Buddy

Here’s a lovely one of Valeria Kuznetsova as Giselle, several months after the competition before graduating from Perm and being accepted to the Mariinsky. At the time of the competition I was already thinking what a wonderful addition she would be to the Mariinsky, but not thinking that it might really happen. I’d also included her as a possible continuation of a line of beautiful Mariinsky and Vaganova ballerinas, starting with Ulyana Lopatkina, and including Oksana Skorik, Alyona Kovalyova (now at Bolshoi), and Maria Iliushkina. I wish her much success.

Valeria Kuznetsova “Graduated from the Perm School of Dance and joined the Mariinsky Ballet in 2023” (Mariinsky site) Wow !

Came across this bit of a smile that should qualify as “beauty all around us” dance. The virtuoso stuff starts around 1:25.

I love this sort of thing. It makes you smile. These dancers are really good. They’re instructors. 😊

A lot of these video clips have now been removed because of copyright issues so I didn’t get to see Tatiana Tkachenko’s dance along with other things. I did once get to see her performing Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, which she never did at the Mariinsky. She did very well. She also may have been the first ballerina from Russia that I ever saw. She performed Nikiya (La Bayadere) in Detroit about 20 years ago. I continue to like Maria Iliushkina’s interpretation very much. She manages to adapt to the difference in dance styles very well while maintaining all her usual loveliness. The mime being made part of the actual dancing impresses me throughout many of the performances. It adds a new dimension of expression that I think can be used in future productions of the classical works to further enrich their interest and beauty.

Thanks, Jeannette. Also, someone has just posted a brief video clip of a favourite of ours, the young Anastasia Plotnikova. She performs the Neva River Dance. It’s the first I’ve seen of her in a long time. I hope to see much more. She’s lovely here.

Yes, it’s curious how these things happen. Interestingly perhaps, the best performances that I’ve seen of two well known Ratmansky works created for a famous American ballet company were by the Bolshoi. Cultural and historical ties can’t be denied. By the way, I like Maria Iliushkina’s performance very much.

Dansomanie is posted in French, Fiona. In regard to the casting, for me, it looks quite fine and the entire production should be quite interesting. If I can be allowed an added thought perhaps. Governments come and go. Swan Lake has been here for over a hundred and fifty years. Michelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s Venus for over 500.

To get back to the actual production for the moment, here’s the casting. 24 mars (première) : Viktoria Terechkina (Aspicia) - Renata Chakirova (Ramzaya) - Kim Kimin (Ta-Hor) - Alekseï Timofeev (pas d’action) 25 mars : Maria Khoreva - Nadejda Batoeva - Philippe Stepine - Iaroslav Baïbordine 26 mars (m) : Maria Iliuchkina - Maria Chirinkina - Nikita Korneev - Evgueni Konovalov 26 mars (s) : Ekaterina Kondaourova - Elena Evseeva - Vladimir Chkliarov - Kian Mangis https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2023/3/24/2_1900/ (thanks to ElenaK at Dansomanie)

Yes, I’ve noticed this also, Fonty, although I’ve only been aware of seeing one Anna Pavlova version. I’m glad there are more. I’ll look for them. Anna Pavlova’s brilliance was her amazing Expression. Because of this she’s considered probably to be the greatest ballerina ever. Now, as you’ve suggested, the emphasis has shifted to control and elegance. I’m personally okay with this, especially since replicating Anna Pavlova here would be an immense feat. From my video viewing only Galina Ulanova came close. Among current performances, one that I saw by Alina Somova did combine the two qualities remarkably well. This does bring me back to the video from China that I just posted. Here these two qualities are also combined very well. Expression is internalised, but it’s certainly powerful, especially in the face. The control and elegance are also very noteworthy. There are a lot of impressive things that I’m seeing in this performance. I mentioned that the quality of the Beijing Dance Academy students is very high and I also feel the same about much of the material that they’re working with. One part that I like here is at the end of the major ten minute segment when the dancers throw their scarves into the air and then have to retrieve them, leaving the ending somewhat up to chance just before the lights are blackened. It seems like a rather daring and impressive thing to do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPy2HZf2QKY

