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12 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

I do hope you get paid for the amount of work you do, seemingly running this guy's fan club!  I like seeing the pictures, if only to remind myself, as if I needed reminding, how easy it is to be seduced by fame.  However,  I would gently suggest that you don't do Sergei any favours when you bombard a forum dedicated to ballet with pictures of your bloke doing advertising for Japanese department stores and such-like.  Sometimes it is perhaps wiser to be a little more subtle about some of Mr. Polunin's attempts at stardom.

 

 

Well it was me, not Lilian88 that posted a video of a Japanese department store, and saying so is a bit insulting (or racist comment) for the Japanese market as well as to Lilian88. (as I am Japanese) , although I am not a fan club member.  Please pay respect for other forum members although we value different opinions. 

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14 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

You think?

 

A lifetime of sacrifices?  Mr. Polunin was 23 when he gave up the rigours and daily grind of ballet by leaving the Royal Ballet.  Maybe I am old, but 23 does not seem like a lifetime to me. 

 

Renunciation of what, exactly? And for what?  The opportunity to play tail-end Charlie in an ill-judged remake which is nothing more than a star-studded vehicle in which Sergei has a walk-on.  Can one really compare posing in a cloak outside a West End cinema to taking curtain calls at ROH?

 

Mr. Polunin has made his choice and good luck to him.  But don't lets have any nonsense about sacrifice and renunciation.  The real heroes, for me, are those like Edward Watson who, largely unsung, continue to perfect their art year after year.  They do not seek fame for its own sake and prefer the barre in the rehearsal room to being 'papped' in the street.

 

 

Well, actually I said that after a life of sacrifices, the red carpet is the place that dancers should always have, so I mean dancers in general, which deserve much more attention that a football players for example.  But if you ask me about it, yes, I definitely think Polunin's life has been full of sacrifices, considering that he had to renounce to his childhood, his adolescence, and his family, growing alone, in a foreign country with the constant anguish of being the only hope to give a better life to his family before, and with guilty feelings later, because he thought his career had caused his parents divorce. Maybe you think that the most important thing for a top dancer is to be doing his class every day, but other like me prefer to see an artist and not an employee. 
And if the fact of posting some photos and expressing my appreciation for my favorite dancer in the topic dedicated to him, makes me the head of his fan club ... Well, cool it was really easy! 
And at this point I wonder how to define people who comment only to criticize him and ridicule whatever he does ... And then I wonder who you are and what have you done so extraordinary in your life to judge the sacrifices of others, or to judge the choices of others, or to judge my personal tastes and motivations that push me and all the other hundreds of Polunin fans to be his great admirers. But than, thinking better about it, I realized I'm not interesting at all to know who you are, I'm interested in talking about Polunin and his art in the topic dedicated to him, and if you're not interested, nobody obliges you to honor us of your regal presence, though I have to admit a certain fun reading your scornful comments.
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Steady on, Lilian!

 

It is clear that you are an enormous fan.  Just because people say something that is less than total admiration for Polunin, doesn't mean they are ridiculing him.  And as I said in my previous post, the word "sacrifice" is a subjective one.  

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Naomi M said:

 

Well it was me, not Lilian88 that posted a video of a Japanese department store, and saying so is a bit insulting (or racist comment) for the Japanese market as well as to Lilian88. (as I am Japanese) , although I am not a fan club member.  Please pay respect for other forum members although we value different opinions. 

 

The funny thing is that I think there isn't an actual fan club. If it existed, obviously I would enroll myself immediately, since I apparently direct it, but there is not. Are there still many fanclubs in the world or is it now considered something "vintage"? Or maybe it's just something more connected to the world of music ...
Anyway, talking about nice things, it seems that Polunin was particularly impressed by Japan, I think he has been there on several occasions and considering the name of his new project, Japanese culture has been a great inspiration for him. If I understand correctly, "Satori" is a term related to the spiritual rebirth and, personally, I find it beautiful, both as meaning and as sound
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1 hour ago, Fonty said:

Steady on, Lilian!

