The Kirov Ballet - Chopiniana/The Kingdom of Shades/Le Spectre de la Rose
Published Monday 19 May 2008 at 10:15 by Natalie Anglesey

The second splendid programme, presented by the Kirov, is an excellent example of the diversity of this prestigious company. Chopiniana, with Fokine’s classical choreography set to Chopin’s music, is a superb showcase for the superior corps de ballet, which danced with precision timing but retained the important lyrical feel. Principals Anastasia Kolegova and Evgeny Ivanchenko also made a mark.

The dazzling divertissements which followed may have opened with an ill-balanced partnership, but saw Anton Korsakov shine in the Harlequinade Pas De Deux, with great elevation throughout Petipa’s challenging choreography, danced to Drigo. The same creative combination saw Tatiana Tkachenko and Mikhail Lobukhin impress with a partnership of equals in the Talisman Pas De Deux.

Anton Korsakov and Alina Somova danced the Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux to Balanchine’s choreography, with Ekaterina Kondaurova and Evgeny Ivanchenko leading the company in The Kingdom of Shades from La Bayadere.

But both critics and audience were bowled over by an outstanding performance from Viktoria Tereshkina and Leonid Sarafanov in the Grand Pas Classique, with choreography by Gsovsky, danced to Auber. When two dancers are at one with both the music and the challenging choreography, their obvious enjoyment is transmitted to the audience during a technical tour de force of dance at its best. The remainder of the programme was rather an anti-climax after such a brilliant performance by principals in their prime. It simply took dance to another level.

Kirov Ballet comes to Birmingham
May 21 2008 by Diane Parkes

Jewels,

Jewels, Birmingham Hippodrome

FOR many, the first ever performance from the world-renowned Kirov Ballet in our home city is the highlight of the month-long International Dance Festival Birmingham.

And not without cause.

The company sparkles as much as the Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds which make up this Balanchine three act ballet.

In many ways the work is three separate ballets with the jewels idea a loosely held theme.

In Emeralds we see plenty of pure Balanchine - dance for dance’s sake as the stage fills with beautiful corps moments interchanged with pas de deux.

Rubies gives the soloists and principals the chance to really shine with some jazzy turns and some incredible balance and poise.

And in Diamonds the audience is treated to classical ballet packed with pirouettes, leaps and spectacle.

Based on this performance, the Kirov’s strength definitely lies in its principals and soloists whose fluidity and flexibility is well matched with strength and stamina.

There are moments in the show when the audience is left simply gasping at the skill they are watching.

The corps is excellent but there is the odd moment when a little more precision would benefit the piece as a whole.

The Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, brought to the UK alongside the dancers, give a lively performance of three very different pieces of music from Faure, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

In true gala fashion the set is bejewelled and the costumes in glittering green, red and white every little girl’s dream ballet.

Jewels begins a five day run of performances by The Kirov Ballet which also takes in a Gala Programme on Thursday and Don Quixote on Friday and Saturday. And if this is an indication of what is to come this is to be a week of wonderful dancing.

A real treat for Birmingham.

The Kirov Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome
May 22 2008 By Susan Turner

The aptly-named Jewels, a glittering array of three diverse ballet styles, three composers, three costume and set changes - and one choreographer, George Balanchine, was the Kirov Ballet's opening offer to Birmingham.

The company was the first in Europe to stage Jewels in its entirety although in reality it is a fake full-length work and more a collection of standalone pieces wrapped up in a gemstone theme.

Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds - just as their names suggest an increasing value so it is with this plotless ballet. Set to a Faure score, Emeralds is cool, romantic and vaguely mysterious. Balanchine described it as "perhaps the evocation of France, the France of elegance, comfort, dress, perfume."

It is also the least convincing of the trio of trinkets with the least challenging steps and shiny green leotards and dingy net skirts (recreated from Karinska's original designs) that could be from an amateur dance show.

Olesya Novikova and Anastasia Kolegova in the leading female roles both had a captivating youthfulness, however, that suited the mood of the piece and rescued it from bland.

Where Emeralds is serene, Rubies is American bravura. The audience gasped as the curtain rose on strands of giant jewels suspended in air and dancers in short tunics with flippy skirts encrusted in rubies.

This scene is the Balanchine we know best, all quirky-angled arms and legs and off-centred positions set to a Stravinsky score virtually impossible to count.

