★★★★✰ The reason the Bolshoi's Don Quixote is so enjoyable is the gusto with which it is performed. It doesn't aim to be remotely authentically Spanish or even respectful of the original 1869 version...
Tag - Anna Tikhomirova
★★★✰✰ This year's Russian Ballet gala was ostensibly in honour of the 200th anniversary of Marius Petipa's birth. Any choreography attributed to him was mostly a long way 'after Petipa', but it's always fun to see excellent Russian dancers deliver pas de deux from Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire.
Lynette Halewood with her personal selection of London dance memories from the past year...
★★★★✰ The great pleasure of Alexei Ratmansky’s version of Vasily Vainonen’s 1932 ballet is the cornucopia of steps to which both choreographers had access: danse d’école, folk and character dances, as well as expressive acting.
★★★✰✰ Maillot’s ballet... belongs to Krysanova and Lantratov, who succeed in conveying that Kate and Petruchio are wildly, equally in love, however crassly they treat each other...
Gallery by Dave Morgan...
★★★★✰ The Bolshoi’s Don Quixote continues to delight for the exuberance and skill of its range of performers, with the corps de ballet and demi-soloists taking pride of place.
★★★✰✰ Olga Smirnova danced the role of Aurora. Smirnova is a dancer with impressive physical gifts: beautiful proportions, a long elegant line, a supple back and expressive arms...
Dance on film is a tricky thing. On the one hand it provides a unique opportunity to see dance up close and to see foreign repertoires and artists; on the other, it lacks the intangible live chemistry that can electrify an opera house.
Margaret Willis has just been in St. Petersburg, catching up with the Dance Open Festival and also visiting the Vaganova Academy where she had some words with director Nikolai Tsiskaridze...
30 dancers already confirmed include Natalia Osipova, Olga Smirnova, Semyon Chudin, Kim Kimin, Sarah Lamb, Xander Parish, Aline Cojocaru, Tamara Rojo, Marianela Nuňez and Thiago Soares.
It is even more disappointing that the troupe should open its run with a Swan Lake so lackluster... It’s not the dancers’ fault. At every level, the Bolshoi dancers move with thrilling force and fullness.
"Alexei Ratmansky’s Flames of Paris is a lot like Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake..." starts Jann Parry's review...
The Bolshoi’s glorious rising star, Olga Smirnova, was imperious...
...but the production isn’t so interested in motivation, more in grand effects, and those were delivered. It was a glittering, ostentatious performance, though not one to catch the heart.
Evgenia Obraztsova, Anna Tikhomirova, Alexander Volchkov and Semyon Chudin, Olga Smirnova casts - 20 pictures
Grigorovich’s production is not concerned with dramatic plausibility or characterisation, which may account for Zakharova’s Odette remaining a remote vision and her Odile a cool doppelganger rather than a temptress.
The 12th International Ballet Festival - Dance Open - was held over 4 days in St Petersburg. Margaret Willis (our Ms Expressivity) was there to report on much ballet and not a little award giving...
International Ballet Festival – Dance Open Performances: Bad Boys of Dance, Gala Tribute to Natalia Dudinskaya, Dance Open – Gala of International Ballet Stars St Petersburg, Oktyabrsky Concert Hall and others 14-16 April 2012 www.danceopen.com It’s that time of year in St Petersburg when the water from the taps comes out dirty yellow as the winter’s ice and snow melt into the system...