 

It is clear that you are an enormous fan.  Just because people say something that is less than total admiration for Polunin, doesn't mean they are ridiculing him.  And as I said in my previous post, the word "sacrifice" is a subjective one.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steady on, Fonty!
 
It is clear that you are not an enormous fan. Just because people say something that is less than total critic for Polunin, doesn't mean they are just adoring him.  And as I said in my previous post, the word "sacrifice" is a subjective one.
See you? It's totally interchangeable.
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No need to apologise about the photos Lilian88 nobody else seems to have had much of a problem with that page so guess it must be our home wifi connection. 

 

There is certainly a long list of dancers who have had to leave their families and even country etc to gain the progress in their career that they wish Polunin is definitely not alone in this.

But I suppose every dancer has their own very personal story and in the end inspite of all their training and talent may decide dancing isn't for them in the conventional way anyway. 

I think I would have been both furious and sad if Nureyev had suddenly decided to stop performing at the time when I was a young fan .......although if course many people in Russia may have felt his loss when he defected and were probably mad with him for what he did but he felt he had to do it in his case to honour his dance ambitions but maybe Polunin has other creative ambitions and who can blame him if he wants to not necessarily put Dance first any more. He is his own person.

I don't know that much about him to be honest and what is going on behind the scenes for him ......but as long as he respects the people who want to see him when he does choose to dance (and there has been a little inconsistency here in the past) then that's fine by me.

 

Lilian88 that interview about him talking about  the Soloviev role sounds interesting .....if you refind it do let us know.

 

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Yes and agree with Fonty on this lets not get the thread closed!! Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

On this forum if there is something someone has said  that really gets under my skin....luckily fairly rarely here.....I often don't bother to make a comment because I know it may not be that civil!! We all have our own personal weaknesses at times.

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1 hour ago, Lilian88 said:

Anyway, talking about nice things, it seems that Polunin was particularly impressed by Japan, I think he has been there on several occasions and considering the name of his new project, Japanese culture has been a great inspiration for him. If I understand correctly, "Satori" is a term related to the spiritual rebirth and, personally, I find it beautiful, both as meaning and as sound

 

I recognized that name of his project and that was a lovely statement by him I think. His documentary "Dancer" has been received here very well, becoming a box office success and that was a happy thing for me because I did contribute a little program note for the brochure of the theatrical release of the film in Japan.

Anyway, people should not criticize you just because you are a fan and showed you passion on this forum, this is how we write our thoughts towards dance and dancers. 

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5 hours ago, Naomi M said:

 

I recognized that name of his project and that was a lovely statement by him I think. His documentary "Dancer" has been received here very well, becoming a box office success and that was a happy thing for me because I did contribute a little program note for the brochure of the theatrical release of the film in Japan.

Anyway, people should not criticize you just because you are a fan and showed you passion on this forum, this is how we write our thoughts towards dance and dancers. 

You are absolutely right, Naomi, but this must apply both ways.  I appreciate that Lilian is a terrific and supportive fan of Mr. Polunin in whatever he does.  In contrast, I was a fan of Sergei Polunin the dancer, rather than Sergei the wannabe star.  There is a difference.  And as this is a forum largely dedicated to ballet, I consider it reasonable to express my disappointment at the choices Mr. Polunin has made.  

May I add that attaching the the racist card is incredibly disappointing, particularly in the current climate of PC gone mad.   Aren't we all a little bit past accusing people of racism if they so much as mention a non-Western country?  I used the example because it was a Japanese department star Polunin advertised.  If it had been French, I would have made the same statement.  This was just one example of his non-ballet activities:  I could have listed tattoo parlours and films but wanted to be brief.

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7 hours ago, Fonty said:

Your point being?

 

It would seem you are determined to get this thread closed, Lilian.  Carry on, you are going the right way about it.

