David Hallberg is a rarity in today’s classical ballet. Tall, lean and strikingly handsome, with pure classical line and impeccable dancing prowess, he is a genuine danseur noble.
Tag - Yuri Grigorovich
Graham Watts met up with the choreographer on a recent visit to St Petersburg to discuss his career and to ask what London audiences might expect from Rodin...
The production provides a welcome showcase for the power and virtuosity of the company’s men who are on magnificent form, led by the splendid Chen Jun.
...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.
Do you perceive a difference between the musicality of American dancers and that of Russian dancers? AR: There is a huge difference in the musicality. I often found Russian dancers unmusical... But they have other qualities...
Grigorovich’s staging of Act III is masterly. He has the fakirs lull Solor into an opium-induced sleep in a setting that lifts away to reveal a rocky arch. Within it Solor sees a vision of Nikiya enticing him into a ballet blanc nirvana
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.
Laszlo Seregi died on 11th May 2012 at the age of 83 and, one year on, the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Covent Garden hosted a tribute to his memory.
The festival was as intensive as ever, with three performances running on seven days, four on one day, some concurrently. The range and quality of dance overall was impressive.
Boris Eifman is described in his company’s programme notes as a ‘choreographer-philosopher’ who wants to ‘draw spectators into the inexhaustible world of human passions’. His aim is to reinterpet the work of past geniuses to bring out their relevance to us today. ...Eifman is the Ken Russell of St Petersburg.