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Graduating boys classical ballet exam Vaganova


CeliB

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Is on YouTube....

 

there are some negative comments about the speed of the combinations and the boys physique, I would be ally interested to know what those on this forum who are knowledgeable about ballet (unlike myself) think...particularly in light of Diana Vishnevas reported comments about the diluting of the Vaganova style as a result of a Bolshoi director for the school....

 

also I have to report the applause originated with the audience below (senior dancers, judges, assorted ballet luminaries), I was in the balcony with other attendees and the senior students and the students are far too respectful to applaud without their senior teachers taking the lead.

 

i thought the quality was astounding but again I am no expert so would value others opinions. Although the judges seemed to agree- all the students I this class received the highest grade.

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Sorry I'm not an expert, apologies if I'm wrong! I had a quick look at the film before I read your post and it struck me that the boys physiques were all very different. Also that some of the combinations seemed a bit fast fast in places. I was wondering if the varying physiques and speed can be a reason why dancers don't always appear to me to be in sync with each other. Maybe this isn't a problem because if they were in a company they probably wouldn't be dancing together like this. Otherwise amazing!

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He was amazing! I loved his line and musicality but did feel that maybe one or two of the others struggled a little with the tempo in places but if their earlier training was at a slower tempo that's understandable. I'm not a professional but I'd tend to agree that it didn't look like the usual vaganova style to me. However I thought it was much more enjoyable to watch and sometimes small changes are for the good! The mariinsky isn't a particularly exciting company for me at the moment(just a personal opinion), maybe this is what's needed? 

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I watched some of it back and there are some differences in head position, epaulement etc at times. I don't know enough about vaganova to know which is the 'correct' technique or whether there is room for interpretation within the technique. 

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Just watched it all. How absolutely lovely. What glorious combinations. I thought your son was wonderful, CeliB. Him and the boy with the long-ish hair stood out to me as the two exceptional ones. But all five were fantastic.

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Well even though I've attended Vaganova classes I couldn't say whether this was way off the Mariinski style or not. It's very Russian looking but am not an expert in pure Mariinsky style.

This class looks quite extraordinary from where I'm sitting ....I'm not sure many boys this age could keep up with the speed and intensity of this barre!! A definitely "in your dreams" comment from me.....amazing.

one has to remember that this is a top graduating class of A starred quality pupils and I'm sure during the overall training at the school things will be taken a little more slowly!! 

Also Nikolai Tsiskaridze is the fairly newish appointed Director of the school and this is HIS class so they will have to have stepped up to the plate and this is a graduating exam.....I'm sure he has pushed them quite hard.

There will always be people who will say anyway that he has diluted the style( which I cannot really judge so well) just because he has had such a long association with the Bolshoi and maybe didn't like his appointment to the Vaganova school etc( the usual behind the scenes shenanigans) 

i noticed the boys physiques were all different and thought hooray .....but then I don't like too homogenised a look .....I like dancers to look more individual .....you don't have to have just one particular look to be successful as a dancer.....in the end it will be the passion..drive ..and sensitivity you can give to a role or to your dancing which draws in the audience not whether you have some perfectly proportioned "ballet" figure!!

However depending on physique there will always be some moves some will find easier or more difficult than others so unlikely to be absolutely perfect in everything in a class.

I would be very happy if a child of mine graduated with this ability from their training .....whatever it was....though I think the Vaganova training happens to be one of the best.

Wishing all the boys in this class every success they are all fabulous and hope they get contracts for where they want to dance in the future....especially CeliB's DS of course!!

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Thank you for posting this CeliB.  Fabulous dancers who are a real pleasure to watch.  I hope they all find jobs to go to after graduating.

 

With regards to whether the Vaganova style has been diluted, I think changes have been happening over a very long time, little by little.  Like all other institutes, the Vaganova Academy has evolved, hopefully embracing the best of the new while preserving the traditional technique.   If you see old films from Russia, in the middle of the last century they looked very different from now, in the same way that dancers in old Royal Ballet films look different to today's dancers.  The difference between a Vaganova trained dancer and a Bolshoi dancer used to be quite visible, not just in the way they executed the steps, but in the muscle formation and line of leg in extensions.  For many years now the two companies have become virtually indistinguishable.  So I would say there has been a merging of the styles, rather than Tsiskaridze diluting the Vaganova work.

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Celib you must be so proud! The exercises are fascinating. The drama of these Russian classes is something else - the rooms, the grandeur and my favourite bit - when they leave and re-appear through the doors!!! It's a world away and to see your own dc there must be surreal.

 

I couldn't see any comments on YouTube about physiques. Out of interest what had the criticism been?

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Just managed to watch the whole video. What a lovely (and extremely difficult) class ! As I said earlier maybe the barre work was taken at a slightly faster tempo than usual (for Vaganova) - that's an observation, I'm familiar with the technique, but not an expert. Big congratulations to all the boys (and the pianist - whose fingers must have been falling off !) What's wrong with their physiques ? I hope that you're very proud CeliB, your boy looks lovely :) X

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Thank you for all your comments, both kind and informed. One of the comments on YouTube said they all looked bulky and the exercises were all too fast. Just made me feel a bit nervous but of course it's YouTube, who knows if the commentator had in any way an informed opinion....

yes I agree we also loved the drama of the in and out the end doors, which was even more dramatic in real life as they waited until they felt ready to come back in (the actual exam lasted 1 hour). DS says they worshiped the pianist (she was really feted at the end by the boys and the audience)! 

