Naomi M

There are several Japanese dancers in the company and they have mentioned about what is happening on their Japanese Twitter accounts and blogs. Reading that I could say the newspaper reports and tweets by JK is not everything and things are very complicated. It would be difficult for us outsiders to see what is going on and we really can't judge anything about this. All we can say is that JK did a great job to boost the company and is a great artist. End of the story

I think this forum is been monitored by right holders so it is possible that videos could get removed quickly if the links are posted here.

Ruzimatov is still dancing. He danced Conrad with the Mikahilovsky Ballet this January, and as he is over 50 now, no more leaps, but he is still beautiful, very much in shape (what a beautiful body), elegant port de bras and his pirouettes a la second still have his signature bravura. And he will dance in August in Tokyo again in a joint gala with Denys Matvienko

See this thread for Bolshoi's Taming of the Shrew views. I have seen this ballet live in Russia and absolutely loved it. http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/10781-bolshoi-cinema-broadcasts-2015-2016/page-2

If you have enough budget, Metropol Moscow Hotel offers a lovely plan for ballet/opera lovers including tickets for Bolshoi http://metropol-moscow.ru/en/live/1075

Also there is Dance Open Festival in April in St. Petersburg. I was lucky enough to catch Bolshoi's fabulous Taming of the Shrew there at Alexandrinsky Theater. This year's program is like this. Vienna State Ballet, Perm Ballet, Dresden Semperoper Ballet, Slovenia Maribor Ballet. http://www.danceopen.com/en/ Also there is a gala with many stars. (This year, Manuel Legris is announced to be performing in this gala) If you are lucky, you can see Mariinsky, Mikhailovsky and Dance Open Festival in one trip (which I did last year)

I have been to both Moscow and St. Petersburg. As others have pointed out, it is much easier to travel to St. Petersburg as it is much westernized city with many tourists and many signs are in English. But you have to keep in mind that most Russians do not speak English. St. Petersburg is a beautiful place with many places to visit, such as the the Hermitage, the many gorgeous cathedrals, the Russian Museum and so on. The historic Mariinsky Theatre is beautiful but the seats are not raked much so I would recommend balcony seats to have a good view. It is quite away from the center of attraction so it would be better to use bus for transportation. The Mikhailovsky Theatre is in a much convenient place close to the Nevsky main area, a modest theatre but performances were brilliant. I did not feel much danger when I was there but I read a report on the Ballet Alert forum that one of our fellow balletomanes were mugged on her return from the Mariinsky. Moscow is, as MAB pointed out, the signs are in Cyrillic so it is not easy for first-time tourists to move around. It is a huge city compared to St. P and very Russian. But there are great places to visit such as Kremlin, Red Square, Treychakov and Pushkin museums (and more). You have to queue a long time to get tour tickets for the Treasury and Artillery at Kremlin so I din't have enough time. The metro is gorgeous to watch as architecture. I was overwhelmed by the love the Russian people have to their art. In spite of some difficulties I do recommend to travel to Russia if you love ballet. As for the visas and invitations, there might be slight differences as I am a Japanese, but we also need visas, and I requested visa support to the hotel I was staying and had to pay some surcharge for that. (so you have to fix which hotels you are staying, and your schedule quick) They will send you a voucher in PDF style, then you fill in the forms on the website of the Russian Embassy and go to the embassy for application with your passport. So you will need at least a few days to arrange them (of course there are some travel agents that will do it for you) Last time I went to St.P was in the end of April but it was still cold and I was right to bring a down coat and gloves, scarves with me.

Constantine Allen is a fabulous dancer, young, very tall, dark and handsome, is great in dramatic acting as well. (his mother is from India) I was lucky enough to see his phenomenal debut in Neumeier's Othello (title role), when he was promoted to principal straight from demi soloist.

My problem with the Millepied programming is not about too much contemporary ballet. All of you here must know Lefevere favored contemporary and brought in many contemporary works and commissioned too. That was a direction and there were a few masterpieces. Even in the Nureyev days there were modern ballets, repertoire by Bejart, Petit, and that is a part of Paris Opera Ballet's legacy. My complains are not about contemporary. Millepied brought in too much Balanchine and Robbins (plus Peck and his own works, and Wheeldon) which are the main stream repertoire of NYCB. Why make POB a copy of New York City Ballet? You can see so many dancers in the annual competition dancing Robbins and Balanchine this year. (and the compulsory work was Robbins) I would say Millepied's works are not contemporary, they are neo classical works based on classic ballet and IMHO of the about 10 works I have seen, no originality and very boring. A good contemporary work is exciting and classical ballet companies do need those good new works, while keeping the classical repertoire and their legacy alive.

Well, it is rare for RB to tour Japan. On their last tour in 2013, they only performed in Tokyo. And their visit before, in 2010, their only performance was in Hyogo. So I am a little surprised they tour this much this time. As for Miyako Yoshida, things worked on the contrary for her in fact. When she was principal of the company, the promoter then thought the Japanese audience expects non-Asian dancers, so they tried not to focus on her. In their tour in 2005, she was only given one lead performance, in Cinderella. And in their next tour, she didn't have any appearance in Tokyo, just a brief appearance in the Osaka performance "Homage to the Queen." So her fans in Japan were very upset, they thought the Japanese promoter was a kind of racist. But then the promoter realized her name sells tickets, so she had her final performance as a RB principal in 2010 (in Romeo and Juliet in Tokyo) and she still participates in galas, dancing in top form while she is now 50. (Amazing) There is still a tendency of promoters here thinking that there will be demand for non-Japanese/non-Asian dancers than Japanese principals dancing abroad.

