27, 28 August at 20h30

Les Saisons Russes - "Shéhérazade"
En hommage à Serge Diaghilev
Esplanade Georges Pompidou Cannes

Irma Nioradze et Ilya Kuznetsoff, Le Ballet de Mariinsky

http://www.palaisdesfestivals.com/article.php3?id_article=2680

Yomiuri:

Asahi:



big size: http://mariinka.org/images/mad/asahi12_02.JPG

GREECE, 5-11 September 2007

Kirov – Mariinsky Ballet
Πρόγραμμα (Program)

First act

Chopiniana
Choreographic composition in one act
Music: Frederic Chopin
Choreography: Michel Fokine (1908)

Daria Pavlenko
Yevgeny Ivanchenko
Xenia Ostreikovskaya
Yana Selina

Yelizaveta Cheprasova, Maria Shirinkina, Yekaterina Ivannikova, Anna Lavrinenko, Maria Lebedeva, Maria Adzhamova, Darina Zarubskaya, Yevgenia Dolmatova, Anastasia Kiru, Diana Smirnova, Maria Chugai, Daria Vasnetsova, Maria Shevyakova, Irina Prokofieva, Anastasia Petushkova, Lyubov Kozharskaya, Marianna Pavlova

Second act

Divertisment

1. Pas de deux from the “Harlequinade” (Les millions d’Harlequin)
Music: R. Drigo, Choreography: Marius Petipa
Elena Sheshina, Andrei Ivanov

2. Adagio Rubies from the “Jewels”
Music: I. Stravinsky, Choreography: G. Balanchine

Irina Golub, Anton Korsakov

3. Pas de Deux from the “Talisman” Ballet
Music by Leo Delib , Choreography by M.Petipa

Irma Nioradze, Mikhail Lobukhin

4. “Middle Duet”
Music: Y. Khanon, choreography: A. Ratmansky

Yekaterina Kondaurova, Islom Baimuradov

5. Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Music by P. Tchaikovsky, Choreography by G. Balanchine

Yekaterina Osmolkina, Andrian Fadeyev

6. Adagio from the “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” Ballet
Music by T. Willems in collaboration with L. Stuck
Choreography by W. Forsythe

Daria Pavlenko, Alexander Sergeyev

7. Pas de deux from the “Le Corsaire” Ballet
Music by Adolphe Adam, Choreography by M. Petipa

Viktoria Tereshkina, Igor Zelensky

11, 12 september 2007, Amsterdam
Hans van Manen Festival

... Trois Gnossiennes
company: Ballet of the Marijinski Theatre (Kirov)
choreography: Hans van Manen
music: Eric Satie

Programme I
San Francisco Ballet – Kirov Ballet – Nederlands Dans Theater II – Dutch National Ballet (world premiere)

The Festival opens with a Gala Programme featuring three guest companies alongside the Dutch National Ballet. Currently one of the world’s top companies, the San Francisco Ballet, dances Van Manen’s Grosse Fuge, which was acclaimed as ‘one of the most impressive European ballet’s of the decade’ after its premiere in 1971.

The Kirov Ballet’s star ballerina Ulyana Lopatkina and soloist Ivan Kozlov perform Van Manen’s Trois Gnossiennes (1982), an exquisite pas de deux expressing surrender, trust and harmony that entered the Kirov repertoire two years ago. Guest soloist Sofiane Sylve, currently the leading star of New York City Ballet, and Dutch National Ballet soloist Alexander Zhembrovskyy dance Two Pieces for HET (1997), a choreographic jewel in two movements: the first nervous and energetic, the second evoking a distilled atmosphere. The fourth work in this programme is Simple Things created in 2001 for, and still performed by, Nederlands Dans Theater’s junior troupe. In this ballet - at times swinging and challenging, at others lyrical and romantic - Van Manen expanded the boundaries of the traditional pas de deux in an intriguing manner.

To round off this opening programme, the Dutch National Ballet brings a world premiere by the 75-year-old master choreographer.
Music includes works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Guy Klusevsek/Alan Bern, Arvo Pärt, Erik Satie, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Peter Vasks. With Holland Symfonia conducted by Andrea Quinn.

Unique celebration: master choreographer 75th birthday
In a recent major market research Hans van Manen emerged as ‘the most famous Dutch dancer’ and, until very recently, the designation ‘dancer’ still followed his name in the telephone directory. But Hans van Manen is much more than a gifted (ex) ‘dancer’: he is Holland’s greatest choreographer, one of our most important ‘exports’ whose awards include the Erasmus Prize and the Benois de la Danse Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to dance. On 11 July 2007 he will be 75 and the Dutch National Ballet celebrates that by mounting a spectacular Hans van Manen Festival, which will showcase a selection of his choreographic oeuvre - now numbering some 120 works - performed by an array of internationally acclaimed companies.

