annamk

At long last Andrei Yermakov has been promoted to Principal. Congratulations to him

Wonderful photos. I was thinking about her performance again the other day and how she was completely natural - not an iota of affectation.

I've finally watched this online and gosh it is absolutely superb you can tell that this ballet is part of the company's DNA. Not only the characterisations that are so good. It's a dream to see all the tricky partnering executed so masterfully, (seamless mirror and final pdd) rather than a series of individual steps and lifts, all without breaking sweat ! Really have to try to see Vogel live in this.

I check the links less than I used to and i hadn’t really thought why that is until now. Partly maybe that I pick some direct from Twitter links eg Dance Tabs, New York Times, partly when I want to read ENB or RB reviews I google them myself, partly I’m less interested in the off mainstream items in the links - the stuff in the bottom half. It’s a great service though and I know a lot of effort goes into it.

Yes fearless is exactly it. I've not seen a mirror pdd since that has come even close to those of Cojocaru/Kobborg.

We were posting at the same time. I can't remember exactly whether I saw her debut, very likely since I went to everything she & Kobborg danced at that time. I certainly saw one of her early performances and as I said above she has a rare ability to do everything. Of course the unsurpassed partnership with Johan Kobborg was a major factor in the power of those performances. I found this review https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2001/nov/29/dance.artsfeatures which interestingly talks about Tatiana being a role for a mature dancer.

I hope Naghdi/Ball are still cast as Olga/Lensky this time but also O'Sullivan/Sambe. I know that Tatiana isn't really older but I generally prefer a more mature dancer in that role, although I do remember Cojocaru dancing it when she was young and being amazing but then she has this rare ability to be everything.

Lovely photo BBB. I have none The usher came up to me twice and told me to stop taking curtain call photos - I wondered if the RoH policy has changed because it's the first time I've encountered it ........

Magnificent, unbelievably good performances from Sambe and O'Sullivan this afternoon. Somehow they made all the old familiar steps seem entirely fresh and different; even the parts that usually sag (most of Act 2) were livelier. His superb dancing filled the stage out of all proportion to his physical size and it was a pleasure to behold: plush, soft landings, and excellent partnering. His Romeo was ardent and passionate: the final sword fight between Romeo and Tybalt was once of the most ferocious I've seen. She blew me away. Her Juliet was completely mesmerising, nothing like a debut, full of detail, she completely inhabited the role and was absolutely heart rending.

Thursday 11/4 LG circle standing D28 Friday 12/4 LG circle standing D22 & D23 £5 each e-tickets message me.

On Thursday it was typical Sadlers Wells timing, it overran finishing at least 20 mins later than advertised.

These tickets have been taken.

They are e-tickets, please message me.

I went for the latter part of the Mariinsky festival and I also caught a couple of performances at the smaller Mikhailovsky Theatre. Peter Martins was in St Petersburg to coach this performance of Jewels which was danced on the vast stage of the vast auditorium that is Mariinsky 2. Emeralds felt slightly flat, as indeed it often does, but it was interesting to see some of the newer, younger dancers with whom I’m less familiar. I’ve found Rubies the ballet that sits most awkwardly on Russian companies but Philipp Stepin and Nadezhda Batoeva were superbly playful and technically exciting. I agree with Beaux Arts above about Maria Khoreva in Diamonds, I’d say this performance did not come close to those I’ve seen from the Bolshoi’s more experienced Smirnova and Chudin both live and on screen. Unfortunately I also thought the corps de ballet looked scrappy although my impression here may have been influenced negatively by being quite close to the stage. The use of mobile phones during the performance was extraordinary - recording and constant flash photography. A couple sitting close to us couldn’t have watched more than 5 minutes of the entire performance and even made a phone call. The following evening Don Quixote played to a full house in the historic theatre. From the off Vladimir Shklyarov and Elena Yevseyeva were determined to have a ball and their sensational performances deservedly brought the house down. It was the highlight of the week. Shklyarov has more charisma than the rest of the Mariinsky male principal roster put together and he danced as well as I’ve ever seen him do. He and Yevseyeva, a delightful, petite and elegant First Soloist, were ideally matched and no one who held on to their ticket after Osipova’s withdrawal could have reasonably felt short changed. Although Yevseyeva began her fouettes with a minor loss of control she quickly retrieved them and went on to finish with incredible insouciance holding the border of her tutu with one hand as if to issue a challenge to the detractors on the Russian forums. Alexander Sergeev was a remarkable Espada, he’s such a refined classical dancer I wish we’d seen more of him. The Mariinsky production is one of the best and I’m afraid for me it really served to highlight the shortcomings of the RB version, in particular the over cluttered stage and the Act 3 pdd. The following evening was the performance of Sleeping Beauty that Lauren Cuthbertson was sadly unable to dance due to illness. Her last minute replacement, Olesya Novikova, a quietly elegant dancer, inexplicably not a principal, turned in a beautiful performance. The story of Xander Parish’s ascent at the Mariinsky is a remarkable and well known one and he gave a good account of the Prince’s solos, his tours were well executed and well landed. May Nagahisa another non-vaganova trained, non-Russian seemingly destined for stardom (she has already made her debut in the title role in Giselle) danced Princess Florine with great delicacy although to my eye she looks even younger than her young years. The divine Ekaterina Kondaurova is a true Mariinsky jewel; the most supremely luxurious dancer with beautiful epaulement and a stunning back. Her Lilac fairy glowed warmly and the tricky Prologue solo was executed with outstanding control. This huge Sergeyev production looked splendid on the Mariinsky 2 stage. At just under 4 hours it’s a marathon of an evening and it is a testament to the dancers that it didn’t feel like an endurance test. The next evening was back again to Mariinsky 2 this time for Swan Lake. The guest Prince Siegfried was Daniel Camargo whom I had recently seen in London at the RB and I had enjoyed his warm stage presence as Fumi Kaneko’s Basil. In St Petersburg he was sharing the stage with the current queen of the Mariinsky, Viktoria Tereshkina, and he looked far less comfortable. There were no major problems in the partnering and he delivered a reasonable black act solo but it was a chilly performance with not a shred of chemistry between them. I couldn’t help feeling that Vadim Muntagirov would have been a more suitable partner for the refined and technically superb Tereshkina. On Sunday we were lucky that there were 2 performances at the small gem of a theatre that is the Mikhailovsky. We bought tickets not knowing the casting so we were thrilled to see Leonid Sarafanov dancing James in La Syphide. He follows in a long line of outstanding Russian male dancers and at 36 his fabulous technique is as fine as ever - IMO the Mariinsky have not filled the gaping hole created by his departure 10 years ago. The production which was lovingly and carefully danced by the entire company is as authentic and charming as the theatre itself which feels like the most appropriate venue. His Sylphide, Angelina Vorontsova, danced with such allure no wonder James fell for her. Our final performance in the evening was Giselle. The lead couple were the charming husband and wife team of Viktor Lebedev and Anastasia Soboleva. He has a quiet stage presence but is a gorgeously plush dancer with a beautiful line, the most incredible backbends and enormous, soaring jumps. He was the star male graduate of his year (2010) at Vaganova so it is somewhat puzzling that he isn’t at the Mariinsky where the larger stage would have given the space his excellent technique demands and he would surely have enhanced the principal ranks. The orchestras at the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky were of the very high standard you would expect and the acoustics at Mariinsky 2 were excellent.

