Amelia

An interesting interview with David Hallberg at the Bolshoi Theatre:

Garage magazine joined the British Fashion Council to screen a new film by George Harvey, which features Sergei Polunin and Kristina Shapran. http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/09/enjoy-this-video-of-a-graceful-shirtless-man.html There were also some photos of Polunin in The Vogue: http://www.nikhartley.co.uk/#760

Neither of those three articles gives any indication on WHEN the celebrations will take place. They only mention that there was an invitation to show 'Mayerling' and Zelensky was proud to tell about it. No one could invite them to bring 'Manon' because they don't have it in their repertoire yet. The repetiteurs are expected to come to Moscow for rehearsals in February and the performances will take place in July.

What an excellent news about Linkina! Such a unique delicate lyrical ballerina. She could shine and delight in every production shown by the Bolshoi during the last tour but ... we didn't see her. I am really happy that she will be with the "Kings' here in March.

On 17 November Svetlana Zakharova will dance Giselle at the National Opera of Ukraine. Her partner will be Sergei Polunin. A sort of coming home. They both studied in Kiev before moving to other ballet schools. http://www.opera.com.ua/ballet-afisha/?date=2013-11

Sorry, John Mallison, I forgot to put the words 'anniversary of'.

Daisydance, try this Free Translation website: http://translation2.paralink.com/

Three Russian websites announced that Stanislavsky Theatre has been invited to London in 2014 to perform 'Mayerling' during the celebrations of Kenneth Macmillan's 85th birthday. One of those statements was made by Zelensky. http://lenta.ru/news/2013/09/10/muzstanislavsky/ http://ria.ru/culture/20130910/962185123.html#13788305121014&message=resize&relto=login&action=removeClass&value=registration#ixzz2eVait0pl The author of one of the articles wrote that ‘the widow of the British classic admired the staging of “Mayerling” during the last season so much that she readily gave them the right to produce another ballet too (“Manon”).’ http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2275863 Have I missed the announcement of these celebrations in the British press?

Sorry for the wrong posting of an old link in my previous message. I meant to post this: A new article appeared in the Russian magazine'Monolit Digest' about Svetlana Lunkina by a ballet critic Alexander Firer. It is the most exalted rhapsodic celebration, or even hymning, of a Russian dancer I have ever read, apart from some descriptions of Ulanova. What is important, in my view, is that this kind of article is written now. The author did not mention any macabre events at the Bolshoi so 'loved' by other journalists and didn't write a word about Lunkina's present situation. He mentioned neither the gradual settling of her dancing career in the West nor her problems with returning to Russia in the near future. He just wrote about her as the Bolshoi's glorious ballerina and looked forward to seeing her 'new achievements and revelations'. As if he intentionally dismissed all controversies and political implications and stated clearly that this ballerina is a great treasure, a unique precious gem, irreplaceable in her own theatre and her return to her native Moscow and the Bolshoi should be most welcome and inevitable. This is how I understood that article which is an excellent analysis of the ballerina's roles and at the same time an outburst of love and admiration for her unique qualities. I personally felt Svetlana's absence during the Bolshoi's recent tour in London. Unfortunately, the link to 'Monilit Digest' doesn't work but the Russian text of this article with beautiful photographs of Svetlana Lunkina can be seen on another site: http://forum.balletfriends.ru/viewtopic.php?t=5717&start=60 Edited for typo.

The two worlds of Svetlana Lunkina The Bolshoi ballerina, dancing this season with the National Ballet, explains what she’s doing with an unused return ticket to Moscow by John Fraser on Thursday, August 22, 2013 4 http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/08/22/star-in-the-wings/

I think, Dance*is*life, we are right here with both pronunciation and spelling of Irina Surneva's name. The name Irena is popular in Poland. Among numerous Irenas one can recall the wonderful Irena Sendler (Sendlerowa, 1910–2008), the Polish resistance worker who saved Jewish children during the Nazi occupation. But! Millions of Russian women are called Irina (pronounced EEREÉNa). Among them some famous ones: Grand Duchess Irina Romanov (Yussupov by marriage), mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova, poet Irina Ratushinskaya, three times Olympic champion figure skater Irina Rodnina, ballerinas Irina Baronova, Irina Kolpakova, Irina Kolesnikova, Irina Dvorovenko, many Russian actresses, etc. Trust me, neither of them is called ‘Irehna’. It can happen that some Russian parents might choose to call their baby girl a la polonaise Irena but I haven’t met one yet. However, I know a Russian lady Irina in London who prefers to introduce herself as Irena, which is easier for foreigners to grasp. Nothing wrong is here of course. She remains Ireena among the Russians. Edited for typo.

