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Graduating boys classical ballet exam Vaganova


CeliB

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One of the beauties of the Vaganova style is that grace in the upper body.

I don't think they've got that big thighs though....perhaps compared just to the Royal as some of their men seem to be extra petite in look it seems to me and unless CeliB's DS has put on rapid thigh growth since November .....I didn't see it in the video...he is not "beefy" in the slightest....I think we would have all nearly killed for his legs!! 

 

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That's nice to hear. DS called me immediately after it had finished- both overjoyed at the fantastic reception (from a packed 1000 seat auditorium) and also really sad that it is his last performance with the Academy. He danced one of the Pierrot's in Fairy Dolls and then the male solo in the Bournonville Conservatoire (with only a 20 min break- his legs nearly fell off). Also in the repertoire were Prokofiev Classical Symphony and Paquita (Egor and Elya leading). There are some beautiful photos on the Acadmey's facebook page (of all the performances, not just the Kremlin one)

 

I particularly like this one of Tsiska touching up DSs makeup

 

 

I can't recall if I said on another thread but all the boys from his graduating class were offered contracts by Mariinsky, and 3 of them were offered Bolshoi as well.

 

 

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2 hours ago, CeliB said:

That's nice to hear. DS called me immediately after it had finished- both overjoyed at the fantastic reception (from a packed 1000 seat auditorium) ...

 

If you, CeliB, are talking about the Kremlin Palace, it was a packed 5000 seat auditorium.

Some clips from the concert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeTkhg7mmGerpljPvna0zyw

 

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41 minutes ago, Amelia said:

 

If you, CeliB, are talking about the Kremlin Palace, it was a packed 5000 seat auditorium.

Some clips from the concert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeTkhg7mmGerpljPvna0zyw

 

Actually I think the Kremlin Palace holds closer to 6000 people: http://kremlinpalace.org/en/content/about-palace. CeliB, it has been so wonderful watching your DS's amazing progress and achievements - I do hope he is able to get some much-deserved rest with his family before his contract starts.

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ha ha- well that was DSs estimate from the stage, I guess he underestimated by a bit!!!

 

he posted a pic of rehearsal in which he was flying across the stage in a perfect cabriole - I loved the fact his sister looked over my shoulder and sniffily said 'that's my bl**dy t shirt he's wearing, how dare he keep nicking my clothes'. Good to know someone will be bringing his feet firmly back to the floor after all the glory!!!

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That piccie of that cabriole is absolutely fab though such a lovely position in the air....should be in some text book for perfect execution of steps! 

Nothing like brothers and sisters to keep things real though ???

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On 2017-4-27 at 22:04, CeliB said:

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!

 

 

 

I always thought you HAD to be trained at the Vaganova Academy to get into the Mariinsky; I thought the school was associated with the company, like the Royal.

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CeliB, do you know if the plan is for Tsiskaridze is to teach the top boys' class next year? I understand he was replacing a teacher this year, but there are probably many who would like it to happen again (though what a tough act to follow...).

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No I don't know whether Tsiska is teaching a class next year. . I know there are lots of calls for him to teach a girls class when we were there but he just smiled enigmatically!! - I can ask DS if he knows. I suspect Tsiska decided to teach a boys class to cement his position as a top teacher and Director - he definitely cherry picked the most promising students and then drove them to a level of perfection never yet seen at the Academy. I don't think they have ever before had a class where every person achieves a grade 5 (in the parallel class which was bigger I think there may have only been one, in the girls classes one or 2 - which is more usual). As I said all 5 boys were offered Mariinsky contracts and 3 offered Bolshoi in addition. 

The Vaganova is definitely associated with the Mariinsky but (like Royal) I don't *think* it's exclusive- they do have dancers there from other backgrounds don't they? Although whether they get places as entry level graduates I don't know (I get limited info from DS who usually answers my questions with a vague wave of the hand and a 'dunno')

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5 hours ago, Legseleven said:

Xander Parish is at the Mariinsky and is RBS trained. Presumably there are graduates of the Bolshoi and other Russian schools there too. 

