annamicro

Alexandre Riabko....the most underused dancer of all time.... is Kilpinen really ending his career? I understood he just wanted to ho back to Finland (he is quite young)

Yes, they are bothers. Alessandro is 22 I think. Quite different personality and qualities, both great talents.

Alessandro Frola was superb as Desiree in Neumeier Sleeping Beauty on June 24th: he transformed what looked as a bad pastiche with another dancer in a masterpiece. A dancer born to be a principal.

Apparently don Juan was the only Neumeier's work danced by Nureyev. I saw the pdd in Venice danced by two of my favorite dancers, Silvia Azzoni and Oleksandr Ryabko in 2018. The two are dancing in the clip below at min 8.43. I don't remember that much of the pdd, despite the quality of the dancers, being not really impressed by the choreography. A pity Neumeier sent Trusch, a graceless compact dancer, with an unappealing stage presence, a mediocre upper body and an extremely modest capacity to act and connect with his partners, in my opinion at the moment by far the less interesting male dancer of Hamburg Ballet: the past week in various roles Felix Paquet, Jacopo Bellussi, Christoper Evans, Alessandro Frola, Edvin Revazov, Karen Azatyan show with tremendous performances that the company is in great shape on the male side, at least most of it.

The jump at 1 min seems a 540 revoltade. It's quite popular among voirtuoso dancers. Not that I consider Frola a "virtuoso"...he is much more 🙂: a dancer noble, an actor and, clearly can do also virtuosity.

Unfortunately I was right: an article on Corriere della Sera confirms he is having surgery in Dubai and that he will not have commitment until January. I attach a link to a "referral site that is not under a paywall as Corriere is. What is missing from the original text is that Arcimboldi is planning a gala in support of Ukraine on the 7th of April, that seems a much more appropriate event than the previously planned ones. https://gamegurus.it/il-ballerino-sergei-polunin-ucraino-e-con-un-tatuaggio-di-putin-annulla-lo-spettacolo-rasputin-a-milano-corriere-it/

I read it differently in Italian: it's a generic statement, not referring to the specific theatre. I wish him the best for his personal health and I hope you are right. At the moment, anyway, I don't see how his extremely evident politic sympathy can fit with Milan Mayor (and Italian government) policy when it comes to Putin supporters. Gergiev was fired by La Scala for his "ambiguity" and he has not Putin face engraved on his heart.

Polunin cancelled the Rasputin shows planned in April in Milan due to an injury. I am sincerely sorry for the injury (also because it coukd be serious: the link says he thinks to be back in 2023!), anyway it couldn't have been more timely. Maybe in 2023 the Putin tattoo will not be on his chest anymore. Or maybe we all will be Russian... https://www.danzaedanza.com/it/news/polunin-free-al-tam.html

Great! Amazing participation!!! I found out that my password expired in July 2019 (not suprising: I last used it in 2010...) so I have to support in other ways

Alina Cojocaru and Ivan Putrov set up a charity gala in favour of Ukraine https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/dance-for-ukraine/ So well done!

Yes, it's Neumeier's Die Kameliendame. Totally different from M&A, just based on the same novel. Alina Cojocaru danced the White pdd with the wonderful Sascha Ryabko in London in one of those Russian Ballet Galas in 2012.

Jacopo Bellussi (Royal Ballet School trained and Hamburg Ballet principal) is the artistic director of a charity ballet gala in favour of a pediatric hospital in Genoa, his hometown. The show will take place on the 8th of April at the Carlo Felice Theatre. Among the dancers, some coming from Royal Ballet: Bracewell, Naghdi and Sambè. And Jacopo will make his debut in the Dame aux Camelias White pdd opposite Alina Cojocaru's Marguerite (I'm quite looking forward this 😁). Tickets (22-32 euros) available on Vivaticket https://www.vivaticket.com/it/biglietto/gala-pas-de-deux/177516

This was already planned: you posted about that in 2018 😊 "John Neumeier will stay Director of the Hamburg Ballet until 2023, when he will be 84 years old." https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/277-news-from-germany-austria-switzerland/?do=findComment&comment=239196

A large amount of tickets in Verona was sold half priced on a number of channels: I bought mine full priced, without knowing that few weeks later I could have bought a better one for less via my company "employees club". Even with reduced prices to fill the Arena remains a huge achievement: unfortunately I don't see the point to bring that kind of ballet (and production) to the Arena di Verona or the RAH, or the O2 Arena as the Royal Ballet also did (and I skipped it)

I am a fan of AC Milan and that's it. Don't mix me with ballet fan clubs you are so fond of. Last comment on this (sub) topic. (Sorry Sim)

We have been dealing with Bolle fan club for ages here in Italy, so feel free to express yourself. Your are even allowed an almost personal Polunin blog on this forum, and feel free to go on with this. No problem at all. As Watts said, there are fans and with have to accept this. Just note that Rojo didn't choose Polunin for her farewell in M&A: that was the partnership and he was back to the Royal Opera House having his farewell. I flew to London to see that show.

