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Video portrait of Olga Smirnova

toursenlair
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ENBlover

ENBlover

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It's hard to tell you what you're missing if you don't know what you're looking for.

 

For me its her artistry, her lines, her lightness.  The jury's out, but I personally really liked what I saw of her and she did tick off all the right boxes.  But then again, I am the one who loves Russian ballerinas so use my opinion with a pitch of salt.

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MAB

MAB

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Changing tack a little. As readers of other threads will have gathered, I began the Bolshoi season really willing Olga to be an artiste to treasure and follow with interest in the years to come. But I have actually found it difficult to appreciate her as others clearly do. I should be really interested and grateful to learn from her admirers what it is that makes her special to you. What am I missing? What should I be looking for in her Swan Lake?

 

I've a lot of sympathy for your views and I think the media hype that is concentrated so much on her didn't help.  One dancer who has arrived on the scene without any Bolshoi fanfares is Kristina Kretova and what a delight she is, everyone speaks warmly of her and I will follow her career with interest.  Kretova is a beautiful dancer with a personality that extends beyond the footlights.  She communicates her love of dancing, a priceless quality more precious than the hyperextensions so beloved these days by Russian AD's.

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Buddy

Buddy

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I should be really interested and grateful to learn from her admirers what it is that makes her special to you....What should I be looking for in her Swan Lake?

 

 

ENBlover -- "For me its her artistry, her lines, her lightness."  This is what I perhaps love most.

 

Also she has extreme intelligence. She was an all "A" student. As her coach and former star, Marina Kondratieva, says in the video, 'she is very smart and she gets her way.'  On the internet I've seen great things from her in the drama/expression department. I think that she has incredible depth. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I like to compare her to the young Oxana Skorik at the Mariinsky, who also has great expression, but is using it more to frame and highlight her subtle and beautiful refinement. I would kind of hope that Olga Smirnova would do the same, because to me it's so Beautiful, but that's a personal thing.

 

 

Thanks, MAB, for the Kristina Kretova alert. I'll look forward to seeing her.

 

 

As for you, SMBallet,  "I am not British" -- Shame! (neither am I, what will we do?)   :)   

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Coated

Coated

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I very much second the Kristina Kretova alert - she really stood out in Rubies and had genuine stage presence

 

I saw Smirnova twice in Sleeping Beauty, wasn't overly impressed with the first performance, rather liked her in the second one and then saw her in Diamonds and was blown away. Either she has grown on me, or she has on-and-off days but the one thing I consistently liked about her is her natural elegance, she is not a loud, look-at-me dancer but draws you in with beautiful lines

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Buddy

Buddy

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"....the video in my opinion, shows a young artist sequestering herself within world of ballet, and only ballet."

 

I've somewhat changed my mind about this one. As before, still artist's choice, but never to be demanded.

 

Having spent the late afternoon in a nearby national park (things are very fortunate sometimes) I've reconfirmed that it's really good to get out. Amelia has assured us that she does this. Great !

 

Also probably a very good idea to be around little children as much as possible.   :)  (I guess writing about Russian ballerinas makes me smile a lot) 

 

Thanks, Coated, this is good to hear. I think that Olga Smirnova has a mind and a creativity that must move at the speed of light. I've seen internet clips of her doing the same work and they hardly resemble each other. I don't think that this is by accident.

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Buddy

Buddy

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This is a Bolshoi ballet class in London filmed by the Telegraph which can be viewed until August 25. I've watched different parts (about one-third) and find it quite beautiful. It shows where all that we see on stage comes from.


 


This might also relate somewhat to my earlier comment here about my personal liking of taking 'Some Form of Ballet' in a more natural direction. In these exercises there is no full pointe work of the feet.  


 



 


(Thanks to sophia at Dansomanie for posting this)


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LinMM

LinMM

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Just got my Youtube back after a week of probs and trying to find the source...grrr...

 

Just looked at these but which one is Olga!!