Thanks so much, Jeannette. Since you’re an instant wealth of knowledge, is she still associated with the Bolshoi and are any of these other works connected to Pierre Lacotte besides Ondine ? “Promoted ballet master, Anne Salmon contributed to the creation of The Pharaoh’s Daughter at the Bolshoi Theatre, of Ondine at the Mariinski, and was equally involved when Coppelia was staged by the Shanghai Ballet, The Daughter of the Danube by the Tokyo Ballet, La Sylphide by the Scala in Milan and by the Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow, La Vivandière and The Butterfly by the Berlin Opera. She also restaged Petrouchka and The Afternoon of a Fawn at the request of the Tokyo Ballet. In 2011, she was engaged by the Paris Opera as a rehearsal assistant, for the creation of Jean-Guillaume Bart’s La Source.” https://bolshoi.ru/en/persons/anne-salmon Added: In 1971 Lacotte was appointed teacher at the Paris Opera and began to specialize in staging new versions of lost 19th century ballets, particlarly those from the romantic era:[4] • 1972: La Sylphide (1832) • 1973: Coppélia (1870) • 1976: Pas de six from La Vivandière (1844) • 1976: Pas de deux of Le Papillon (1866) • 1978: La Fille du Danube (1836) • 1980: Nathalie, ou la Laitière Suisse (1821) • 1981: Marco Spada (1857) • 1982: Le Papillon (1866) • 1993: La Gitana (1838) • 1993: L'Ombre (1839) • 1995: Le Lac des fées (1840) • 2000: The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862) • 2001: Paquita (1846) • 2006: Ondine (1843) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Lacotte

Thanks, Jeannette, for the added insight into Pierre Lacotte’s Pharaoh's Daughter. I didn’t know about the Doug Fullington attempt. In any case, I’ve always enjoyed and greatly respected Pierre Lacotte’s creation, where in addition to the choreography (did he have a lady assisting?) he also designed the beautiful sets and costumes. I saw a few fine Bolshoi performances and although no one could touch Svetlana Zakharova, overall, Svetlana Lunkina handled the more graceful passages wonderfully. I have seen pictures of the new sets for the Mariinsky production and they are also quite beautiful. I would think, or at least hope, that because of much of the advanced publicity and what’s been written most ballet goers inside and outside of Russia are aware that this is essentially Alexei Ratmansky’s creation, which it does indeed seem to be.

Here’s another one that I like. It’s a bit more modern and original, which I think is a good sign for the future of this dance form. It still retains a beautiful lyrical quality, characteristic of classical-style dance from China, something I’m always glad to see in contemporary works. I’m also impressed by the quality of the young dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy, which seems to be China’s most noteworthy dance academy. I tend to like the first ten minutes best, until the blackout. Then it changes format slightly. Chinese Classical Dance - Chun Qiu Xing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPy2HZf2QKY

Emeralds, if you read this, you seem to like two of the dancers from China. If I were to chose a center-reference point for ‘Lyrical’ as a dance style, it might be a slightly modified version of Mikhail Fokine’s “The Swan.” Some of the qualities that makes it so special are its remarkable loveliness, naturalness, simplicity, restraint and refinement. Of the five videos of lovely solo dancers from China that I’ve posted on this page, the middle three are probably the most restrained, making them also the most lyrical. You’ve chosen two of them. Sim chose another. For me, like “The Swan,” they all contain some of the essence of what ‘Lyrical’ dance is about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf9AqDajr_0&t=39s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oq86KJ6_9A&t=60s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwBmNPB0BxA&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QCmryUpt1A&t=3s

As somewhat more of an aside from the overall ‘Lyrical’ discussion this is an example of how ‘classical song-dance’ has been reinvented in China, since there hasn’t been a continuous ‘classical-like’ dance history. This is what it might have looked like, which is probably the closest there was to what we would consider classical dance in the West. I find this video to be rather charming because it’s performed by young students. There are much more professional versions on the internet but this one is an official release, which is what I prefer posting. Could Alexei Ratmansky have recreated it any better ? 😊 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpoFfo-vDIY