I think the ticket price is a point. I don't know which show could really be worth those prices, maybe a giant production with a live orchestra, real elephants on stage (not that they are that common in Northen Italy, exept when Hannibal crossed the Alps in 218 B.C.) and a channel to the Serpentine to have a water to simulate the Adige river. I can understad that, if you are not one of the "fans" Graham Watts is referring to, you can feel short changed, but I would reccomend to forget for a moment the cost and focus of what of good was in the production. I wrote after Verona that I'd have preferred to see it in a theatre, a better place for an intimate tragedy. Below the link to my old comment if you are interested. And, well, if you are curious about that (I would be): as much as I love Kobborg and Cojocaru and I enjoyed the show in Verona and I think it has many merits, I didn't but a ticket for the RAH because it was too expensive IMO. And I hate the venue. But Polunin (according members of the cast) absolutely wanted that place, at any cost.

Also the Neumeier version has this kind of vision. Cojocaru danced it several times, I don't remember if Kobborg danced that Romeo, but for sure it was in Royal Danish repertoire when he was there.

Let's make clear a point. I've NOT seen the show at RAH, so my opinion are from the Verona one and, more in general, from other shows I've seen. You wrote "Finally (was starting to not believe myself) some reviews that concur with what I and others experienced …". Polunin is not the dancer he was a few year ago, anyway what remains of the past glory makes him a still a remarkable one, at least to me. Nevertheless I have a problem with Polunin's attempt to act: even if probably his fan club could find an archive paper saying the opposite, in my memory he has never been regarded a great dance actor (better not consider his movie actor career...), but a decent one absolutely yes. In my opinion, what was making him really outstanding when I was flying to London to see him dancing with the Royal Ballet was the projected feeling of a wild energy constrained in the limits of an effortlessly explosive but immaculately polished classical dancing technique, and a naturally elegant, spontaneously charismatic stage presence. When the precision of the dancing faded away, the wild was left fee to run and he started acting "with his teeth" (short for "grinding his teeth"). I don't see a real artistic maturation in his way to be on stage. In a way the review of The Express support this impression, praising - in short- his overacting and considering it a way to fill the space. Something that is not in my taste. So I was not surprised to read that in the reviewer opinion Cojocaru "while she dances flawlessly, she doesn't sell any of the emotion out to the crowd with her body or face." It's just that clearly we look for something different in a performance and appreciate the exact opposite in a performer. I understand that, when finally reading what he/she was hoping to read, everyone of us can have an unstoppable orgasm, but the review, as expression of the opinion and taste of the author, has to be bought or not in its entirety, not cherry picking just what one is craving to read. Regarding Graham Watts review, when on Twitter Matthew Bourne disagreed about his preventive warning that "we should bear in mind that this is not a company that trains together but a scratch group of dancers that has come together for one performance- I cannot underestimate the size of that task", replying "Why should that be taken in account by paying audience?" (I am afraid that I agree with Bourne, saying also that Verona cast was up to the scope IMO, I don't know about the RAH one), the answer by Watts "I suspect that the majority of those at tomorrow's show will go away very happy since they are fans!" could be considered offensive, not being so sadly true (Watts is a gentleman and for sure he was not willing to insult anybody: maybe he was just very honest). But the artistry of Kobborg, Cojocaru and Polunin himself deserve better. (Conversation available on Twitter)

oh.... I am sorry to learn you found Cojocaru so flat and unemotional. She looked to me in great form in Hamburg, artistically and technically, but for sure it's just a matter of taste: I prefer more subtle interperation to the overacting of other dancers 🙂

Full casting now on line https://www.hamburgballett.de/en/schedule/

Is there an official communication, Angela? I had the news from friends in Hamburg, but I cannot find any info. The wording of a press release could be interesting, because I already knew she was not going to dance the premiere, to have a longer recovery. Anyway to have her sharing the stage with Trusch is so depressing to me that I must confess I am somehow relieved: I definitely was not going to see those shows. She looked in excellent shape in Glassmanagerie.

Bruce, maybe I misunderstand your post, anyway Carla Fracci's 80th birthday happily occurred back in 2016 (the messages are from that year). She would have been 85 this year.

and viceversa... :-( let's hope things could improve in one month time, let's hope things will improve in general...

for those who are starting mssing her, Alina Cojocaru will dance Giselle opposite Timofej Andrijashenko (Teatro alla Scala) in Palermo (Sicily) on the 29th and 30th of July. The event is part of the summer season of the teatro massimo, held in the open air Teatro di Verdura. Tickets on sale (as single seat, double or triple in order to keep social distancing) from today on Ticketone (with an amzing top price of 30 euros!) https://www.ticketone.it/en/city/palermo-223/teatro-58/balletto-classico-e-moderno-1070/ The theatre Summer season inludes also a ballet gala (Italian dancers for paris Opera) on the 1st of August, and alos operas and concets in vaious dates Who is coming? 😉