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The full version of the recent production of Mariinsky, 'The Four Seasons', from Mariinsky TV is available on youtube channel. This starring the amazing Ekaterina Kondaurova and the Vivaldi score re orchestrated by Max Richter.

Absolutely loved the Mariinsky Ballet's Giselle, top quality dancing by Diana Vishneva, Mathieu Ganio and the entire company, my join favourite production of the ballet along with Sir Peter Wright's for The Royal Ballet, so glad they put up a 2016 performance of it on their YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XJZTf4zHlA It was nice to see it in HD quality as I only have on DVD a 1980s performance (with the amazing Galina Mezentseva, Konstantin Zaklinsky and Tatyana Terekhova) so like the costumes looked faded but in the 2016 version you could see all the pretty detailing in the costumes and the scenery as well. Not familiar with Diana Vishneva but she was wonderful as Giselle, conveyed innocence and happiness in the first act and then was very ethereal in the second act and Mathieu Ganio was extremely elegant as Albrecht Yekaterina Ivannikova as Myrtha was also good, all business and pretty unforgiving plus excellent dancing.

Signalling the arrival of Yevgeny Konovalov. He (Second Soloist) debuted Thursday at the Mariinsky as Count Albrecht in Giselle. From video clips, in my opinion, he’d be perfect on the Shakespearean Stage. Not a bad dancer either. Keep an eye on him.

Yesterday's matinee was the last performance on the Mariinsky tour of California, La Bayadere at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall with Novikova, Kim and Batoeva. It was magnificent! Rarely do we see such dancing in the Bay Area, and the audience was over the moon. The scenery and dancers competed for space on the small Zellerbach stage but they made it work to create an escapist fantasy set in a mythical past. The elephant, the tiger, the parrots! Oh my! They even managed to get 32 shades on the stage. Kudos to the corps! The same cast (except for the principals) had performed the same ballet twice on the previous day and some of them looked a bit tired. However they gave it their all. I recognized the inimitable Yana Selina as the second shade and Maria Bulanova in the grand pas. Maria Illushkina was listed as one of two dancers in D'Jampe but I couldn't tell which one she was, nor did she stand out in the grand pas. Anastasia Lukina had a slight stumble towards the end of the third shade variation but was otherwise pretty secure. The crowd loved Phillip Stepin as the Golden Idol. Olesya Novikova as Nikiya -- words fail. I was sitting next to a young dancer who gasped each time Novikova held an impossible balance or went into a lift with all the insouciance of a person catching a bus. Her technical security allowed her to inhabit the role without pause. During Nikya's monologue the normally unruly Berkeley audience held its collective breath and you could hear a pin drop. Novikova rarely tours (she has I think 3 children) so we were very lucky to see this performance. I was expecting great things of Nadezhda Batoeva as Gamzatti, and those expectations were exceeded. What a glittering princess she was, what great technique and stage presence. I have never seen such slow and beautifully controlled Italian fouettes. She was an equal match for Novikova in the "cat fight" scene and added many interesting details to create a unique Gamzatti. For example, after Nikiya attacks her with the knife Batoeva conveyed Gamzatti's gradual realization of what had just happened and the evolution of this into a decision to punish Nikya. Kim was Kim, flying through the air. The audience went nuts. Bouyed by this, his last manege of grand jetes at the very end were if possible higher and more energetic than earlier in the ballet. He was better as a partner than expected. During the bows the mutual respect between Kim and Novikova was touchingly evident. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to see these great artists in person. I hope they return soon.

I have anticipated attending this performance since it was announced and I am sorry to report that overall, I was disappointed. Here's the review I wrote about last night's experience. Anyone else there?