I still find it bizarre. Her Saturday evening London performance has been scheduled for months, so was known about when she agreed to the Mariinsky performance. What other performance is she required in London for ? Surely she can’t be on standby to do the Saturday matinee of Don Q as well as the evening ?

Note for Hirano doubters (self included) - he acted his socks off in the friends rehearsal and his partnering of Takada's utterly convincing young Juliet was beautiful. As expected, Hay's Mercutio was quite brilliant.

It doesn't look like the same post.

It is the Russian equivalent of this forum that is pointing the finger at KoH. One of the forum members, purporting to write on behalf of Osipova, says that KoH would not let her go because she needs to be on standby this week in case a dancer with an Achilles pain cannot complete her performance. This seems rather surprising if you look at the schedule for the week.

I enjoy Mark Morris and I usually go and see the company when they are in London but I had decided not to book for this because I'm not particularly a fan of the Beatles music. However, I was lucky to have an opportunity to go to the rehearsal this afternoon and I enjoyed it enormously. The quirky, witty and inventive choreography was performed by 15 dancers dressed in an array of bright costumes. I had assumed the music would be all Beatles sound tracks but in fact it was only 6 tracks from the album and 6 by the live band and they melded well together. An hour of joy that will leave you with a warm smile on your face - highly recommended !

Is that £5 and £10 for stallls seats ?

I’ve not seen any ticket offers, so is it the student standby at £10 a ticket ? If so the RoH must have taken a big hit on this run.

The session with Mellissa Hamilton and Reece Clarke being coached by Viviana Durante was one of the most interesting of these events. They were rehearsing the first Act 1 pdd outside the ballroom and the final (bedroom) pdd. The dancers were clearly some way into the rehearsal process so the focus was less about the mastery of the steps and more on the fine tuning and it was fascinating to hear their discussion. Reece Clarke looked mighty impressive in the ease with which he partnered Melissa Hamilton, the tricky shoulder lift was executed with effortlessly. I loved how once they started dancing she totally lost herself in the role, not everyone can do that in these insight events and it was very moving. I'm really looking forward to their performances.

I never saw her live although I’ve watched performances on dvd because I’ve been interested in the differences. I’m not any sort of expert but what struck me most is the obvious and this applies not only to Fonteyn but that whole era. It was a totally different style of dancing: principally lower extensions and noticeably faster tempi, together they change the entire feeling of a ballet - it connects to flow of movement which Floss talks about in relation to their post about Ashton above.

Angela, I agree with you on both of these points. I haven’t had the good fortune to see either Vogel or Malakhov as Lensky but I didn’t mean to imply that Jonah Cook possesses the danseur noble qualities of my own memorable Lensky’s: Semyon Chudin and Vadim Muntagirov. I’m spite of my disappointment this time I still feel that Shklyarov has a lot to give as Onegin. Before the casting of Tatiana was announced I was really hoping for Osipova or Shklyarov’s wife Shirinkina, I think it would have been a completely different experience. Maybe next time or even with Lauretta Summerscales now she has made her debut.

I can’t comment on the opera but an Olivier Award nomination for Unknown Soldier is, to put it politely, somewhat baffling.