 

 

The point is, there are many ways to express an opinion. I think Liliana was also too kind!  Personally I find Penelope's post, rude and offensive.
Liliana has published an official communication of the Bayerische Staatsballet, if you doesn't like it, it's your problem. She is excited that her favorite dancer
returns in Munich and happy for his success. If you don't like it or if you have never experienced genuine enthusiasm for someone or something,
it's always your problem. And let me say that comments like Penelope's or like yours too, as well as being offensive are also extremely presumptuous:
I'm not a teenager and in my life I have seen many good dancers, even great dancers, in theaters all around the world and despite my age I can assure you
I still have the mental faculties and the knowledge to judge critically Polunin, and to consider him an exceptional artist without fear of being judged
by presumptuous ballettomanes who believe to know everything just because they have seen ten thousand replicas of the Swan Lake and the Nutcracker every Christmas!
If Polunin and his existence disturb you so much, I'm sure you can spend your time in more profitable and useful ways elsewhere, so anyone who really is interested
in talking about art can do it without wasting time in useless discussions!
Holy sky, that's why so many young people see the ballet as an old dinosaur dying in ridiculous tights!
 

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6 hours ago, Naomi M said:

 

I recognized that name of his project and that was a lovely statement by him I think. His documentary "Dancer" has been received here very well, becoming a box office success and that was a happy thing for me because I did contribute a little program note for the brochure of the theatrical release of the film in Japan.

Anyway, people should not criticize you just because you are a fan and showed you passion on this forum, this is how we write our thoughts towards dance and dancers. 

 

I agree perfectly with you Naomi and with your previous post.

 

In Munich I met a young Japanese woman who came from Tokyo specifically to see Polunin dancing and she told me she had met him after an event in Japan - maybe the presentation of Dancer? and asked him if he enjoyed his stay there, and him, kindly as usual,told her that he was absolutely fascinated by Japanese culture and that he was taking advantage of his stay to deepen some concepts in particular ... Perhaps he was already thinking about his piece, who knows? :)

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I think what is abundantly clear is that the fans of Polunin the wannabe star will clearly brook no criticism of him from those people who were/are fans of Polunin the outstanding dancer.  This is a bit daft given this is a discussion forum but if you look back through the posts a clear pattern emerges of those of us who think Sergei has made unfortunate choices always ad the caveat that he has a perfect right to live his life as he chooses.  Similarly, I have never made an offensive comment about him or about those people who revere him, yet apparently it is open season on those of us who disagree.  Being called a racist because I mention he has, amongst his many other activities, advertised a department store (from a country I apparently  mustn't name) would be laughable if it were not so extreme.

 

May I also point out that this forum was not discussing Sergei the artist (whatever that is) but Sergei the ballet dancer.  And those of us who revere ballet are not dinosaurs in tights (if only!) but supporters of an art form we adore rather than members of a fan club.

 

There is an excellent debate to be had between us all but, once again, the 'fan club' members work to shut down any criticism.  Is it just coincidence that this only ever happens when we are talking about Russian dancers?  Oh well,  I suppose I could always do 100 lines; 'Sergei Forever!'

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23 hours ago, Lilian88 said:
Nice interview of Sergei Polunin by Graham Norton on BBC radio this morning  
(At minute 2:35:53)
 
 
 

 

Thank you very much for the link to this interview Lilian, it's really interesting! I have to say, our young man also has a wonderful voice ^_^
Graham Norton was very impressed by the fact that such a young man has already reached so much in his life.

Confess to us, Liliana, is he part of the conspiracy too? :ph34r:

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9 hours ago, Fonty said:

Wow!  Now there is praise indeed.  Having seen Mayerling many times, I would have loved to have had the chance to see this one, in order to compare with the likes of Cope, Watson and so on. 

 

... John Kobborg, Irek Mukhamedov, Stephen Jefferies, David Wall ... there are an awful lot of comparisons to be made ...

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10 hours ago, Fonty said:

Your point being?

 

It would seem you are determined to get this thread closed, Lilian.  Carry on, you are going the right way about it.

