Silver Capricorn

In my country, when we were completely dominated by the Soviet Union, only Soviet versions of Swan Lake were available, so anything other than a happy ending was out of the question. The breaking of the oath had no meaning at all, which was very significant for the time. It wasn't until Velvet Revolution that I saw a tragic ending for the first time, and honestly, I love it.

Evelina Godunova currently works in the ballet company of the National Theater in Warsaw.

I have a similar feeling. I much prefer Nureyev's version of The Lake, where Siegfried has beautiful variations in each act, actively fights Rothbart at the end, and the whole story is more about him than Odette/Odilie.

I am very pleased with Lacotte's La Sylphide and Neumeier's Illusion like Swan Lake.

Her Odetta/Odilia will definitely be amazing. I'm already looking forward to seeing her in partnership with Vadim in May in London and then in June in Rome.

In Raymonda, he was supposed to perform at the ONP on 22, 25 and 27 December 2019, but the performances were canceled due to the strike.

In 2016, he danced at the ONP Garnier Albrecht in Giselle as the partner of Dorothée Gilbert. The next hosting in 2020 was canceled due to the strike of the ONP ballet troupe and subsequently due to covid.

This is also due to the fact that at the same time as Fille at the Opéra Garnier, the ONP ballet company is performing Don Quixote on its second stage at the Opéra Bastille, where they dance mainly étoils. Don Q and Fille are immediately followed by Giselle and Swan Lake.

Everything has been said about yesterday's performance. The Royal Ballet currently has no other pair for the classical repertoire that can be compared to the pair of Nela - Vadim. I am happy that I could be there yesterday. I'll be back in May to see how Vadim's new future partnership with Fumi works out.

Tchaikovsky's Pas de deux is part of Balanchine's evening at the National Theater in Brno. At last year's premiere, it was danced by Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov, with whom Diana White and Nanette Glushak of The George Balanchine Trust worked during the preparation, overseeing the consistent preservation of Balanchine's style. That's why I think that Fumi and Vadim's presentation of pdd was very authentic. Marianela Núñez and Reece Clarke performed in the same program this year. I saw both performances and subsequently, by comparing the video recordings, I confirmed that especially the male part performed by Vadim Muntagirov was technically better, Reece Clarke danced his part at a significantly lower tempo.

You can't just judge by Manon. I've seen them dance together many times (not in the UK of course) and I think the partnership works well. They even devoted their last summer vacation to joint ballet training at a dance school in Alanya under the guidance of Vadim's father. But time will tell. It is true that unexpected partnerships can bring new positive experiences. From this point of view, I am very curious about the performance of Marianela Núnez in Giselle at the end of May at the National Opéra de Paris, where her partner will be the French ballet megastar Hugo Marchand.

I am very happy that I had the opportunity to see the dance partnership Fumi/Vadim finally on the stage of the Royal Opera House. After a couple of years of performing together around the world (Cape Town, Tokyo, Brno, Almaty, Geneva, etc.), they finally got this opportunity on their home stage and it seems that this is the beginning of a permanent collaboration, because their the partnership will also continue in Swan Lake and The Winter's Tale. In Manon they made an unforgettable pair; as someone mentioned above, especially in the second and third acts, their performance was breathtaking. I'm looking forward to seeing them in Swan Lake and The Winter's Tale in London in May and then the Gala in Geneva and Swan Lake in Rome. In the future, I would like to see them in the classical repertoire, in which Vadim has no equal competition and Fumi is his perfect partner.

I don't live in the UK. For me, attending a ballet performance in London means buying a plane ticket and booking a hotel in time. And yes, I only visit the casts that interest me. That is why I am also a Friend+, so that I can choose the ticket that suits me. In the case of Ashton's evening, it probably won't work, so I'll probably skip this performance. All I know is that neither Fumi Kaneko nor Vadim Muntagirov are likely to appear in Ashton's performance on June 10, as they will be performing at Vladimir Ippolitov's World Ballet Stars Gala in Geneva that day. For example, in the Paris Opera, the cast is not known far enough in advance to be able to buy tickets according to it, however, you can buy tickets for several performances and return the unsuitable ones to sale after the cast is published. The box office will refund the money back to my account within three days after the tickets are sold. And they always sell out, because performances of the Paris Opera Ballet are always sold out.

