★★★★✰ the Mariinsky’s production was a welcome ravishment of vibrant costumes, shimmering jewels, romantic storytelling and sheer entertainment...
Tag - Andrei Yermakov
★★★✰✰ When Maya Plisetskaya commissioned a Carmen-based ballet from Alberto Alonso, co-founder of the National Ballet of Cuba, she wanted to shake up Soviet ballet conventions...
If you really think about it, Swan Lake is, for lack of a better phrase, an odd duck...
"This is how ecstasy is danced." Kimin Kim in Concerto DSCH.
Viktoria Tereshkina has a warm personality and this enhances her dancing. She has long thin limbs and offers expansive port de bras, while her legs whip up effortlessly but with control.
Xander Parish, making his British debut at Saturday’s matinee, proved that he has been transformed into a true Mariinsky prince. His achievement is a reproach to the Royal Ballet, who failed to value him as a danseur noble.
The corps (in Chopiniana) must be congratulated for the ball-bearing precision in their soft gentle boureeing, gliding gently back to their original positions as the music ended. A real treat to see it done so beautifully.
The formula for the success of the Mariinsky’s Swan Lake is simple. The love story between a beautiful young woman turned into a swan and a prince is told in a direct, traditional manner. There is no symbolism or hidden meaning here, no exaggeration or melodrama.