DS also mentioned one of the mariinsky dancers came to do class with them and pretty much had to sit out half way through as he didn't have the stamina to keep going. I think it genuinely is an extraordinarily difficult class, and as LinMM astutely observed definitely Tsiskas chance to prove himself as a teacher...

more news on contract offers in due course when a bit more concrete (all good though)...

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Wow, what an incredibly hard class!  They did extremely well with it but I felt one boy was lacking control on the barre - hardly surprising to be honest, he was probably struggling with the speed. Having centre spot on the barre always draws the eye and he was placed there for a reason.  I'm sure your son has a very bright future.  Lovely to watch. 

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I shared this video to my male students, because as I've said on another thread, it's so important that boys have something to aspire to. The allegro sections were a firm favourite but even the Barre work wowed them. 

 

Huge well done to your son and thank you for sharing, just in my little corner of the world your son and his classmates have shown my students what they can aspire to be :wub:

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21 hours ago, CeliB said:

Thank you for all your comments, both kind and informed. One of the comments on YouTube said they all looked bulky and the exercises were all too fast. Just made me feel a bit nervous but of course it's YouTube, who knows if the commentator had in any way an informed opinion....

yes I agree we also loved the drama of the in and out the end doors, which was even more dramatic in real life as they waited until they felt ready to come back in (the actual exam lasted 1 hour). DS says they worshiped the pianist (she was really feted at the end by the boys and the audience)! 

DS also mentioned one of the mariinsky dancers came to do class with them and pretty much had to sit out half way through as he didn't have the stamina to keep going. I think it genuinely is an extraordinarily difficult class, and as LinMM astutely observed definitely Tsiskas chance to prove himself as a teacher...

more news on contract offers in due course when a bit more concrete (all good though)...

Trends for body shape come and go. I've just posted a link to a documentary about Irek Mukhamedov when he joined RB. Anthony Dowell mentions that the dancers at RB were traditionally longer and leaner, but with the arrival of Russian dancers a more muscular, athletic physique was accepted. (Or something along thoses lines).

From watching this years Prix de Lausanne I did think that there is currently a trend for taller, leaner boys, but really, (and speaking about the RB )we have Vadim Muntagirov,,Matthew Ball, Alex Campbell and Marcelino Sambe who all seem to be doing rather well and all with different physiques ! Regarding the Marinsky dancer who couldn't keep up with the class- no surprise at all ! Vaganova syllabus is notoriously difficult. I remember my teacher training course for the 1st and 2nd year syllabus, (so for 10 and 11 year olds) - None of us could move for days......x

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Just to join in the exclamations & congratulations! Beautiful.

 

But gosh, it was fast - not really a barre that is a warm up & conditioning of the body ... more a showing of their virtuosity. 

 

Congratulations to your son! I hope he has a long & productive career.

 

 

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On 25/04/2017 at 20:27, Ellie said:

Trends for body shape come and go. I've just posted a link to a documentary about Irek Mukhamedov when he joined RB. Anthony Dowell mentions that the dancers at RB were traditionally longer and leaner, but with the arrival of Russian dancers a more muscular, athletic physique was accepted. (Or something along thoses lines).

From watching this years Prix de Lausanne I did think that there is currently a trend for taller, leaner boys, but really, (and speaking about the RB )we have Vadim Muntagirov,,Matthew Ball, Alex Campbell and Marcelino Sambe who all seem to be doing rather well and all with different physiques ! Regarding the Marinsky dancer who couldn't keep up with the class- no surprise at all ! Vaganova syllabus is notoriously difficult. I remember my teacher training course for the 1st and 2nd year syllabus, (so for 10 and 11 year olds) - None of us could move for days......x

Do you teach Vaganova now Ellie?

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A fair number of Mariinsky dancers are Vaganova trained. I think it was not so much that it was Vaganova but that it was Tsika's showpiece exam class (as Kate_N says- a showing off of their virtuosity). The boys spent since October 2016 working up to doing the full exam class (2 hours a day, 6 days a week just for this class- with another 4-6 hours a day of other classes, rehearsals etc alongside). At the beginning they could barely get through just the barre work before collapsing....the constant catch phrase of this year for them has been stamina, stamina, stamina!

 

 

 

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That's really interesting, CeluB - that they rehearsed the class. It looked like a performance rather than a class. My professional dancing family member trained in a version of the Vaganova system, up to about Year 7 I think (then she got a full time ballet job) and whenever I watched actual class (as opposed to end of year showings of work, they didn't do exams) I remember even that high level being very simple and clear at the barre - although I also remember thinking that 8 grand battements on demi point, en croix, at the barre, was both simple and very very difficult- 32 grand battements on demi! 

 

I thought they looked more like a normal company class in the grande allegro, which of course is the Russian male specialty. And where they all get those thighs, which are bigger than those of most dancers in say, the Royal Ballet. But perhaps more noticeable because they all seemed so tall and very thin in the upper body.

 

Their grace in the upper body was very beautiful. I loved the way their torsos, port dear bras, and heads all seemed so relaxed and fluid. I'm betting that's not how it felt, though ?

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