ENBlover

Thank you! I'm pretty sure my wallet would want to tahe a month off... I'd really love to come though!

I don't want to repeat what others have said, but the performance on the 13th was great. Out of the first Swan Lake and the Zakharova/Smirnova Sleeping Beauty, this was probably my favourite. It was great to finally see Merkuriev and Chudin with the company. Very sad it's almost over and not looking forward to having September off.

It's hard to tell you what you're missing if you don't know what you're looking for. For me its her artistry, her lines, her lightness. The jury's out, but I personally really liked what I saw of her and she did tick off all the right boxes. But then again, I am the one who loves Russian ballerinas so use my opinion with a pitch of salt.

What is backwords about worshipping seriousness? What is insipid about devotion? What do we know about her life experiences? Should a comedian be funny in real life? Did you see Smirnova dance in real life or are you basing your judgement on the little video upthread? And could one's lifestyle/level of devotion/attitude/sexual orientation/eye colour be a predictor of one's talent/artistic abilities/expressiveness? I don't think an artist owes you or any audience an explanaition about how he/she chooses to eat, practice or think of his/her art. And nobody is asking what the audience thinks. It's ultimately your choice what to watch or don't watch. There's a breadth of happy-go-lucky dancers in Russia, the UK, Japan and the US.

You say cultural differences, I say respect. When I come to the theatre I expect to watch the performance and the performers I paid to see, not to appreciate the variety of ways people are experiencing the joy of art. I want perfection too and I want the performers to want to show me their best. Critisizing someone for how much they, in your subjective view, suffer (or, in my subjective view, care about what they do), don't enjoy themselves, don't smile enough, etc is strange. The behind the scenes work is what it is - it's not for you to see and if you do see it, it's not for you to judge. Do judge the performance though.