 

And quite a lot of them are NOW from other schools: Korsuntsev from Tashkent, Askerov from Baku, Kolb from Minsk, Kimin Kim from Seul *, Skorik from Perm (as well as Kunakova and Chenchikova in the past), Merkuriev was from Ufa and some others.

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* although he was taught there by Mariinsky's dancers.
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So straight from the horses mouth- next year tsiska is teaching grad boys year 2 (the current year 1) so that he will have them for 2 years before they leave. A few of them have started joining the famous 5 already (apparently the the newbies are absolutely dying and have to sit out some of the combinations- its interesting for the graduating class as it ahows them just how far they have come...) DH and I just had the rare privellige to sit in on Tsiskariszes very last class of the year (elya was also in class). What an experience! 

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He starts as soon as he can organise his work visa- probably late sept. Although he can go there and do class in the meantime (vaganova have sorted him a multiple entry visa to go back and forth to sort out paperwork).

Yes have met Tsiska many times and been for dinner with him and a bunch of the other teachers and various ballet dignitaries after the boys exam in April ... also we were invited to the graduation today at St Catherines Palace (I have never seen so much gold leaf in one place honestly makes Buck Palace look like a garden shed) and were so happy to see DS collect his cetificate to a roof raising cheer... and he and the famous 5 were so feted - such a joy to see them all so happy...

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Congrats again CeliB - I saw some nice pics of the 'famous five' and Elya Sevenard at the ball at http://tsiskaridze.tumblr.com  (This site is not run by Tsiskaridze himself or connected with him, but has lots of interesting updates about Tsiskaridze and the Vaganova academy. Also the Academy has uploaded some pics and videos of the ball on its social media pages e.g. https://vk.com/vaganovaacademy I haven't yet seen the full video of the ball, but in the last two years, the Academy uploaded it to Youtube   See  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D39NODeWwY (2016) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOHbbNyoLR0 (2015). Hope we will soon see footage of your DS with the Bolshoi (after a much deserved break for all of you).

 

 

 

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The aftermath of the 2017 Vaganova Ballet Academy graduation performance at the Kremlin Theatre:
http://melmoth.blog/post/162122164983/the-aftermath-of-the-2017-vaganova-ballet-academy

Report on the 275th Vaganova Academy Graduation Performance - Kremlin Theatre, Moscow
http://www.vaganovatoday.com/275th-vaganova-graduation-performance-kremlin-theatre

(It is funny to read there that Kshessinskaya lent her apartment balcony to Lenin. In fact,  the mansion was seized by the soldiers of reserved  motorised armored battalion and handed over to the Bolsheviks. )

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Elya often attended the boys class towards the end of last term. And there are often additional people in Tiska's classes especially if it's a Saturday class (some company members come and take class every now and then). In fact I'm sure I spotted Pasha (in the Royal blue t shirt, tho' the films a bit fuzzy so it's hard to tell- but would make sense as the students would be expected to wear regulation uniform and Pasha is at Mariinsky now...)

 

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Wow how fascinating, some great rehearsal footage. I am going to make DS sit down with me and watch it and tell me what they are all saying (he's back on wed to sort his final work visa), especially at the end where the judges are clearly discussing the exam!

Thanks for posting so much 🙂

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The city Lit in London ( Covent Garden) is amazing for Russian Language courses and of course Pushkin house in Holborn also does very good Russian courses!! The City Lit is exceptional value though ....much cheaper than Pushkin and the thing is with Russian you don't get so many people as in Languages like Spanish and Italian etc. So can often be in a group less than 8-9 people so get lots of attention etc. I learned Russian for a year last year at City Lit and cannot recommend highly enough. 

Learning Russian out of London is VERY  difficult however as there are continual beginners years ( if any Russian at all) but the more advanced levels are not there.

Here in Brighton I've managed to find ONE second year Russian class ( as part of the University of Sussex extra mural classes) but it's on a night I cannot attend and no other choice is available!! 

There are other classes run privately here but they are far too expensive for me.

 

Anyway to get back to the topic thanks so much for posting that clip .....maybe will understand in another year!!

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