Balanchine, Russian-born and himself a former Kirov dancer, created Jewels for his New York City Ballet almost 40 years ago. Yet the Kirov Ballet is as comfortable with his unconventional choreography as if it had been made on them, adding only their legendary lyricism. Indeed, the company's uniform body shape is the Balanchine ideal he honed at NYCB - long limbed, long necked, fine-featured, elegant.

Alina Somova was a coquettish Rubies showgirl, throwing up her long legs to astonishing heights and rattling the gemstones on her skirt above the superb sound of pianist Ludmila Sveshnikova playing the composer's Capriccio. She and Andrian Fadeyev gave a polished performance, breezing through the fast-paced choreography and clearing enjoying it.

The final act, Diamonds, is widely considered to be the choreographer's homage to Marius Petipa, the 19th century Russian god of classical ballet and one would expect the Kirov to be entirely at home here with its grand Imperial - Kirov - style.

The dancers shone in their white tutus and tiaras against a back drop of giant diamonds and the swirling, immaculately timed patterns they made to Tchaikovsky's majestic score were a familiar scene a la Swan Lake or The Sleeping Beauty. It was easy to imagine it as the staging of a long-lost piece of Petipa.

Viktoria Tereshkina was a fairytale princess to Evgeny Ivanchenko's dashing prince. They looked calmly regal yet were on stage for virtually 30 minutes of non-stop, technically demanding classical ballet. It's what the Kirov does best.

Ballet Gala, Birmingham Hippodrome
May 23 2008 By Diane Parkes

IT IS difficult for a dance company to go wrong with a gala evening.

Picking out excerpts from their repertoire gives them the chance to perform the highlights and skip the dull bits - a "greatest hits" of ballet.

And the Kirov Ballet knows its strengths. Stages filled with rippling ballerinas, powerful pas de deux and a touch of humour made for a winner of a performance.

Central to the evening was a series of divertissements in which the company pulled out all the stops for a series of breath-taking pas de deux.

With choreography from greats like Balanchine and Petipa, the company was able to showcase its skills, strength, versatility, beauty and sheer endurance.

On either side was Fokine's Chopiniana, known in the West as Les Sylphides, and Petipa's Kingdom of the Shades.

Both allowed the corps and the stars to shine, and it would be difficult to find an audience member who did not leave impressed.

The Kirov perform Don Quixote tonight and tomorrow.

Don Quixote by Kirov Ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome

May 26 2008 Review by Susan Turner

The first International Dance Festival Birmingham opened with a calming spa-like experience from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan - and ended with a sizzling fiery drama from the Kirov Ballet.

The Russians spin a good story and the vivid Spanish flavour of Don Quixote lends itself particularly well to the Kirov's sense of theatre and tradition.

Marius Petipa choreographed a version of the ballet for the company more than 130 years ago, which was reworked into the current staging by his former pupil Alexander Gorsky in 1900. The ballet has almost everything the Kirov does best - storytelling, sparkling divertissements, virtuoso tricks, folk and gypsy dances, gorgeous costumes and classifial chofiolate-box prettiness in Afit II's woodland scene.

The ballet does not attempt to reproduce Cervantes' novel but focuses on the on-off romance between the innkeeper's daughter Kitri and the financially-challenged barber Basil.

Alina Somova and Leonid Sarafanov in the leading roles were well-matched in blonde good looks and likeability. Their engaging smiles were as warm and inviting as designer Alexander Golovin's sunlit balconies and plazas and brought the story to life.

At first glance it had seemed his slight frame and her leggy height (en pointe she was a good few inches taller) would make for an uneasy partnering, but his slenderness belied his strength. Thrice he caught her fileanly when she ran and threw herself into his arms and in the second and third acts held her aloft in the bravura one-armed lifts as if she weighed little more than a couple of kilos.

Konstantin Zverev was flamboyantly fun as the macho matador Espada, sending himself up with a haughty shake of his head or flick of a finger. He and his fellow cape-swirling bullfighters were a study in Spanish machismo.

The sole irritation was the main dancers' tendency to milk their performance for all it was worth. Not content with the usual series of final curtain fialls, they took bows after every scene and every solo or pas de deux, which spoilt the flow of the action rather. That aside, it was a classy and highly entertaining finale to the festival and we clapped 'til our hands ached.