In just under three weeks the Festival will mount five programmes featuring twenty of Van Manen’s ballets, including a world premiere as well as a work dedicated to him by the choreographic duo Lightfoot/Léon. Artistic Director Ted Brandsen, in collaboration with Van Manen, will select the works and invite a number of prominent international companies that feature Van Manen’s ballets in their repertoire.

Ballet lovers will have the unique opportunity of seeing, in a short space of time, stars, soloists and dancers from the San Francisco Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Bavarian State Ballet and the BallettMainz. Together with Nederlands Dans Theater I and II, Introdans, the Amsterdam National Ballet Academy and, of course, the Dutch National Ballet, they will bear witness to the legendary power, intelligence, clarity and refined simplicity of Van Manen’s work.

This is the first time that a major festival has been dedicated to showcasing the work of a single choreographer, performed by a variety of international companies. Each programme will only be given for a very limited number of performances, therefore the earlier you book your (passepartout or individual) tickets the greater your chance of experiencing this unique festival.

Diamonds

Uliana Lopatkina

Somova - Fadeev


Fadeev - Tereshkina; Kondaurova; Sarafanov - Golub; Sarafanov - Tereshkina; Tereshkina



THE KIROV BALLET make their first ever visit to Birmingham Hippodrome
Ballet Highlight of International Dance Festival Birmingham 08
Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 May
One of the world’s greatest ballet companies, THE KIROV BALLET, from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, returns to Britain for an exclusive two-week spring tour to Salford and Birmingham. The tour is in association with Victor Hochhauser.

After one week at The Lowry Salford, the Kirov Ballet will make their debut at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 20 May to Saturday 24 May as part of Birmingham’s first International Dance Festival.

The 200-year-old Russian company, under the Artistic Direction of Valery Gergiev and Ballet Director Makhar Vaziev, will perform two full-length ballets: Balanchine’s shimmering Jewels and Don Quixote, one of the highlights of the classical canon, as well as a Gala Evening of balletic fireworks.

For its UK tour, the company will be led by the exquisite Uliana Lopatkina. She is joined by principal dancers Viktoria Tereshkina, Anton Korsakov, Andrian Fadeyev, Sofia Gumerova, Alina Somova, Igor Kolb, Anton Korsakov and Leonid Sarafanov and the company’s ravishing corps de ballet.

George Balanchine’s Jewels: George Balanchine is justly regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century choreographers. Trained in St. Petersburg’s Imperial Ballet – later to become the Kirov - he settled in the United States where he reinvented the language of ballet. His sublime three-act ballet Jewels, which opens the Kirov’s Birmingham season is a heavenly succession of stylistically diverse classical divertissements which take their tone from the jewels they are named after. Elegant and romantic for Emeralds (set to Fauré), hot and jazzy for Rubies (set to Stravinsky) and glittering and aristocratic for Diamonds. Balanchine created Jewels for his own New York City Ballet, but the Kirov was the first company in Europe to stage all three acts in the same evening. The Kirov production recreates Peter Harvey’s original décor – a shimmering cascade of jewels suspended in mid air – and the dancers wear magnificently bejewelled costumes based on the originals by fashionable New York designer Karinska. First seen in London in 2000, this Kirov production of Jewels left critics and audiences literally reeling with delight.

Gala Programme: A box of delights for ballet lovers, including Fokine’s romantic one-act ballet, Chopiniana (sometimes known as Les Sylphides) and the sublime Kingdom of the Shades from Act III of La Bayadère which shows off the Kirov’s legendary corps de ballet to perfection. The middle course of this splendid feast includes Fokine’s dreamy Le Spectre de la Rose and a dazzling sequence of balletic set pieces.

Don Quixote: One of the sunniest ballet’s in the Kirov’s rich classical repertoire. Created by classical ballet’s greatest choreographer, Marius Petipa, it tells the story of the rocky romance between Kitri, the playful daughter of a social-climbing innkeeper, and her lover Basilio, a barber who is handsome – but broke. Based on Alexander Gorsky’s 1900 production, this colourful Kirov production bristles with authentic Spanish dances, bullfighters and gypsies – all portrayed with an exquisite blend of wit and bravura. Its vivid Spanish settings have also been faithfully reproduced from the legendary turn-of-the-century production.

The Birmingham Hippodrome visit was made possible with generous corporate sponsorship from three long-term supporters of the theatre, Ernst & Young, HSBC and Wragge & Co.

Tickets can be purchased now from Birmingham Hippodrome Box Office priced £27.50-£80 on 0870 730 1234 or online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com

On their toes

Published on December 13, 2007

St Peterburg's Mariinsky Ballet mixes passion with grace to delight Bangkok audiences

For Bangkok ballet aficionados, last week's Bangkok debut by the legendary Mariinsky Ballet from Russia was a dream come true.

