bangorballetboy Posted June 7, 2012 Posted June 7, 2012 I understand that Sergei has now joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Moscow. At least that's what the tweets - not his - say. Well I've seen a number of tweets which suggest he has joined the Stanislavsky Ballet...
Wulff Posted June 7, 2012 Posted June 7, 2012 Yes. I should have written Stanislavsky. My mistake. Apologies.
aileen Posted June 7, 2012 Posted June 7, 2012 On the face of it, it seems a strange decision for him. I don't think that he has any connections to Russia. I was pretty sure that he would go to the US if he joined another ballet company.
Paul Arrowsmith Posted June 7, 2012 Posted June 7, 2012 I have no desire to champion anyody here but am moved to observe that in comparison with The Royal Opera, the RB has allowed all manner of observations and, at best, half-truths to gain credence and multiply. Such insularity is damaging to the reputation of the RB and the career of Polunin. In comparison, Kasper Holten, the new, Danish (that is somebody with a perspective outside the ROH) director of The Royal Opera has been across the blogosphere to correct the many (possibly) erroneous comments about the high-level defections afflicting the casting of productions at the RO currently. Whether Holten's explanations are to be accepted at face value (many in the opera logosphere do not), he has been willing to champion publicly and virtually the RO's position. That displays to me (professionally a lifelong PR) a degree of connection with reality and with ROH audiences that is saluatory. 1
Don Q Fan Posted June 7, 2012 Posted June 7, 2012 If it is true that Sergei has returned to Russia then I say good for him - he has been away from his family and homeland from a young age and I think he should spend time closer to family and home. There must have been some emotional effect on him being away from his family for so long and I for one hope he now settles for a time in Russia and can catch up on relationships with his family and friends in Russia. 1
Amelia Posted July 5, 2012 Posted July 5, 2012 Sergei Polunin is listed as a Principal on the Stanislavsky Ballet website in Moscow. His first appearance there will be as Franz in "Coppelia" this month: http://www.stanmus.com/performance.html?id=80
John Mallinson Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 Incidentally it seems to be Roland Petit's Coppélia. Does anyone know it?
bangorballetboy Posted July 6, 2012 Author Posted July 6, 2012 I have no desire to champion anyody here but am moved to observe that in comparison with The Royal Opera, the RB has allowed all manner of observations and, at best, half-truths to gain credence and multiply. Such insularity is damaging to the reputation of the RB and the career of Polunin. In comparison, Kasper Holten, the new, Danish (that is somebody with a perspective outside the ROH) director of The Royal Opera has been across the blogosphere to correct the many (possibly) erroneous comments about the high-level defections afflicting the casting of productions at the RO currently. Whether Holten's explanations are to be accepted at face value (many in the opera logosphere do not), he has been willing to champion publicly and virtually the RO's position. That displays to me (professionally a lifelong PR) a degree of connection with reality and with ROH audiences that is saluatory. I think the distinction between the way the RB works (all dancers on permanent contracts) and the RO (principals, other than JPYAs, retained on a show-by-show basis) has something to do with this.
Jane S Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 Incidentally it seems to be Roland Petit's Coppélia. Does anyone know it? It's very untraditional and a lot of fun - but Petit made a starring role for himself as Dr Coppelius and any Swanilda and Franz risk being overshadowed!
jm365 Posted July 6, 2012 Posted July 6, 2012 And I see that Luigi Bonino is to dance Coppelius - which will give Polunin some competition, even if not quite the overpowering competition of Petit himself. I remember viviidly seeing Petit dance the role at the Coliseum the last time the Ballet de Marseille came quite a few years ago.
Wulff Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Some further light on Sergei's departure from the RB appears in a Russian language review of Petit's "Coppelia". Please forgive the eccentricities of the Bing translation --- " Came to Moscow to heal the wounds of the heart in London broke up with the girl. And in search of freedom. And there [in London] must be the choreographer's repeat exactly. As delivered. Nowhere could not move. Because of this I was boring." 2
MAB Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 What was it Johnson said about London????? Point taken, but it is a very different place since Dr Johnson's day.
Laura Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Here's a video with an interview and a couple of short clips of him dancing in Coppelia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vFbNvNrYQ&feature=context-gfa Sorry, I can't figure out how to make the video any smaller!
alison Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Funny, historically, most dancers have gone to the West "looking for freedom". Perhaps just a case of the grass looking greener? Anyway, best of luck to him, if that's what he wants to do. 2
Paul Arrowsmith Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Point taken, but it is a very different place since Dr Johnson's day. Oh! Thought Mayor Boris was being invoked!!