Irena is a Polish name. Irina is a Russian name. And the surname sounds Russian - Irina Surneva (this would be the traditional Latin transcription of her Russian name). I remember that Irina Surneva used to be the Principal ballerina of the Imperial Russian Ballet headed by Gediminas Taranda. It looks that she was dancing very recently. Here is a clip of her performance at the “Ballet gala: Stars Only” on 11 February 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cIL2AuyOr4 Irina Surneva & Andrey Pyatakha - Feeling you Choreography: Andrey Pyatakha . Music: John Williams "Shindler's list" This website presents her as the Honoured Artist of Russia and informs that she runs a dance studio attached to the Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) State Opera and Ballet Theatre: http://vk.com/club30147268 On all photos she has dark hair: http://www.surneva.ru/ Quite a lot about her can be found by googling - Irina Surneva: http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=irina+surneva&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=2hIdUuriFeeM0wW17IHACg

Quote: "… O and V are the perfect match… I think David Hallberg and Vadim Muntagirov are wonderful danseur nobles today..." I agree that O & V make a perfect match as both have explosive temperament and powerful technique and dare each other to excel. At the same time Natalia’s excitability, in my view, is capable of setting in a blaze to any partner. It has been proved already that she and Hallberg are very well matched partners in ‘Giselle’ and ‘R & J’. The audience was overwhelmed and they both commented in their interviews that their performances were very special for them. Especially Hallberg confessed, as never before, that he and Natalia felt like one in R & J duets.

A wonderful news at last - Svetlana Lunkina is listed as the Principal Guest Artist with the NBoC: http://national.ballet.ca/uploadedFiles/The_Company/Roster_2013-14.pdf

Quote Meunier: "Vakhtang Chabukiani (the chap who was featured in those film clips in the Mikhailovsky's Laurentia production this season.) .http://www.youtube.c...h?v=E2mY3yA2Hi4 ... If you replaced the name with Ivan Vasiliev (or Valdimir for that matter) I think what is being said would still stand true. It is this size of performance that has always made the Bolshoi stand out for me; the force of their stars. that has really differentiated them from the Mariinsky." Yes, everyone who danced the role of Philippe in 'The Flames of Paris' admitted that he was inspired by Vakhtang Chabukiani's performance in film. Although Chabukiani’s dancing went very well together with the Bolshoi style but it is interesting to note that after training in Tbilisi in his young years he was trained for 3 years in Leningrad and was dancing with the Kirov Ballet for 12 years (1929-1941) as well as producing his own choreography there. When he did his very few performances with the Bolshoi after the war, even there he stood out. No Bolshoi male dancer of that time could match his incredible energy and fiery Georgian temperament. He was then and remains now absolutely unique. There is a long clip on YouTube of him and Natalya Dudinskaya dancing pdd in La Bayadere. This studio recording was made, I think, in 1940. His tours and grand pirouette at the end dazzle even now: http://my.mail.ru/video/mail/alexmix56/33042/39526.html#video=/mail/alexmix56/33042/39526 Edited for typo.

Yes, LinMM, you got it right now. The dances performed, for example, by Igor Moisseyev Dance Ensemble are folk dances while those based on folk dancing and staged by choreographers for ballet productions are called in Russia character dances. Training in them is compulsory in Russian ballet schools (professional ones) for all pupils, regardless of what they are planning to dance in the future. In ‘the Flames of Paris’ it is Auvergne Dance and Basque dance where Osipova and Krysanova are wearing proper shoes on heels. Quite a difficult thing to do - to change swiftly from heels to points and to dance after a few minutes a proper classical pas de deux. Russian ballets are usually bristle with character dances and the companies are proud that they can perform them properly. Many people btw were critical of Grigorovich when he replaced character dances in ‘Swan Lake’ with Brides dancing on points. Character dancers are a special caste in classical ballet. No one explains it better than one of the best exponents of character dance - Yuliana Malkhasyants: http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_04/aug04/interview_malkhasyants.htm Sorry for deviating slightly from the original topic.

