SwissBalletFan

If you miss Vahe Martirosyan and Sarah-Jane Brodbeck you can see them on Monday (22nd June) in Münich. They will be performing with Tigran Makayelyan, Arsen Mehrabyan and other dancers at the "Forceful Feelings" gala. Miss them no longer https://www.gasteig.de/veranstaltungen-und-tickets/veranstaltungen/forceful-feelings.html,v36567

Yen Han is still with the company, though she was at Zürich Ballet before Heinz Spörli joined (1993 vs 1996). Mihaylova is also still at Zürich Ballett, my bad, she is on maternity leave which is very exciting news for her too. I guess Sarah-Jane Brodbeck was a similar case to Arman, though she danced a very lovely Governante in Spucks Leonce and Lena.

The only Spörli trained (and brought to Zürich) Principals left are Filipe Portugal and Viktorina Kapitonova. Filipe danced a great Hilarion in Patrice Bart's Giselle performances, and does well in some other roles, but it is now moving more into choreography in the the twighlight of his career. He has a good relationship with Spuck who has allowed him to choreograph pieces for Junior Ballet evenings and some Gala performances. He was never the big star under Spörli times either. Spörli brought Kapitonova and it was clear he was shaping her to be a star of the future, and gave her Odette/Odile in Swan lake after previously saving it for Polina Semionova. Spuck fired many of Spörli's dancers (around half of the company) on his arrival, and the repoitore changed from Neo-Classical (Swan Lake was still in the repertoire in Spuck's first season) to Modern Spuck (only Spuck in season 13/14) pieces that only Katja Wünshe and Will Moore (brought from Stuttgart with him) danced the lead roles. In season 14/15 to keep Kapitonova he choreographed Anna Karenina (which is a full ballet and quite an honour) for her, also bringing Giselle (where she danced with F.Vogel and R.Bolle), and next year Swan Lake is coming with Ratmansky (as the world knows) so, it seems that she will be staying here in Zürich as she is the star for Zürich classical ballet pieces. (Wünsche still dances the lead roles in his pieces except for Anna Karenina) Sorry for the long answer, but I guess it is a response to explain, that for Grigoryan, he wasn't seen as a priority for Spuck sadly, and he was allowed to leave, I do not think it is a case of him or any other principals running away from Zürich. Grigoryan was not dancing any 'Prince' roles because he is a bit shorter than many dancers in Zürich (although he danced one performance as Albrecht with his wife Milhaylova as Giselle which was good). I think he may feel he has other chances at Berlin where Iana Salenko may be a good partner for him. (join the queue) Also Zürich's classical repertoire in 14/15 and 15/16 looks to be better than we have ever had it!

You're very welcome. Apple engrave for free too I believe.

He had problems with his knees, but was out all of last season, and has operations on both legs. That's as much as I know.

Maybe some news on this theme that maybe you didn't.... The hugely talented principal Arman Grigoryan is leaving as Zürich this season, and will join Staatsballet Berlin (as a soloist) for next season. Wishing him all the best. he was a real star under Spörli.

Hi there, this may sound a bit of a cliché, but maybe the most special gift would be something that you can make or put together that shows how much she means to you...and an iPod (or other too) Maybe if you have photos from your lessons or exams with her, to show how she has developed you and you have grown together? Or a fantastic silver picture frame with a lovely photo of you both? Or if you have any mementos from the time together that you can frame? Or write a poem? Draw a picture? Otherwise, there are lot of paintings and or sketches maybe that are themed with ballet? If you do buy an iPod, you can preload a mix of songs or a personal message in it/engrave. I think the most lovely thing is really something from you personally and the memories that you shared.

Wow, such in depth and fantastic answers to a new member, I have learned a lot. Thank you, I think I will like it very much here

Hi Angela, I have read the rules on this forum, so I will try to keep it as official as possible officially of course he is still a principal and part of the company, and I know that he has had his second operation and plans to return to training now/next season. So fingers crossed all goes well, and he will be on the stage again soon. He is a very nice guy and a Prince, it will be interesting how it goes with Alex Jones next year with the classical roles. Denis Vieira who has danced absolutely every male role this year in all performances has developed nicely, but is still young and not officially a principal yet.

Thank you both Jm365 and Sim, I was very surprised by Don kwiksott as it sounds very strange, but I now know its ok.

Hello UK Ballet fans, I was watching a great interview with Rudolph Nureyev a while ago, all parts on youtube and he is very charming in it. However in the 4th part (link below) (2 seconds in) an English Gentleman pronounces Don Quixote as "Don Kwik-sott" is this usual in the UK? From my understanding it is more "Don key shot" I apologise if this is irrelevant, but it has been a real bug to me. Also you can see a great interview. Many thanks

Hello Ballet Fans, I guess I should introduce myself here as a Ballet Fan living in Zürich. I found this forum while looking for international coverage of Zürich Ballet, and sadly for whatever reason, there is not too much information, so I will try to add to the forum regarding Swiss Ballet news. The 2014/15 season highlights were Patrice Bart creating a new Giselle for Zürich, and (as you are aware) Polina and Friedemann Vogel dancing here, but very surprisingly Roberto Bolle's amazing Albrecht (Giselle: Viktorina Kapitonova) debut in Zürich was not discussed. Following his success at ABT reinventing Sleeping Beauty in partnership with La Scala, Ratmansky will be in Zürich next year creating a new Swan Lake also in partnership with La Scala. I hope that this will also be a huge success and is a great coup for Ballet Zürich. I look forward to getting to know the forum better and interesting discussions on ballet in general.