Paul Arrowsmith Posted July 10, 2012 Posted July 10, 2012 Here's a video with an interview and a couple of short clips of him dancing in Coppelia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vFbNvNrYQ&feature=context-gfa Sorry, I can't figure out how to make the video any smaller! Thanks Laura - I remember this production from 1976, broadcast by the BBC with Petit's own company. Then it was a real eye opener, fresh, full of vitality - a couterpoint to the ulra-traditional de Valois staging then in the rep of SWRB (the first ballet I saw in the theatre in this country).
aileen Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 I saw somewhere on Twitter that Sergei Polunin is going to be dancing with Tamara Rojo in Marguerite and Armand. Perhaps someone in the know can confirm whether this information is accurate.
Bluebird Posted July 11, 2012 Posted July 11, 2012 (edited) I saw somewhere on Twitter that Sergei Polunin is going to be dancing with Tamara Rojo in Marguerite and Armand. Perhaps someone in the know can confirm whether this information is accurate. A photo of the casting page of About the House was posted on Twitter. I don't think the ROH would publish this casting if they didn't think it was accurate. Whether or not it will happen is another question! Edited July 11, 2012 by Bluebird
billboyd Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 About The House - M&A casting - Rojo/Polunin 12, 15 & 21 February 1
Nina G. Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 Surely it is Rojo who convinced him to dance with her...(after all, Polunin has stated in an interview that Rojo was the only RB ballerina he enjoyed dancing with - so he wouldn't say no to her I assume).
Tony Newcombe Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 Bit of a slap in the face for all the other RB dancers he partnered!
billboyd Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 At that time he was in emotional turmoil and maybe, not always rational in his comments.
aileen Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 Yes, I think that we should make allowances for him. I wonder how he's finding life at the Stanislavsky and in Russia. It still seems a strange move to me. I'd like to see him dance with Tamara at ENB (as a guest).
alison Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 In view of the fact that Polunin's new choice of employer and even something of his schedule have been confirmed, I decided that it was time to move some of the old postings to start a new thread in the hope that we can start looking forward rather than back. The old thread about his resignation from the Royal Ballet is here: http://www.balletcof...esigns-from-rb/, but please post new information about him in this thread.
alison Posted July 18, 2012 Posted July 18, 2012 I wonder how he's finding life at the Stanislavsky and in Russia. It still seems a strange move to me. Remembering what I do of the Stanislavsky from their Royal Festival Hall Christmas seasons some years ago, to me too, but perhaps things have changed a lot since then? After all, if the Mikhailovsky can change ...
MAB Posted July 19, 2012 Posted July 19, 2012 I imagine if they have Petit's works in the rep, they must have upped their game as Petit and his team wouldn't have allowed a sub standard co. to dance his works and I know that Neumeier and Frank Andersen have also worked with them. I'm told the company started to flourish under the directorship of Mikhail Lavrovsky, two directors back I think, but the momentum has been kept going. Tatyana Chernobrovkina, their leading dancer, is superb and stands comparison with anyone at the Bolshoi or Kirov and I imagine she would make the perfect partner for Polunin. Svetlana Tsoi, another dream of a dancer, used to be with them as did Gennady Yanin before he transferred to the Bolshoi. I have fond memories of the theatre, not just their ballet performances but opera too; after all I bet few people have seen Rachmaninov's Aleko and Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart & Salieri on a double bill, the conductor was of real international standard as well.
MAB Posted July 19, 2012 Posted July 19, 2012 Have found this on the web http://www.passportmagazine.ru/article/1504/ The reference to Marguerite and Armand may be a clue as to why Polunin found the company attractive.
Wulff Posted July 19, 2012 Posted July 19, 2012 I'm a bit puzzled by the above article. It seems to imply that Sergei Filin is in charge of the Stanislavsky Ballet, whereas I thought he was now director of the Bolshoi. The current director of the Stanislavsky I understood to be Igor Zelensky. Have I got this wrong?
MAB Posted July 19, 2012 Posted July 19, 2012 Check out the date, it was written three years ago. I posted it because it gives a good idea of the rep the company dances, including it seems, M & A.
alison Posted July 19, 2012 Posted July 19, 2012 Aha. I thought Zelensky's name had come into it somewhere. Thanks for clearing up the confusion.
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