Casting has been posted on the Cal Performances website for the six Mariinsky performances of La Bayadere in Berkeley California October 30-November 3, 2019. Tickets are $25 to $225 and will be available for purchase by the general public on August 6. October 30 Nikia: Ekaterina Kondaurova Solor: Andrei Ermakov Gamzatti: Ekaterina Chebykina October 31 Nikia: Maria Khoreva Solor: Vladimir Shklyarov Gamzatti: Anastasia Nuikina November 1 Nikia: Olesia Novikova Solor: Kimin Kim Gamzatti: Nadezhda Batoeva November 2 (matinee) Nikia: Ekaterina Kondaurova Solor: Andrei Ermakov Gamzatti: Ekaterina Chebykina November 2 (evening) Nikia: Maria Khoreva Solor: Vladimir Shklyarov Gamzatti: Anastasia Nuikina November 3 Nikia: Olesia Novikova Solor: Kimin Kim Gamzatti: Nadezhda Batoeva

Here's my thoughts about my first time seeing Mariinsky Ballet live. I went in without any judgement or concrete expectations and left looking forward to seeing them again in the fall when they will perform Paquita

'La Bayadère meets La Fille Mal Gardée' With Maria Alexandrova and Vladislav Lantratov, Principal Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet and Students of London Russian Ballet School 7.30pm 26th April 2019, Cadogan Hall Book Tickets Maria Alexandrova and Vladislav Lantratov in Raymonda for 'Romantic Revolution', London Palladium, September 2017 An evening of Classical Ballet with Contemporary Asides LRBS Young Lambeth Performers will perform on stage with the Bolshoi Artists. Over 130 children from Lambeth will attend the performance for free. Join us and the Principal Artists of the Bolshoi Ballet in an evening of La Bayadére, La Fille mal Gardée and contemporary asides.

The London Russian Ballet School is accepting applications for auditions for the vocational ballet course. Full-time training in the Professional Russian Ballet Method with outstanding teachers from the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theatres, plus a first class academic education. Applications are open for auditions for entry onto our full-time vocational ballet course with academic education. Auditions begin at the beginning of February 2019 and will continue throughout the month. Thereafter auditions may be arranged by request with the school. To apply, please visit: http://www.londonrussianballetschool.com/applications-auditions/ Send completed form to auditions@lr-bs.com or call 02074980498 for more info. LRBS is delighted to be able to offer 2 full scholarships for boys for our full-time vocational programme in 2018. These scholarships include world-class training in the Professional Russian Ballet Method for male technique, pas de deux, character and contemporary as well as top-level academic education (A Levels or GCSEs). For more information on the course please turn to the relevant section of the website and if you wish to apply, please see the information below or call the school.