Don Quixote, Birmingham Hippodrome
May 26 2008 By Diane Parkes

THE Kirov Ballet concluded their Birmingham programme with a full length narrative ballet Don Quixote, with music by Ludwig Minkus and choreography by Marius Petipa.

And it did give us a chance to see the ballet company develop character and plot in a way that previous offerings have not.

Colourful, lively, and whimsical, the tale took us through a whole load of adventures in which Don Quixote actually plays little part.

In the lead roles of lovers Kitri and Basil were Alina Somova and Leonid Sarafanov who gave cheeky but technically brilliant performances as youngsters determined to defy their elders.

Kirov Ballets, Birmingham Hippodrome, UK
By Clement Crisp

Published: May 26 2008 19:19 | Last updated: May 26 2008 19:19

A brief – two-week – regional tour by the Kirov Ballet ended last week at Birmingham’s Hippodrome. I saw two of the three programmes on view, and found the ensemble on fascinating form. Fascinating, because the exigencies of touring have lately found the company playing in New York, in Italy, and now on this visit to Britain, and showing unfamiliar artists in important roles.

It is the depth of talent in this company (as with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet) that tells of great schooling in the preparation of dancers for the stage. And with the Kirov, it is that vital matter of style, an ideal of classic dancing that never fails, that sustains even the least considerable of choreographies. Henry James said that “it is by style we are saved”, and in an age when the academic dance is threatened by crass erosion and emulsification, by the same dull repertory played everywhere that point shoes can be worn, the Kirov example is of shining integrity, of aspiration by teachers and students towards the grandest ideals in balletic performance.

The Kirov – and oh the protestations that may follow this statement – remains the greatest dance troupe in the world because of its style, because of a long stylistic tradition, because of an unswerving belief in the nobility of academic dancing.



In two evenings last week, I saw a performance of Balanchine’s Jewels and then a “gala programme” of Les Sylphides, some bravura divertissements, and the Shades scene from La Bayadère. Jewels looked in very good shape. Conductor Pavel Bubelnikov drew true and idiomatic performances from the Kirov orchestra (Fauré’s music for Emeralds had all its half-light; Stravinsky’s Rubies glowed fiery; Tchaikovsky touched every step in Diamonds) and the dancers lived in their scores.

I was much impressed by Yana Selina as the leading woman in Emeralds, playing with a delicious femininity; Olesya Novikova, Nadezhda Gonchar and Andrian Fadeyev were the brightest flames in Rubies; in Diamonds, which is, after all, about St Petersburg, the ensemble were aristocrats.

That the Kirov can naturalise choreography outside their native traditions we know – they have reclaimed Balanchine, and Forsythe they have burnished – but on their own artistic territory they cannot be bettered. So Les Sylphides with the Kirov retains an artistic identity unknown outside Russia. Each sylph in the corps de ballet understands Fokine’s stylistic aims. Lightness of touch and of pose, some trace of Taglioni’s image, Chopin’s romanticism, dance poised on a breath of night air, shape every moment, and a century-old masterpiece floats, looks up to the moon.

I found the performance a joy, and I have fallen under the spell of Yulia Bolshakova, who danced the prelude. She is a beautiful woman ( reminiscent of the sublime Nina Vyrubova) and she phrased what seem – but are not – simple lines of dance with an aspiring grace, a sympathy, that I have not seen since Alicia Markova performed it (and Markova was taught the ballet by Fokine).

In the divertissements, the sparkiest fireworks were let off in the roguish Harlequinade duet, where Elena Sheshina incarnates an old-fashioned style and Anton Korsakov defies waggish humour to show spotless technique; Viktoria Tereshkina and Leonid Sarafanov zipped with bright assurance through the Gsovsky Grand Pas Classique; and Alina Somova and Fadeyev had the speed and the allure needed for Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux . The Don Quixote final duet was what it always is: a frenzy of Hispanic falsities and fouettés, here done to a turn by Novikova and Mikhail Lobukhin.

About the final Shades scene I can but say that this apotheosis of classic academic dance was shown with the nobility and grandeur it demands. An impeccable corps de ballet, in full tutus; three fine soloists (Novikova, Gonchar, Daria Vosnetsova) shaping their variations with entire understanding; and Ekaterina Kondaurova’s Nikiya fascinating in the cool perfection of her line. But the scene is, vitally, about the legion of shades, and here, as always, was a justification for Kirov schooling, Kirov spirituality. There is nothing nobler in ballet.

