A little more about ballet criticism

[Meliss]

In an article by a ballet critic, there was such a passage about Godunov:

Quote

Although he performed his solo cleanly, Alexander Godunov's step-step-leap way of dancing and grunt-grunt-heave way of partnering continue to make him a stylistic stranger to a company that sees itself as more Kirov than Bolshoi.

I'm afraid I don't quite understand what it means: " step-step-leap way of dancing" and "grunt-grunt-heave way of partnering". 

Can someone please explain?

[volcanohunter]

This suggests a lack of flow in dancing, as though choreography were chopped up into elements, with obvious preparations between them, rather than linked together into seamless phrases.

[FPF]

It also seems to imply that his partnering was very effortful, which would destroy the illusion of the ballerina's weightlessness.

[Meliss]

23 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

This suggests a lack of flow in dancing, as though choreography were chopped up into elements, with obvious preparations between them, rather than linked together into seamless phrases.

 

21 hours ago, FPF said:

It also seems to imply that his partnering was very effortful, which would destroy the illusion of the ballerina's weightlessness.

Thank you very much. I would really like to see confirmation of this opinion. If suddenly someone has a few minutes to watch the excerpt and mark the time where we can see the lack of flow , as well as the lifting of the partner with visible effort, I will be very grateful. https://yandex.ru/video/preview/6899692314292661343 

But it's unlikely. Godunov moves perfectly and lifts even not small van Hamel easily enough. Another question is more interesting here - does the critic think that all the dancers in the Bolshoi Theater do not know how to move on stage and raise their partners?

Edited yesterday at 08:05 PM by Meliss

[Helene]

You’ve given no context for the criticism, ie, what performance he or she was watching.

I don’t have time to watch the entire video now, but an example of what the critic was talking about is around 5:20, when he squats with his back to the camera — and  the audience — to lift her.  

The critic was saying that the men in the Bolshoi had a common lifting technique that he found unrefined, compared to the men in the Kirov.  

[Meliss]

6 hours ago, Helene said:

You’ve given no context for the criticism, ie, what performance he or she was watching.

It was Raymonda.

Quote

I don’t have time to watch the entire video now, but an example of what the critic was talking about is around 5:20, when he squats with his back to the camera — and  the audience — to lift her.  

Thank you very much!  Well, I don't know. He lifted her up easily!

6 hours ago, Helene said:

The critic was saying that the men in the Bolshoi had a common lifting technique that he found unrefined, compared to the men in the Kirov.  

I wonder why our ballet critics don't know about this. And not only ours.

https://yandex.ru/video/preview/12441204650895389624

39.03 -  It's much worse. And this is the Mariinsky.

Edited yesterday at 08:32 PM by Meliss

[volcanohunter]

15 hours ago, Meliss said:

does the critic think that all the dancers in the Bolshoi Theater do not know how to move on stage and raise their partners?

I was minimally familiar with the Bolshoi dancers of Godunov's generation, but I was well acquainted with Bolshoi principals from several generations later. Some of the men made transitional steps sing and lifted their partners seamlessly, as though they weighed as little as tissue paper. Others looked good in the air, but had no sense of phrasing whatsoever and/or made the mechanics of partnering all too visible. I've seen even tall, strapping dancers perform overhead lifts in stages, rather than as a single, smooth motion.

The critic's general impression of Bolshoi dancers may have been influenced by the partnering in Grigorovich ballets, which is not subtle and often resembles weightlifting. 

[Helene]

32 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

The critic's general impression of Bolshoi dancers may have been influenced by the partnering in Grigorovich ballets, which is not subtle and often resembles weightlifting. 

I don't know enough about the Bolshoi and Mariinsky tours to the US, but I was wondering whether the big heroic roles and lots of Don Q's skewed the partnering style.  Spartacus wasn't meant to be prince-like. 

[volcanohunter]

3 hours ago, Helene said:

I don't know enough about the Bolshoi and Mariinsky tours to the US, but I was wondering whether the big heroic roles and lots of Don Q's skewed the partnering style.  Spartacus wasn't meant to be prince-like. 

The premiere of Baryshnikov's Raymonda Divertissement for ABT took place in 1980, and it was telecast in 1981. Of course, the most recent Bolshoi tour of North America had taken place in 1979, and it was Grigorovich-heavy: The Stone Flower, Legend of Love, Spartacus, Romeo and Juliet and Grigorovich's production of Swan Lake. I don't doubt that it was still fresh in the minds of American critics.

[On Pointe]

There was a huge shift in phrasing and technique at the Bolshoi from the 1960s into the 1980's,  when they began touring in the west,  and western companies toured in the Soviet Union.  It wasn't just the male dancers.  Even Plisetskaya had a way of just stepping between the big moments rather than dancing through the phrase.  They became much more fluid after they got out more,  so to speak.  (And they lost their minds when they got a good look at Sylvie Guillem.). There was also a bit of cross-pollination with the Kirov.  There are many YouTube videos where  you can see the old Bolshoi style,  and how it evolved rapidly during that period.  Godunov had vestiges of the old style when he danced classical roles.  But he was capable of a more contemporary approach when he danced newer works.