The Mariinsky Ballet was back in Baden Baden over the holidays for its annual visit and with a variety of works – Swan Lake, two mixed bills and a gala performance. I attended the matinee performance on Boxing Day of one of the mixed bills, comprising two small-scale works that were premiered in 2017. The Cat on the Tree is by Anton Pimonov, a former dancer with the company, to songs by Nico Muhly and Teitur Lassen. When I saw the title of the work, I thought it’d be a narrative piece – actually it isn’t. The lyrics are based on comments made below videos on YouTube, and I understand the title of Pimonov’s work is the title of one of the songs created by Nico Muhly and Teitur Lassen. The music is soft, melodic and fluid, using strings and cembalo, providing for easy listening. An example on the YouTube channel of the record company https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbFlrch0vw. The stage is bare except for strips of light at the back and the front. Three couples (Viktoria Tereshkina – Alexander Sergeev, Ekaterina Kondaurova – Andrei Yermakov, Nadezhda Batoeva – Alexei Timofeyev) perform as group, in solos and as couples. Dance is neoclassical, fluid, on pointe and intertwined with other activities e.g., plies and slow jogging as if warming up in a gym, a dancer sits down on stage and adjusts her hair. There is a video on Andrei Yermakov’s YouTube channel with an extract of the work. It was nice to look at, contemplative, sort of a relaxing afternoon tea while looking at a gently flowing river. The Four Seasons by Ilya Zhivoi, a dancer with the company, uses Max Richter’s version of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. It portrays the development of a relationship through the seasons of the year/ of life and comes with a lead couple (Ekaterina Kondaurova and Xander Parish) and four supporting couples as friends of the female and male lead respectively. The pre-show introduction to the work contrasted extracts from Richter’s version with the same extract from Vivaldi’s work, an exhilarating experience. Dance is neoclassical here, too, with a PDD for the two leads in each season and interaction by the supporting friends amongst them and with their respective lead. There is also a variety of pantomime to further illustrate the emotional state of the two leads in their relationship. The colours and shapes of the costumes change with the seasons and come in shades of light red, blue, burgundy and greyish blue. Spring. Birdsong before the curtain opens. Hedges at both sides and stretches of lawn at the back and the front of the stage. The female lead is on the lawn. The male lead appears, sees her, runs to her and tries to impress her. She looks indifferent at first and is then won over by his approach. The four supporting couples appear, the four supporting male dancers interact akin to “oh, look at the two lovebirds”, gesticulating with their arms (… my reading …). Summer. The lawn is now at both sides of the stage. Conflict enters the relationship of the main couple and is shown through angry looks and arm movements - fists are shown, bodies turn away. The conflict extends to the supporting friends – the four couples break into male friends of the male lead and female friends of the female lead. They retreat and then approach each other with arm movements of “no more” (… again, my reading …). The lead couple goes through reconciliation at the end of summer. Autumn. The lawn is now a single stretch at the back of the stage. The two leads dance on it, surrounded by the supporting couples, this reminded me of maybe folk dances at harvest time, a family gathering, or similar events. Joyful, playful, the two leads teasing each other. Mature love. Winter. Icebergs depict the cold atmosphere on stage. The male lead reaches out to the female lead, she withdraws and turns to her female group of friends, he then interacts with his male group of friends. Spring returns, and the lead couple is back on the lawn (and one other couple underneath the lawn). The pre-show introduction ended with a melancholic outlook at the end of winter in that love didn’t work out. So when spring returns, has their love been reinvigorated, or do the two leads now represent another couple at the start of their relationship? I liked the clear, straightforward and effective stage design and the flowing costumes as they changed from season to season. It was interesting to see that a number of times, the male lead takes the initiative (e.g., at the start of spring and in winter) but it is the response of the female lead that determines how their relationship moves ahead. Equally, the supporting couples often act as a group but in times of conflict this changes, and the male friends then turn to supporting the male lead whereas the female friends support the female lead. Extract on the company’s web site https://mariinsky.tv/1147-en. I hope the company will continue to bring modern works to Baden Baden as part of future visits.

Sorry to start this topic on a sad note. GALINA RAKHMANOVA There are some special dancers whose names never (or almost never) appear in the first lines of castlists but, nevertheless, not only their performance impresses as much as the principals’ but on some occasions is even more memorable. For me Galina Rakhmanova at Mariinsky Ballet was one of those special dancers. She graduated as a classical dancer from Natalya Dudunskaya’s class at Vaganova Academy and, as tradition required, joined the Kirov’s corps de ballet. Gradually she started getting some coryphee and solo parts, like Kitri’s friend in Don Q., one of Big Swans in SL and even Zarema in “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”. Later she moved away from these roles and switched over to character dances. Here, with her distinguished appearance - raven-black hair, enormous dark eyes, tall and incredibly flexible figure and long supple arms - she was unforgettable. It wasn’t just her technical prowess that delighted me but the grace and dignity in each of her gestures and her entire noble image. When I heard on the 5th of October that Galina died on that day, aged 49, I felt so sad and cannot help but keep watching from time to time some short recordings of her dancing. Here is one, the Spanish dance from ‘La Traviata’. Every movement is beautiful but how different it is in style from her Spanish dance in ‘Swan Lake’ or Mercedes in ‘Don Q.”! Even after the end of her dance she moves in such a stylish manner, totally appropriate for the Verdi’s opera. Spanish dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJWbbYHDiwo What a great loss for the company and the dancers she was working with as a repetiteur. Galina’s funeral will be tomorrow, on Wednesday. This is the obituary on Mariinsky’s website: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/news1/news2/08_231oct1/

Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the Mariinsky rehearsal of Paquita grand pas (setups) taken from the mixed bill also including Infra and Carmen Suite, at the Royal Opera House, August 2017 Here are some sample photos... Viktoria Tereshkina, Vladimir Shklyarov © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Viktoria Tereshkina, Vladimir Shklyarov & artists of the company © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: Mariinsky Ballet: Grand Pas - Paquita Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

I would much appreciate some advice. I can afford two visits so have decided on Swan Lake and Bayadere, mainly because I've seen Anna Karenina and don't enjoy DQ. I know it is hard to be exact about casting, but any recommendations as to whom I should look out for? I like my ballet lyrical, Cojocaru and Asylmuratova being my absolute favourites.

I was at the rehearsal for 'Don Q' the afternoon (NB - Act One only) before the opening night. Here are some photos: Viktoria Tereshkina, Kimin Kim © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Viktoria Tereshkina © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Ekaterina Chebykina © Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: Mariinsky Ballet - Don Quixote Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the rehearsal for Swan Lake by the Mariinsky Ballet, at ROH July 2017 Here are some photos: Xander Parish, Viktoria Tereshkina © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Viktoria Tereshkina © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Xander Parish, Viktoria Tereshkina (and company dancers) © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: Mariinsky Ballet: Swan Lake Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

Just some set up shots from Anna Karenina's rehearsal today. Konstantin Zverev - Count Vronsky and Diana Vishneva - Anna Karenina Diana Vishneva - Anna Karenina and Artists of the Mariinsky Ballet Anna Karenina - Diana Vishneva More pictures on www.johnrossballetgallery.co.uk

For Sale - Mariinsky's Swan Lake, ROH, Friday, 28th July 7.30PM 2 tickets Upper Amphitheatre Right, P68 and P69, £48 each (Kondaurova, Ivanchenko)

Does anyone have any idea when the Bolshoi or the Mariinsky Ballet companies issue their programmes for the later half of the year? My dd is lucky enough to be going to both Moscow and St Petersburg in October and would love to go to the ballet, but when I have looked online it just says to be advised later in the year. Because she is going with college we will need to request that she be allowed to go in advance and I don't want to find out too late and her miss the opportunity. If I had some idea I could talk to college staff and at least broach the subject. Can anyone help?

The January edition of the Dancing Times says that the Mariinsky Season next year will be from July 24 to August 12. They open with Don Q and follow this with Swan Lake, Anna Karenina (Ratmansky), and a Triple Bill (Carmen Suite; Infra and the Paquita Grand Pas), closing with La Bayadere.

I am lucky enough to find myself in St Petersburg for a few days next month and should be able to make time for a visit to the Mariinsky. I am fine with practicalities (booking through the .ru and not the .com site etc) but would appreciate advice from all the knowledgeable Russian ballet followers here on what would be best to see. Available options during our stay are The Nutcracker in the new Mariinsky II or a programme (details as yet unpublished) called Michel Fokine's ballets in the Mariinsky itself. Casting is not yet available for either. I would happily do both but my partner will want to go to an opera in return for me dragging him to ballet, so I must choose one or the other. My instinct is to go for the Fokine programme, not least because it is in the historic theatre, which I would love to see. Does anyone have any other clues/insight into what I might expect from the Fokine programme or is it safe to presume that since it is the Mariinsky it will be good and interesting whichever ballets they pick? Or am I crazy to pass up an opportunity to see one of the 'Big 3' Tchaikovsky ballets done in its city of origin? As a follow up question, if the Fokine is the better option, where is the best place to sit in the historic theatre? There are still seats available at all levels from what I can see. Thank you in advance for any assistance!

'The Backstage' (2010) by a celebrated artist and photographer Mark Olich. The print on canvas (70cm x 70cm) was bought in London during Olich's exhibition at Pushkin House in 2011. The original price was £360 (price list and catalogue included). You can see it on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/61361613643392239/