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Mariinsky Ballet: Swan Lake, London 2017


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Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the rehearsal for Swan Lake by the Mariinsky Ballet, at ROH July 2017

Here are some photos:

 

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Xander Parish, Viktoria Tereshkina
© Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

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Viktoria Tereshkina
© Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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Xander Parish, Viktoria Tereshkina (and company dancers)
© Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
 

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Set from DanceTabs:  Mariinsky Ballet: Swan Lake
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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  • John Mallinson changed the title to Mariinsky Ballet: Swan Lake, London 2017

Just seen tonight's Swan Lake with Viktoria Tereshkina and Xander Parish. It was terrific, they were terrific and she was particularly good, IMHO.

The soloists and the corps put on a very good display and I am really looking forward to seeing it again.

If I have one very minor criticism, I have never understood why in the first act, both the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi persist in having very static blokes, in strange hats and wigs, sitting behind a table occasionally remembering to wave or toast an imitation wine goblet in the general direction of the dancers. When you compare that aspect of this staging with the lovely mobility of the RB support in the now defunct RB Swan Lake, the difference is disappointing. 

However, that minor (and probably very personal) gripe shouldn't and doesn't detract from a wonderful evening of dance.

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3 hours ago, ENBlover said:

Ivanchenko is a fine dancer, no idea why there's so much giggling about him

 

Ivanchenko is a fine dancer, indeed. He is tall and beautifully built, with perfect proportions and glorious line. He does not exaggerate any movements and his dancing is never forced (unlike what we, sadly, noticed in another principal earlier this week). I agree with the description of him in The Washington Post: “Ivanchenko has all of ballet’s tricks in his arsenal, but his dancing goes beyond them. He has beautiful lines … his perfect landings are silent, as if the stage were covered in moss and his body were made of silk rather than muscle and bone:

https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/ballet_mt_men/ivanchenko

As a partner he is second to none. All tall ballerinas always treasured his partnership: Lopatkina, Kondaurova, Makhalina, Kolesnikova, Somova, Volochkova, etc. 

What is truly amazing is that he has been with the Mariinsky for 25 years. Many male dancers have disappeared during these years while he, a great survivor, still graces the Mariinsky’s performances.

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Maybe it was the truly appalling lady next to me, who variously glared at people daring to cheer, told the two children off twice in front of her for leaning (making the father shout at her at the start of Act III :wacko:) and who claimed I was in her space even though she was "manspreading" ( she decided to put her foot on mine for the entirety of the Black Swan solo variations presumably to press her point home - literally)...but I didn't feel this Swan Lake sparkled or had much emotional depth from the principals. The corps were as one would imagine, almost one organism, lockstepped and reminding one of a perfect machine or purring motor, but again, it feels the heart of the show has been lost. It makes me grateful for RB's evident joy in dancing. It feels like something has changed since they were last here.

 

I realise this isn't a common opinion or given much depth of analysis, and won't make me popular with Xander fans! I was disappointed, I admit. I am hoping for better tonight!

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I felt similar about the performance and that was without annoying neighbours. Parish has a very beautiful line, and I quite liked his Albrecht with ENB earlier this year but his Siegfried doesn't do much for me. I don't get who the character is, and the dancing felt conservative and careful, especially in act 3 after a mishap in an earlier act. 

 

I dont think Parish and Tereshkina are a match made in heaven, it doesn't seem to me that they bring out the best in each other. Her Odile seemed to have a lot more connection with Rothbart than her Odette had at any point with Siegfried. There was some smiling and a lot of somber acting that came across as somewhat expressionless to me, but the partnership never came to live.

 

it wasn't a bad swan lake per se, but it didn't really rise above run-of-the-mill for me, with the exception of a couple of Tereshkina's solos. Andrei Yermakov makes a fine Rothbart, which helped a bit as well.

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4 hours ago, Amelia said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is truly amazing is that he has been with the Mariinsky for 25 years. Many male dancers have disappeared during these years while he, a great survivor, still graces the Mariinsky’s performances.

 

Am I correct in recalling that Ivanchenko was also with the Bolshoi for a period of time?

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26 minutes ago, capybara said:

Am I correct in recalling that Ivanchenko was also with the Bolshoi for a period of time?

 

At some point, when the Bolshoi’s male principals refused to dance with Volochkova, she invited this very strong and kind man Ivanchenko and he was contracted by the company to dance with her. It was not a change of the company. He got out of that quite soon. However, as long as I remember he always continued dancing with Mariinsky and remained with his repetiteur there Gennady Selyutsky. 

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41 minutes ago, Amelia said:

 

At some point, when the Bolshoi’s male principals refused to dance with Volochkova, she invited this very strong and kind man Ivanchenko and he was contracted by the company to dance with her. It was not a change of the company. He got out of that quite soon. However, as long as I remember he always continued dancing with Mariinsky and remained with his repetiteur there Gennady Selyutsky. 