Campagna di Russia sul "Lago dei cigni"

In Italia il balletto del Mariinskij. Ma i responsabili del teatro litigano
SERGIO TROMBETTA, PARMA. 4/5/2008

Si chiamano Valeri Abisalovich Gherghiti e Macharbet Kassanovich Vaziev. Sono originari dell’Ossezia, piccola repubblica caucasica al confine con Cecenia e Georgia. Con due nomi così potrebbero essere due capi clan in lotta sulle montagne. Ma sono più comunemente noti come Valerij Gergiev e Machar Vaziev. Cioè l’onnipotente e acclamatissimo direttore d’orchestra capo assoluto del Mariinskij di Pietoburgo, il Kirov dei tempi sovietici, e il direttore del balletto del teatro, una delle più grandi compagnie di danza classica che ieri sera ha dato il via, al Regio di Parma, a una breve tournée italiana con il Lago dei cigni.

La loro privata «guerra caucasica» la combattono nei corridoi e nella sala azzurro dorata del Mariinskij. La lotta ha visto Gergiev vincitore a marzo, quando Vaziev ha dato le dimissioni. Che però non sono state accettate. E il fatto che ieri Kasanovich fosse presente a Parma significa che la vicenda non è chiusa. Dal ‘95, cioè da quando è stato nominato «responsabile» della compagnia (mai direttore artistico), Vaziev è sempre uscito sconfitto dagli scontri col boss. Scontri che riguardavano soprattutto alcune scelte di repertorio di Gergiev.

Per esempio, commissionare in fretta e furia la coreografia del balletto L’età dell’oro di Sostakovich allo sconosciuto Noah Gelber, unanimemente distrutto dalla critica, per poter portare a Londra un’intera stagione Sostakovich. Oppure affidare un remake dello Schiaccianoci allo scultore Michail Shemjakin che ha trasformato il balletto in una propria mostra personale. O ancora imporre ai danzatori tempi di lavoro impossibili, simili a quelli che Gergiev, inguaribile workalcolic, impone a se stesso.

Negli anni passati, a chi arrivava dall’Italia a Pietroburgo Vaziev chiedeva sconsolato: «Ma alla Scala il maestro Muti non intralcia la danza?». Ora però ha sbattuto, provvisoriamente, la porta dopo l’ennesima uscita di Gergiev: «La compagnia è sempre senza direttore artistico perché non trovo la persona adatta. Le stelle che potrebbero occupare quel posto non sono ancora tramontate». Battuta che esclude Vaziev e potrebbe voler dire che Gergiev intende nominare Uljiana Lopatkina, divina e capricciosa superstella della compagnia che in questo tour italiano danzerà il Lago nella replica di mercooledì a Modena.

Sempre che non cambi idea. Lopatkina, che è chiamata in teatro «la repubblica Lopatkina», ha però soltanto 35 anni. Troppo presto per dirigere la compagnia. Sempre che ne abbia le capacità, oltre gli agganci giusti col potere (leggi Putin). L’altro nome che corre è quello di Altynai Asylmuratova, che dirige l’Accademia Vaganova, una scuola che continua a sfornare superdanzatori, come si può constatare in questo tour che prevede tre repliche del Lago a Parma, due a Modena,un gala a Modena e uno a Vicenza.

13 - 16 Oct 2008



The Mariinsky Opera and Ballet toured the world for many years under the name of the Kirov. Now Sadler's Wells is delighted to host this world famous company for the first time in the theatre's history.

Programme 1
Launching Sadler's Wells' Focus on Forsythe 08/09, the ballet company presents a programme of seminal works by William Forsythe. Steptext, set to Bach's Chaconne, is a series of duets performed by one woman and three men. Approximate Sonata combines five pas de deux with a thrilling score by Thom Willems.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is Forsythe's playful twist on the classical style, as the tutu-clad ballerinas move with fearsome velocity. Completing the Forsythe repertoire is the magnificent In the middle, somewhat elevated.

Programme 2
The second programme features the UK premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's Pierrot Lunaire, presented at New York City Center earlier in 2008. Pierrot Lunaire was choreographed on Mariinsky prima ballerina Diana Vishneva, who dances this role again in London.

The evening is completed by two of George Balanchine's timeless works - Apollo and The Prodigal Son – set to scores by two of the 20th Century's greatest Russian composers, Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.