There are some cast changes for Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet tour. Just the change of the dates. Romeo and Juliet 6/16 18:30 Cuthbertson, Bonneli 6/17 18:30 Salenko, McRae (originally Osipova, Golding) 6/18 13:00 Lamb, Muntagirov 6/18 18:00 Osipova, Golding (originally Nuñez, Soares) 6/19 13:00 Nuñez, Soares (Originally Salenko, McRae) Also a few of the casts outside Tokyo are announced. Romeo and Juliet in Nagoya July 3rd Lamb, McRae Giselle in Fukuyama (Hiroshima) July 6th Morera, Kish Casts for Fukuoka and Hyogo Giselle are not announced yet, but it seems we are not getting a Naghdi/Ball pair or Hayward in R&J.

The first pair is from Vienna State Ballet, not SFB. Kiyoka Hashimoto and Denys Cherevychko. A fabulous pair. And you can see all of the archives here if you have not seen it live. Although the sound quality was poor, the contents were enjoyable and it was nice to see the studios of each ballet companies as well. I hope they can do this again with improved transmission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqf11NT4yaQ

Yes Janet's assumption is correct. However, last time when they brought Wheeldon's Alice, there was one performance by Stix-Brunell. And one performance added was by Choe. But that might be the case because it was Alice and also Cuthbertson withdrew because of her injury. I will inform you all about the casts outside Tokyo.

Well The Romeo and Juliet casts in Nagoya are not announced yet so we can cross our fingers for that.

I think it will be only these two. Last time they did a gala but unlikely to do it this time.

Casts are announced for RB's Japan Tour in Tokyo Romeo and Juliet 6/16 18:30 Cuthbertson, Bonneli 6/17 18:30 Osipova, Golding 6/18 13:00 Lamb, Muntagirov 6/18 18:00 Nuñez, Soares 6/19 13:00 Salenko, McRae Giselle 6/22 19:00 Nuñez, Muntagirov 6/24 19:00 Osipova, Golding 6/25 14:00 Lamb, McRae 6/26 14:00 Cuthbertson, Bonneli there are also performances in Hyogo, Nagoya and Fukuoka but cast not announced yet.

I saw Taming of the Shrew at the Dance Open Festival in St Petersburg last April, and enjoyed it a lot. It is not a big ballet (not so many performers on stage) but Maillot made the choreography with focusing on virtuoso technique of the Bolshoi dancers so it is not too modern. And less signs of misogyny seen in the Cranko version. There are many fabulous pas de deuxs, creativity and comedy, and usage of Shostskovich music was great. Krysanova, Lantratov, Stashkevich and Chudin, Tikhomirova all brilliant. I loved it.

For your information, there is a gala in Japan this July by the impresario Japan Arts, which Zakharova, Lopatkina, Lobuhin, Ferri, Cornejo, Gomes and Ananiashivilli will participate, dates are July 23-27 and I believe this overlaps a little with the Bolshoi summer tour Don Quixote. https://www.japanarts.co.jp/concert/concert_detail.php?id=390

But is it a good thing for a dancer to be on stage when they are sick or got injury? I don't think so. This will affect their health in the long run.

The Nureyev Nutcracker at Paris Opera Ballet and Vienna State Ballet is not the exactly same one, it is a rather dark one. There used to be a commercially released video of POB starring Elisabeth Maurin and Laurent Hilaire and you can find it on YT. I am not sure if Nureyev Nutcracker has been removed from POB rep because the new one is an experimental one and I am not sure it will be good or not. (I am rather doubtful)

One more here http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35049787

I have seen Lady of the Camellias in Stuttgart and Paris so many times, and also Hamburg Ballet's tour to Japan. And of course the Marcia Haydee DVD recording many many times. This time via YouTube but this was the worst experience I had ever had, it was unbearable. Did Kevin Haigen ever see the rehearsals? There was no spirit of the ballet at all, Zakharova's acting was a nightmare and her OTT extensions and mannerism were horrible. The point of this role is not to fear looking ugly when Marguerite is fallen ill and noticing herself the signs of her illness and age is affecting her looks. I know opinions differ and some might have loved it but IMHO it is a shame that a performance of this quality has been transmitted live. Also Revazov was weak in both technique and acting (even though he is a dancer from Hamburg Ballet. His partnering were okay) I did think other performers, Anna Thkhomirova as Manon, Chudin as Des Grieux, Lobuhin as Gaston were superb. I hope Hamburg Ballet will record Die Kameliendame with their own dancers one day.

I also met Natalia once almost 10 years ago and she did seem exactly the same height as me who is 5'4" (of course she is much better proportioned with a small face!) . But I felt she was rather small compared to other Bolshoi Ballerinas (and she was still a soloist then)

Osipova is quite petite. In this quote of an article from the Times that is beyond paywall http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/18563-tall-vs-short-ballerinas/page-3 She was mentioned 5ft 5in in the article, and people have the impression that she is shorter, so it is unlikely Coviello is too short for her.