Thanks very much, Scheherezade. In further regard to dance from China, since we’re on the subject, this is some very interesting and thorough insight posted by Enya from China at Dansomanie. Dansomanie is essentially in French focussing primarily on ballet, but it also has perhaps the most complete discussion of ballet from Russia outside of Russia. However, most of Enya’s very fine and complete description is in English on the first page. *** One thing that’s very interesting is how far back dance as an ‘official’ art form goes in China — 1046 BC ! (“Zhou Dynasty 周朝, 1046 BC – 256 BC, the first peak period of Chinese dance, the first official Bureau of Music and Dance formed.”) *** Another very important one, is that “Dance has never occupied a completely independent position as an independent form of art in the long history of China, except Tang Dynasty….” Here’s some more of what Enya writes: “When talking about Chinese classical or traditional dance nowadays, it refers to Chinese classical/traditional dance at present, or to say, modern Chinese classical/traditional dance, because there is no such terminology like classical dance in the old days. I think the term “classical dance” is borrowed from the Western classical ballet and is mainly applied after 1950s. Therefore I prefer to use Chinese traditional dance, still, it’s a kind of modern traditional dance. “Dance has never occupied a completely independent position as an independent form of art in the long history of China, except Tang Dynasty [“Tang Dynasty 唐朝, 618 – 907, the third peak period and the summit of Chinese dance, as well as the most prosperous and unsurpassed period of Tang poetry (Tang Shi, 唐诗), calligraphy, painting, sculpture, music, etc.”] , it always attached to songs and music (before Song Dynasty), or to Chinese traditional operas (from Song Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty). We usually use the term Ge Wu (歌舞, means songs and dances) instead of saying dance separately when talking about performances in China. “And when talking about Chinese dances nowadays, it usually refers to three main categories: traditional/classical dances(中国古典舞, mainly means the dances performed in the Imperial Court in the old ages and imitated at present), folk dances (中国民族民间舞) and contemporary dances(中国当代舞).” http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4284&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 http://www.forum-dansomanie.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

Fittingly, I believe, the dance video from China that I like so much is called “Qie Kan Xing Yun (且看行云), Watching the Motion of the Clouds,” which seems like a perfect title. Created in 2012, the dance is now part of the repertoire for the important Tao Li Dance Competition and for entry exams for admission into various dance conservatories in China. (Thanks to Enya from China at Dansomanie for this information) It’s essentially a lyrically beautiful piece, a quality so important in ballet as well, with a certain amount of animated, Lyrical Jazz type, dancing, which, for me, does work here in combination. As implied by this title, much dance from China has a love of nature and the beauty that can be found in simple, day-to-day life as its theme. This gives it a more natural context which translates very well into lyrically poetic and lovely dance interpretations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fny9canjUWE

Interestingly, I find some very fine resemblances, between Oxana Skorik’s “The Swan” performance and the ‘Lyrical’-“Lyrical Jazz” performance from China that I put in my previous post. Mikhail Fokine’s “The Swan” is probably one of the most beautiful works in all of ballet, perhaps in all of dance. It’s also a somewhat transitional work. The dance from China, on the other hand, is performed by a student of the Beijing Dance Academy, to a perhaps rather unknown contemporary piece. Yet, for me, there are beautiful qualities of flow and motion in both of them that somehow connect them and make them ‘Lyrical.’ These might also illustrate how similarly beautiful elements can appear in different styles and different cultures. So, once again…. “The Swan” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIOCxhEsWZk “Chinese Classical Dance - Qie Kan Xing Yun” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fny9canjUWE and maybe this one again from China…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwBmNPB0BxA

In regard to the examples of dance from China that I’ve recently posted, I’d be more inclined to call them ‘Contemporary -Traditional’ or ‘Contemporary - Classical.’ It’s also worth noting that these dancers are all, or for the most part, students, representing a new generation. And from my casual viewing of dance from China over the years, these young dancers have a level of quality that’s perhaps the best that I’ve seen for this kind of dance. Getting back to one video that I posted, the more that I watch it the more that I find qualities that I really like. Although I called it “Lyrical Jazz,” if a few of the physical extremes were refined somewhat, I think that it could be a charming, more ‘Lyrical’ type performance. It has an airy and youthful lightheartedness along with technical prowess and sensitive loveliness. The use of her swirling, long gown is very effective and the music is very nice. In a way, it reminds me somewhat of Fred Astaire and his ability to combine a lighthearted and embraceable charm with very impressive refinement and virtuosity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fny9canjUWE

