedom to work with many different companies, in both new work and reconstructions.  

I'm wondering what happens to his Giselle reconstruction, which I saw "live" streaming in the theater in January 2020 before the lockdown.  It would be great if they would release it on DVD or streaming-for-purchase or bring it to the US on tour, but all of that seems in doubt for the foreseeable future.

Edited by California
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I don't see Ratmansky letting anything get in the way of his creative pursuits. And running a company definitely gets in the way.
Balanchine was a rarity. Or another way to look at it would be that he was so obsessive that every aspect of his "vision" had to be personally nurtured and controlled by Mr. B.   😉

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The New York Times released an article about Ratmansky leaving Moscow:

Alexei Ratmansky, With Family in Kyiv, Leaves His Ballet in Moscow
The New York-based choreographer, who was working on a new ballet for the Bolshoi, said he doubted he would return to Russia to work “if Putin is still president.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-leaves-bolshoi-ballet.html

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10 minutes ago, pherank said:

The New York Times released an article about Ratmansky leaving Moscow:

Alexei Ratmansky, With Family in Kyiv, Leaves His Ballet in Moscow
The New York-based choreographer, who was working on a new ballet for the Bolshoi, said he doubted he would return to Russia to work “if Putin is still president.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-leaves-bolshoi-ballet.html

Very sad. Ratmansky has been posting a flurry of statements on Facebook from dancers in support of Ukraine, including Osipova and Baryshnikov. Reminds me that Baryshnikov has said in interviews that he would never return to Russia, especially with a former KGB agent in charge. Today, Ratmansky posted a gorgeous pre-attack video of Kyiv, which he calls his hometown.

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