Farfallina

Casting seems to follow what you are describing. I would like to see more variety. They have so many wonderfull dancers. I would like to see e.g. Maria Vinogradova and more of Ovcharenko.....

On 15. Januar 2019 at 02:06, Amelia said:

Here is the cast for transmission on 20 January 2019:
Nikia - Olga Smirnova
Dugmanta, Rajah - Alexei Loparevich
Gamzatti - Olga Marchenkova
Solor - Artemy Belyakov
https://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/1/roles/#20190120180000

 

Nikita Elikarov will appear in the character role of Dugmanta, Rajah on 17 and 19 January.

Have you seen him, Farfallina? Why do you think that this casting is odd?

Thanks, Amelia, I got the dates wrong when looking up the cast. When I see a member of corps de ballets being casted for a leading role I wonder if it's an outstanding talent like Osipova and Vasiliev or if they are short of principals due to illness and other obligations. I've seen in Amsterdam such a cast in Spartacus and wasn't too impressed. Never saw that dancer being casted in a leading role again. 

Hm, casting for Sunday's Bolshoi La Bayadere a bit odd: is Nikita Elikarov so outstanding or are they running out of choices ?

I wonder who does the casting for the movie transmissions 

Never expected to be disappointed in the program of a Bolshoi tour. This one is so boring having seen all of these a couple of times already. I don't like Spartacus, find Swan Lake a tad boring, so it's down to DQ or the Bright Stream - having seen Filin several times in both of them I find casting crucial - wonder if there are any clues who might be casted..... 

We loved the trailer - does anyone know the song they used ?

Hope they use more dancers in the transmissions - we would love to see Ovcharenko or Maria Vinogradova for example

Well if the ROH is willing to fund a claqueur, sign me up

There is another forum in here called "Clapping" which discusses Mr. Abramov's activities. We have watched him operate the Bolshoi's floor and he is, well, how to put it best, odd. He would bring in one couple to "his" seats and after the break they were not seen again - just him escorting the next pair of two to the very same seats. I think you will find he is not quite the idealistic balletomane as you were thinking - they could have mentioned the role of the claqueurs while they were at it.

Watched the film tonight and feeling a bit indecisive - did we learn anything new ? I didn't know that Sergei Filin had left the Stanislawsky Theater on bad terms when accepting the job at the Bolshoi - putting the boot in came to my mind when watching the scenes of the assembly. Interesting though to get first hand impressions of the weeks and months right after the attack.

The Facebook Page "The Bolshoi Ballet School" refers to Tsiskaridze's participation in the documentary:

"The interesting fact about the film - Tsiskaridze refused to take the part of the film, refused to give the interview, so producers rip of old interviews from 2013 without asking Tsiskaridze's permission."

According to the info on that FB page this page is not the official Bolshoi Ballet School itself, but it states  there about this page like this:

"This page is not official Bolshoi Ballet Academy page. Worked there 11 years, but not anymore. (Ilya Kuznetsov)"

I hope it's ok to refer to the FB page here - if not and the Moderators of BalletcoForum disagree I will remove my post.

Just thought this is interesting to know - wonder how the producers of the documentary view that and would respond to that.

What a great source of Information BalletCoForum is !!! I was trying to find out the screenings in Germany unsuccesfully so far and am more than delighted to find here that I will be able to get it via ITunes or Amazon :-) 

As much as I want to see the documentary I'm having very mixed emotions about what we are going to be seeing.

Wondering if there really will be no performance on Friday July 29th ?

We're travelling quite often to London, so I would think we're familiar with the hotel market - maybe it's still very early. Thanks for the recommendations with Superbreak and Universities. I didn't know those and will keep them in mind in case that first impression becomes reality. However, due to job restrictions I will only be able to travel either the first or the last week and I will decide that when the programm will be released.

For July 2916?

Yes, Jane. I'm trying to figure out when to go to London when the Bolshoi comes over in summer 2016. Out of curiosity I wanted to see what the hotel options are and they are more expensive than usual - really over-the-top prizes and I can't figure out why. The Tour de France is starting slightly prior to the Bolshoi, but that cannot be the only reason, can it ?

I'm trying to check out hotels. The prizes charged for the last week of July are ridiculously high - what's going on in town at that time. Not the Olympics again I suppose...

I wished they would mix the performances a bit for those of us who travel to London to see them. Unfortunately I won't be able to stay for the entire period.

I hope that when I'm old I still will be flying over to watch lovely ballet performances. When my help will wheel me to my front row seat I will have a blast and the last thing I'll worry about will be what others may be thinking of me

I'm also an admirer of Ms Novikova - I think she does it in a very charming way and knows what she is talking about. I felt she stunned the American ex-dancer/representative of the Balanchine Funds with her "question"  if Balanchine was'nt known to always adapt the choreagraphy to the dancers he was dealing with  while she was going on about how movements "had to be done" and that there are only a few who know how to teach and preserve this.