 

In the first video there's a girl in the second row in the centre who has a very high extension a la seconde but not sure if that's her! Or is she the taller one in the front!

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Buddy

Buddy

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Here is whom I make my comparisons as to Vaganova/Mariinsky beauty. They are both having remarkable and somewhat parallel rises to stardom.  

 

Oxana Skorik -- Act IV -- Swan Lake (starting at about 22:00)

 

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Bruce Wall

Bruce Wall

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Just wanted to add a 2011 video of Smirnova dancing in a gala at the Teatro Real in Madrid.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFfrXDhcuA  

 

If you pull through to 39.l2 you will see her dancing a variation as included in the Don Q pas where Osipova is very tenderly partnered by Vasiliev.  What impressed me most was the staged finale (pull through to 43.43) which includes ALL of the guest artists from various Russian companies including in the mix Chudin and the glorious Novikova (who is now I see expecting a second child with Sarafanov and thus is currently off on maternity leave.)  

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Buddy

Buddy

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Just wanted to add a 2011 video of Smirnova dancing in a gala at the Teatro Real in Madrid.  

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcFfrXDhcuA  

 

 

 

Thanks very much. Her dancing here (39:12) has a warm, relaxed quality as well as being delightful, pure, airy and -- Lovely. It's a real pleasure to watch.

 

What more can be said about Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev ?!  Lucky London next season. The finale, also, is very enjoyable.

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Buddy

Buddy

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Another thing that the preceding video shows is Olga Smirnova's *Beautiful Long Lines*.


 


A word that I throw around somewhat loosely in my posts is "genius". I've mentioned that I think that Olga Smirnova and the Mariinsky's young Oxana Skorik possess this. What is it ?  Possibly it's simply being born able to do something slightly better than anyone else. What do you do with it ?  This will be the fascinating thing to watch for in these two young artists. I feel that Oxana Skorik can 'knock someone out of their chair' with hers because she's done it to me. But for the moment I would say that she is getting more subtle, using it to highlight her her Lyrical Beauty, and this I Love.


 


In regard to our previous discussion about the 'seriousness' of "Russian" ballet dancers, here's Maria Kochetkova's (SFB, Bolshoi school) response. She's apparently a lovely individual as well as being Amazingly Talented !


 


https://twitter.com/balletrusse/status/344880463590080512/photo/1

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Buddy

Buddy

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Also in regard to the discussion here about the nature of Russian dancers, the article posted at Balletco, Sunday, about Tala Lee-Turton, the ninth UK student to be accepted at the Bolshoi school gives some very interesting and pleasant insights.


 


Tala says,


 


"I guess it doesn’t help that to English ears, their [Russian instructor's] accent sounds really harsh, but they are really encouraging."


 


Tala's mother after a visit to see her daughter: 


 


"She looked like a different dancer and she just didn’t stop smiling."


 


http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/yorkshire-living/arts/tala-lee-turton-a-leap-into-the-unknown-1-5969208


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Ritaza

Ritaza

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Changing tack a little. As readers of other threads will have gathered, I began the Bolshoi season really willing Olga to be an artiste to treasure and follow with interest in the years to come. But I have actually found it difficult to appreciate her as others clearly do. I should be really interested and grateful to learn from her admirers what it is that makes her special to you. What am I missing? What should I be looking for in her Swan Lake?

For me Olga is quite like no other ballerina I’ve seen, although she has qualities peculiar to some of my favourite. My experience of watching her is not unlike my experience of watching Gelsey Kirkland at her finest which I can only describe as transcendental. Smirnova’s sharp jaw line and startling eyes give her a wild and otherworldly appearance  that I find mesmerising especially in Swan Lake where she seems to capture the essence of the fated and desperate Odette. For me however, it was her perceptive understanding of the ‘Diamonds’ pas de deux (and her dedication to the coaching process) that really brought her to my attention. I had waited years (decades?) to see it danced with such revere. Thank you Olga.  

Edited by Ritaza
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