Bolshoi Ballet : Ratmansky new Giselle

[ElenaF]

One is well advised to be careful about impressions from Russian ballet friends. Many of them tend to be very sectarian, and are in it to squabble about "my" dancer being better than "your" dancer over actually appreciating the ballet art form. I may often disagree with a critic of Kuznetsova's standing and professionalism, but since she is above such petty motivations, I would not think it right to question her judgment. Especially if I have not seen a particular performance in question myself.

[Geoff]

3 hours ago, ElenaF said:

One is well advised to be careful about impressions from Russian ballet friends. Many of them tend to be very sectarian, and are in it to squabble about "my" dancer being better than "your" dancer over actually appreciating the ballet art form.

 

+1 (and not just in Russia, nor only recently, this has rather a long tradition)

[clare stark]

15 hours ago, FionaE said:

My friends who have seen both casts live  tell me the performance on Saturday evening by Ekaterina Krysanova  and Artem Ovcharenko eclipsed the cinema cast.  

Hmm, yes. My friends and I watched the broadcast and they had the opportunity to see Krysanova and Ovcharenko. They found that in terms of acting abilities and technical strengths, Krysanova and Ovcharenko outshine Smirnova and Belyakov in a very obvious way. The latter two are lovely though, they both tried their best. Definitely better than their Raymonda and La Bayadere. But Ekaterina and Artem seem to be the real-life Giselle and Albrecht; both very dramatic, expressive yet their emotions are raw and honest. Their dancing was just tinged with that perfect bit of Bolshoi-ness. Perfect for a tragic, romantic ballet. They said Olga and Artemy dance prettily, but theirs was clearly a performance while the other two seemed like they didn't even have to act.

 

My friends also noted that Smirnova is an adagio dancer through and through, unsuited for Ratmansky's choreography which calls for agility, ease and intricacy and the music which has a faster tempo. She struggled with the tempo and her musicality was not always the best trying to pose longer in arabesques in the Act 1 variation... The music was hard to grasp during that last diagonal turn combination of the variation and it ended up looking messy and rushed. They said there was an older couple sitting behind them at Krysanova/Ovcharenko's Saturday performance, saying it was a shame that they weren't chosen for the broadcast, not only because of how touched they were by the couple but also considering Krysanova is a fish in the water with Ratmansky's choreography. She did dance his ballets a lot, like R&J, Cinderella, Lost Illusions, The Bright Stream, etc. so I guess it makes sense.

 

I haven't heard much about Nikulina and Tissi though. 

[BeauxArts]

My understanding is that Tatiana Kuznetzova, the Kommersant ballet critic, reviewed the first 2 casts and suggested that Smirnova and Belyakov’s reading of their roles was true to Ratmansky’s vision for this production. It has to be said that particularly in the use of mime and emphasis on acting, the production is different from the Grigorovich version - and indeed from the approach often seen in Bolshoi productions of the classics generally. Kuznetzova also suggested that Krysanova and Ovcharenko began in the Ratmansky vein but as the ballet progressed they moved back towards the more traditional approach seen in the Grigorovich production. Of course, second and third casts can be preferred to the first cast in any ballet - it is a subjective perspective after all. But when Smirnova and Belyakov are described as “lovely and trying their best”, I am rather of the view that they are in fact showing us what Ratmansky intended. Whether people like that is a matter of personal taste.

For my part, I think this is a very significant  new production and represents a progressive step by the Company. I was deeply moved by the quality of the dancing and rapport between Smirnova and Belyakov, whose more naturalistic interpretations seemed perfect in this production.