It undermines the power of the loss but strengthens the overall message of the entire production, its exact idea: the revolution is cruel, revolutionary ideas twist people’s characters and destroy their own and other people’s lives. In my young years I saw the Vainonen’s production at the Bolshoi several times. It glorified the revolution, the power of the crowd, justified the killing of royalists and urged to mourn the death of the revolutionary Basque woman Theresa. A different approach to the subject wouldn’t be allowed by the strict censorship. The duly brainwashed audience loved these ideas and admired the great performers: Lepeshinskaya, Yermolaev, Asaf and Sulamith Messerer and fantastic character dancers. When travelling to Moscow a few years ago to see the new production of “The Flames”, I was sure that accents would have been changed and wondered what kind of message will be brought in by Ratmansky. I think he did an admirable job. He showed how two lovely peasant youngsters became first attracted by the sight of marching Marseille soldiers and then, after the Marquess’ attempt to rape Jeanne and his cruelty to Jerome, wanted to fight for justice and eventually abandoned their distraught parents. There is a scene there where five characters, including Jeanne and Jerome, are doing quite a violent dance with a lot of bending and hands and legs shaking, which seemed to me as a metaphor of them being moulded into a new type of people. They dance with novices’ zeal and Jeanne seizes the spear and being almost delirious with delight circles with it and later with the tricolour flag. They both, Jeanne and Philippe, still can sympathise with Jerome’s loss but cannot resist the revolutionaries’ calls back to their ranks. Together with the crowd they start their march and walk over their distressed and grieving brother. So true to life. That life. And it is not necessarily "stiff the upper lip". The revolutionary fervor can even set brother against brother and make children willingly denouncing their parents. This plot doesn’t seem ludicrous to me at all but truthful, poignant and warning. I admired Ratmansky’s humanity and the way he illustrated the well-known adage "the Revolution like Saturn devours its own children" ("A l'exemple de Saturne, la révolution dévore ses enfants").

Quote: “Smirnova says and implies of a life without friends and without life outside of the ballet studio and stage.” “...if you make a video showing fans glimpses of your private thoughts and offstage life, then it is well within our right to comment on it…” Yes, we are within our right to comment but have to remember, as Janet McNulty mentioned, that the “film that can be (and obviously will have been) edited.” It could be the director’s idea to show a ballerina as nothing else but a picture of complete devotion to the art of ballet. We don’t know if he ever asked the 22 y.o. dancer how she would like to be portrayed. Sometimes we are also prone to misinterpretation and to making assumptions. Olga didn’t imply a life without friends. She just said that she doesn’t have many friends. She has been living in Moscow for 2 years only, was working hard, and I can not consider it abnormal to have a limited social circle. I can assure you she is a normal young lady. At the moment she enjoys being in London. With her girlfriend, a Bolshoi’s young soloist, she visited several museums. With another friend she spent her first day-off at Windsor, had a tour of the Castle and hired a horse to take a ride in Windsor Great Park. If Smirnova looks serious, it is not a great sin. Ulanova was serious too. Lopatkina is also serious. However, it is not true that all “Russian ballerinas seem so tortured by their art”. Obraztsova is always smiling. Krysanova is a very cheerful girl. Alexandrova has a resounding laughter. Lunkina, bless her heart, was always giggly. And so on and so on. Generalization here distorts the real picture.

Strangely, the ROH website is showing a different cast now for 17 Aug. evening, with Krysanova replacing Osipova: Saturday 17 August 2013, 7.30pm MAIN STAGE SOLD OUT The Flames of ParisAlexei Ratmansky’s revival of a revolutionary ballet by Vasily Vainonen is given its UK premiere by the celebrated Bolshoi Ballet. PERFORMERS Conductor Pavel Sorokin Jeanne Ekaterina Krysanova Philippe Ivan Vasiliev Orchestra Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre

Never I thought that my remark could be regarded as an attempt to excuse the poor behavior of some theatre-goers. Just an attempt to understand why it was happening there.

May I make some corrections? It was Daria Bochkova who did the coda in the absence of Gamzatti. Smirnova wasn't a replacement for Zakharova in 'Onegin'. Smirnova was chosen by the Cranko Trust's repetiteurs for the first cast. The walk out happened after that.

Perhaps it shows that Carlos' performances appeal to a wider audiences and draw to the theatre those people who are not used - YET - to listening to classical music.

I am sure that Elena's artistic qualities will make her a remarkable Medora. She is not injured. She was excellent as Raymonda last week. The omission to cast her in Le Corsaire puzzled and disappointed me.

If you, LinMM, happen to be close to Victoria Railway Station, you will also be able to see the gilded statue of Anna Pavlova, which is topping the Victoria Palace Theatre. http://www.flickr.com/photos/costi-londra/3725671507/ Link added.

Mark Monahan's review in The Telegraph includes a video with Skvortsov, Kretova and deservedly praised Anastasia Stachkevich: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10209658/Swan-Lake-Bolshoi-Ballet-at-the-Royal-Opera-House-review.html Edited for typo.