The St Petersburg company, the most famous and one of the oldest in the world, was in Thailand to stage a three-part programme in celebration of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday. In addition to the Royal performance on Friday, the Mariinsky troupe drew sell out crowds to the Thailand Cultural Centre on both Thursday and Saturday.

The dream evening started with the romantic reverie "Chopiniana", or "Les Sylphides", a 35-minute plot-free one-act ballet based on five music pieces by Frederic Chopin. The curtain rose to reveal a picturesque tableau of sylphs, forming the vision of poet Yevgeny Ivanchenko in the middle of the composition.

Although the stage was a touch too bright for a beautiful moonlit park where sylphs had gathered, the litheness of the long-limbed ballerinas, all in long white tutus, helped to give a dreamlike quality to the piece. The steps were executed neatly and softly, and Anastasia Kolegova, especially, offered a striking performance with her series of jetes, leaping lightly into the air in a full-out split, flying across the stage, and landing without a sound.

Even though Mikhail Fokine's choreography was simple and largely free of a "wow" factor, the movements were truly graceful and the performance served well as an audience-warming curtain raiser.

The second part of the show, "Divertissement", comprised six short programmes, five of which were presented to Her Majesty the Queen on her state visit to St Petersburg in July.

"Talisman" started off the section with vivacity and grandeur, and the pas de deux really showcased the dancers' virtuosity. Mikhail Lobukhin's big jumps reached impressive heights. The solo, featuring small springy steps en pointe and expressively performed by Ekaterina Osmolinka, was exquisitely delicate and delightful to watch.

Following "Talisman", and setting the audience in a more tranquil mood, was one of the most memorable pieces of the night - "La Rose Malade", inspired by William Blake's poem "The Sick Rose" and set to Gustav Mahler's 5th symphony.

The audience was stunned from the moment Ulyana Lopatkina appeared in a flowing pink dress and, against the stark black backdrop, was lifted by Ivan Kozlov to begin a dance that combined serenity with underlying passion. Roland Petit's modern choreography was absolutely breathtaking. Slow movements and lifts were executed with great control and the chemistry between the two dancers was so strong that it looked very natural when the kiss came in the middle of the piece.

Unfortunately, however, with a full orchestra in the pit, the audience was left to wonder why canned music was used for "La Rose Malade" - the only piece to suffer from this accompaniment - thus spoiling its charm.

Next up was Victor Gsovsky's technically challenging "Auber Grand Pas Classique" with Viktoria Tereshkina and Vladimir Shklyarov again showcasing the Mariinsky dancers' beautiful physique and technical prowess. The pas de deux was indeed "grand" as titled, but it could have been even better had the music not been a little too slow and soft at the point when the duet reached its peak.

Performed exclusively for Bangkok audiences was the world premiere of "Love Story", a newly choreographed piece by Alexey Miroshnichenko, whose acrobatic steps complemented the fluid, jazzy tunes of HM the King's "Kinnaree Suite".

"The Dying Swan", Lopatkina's second stage appearance, was another highlight, with the audience watching transfixed as her arms morphed into wings and moved with the tremendous feeling of pain in her final struggle. Here, as in "La Rose Malade", Lopatkina showed why she has achieved worldwide fame.

George Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux", with its brisk quality and awe-inspiring choreography, was a noble way to end the "Divertissement". Despite unnecessarily gymnastic high leg movements at times, Alina Somova conquered the technically demanding performance effortlessly and Leonid Sarafanov's perfect execution of pirouettes and double turns in the air brought the audience to its feet in rapturous applause and cheers as the curtain fell for the second intermission.

"Divertissement", with so many memorable pieces of various moods and styles, was without doubt the best of the three parts. And that's perhaps why so many audience members felt let down by the closing piece, "Sch้h้razade".

This dramatic one-act ballet based on the Arabian Nights was a hit in the early 20th century thanks to its exotic scenes, costumes and provocative sexiness. Today, these elements are no longer stirring and it feels dated, especially in comparison to more contemporary pieces like "Romeo and Juliet" or "Manon" by Kenneth MacMillan.

Also, there's little to the ballet in terms of either narrative or choreography and after such an intoxicating "Divertissement", boredom was quick to set in.

That said, Mariinsky's classical finesse was perfect for such a grand occasion and we can only hope that the company will be returning to Bangkok.

In the meantime, with this performance and those of the Stuttgart Ballet and Zurich Ballet, 2007 has indeed been a year to remember for Bangkok's ballet enthusiasts.

Jasmine Baker



http://www.nationmultimedia.com/option/print.php?newsid=30058924