We haven't seen Jewels before this performance and it seems we were the only ones here who liked Rrubies. My friend and I felt that Krysanova and Lopatin made a good couple who enjoyed the performance. I haven't seen Krysanova quite some time and I thought she seemed more secure about herself and enjoying to be on stage.

I also think it was great that they did the interview with Sergei Filin. Firstly it was interesting what he had to say about the dancers and the balllet and secondly it's good to see him in a positive mood and obviously fit enough to do his job well. Glad to see he seems to get around quite well. That's also why I refuse to leave during the break   I don't want to miss any of this.

It's also the first time I saw Smirnova and not sure yet what to think about her...

So looking forward to the next transmissions - it's absolutely phantastic that we can see the performances live these days

He was there before and after the performance. I was a little disappointed the lovely Mrs Novikova did not interview him.

Here's a single-page link for those who don't like their articles interrupted : http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/dance/designated-cheering-spectators-thrive-at-the-bolshoi-theater.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&&pagewanted=all

 

This article left a very unpleasant taste in my mouth.  If that's what MAB considers a "whitewash", I dread to think what the real situation is.  I shall keep an ear out for the claqueurs at the next live relay I go to - they have a really weird way of shouting/cheering, don't they?  (Perhaps I should change my rule of thumb that probably 50% of people who shout "bravo" "don't know what they're talking about" to "aren't doing it for the right reasons".)

 

This made me smile a little, though: "Experienced performers are seeking something very specific from the applause, Mr. Abramov said, like extra seconds to catch his or her breath between the end of an adagio and the beginning of a variation."  I suppose that, unlike professional tennis players, they can't really fiddle with their outfits, towel down, bounce the ball for an unnecessarily long time or use other delaying tactics to extend the time between points beyond what is legally allowed, now, can they?

The guy is really easy to spot when you're there. He will walk in two people to the front rows - then after the break you don't see them again in the same spot, but he will walk in the next couple and when the curtain goes up while he is still walking out through the isle in the dark he will shout "bravo" along his way. Really odd and very obvious behaviour...

This is an article about claqueurs at the Bolshoi,. Think it relates also to audience behaviour. We've seen the guy described in here run the Bolshoi floor and did not understand what he was doing there. That was back in 2008 and I still have not forgotten his face..

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/dance/designated-cheering-spectators-thrive-at-the-bolshoi-theater.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

Yes, dear Toursenlair, the photo is visible! Hope everybody here can watch a brief interview Filin gave to RussianTV  http://www.1tv.ru/news/culture/239535  He speaks about the  progress in his treatment, which will allow him to start working in Bolshoi in September, while sometimes coming back to German clinic for the minor (i suppose) operations. He said this trip to London was a very good treatment for him...

 Cant' wait to get home to watch it - from the photos I've seen on Facebook he seems to be in good spirit - hope there will be further improvements of the eye sight. Last night would have been the first performance in London for me - unfortunately I had to cancel our trip...

and now it seems he arrived in London to be with the dancers....

http://www.france24.com/en/20130812-bolshoi-acid-attack-victim-london-ballet-tour-report

Good news are popping up. Sergei Filin has given an interview in Aachen declaring he might return to Moscow in mid September and open the new season. Mr. Urin visited him in Aachen to discuss personally new project with Pierre Lacotte and John Neumeier.

For further treatment in Aachen he fly in from Moscow and doctors agree that this arrangement might be possible.

Here is a link to Chicagotribune about the news.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-russia-bolshoi-20130801,0,5594843.story

Here is a link to a Russian page where there is also a 3 Minute video clip to the interviews with both Sergei Filin and Mr Urin for those who would like to get an impression of how he walks and talks. It's from 1TV in Russia

http://www.1tv.ru/news/social/238808

First one-to-one interview with SF after arriving in Aachen.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10207889/Dancing-in-defiance.html

I'm glad you found this bit and I was hoping that by the time of the London tour this would happen. Maybe we, the audience, will get a chance to see him as well...

I think this article from France24 (in English) refers to the news on TVKultura - they quote Aleaxandrova on London - though they don't mention that Sergei Filin might come to London -

http://www.france24.com/en/20130726-troubled-bolshoi-seeks-prove-stature-london

I hesitated to start a new topic and am placing this news here:

 

Bolshoi in Paris, 4-10 Jan. 2014

 

“ … the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre Ballet has again been invited to perform at the Palais Garnier. They return this season with a creation by Alexei Ratmansky: Lost Illusions, based on the novel by Balzac.”

 

http://www.operadeparis.fr/en/saison_2013_2014/Ballets/ballet-du-theatre-bolchoi/decouvrir/presentation/

great - love to go - just hope the ticket sale will not be a nightmare again...