 

They were married then.

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2 hours ago, Ivy Lin said:

They were married then.

 

If you mean Volochkova and Ivanchenko, Ivy Lin, then it is not correct. Ivanchenko was briefly married to Yulia Makhalina and Volochkova was married to a businessman Igor Vdovin. Sorry for this diversion from the topic.

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There are a lot of inherent flaws in the Mariinsky's production of Swan Lake, but since it was the first Swan Lake I ever saw, I'm going to irrationally ignore them. The most obvious problems with last night's otherwise flawless performance were perhaps the squeaky pointe shoes of the corps de ballet (which were deafening in Act II) and the curtain calls at the end of every act. I know the curtain calls are a Russian tradition, but they detract so enormously from the audience's involvement in the story. I wish they had toned it down a bit for an English audience. 

 

More importantly, here are the positives. The corps de ballet (despite their shoes!) deserve so much praise. The lines of swans were perfect and breathtaking, just as they should be. This is one of the areas where the control of Mariinsky dancers is best put to use. If my various ballet going acquaintances who were there on the 27th were correct in calling Tereshkina 'a bit cold' as Odette, Kondaurova was nothing of the sort. She was nothing if not eloquent and poignant. It's hard to describe in detail quite what was so wonderful about her interpretation of the role and I've found myself at a loss for words already in discussing it with friends. Her arms and back, in particular, were marvellously expressive, whether she was showing sadness and vulnerability as Odette, or revelling in her own evil as Odile. As an English ballet goer, I can sometimes be quite critical of Russian port de bras, but there was nothing to criticise here. Often as she ends a movement, her arms continue to move ever so slowly, as though the swan and the woman cannot stay still even for an instant. I don't have enough superlatives to describe how much I enjoyed her performance! Ivanchenko seems like a lovely partner (despite one little wobbly pirouette in Act III), but I'm sorry to say I couldn't find much to be excited about otherwise. I think it might be the limitations of the role of Siegfried that handicap so many dancers in this ballet. 

 

Anyway, I thought it was a lovely, lovely evening! I know quite a lot of other forumers were going to this performance, so I can't wait to hear other interpretations.

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9 hours ago, VickyPage said:

There are a lot of inherent flaws in the Mariinsky's production of Swan Lake, but since it was the first Swan Lake I ever saw, I'm going to irrationally ignore them.

 

An interesting point of view.

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10 hours ago, assoluta said:

 

An interesting point of view.

 

And one I acknowledged was irrational! I have no problem with having other people point out the flaws to me, and I can often see them myself, but that does not hinder my enjoyment. I'm sure we have all seen ballets, or read books or watched movies that make us feel this way. Guilty pleasures perhaps.

 

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

...and list them anyway!

 

I only listed flaws relevant to this particular performance, rather than the production as a whole, unless you are saying that 'squeaky pointe shoes' are in the production notes. The curtain calls are also specific to the company as a whole, not to the production.

 

Sorry if I offended anyone! I was mostly joking at my own expense in my last post.

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2 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

no offence - and was just joshing (should have added a smilie afterwards)

 

Haha, glad we got that sorted!! No worries. It's hard to tell how much someone is joking on the Internet, isn't it?

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Lauren Cuthbertson did Romeo & Juliet in emojis. So a friend who went last night had a go at Swan Lake (and tried to do it without using the swan symbol):-

 

???‍♂️?☄️????????‍♂️❤️️????????????‍♂️???????‍♂️??????‍♂️????????????????????????????????????????????‍♂️?????????????????????????????????????????

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1 hour ago, alison said:

My e-ticket says the performance is due to finish at 10.35: can anyone confirm how accurate that is, please?  I have trains to catch :)

 

They've started late at every performance so far and the curtain hasn't gone down till around 10:40pm

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A much improved Swan Lake yesterday evening. At the start of week two the company seem to have settled into their London Season. 
 
Skhlyarov & Tereshkina have been a regular partnership for years, their familiarity with each other pays dividends in exemplary partnering. In some respects they are opposites who combine harmoniously to great effect.
 
Tereshkina is remarkable. She has a simply astonishing, unrivalled technique and is in total command of the steps from her first entrance to her last fouette to curtain down.  Shklyarov is no technical slouch either, although I feel his particular strength is his exceptional vitality and warmth. From his first entrance, he makes every small gesture count and his total commitment to telling the story breaths life into what can feel like a moribund classic when the dancers only go through the motions. It’s this warmth that works so well as a counter foil to Tereshkina’s naturally cooler stage persona. 
 
A nicely executed pd3 from Batoeva, Shakirova & Stepin and Batoeva also noticeable in Act III for her beautiful swan arms. Terrific corps. 
 
Huge cheers at the curtain calls, throughly deserved. 
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14 minutes ago, annamk said:
A much improved Swan Lake yesterday evening. At the start of week two the company seem to have settled into their London Season. 
 