Here’s another very lovely one. It does have athleticism, but it’s much more restrained than in many similar performances. I think that it’s a very beautiful effort at fusion of styles with some elegant lines and motions. The pleasant white background also helps a lot. It makes a nice comparison to the previously posted video, where the dancer has, perhaps, a more tangible inner expression and sense of poetic restraint.

Thanks, Sim. I believe that you liked my reference to Ruth St. Denis awhile ago. I see a certain resemblance here to what she was doing over a hundred years ago, in terms of dance style. For me, Ruth St. Denis started a new direction that was never really followed through on. She maintained the grace, beauty and aura of ballet while using a more natural form of physical expression. I think that this video performance captures that once again, while being much more culturally authentic. I think that this a fine performance and would hope to see more of this sort of thing. In regard to current “Chinese Classical dance,” it seems to be a fusion of modern and traditional, that often relies on very athletic “Lyrical Jazz” type elements, but there does seem to be a more refined approach, illustrated by the second two “Chinese Classical dance” videos that I posted in picture format. This, I would also hope to see more of. Far Eastern dance has some very beautifully refined and ‘classical’ elements that we could probably relate to and appreciate more in a more ‘universal’ styling. The examples that I’ve posted here might also be pointing in that direction.

This one I would consider to be ‘Lyrical’ and I like it very much. It’s much less athletic, without the extreme body motions of “Lyrical Jazz” and has a very lovely, gentle, almost ballet-like feeling.

As an aside, in regard to what’s called “Lyrical Jazz,” which I consider somewhat a teenage girl phenomenon, and not ‘Lyrical,’ as I’m trying to define it, I do find these two “Lyrical Jazz” type performances to be a very charming comparison. In a way they could almost be the same person. From the United States https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvHpfsfRtN8 From China https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fny9canjUWE (the person posting this seems to have free access to film these classes and performances, so I will post this)

I continue to like this video very much. There are many interesting styles that she uses. If I were to imagine an ideal ‘Lyrical’ solo I might feature two elements. They would be poses mixed with flowing motion and posture. The flowing posture would be a contrast to ballet’s emphasis on linear verticality. (posted by Taoli World Dance Competition, China) Here are these two elements in terms of Chinese Classical dance as described by the first viewer of the video shown in my previous post. “There are generally 4 kinds of disciplines in Chinese Classical dance. Dun Huang Dance 敦煌舞，which based on some ancient wall painting at 敦煌莫高窟, emphasizes static postures and a lot of time the dancer would uses silk ribbons. The most special one among these four. Han Tang Classical dance 漢唐古典舞, which the dancer put more emphasis on their shoulder and waist, twisting their bodies to the sides, and gives an unstable, flowing feeling, this dance is Han Tang style.” The other two mentioned are also very interesting. “Xi Qu Classical dance 戲曲古典舞， Xi Qu means Chines Opera so the style, as you can tell from the name, is the closest to Chinese Opera. A lot of special hand postures from the Opera. Neoclassical, 新古典舞, still preserve the esthetics of Chinese Classical dance, but more like modern dance. The movements are not as classical and elegant as the other three, but it can express a more variety of emotion.”

I think that this performance is quite fine and very artistically interesting. The video has 400k views in twelve years. This first viewer comment below the video by B gives some insight. “Chinese Classical dance is, undoubtedly, a kind of reconstructive dance which was established during 20th century. It employs the body training method of ballet. Most of the movements come from Kongfu and Chinese Opera, as well as some historical artwork…. (This is not an ‘official’ posting but since the Taoli World Dance Competition, China does post these (this is an old one) I’ll post it as well) I like this one also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oq86KJ6_9A&t=59s (posted by Taoli World Dance Competition, China)