 

 

 

Well, sorry but if someone speak badly to me, I answer. I don't like malignancy and I don't like passive-aggressive nonsense. I really hope not to waste any more time with this.

 

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3 hours ago, Cat_D.B. said:

 

Thank you very much for the link to this interview Lilian, it's really interesting! I have to say, our young man also has a wonderful voice ^_^
Graham Norton was very impressed by the fact that such a young man has already reached so much in his life.

Confess to us, Liliana, is he part of the conspiracy too? :ph34r:

 

It's my pleasure Cat. You are fun! :D
 

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9 hours ago, Naomi M said:

 

I recognized that name of his project and that was a lovely statement by him I think. His documentary "Dancer" has been received here very well, becoming a box office success and that was a happy thing for me because I did contribute a little program note for the brochure of the theatrical release of the film in Japan.

Anyway, people should not criticize you just because you are a fan and showed you passion on this forum, this is how we write our thoughts towards dance and dancers. 

 

Thank you Naomi for your kind words!

And wow, this is really cool! All the fans I spoke to, were very impressed by the care of details of the materials produced for Dancer in Japan! 👏🏻👏🏻
I have found very nice also the posters created by the students of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts!
 

3 hours ago, Cat_D.B. said:

 

I agree perfectly with you Naomi and with your previous post.

 

In Munich I met a young Japanese woman who came from Tokyo specifically to see Polunin dancing and she told me she had met him after an event in Japan - maybe the presentation of Dancer? and asked him if he enjoyed his stay there, and him, kindly as usual,told her that he was absolutely fascinated by Japanese culture and that he was taking advantage of his stay to deepen some concepts in particular ... Perhaps he was already thinking about his piece, who knows? :)

 

I read about "Satori" in reference to haiku, which I especially love. If I remember well, it was an essay about the "haiku moment": the description was very beautiful, something like the moment when man becomes one with the environment and so becomes part of the eternity of the universe. And as the haiku moment is the heart of the haiku, satori is the heart of the Zen and gives to men a new viewpoint of seeing the ordinary things.
I can understand well why Polunin is so fascinating from this!

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9 hours ago, Lilian88 said:

 

Well, sorry but if someone speak badly to me, I answer. I don't like malignancy and I don't like passive-aggressive nonsense. I really hope not to waste any more time with this.

 

 

Lilian, I wasn't speaking badly to you.   Janet had already posted a warning that this thread was in danger of being closed.  It is always a pity when that happens, and I was just trying to diffuse the situation with a bit of light humour.  

 

I know you are not a native British speaker, so you have obviously misunderstood my original intention.  

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13 hours ago, Cat_D.B. said:

The point is, there are many ways to express an opinion. I think Liliana was also too kind!  Personally I find Penelope's post, rude and offensive.
Liliana has published an official communication of the Bayerische Staatsballet, if you doesn't like it, it's your problem. She is excited that her favorite dancer
returns in Munich and happy for his success. If you don't like it or if you have never experienced genuine enthusiasm for someone or something,
it's always your problem. And let me say that comments like Penelope's or like yours too, as well as being offensive are also extremely presumptuous:
I'm not a teenager and in my life I have seen many good dancers, even great dancers, in theaters all around the world and despite my age I can assure you
I still have the mental faculties and the knowledge to judge critically Polunin, and to consider him an exceptional artist without fear of being judged
by presumptuous ballettomanes who believe to know everything just because they have seen ten thousand replicas of the Swan Lake and the Nutcracker every Christmas!
If Polunin and his existence disturb you so much, I'm sure you can spend your time in more profitable and useful ways elsewhere, so anyone who really is interested
in talking about art can do it without wasting time in useless discussions!
Holy sky, that's why so many young people see the ballet as an old dinosaur dying in ridiculous tights!
 

You are a fine one to talk about being rude, Cat.  I would suggest that if you are going to accuse other people of things, you should read your own words before posting them up.  

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