Skhlyarov & Tereshkina have been a regular partnership for years, their familiarity with each other pays dividends in exemplary partnering. In some respects they are opposites who combine harmoniously to great effect.
 
Tereshkina is remarkable. She has a simply astonishing, unrivalled technique and is in total command of the steps from her first entrance to her last fouette to curtain down.  Shklyarov is no technical slouch either, although I feel his particular strength is his exceptional vitality and warmth. From his first entrance, he makes every small gesture count and his total commitment to telling the story breaths life into what can feel like a moribund classic when the dancers only go through the motions. It’s this warmth that works so well as a counter foil to Tereshkina’s naturally cooler stage persona. 
 
A nicely executed pd3 from Batoeva, Shakirova & Stepin and Batoeva also noticeable in Act III for her beautiful swan arms. Terrific corps. 
 
Huge cheers at the curtain calls, throughly deserved. 

Agreed on all counts. the PdT particularly fine from the ladies, rousing one or two Bravas! from me. 

 

I very much agree about Shklyarov, some of his expressions and yes, those small gestures were truly beautiful.  His expressions when realising he had forfeited his love or rather betrayed it, was wonderful. Great depth of conviction in everything he approached, feather-light respectful partnering and support. He made Tereshkina appear more humane in her Odette, and yes, he breathed life into what can be a rather austere production. During the final fight with Rothbart I was really rooting for him inwardly, one felt the moment of resolve when he faced his nemesis. It was truly thrilling. And even the happy ending worked! A great pleasure to have been there.

 

 

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I was lucky enough to see two casts: the one with Ekaterina Kondaurova/Evgeny Ivanchenko and the other with Ekaterina Osmolkina/Ernest Latypov as the leads. Realise I'm a little late to post but figured I might as well before I chickened out entirely.

I do prefer this version to the Grigorovich Swan Lake that the Bolshoi brought last year. In comparison, the Mariinsky version seems less visually gloomy. I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan of the happy ending though – I find it a bit of a let down after that tension has built up just before it – but enjoyed it nonetheless.

I always forget how much I love the music for Swan Lake and am quite glad I decided to go (even if I did grossly overestimate my standing abilities during that first act). It’s funny how certain phrases of music can make you feel emotional & that final section of strings does it for me, irrespective of what is happening on stage.

I’ll start with my impressions of the first cast. Ivanchenko was a strong partner but ultimately I found him quite bland. I didn’t feel much, if any, rapport between him and Kondaurova, so felt the performance fell slightly flat.

Kondaurova is a really lovely dancer. She has beautiful, long lines & is a very strong technician, making everything appear effortless. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of her commanding, sensual Odile against her more vulnerable Odette, although did find she kept an aura of coolness/regality about both characters.

I enjoyed the overall performance much more on Saturday afternoon, with the second cast I saw. I do tend to prefer shorter dancers anyway, but one of my main reasons for enjoying it much more was that the entire cast seemed much more involved with the story.

Osmolkina was a much warmer, gentler Odette. She gave a really understated, emotional account of the role, so much so that I’m struggling to do it justice here. She had natural chemistry with Latypov. Her Odile, in contract, was wicked and sensual.

One of my unexpected highlights of the matinee was Latypov, a dancer I’m unfamiliar with. I tend to write off Siegfried as a bit useless, with little to work with character-wise. However, after last Saturday I completely changed my mind.

Latypov looks really young, but his dancing was technically proficient and he had no obvious issues with the partnering. Some of his landings weren’t the softest, but it’s only a minor criticism.

What I really liked was how he stayed in character, even during the curtain calls – the look he gave Osmolkina during one of the act I, scene II curtain call was one of awe. During the first act in the castle my eyes kept being drawn to him, even at the side of the stage, as he stayed entirely in character. I genuinely felt his anguish at having betrayed Odette in the second act… I really enjoyed the subtle nuances he brought to what I assumed was a limited role.

The pas de trois and big swans were performed excellently on both occasions. Dancers who stood out for me were Nadezhda Batoeva, Renata Shakirova in the pas de trois and as the big swans, and also Filipp Stepin the the pas de trois.

I quite like having a dancing Rothbart but still haven’t made up my mind whether I prefer it to the usual character role version. I think a bit of the character, and subsequent story, was lost in this version. He seemed less evil and less involved. I also found that his black costume blended in with the dark background a few times.

Of course, I don’t think I could talk about Swan Lake and not mention the corps. They were perfectly in sync and danced elegantly for both performances. The squeaky pointe shoes were really loud in the evening performance but were much quieter for the matinee the next day.

The dancing for both performances was really pure; nothing flashy or over the top. I enjoyed both performances for different reasons.

I’m still slightly annoyed that the matinee ran over the 5PM estimated finish time (the final act started 10 minutes late, grr)… I was so absorbed I really had to drag myself away in order to run for my train. 

Edited by Lenore
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