To yesterday's Manon. For me, by all accounts, the best performance I've seen. After the pairs of Osipova/Clarke and Naghdi/Bracewell, Fumi and Vadim performed not only technically, but above all a perfect acting performance. Manon Fumi was not so frivolous and whimsical, her love for DG was visible in all moments. After initial slight hesitation, Vadim developed his role technically (his arabesques are unrivaled) and his performance in the 2nd and 3rd act was amazing. It is known the immense progress from his DG, which I know from the record of the older show. The partnership between the two is wonderful and I look forward to seeing them together in Swan Lake and certainly in other repertoire.

It depends on how many people gather at the stage door. After Marianela's performance with Vadim, the entire Floral Street was filled with fans. If there is a large number of people, a small autograph session is organized, when the dancers sit inside at a table and the doormen let only 5 fans in at a time. On average, the wait at the stage door is about 1 hour.

Visiting the Royal Opera for me means planning a vacation, buying plane tickets, booking a hotel. I only want to see specific dancers, so I will leave Ashton out if the cast is not announced in time. I'm sorry.

Anastasia Matvienko is a soloist in Ljubljana and a regular guest at the National Theater in Brno, where she performed as Odeta/Odilie and Aurora in 2023 and as Nikia in La Bayadère in March 2024.

Fumi Kaneko and Vadim Muntagirov.

Prostitutes sentenced to deportation had their hair cut off as part of their punishment. Their gestures are apparently meant to signify shame over this humiliation. After all, hair cutting was commonly practiced after the Second World War against women who collaborated with the fascists - in France and Italy.

Manon, one of my favorite ballets. I flew to London on Saturday to see the matinee and evening performances. I chose them based on the cast I wanted to see. Especially Natalia Osipova, I never doubted her Manon for a moment after seeing her as Maria in Mayerling. I have an idea about Manon that may differ from the opinion of the majority. Although Manon is young, her family sends her to a convent because of her inappropriate behavior and for fear of the scandals she might cause. She is definitely not innocent or naive. She doesn't want to go to a convent, so running away with the bewitched Des Grieux is her way out. Before escaping, he does not hesitate to rob an old fellow traveler of money. At the moment when they run out of money (in the famous scene Des Grieux writes a letter to her father asking him for money), Manon sees only the luxury offered to her by Monsieur G.M. resist. The moment he puts on her a luxurious fur coat and a diamond necklace, she finds herself almost in a trance, just like in the company in Act 2, where she is the center of attention of all the men. Only in Act 3, ill at the end of her strength, does she see the only certainty and help in Des Grieux. In contrast, Des Grieux is an apparently inexperienced young man who is willing to forgive Manon everything just to stay close to her. Because of her, he leaves his family, his life plans (he was supposed to become a Knight of the Order of Malta), participates in her brother's nefarious activities, becomes a fake gambler and finally a murderer. However, she is also the main character of the original novel, not Manon. Of the two Des Grieux I have seen, William Bracewell is closer to this idea. Reece Clarke was an excellent partner for Osipova, but he didn't really catch my attention in Saturday's performance, unfortunately not even from a technical point of view. The performance of the ballet troupe and orchestra was excellent in my opinion. Of all the representatives of the main pair that I have had the opportunity to see, for me, last year's partnership of Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand from ONP still remains unbeatable. But that may change on 2/23/2024, I'm in high anticipation…

In the novel it is written (after DG's escape with Manon from Amiens to Paris): "We forgot our wedding plans, bypassed church law and became husband and wife without thinking".

Father Des Grieux buys his son out of prison, and he then accompanies the imprisoned Manon to the ship and on the way to America. He poses as her husband and bribes her guards. During the time DG lived with Manon in Paris, he made a living as a professional fake gambler.

Yes, the story is told by Des Grieux, but he does not say anything bad about Manon, on the contrary, he excuses all her mistakes and betrayals. In general, the fate of Manon in the ballet is depicted much more dramatically and harshly, for example, the rape, as depicted in the 3rd act of the ballet, does not occur at all in the novel. In New Orleans, Manon is courting the governor's nephew, whom Des Grieux lets go and injures in a duel. After the death of Manon, Des Griuex is absolved of all guilt at the intercession of the governor and his nephew and returns to France to his family.

According to Abbé Prévost, the Knight Des Grieux was 17 years old when he first met Manon, she was a little younger, but according to him much more experienced. She was on her way to the convent, where her parents had sent her to put an end to her love of pleasure.

My main wishes came true already this season (Manon, Don Quixote and Swan Lake). So maybe only MacMillans Romeo and Juliet and Onegin with Vadim. La Bayadere is probably an impossible dream at ROH, I hope I will get to see it in ONP. I don´t like triple/mixed bills and I don´t visit them all the time.