Russian Companies

A Farewell and a Fresh Start

“Pavilion of Armids” / “Hungarian Dances” / “Sextus Propertius”
Ural Opera Ballet
Yekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Yekaterinburg, Russia
April 14, 2023 (video)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A.Lazarev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by M.Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletPerseverance pays off. A few weeks after the premiere of the Ural Opera Ballet’s new triple bill in mid-April I finally got access to its recording. Three Russian choreographers contributed to the program: the Maryinsky Ballet’s dancer-choreographer Maxim Petrov, the artistic director of the Perm Opera Ballet Anton Pimonov, and the Yekaterinburg company’s own artistic director Vyacheslav Samodurov.

Petrov chose to reinterpret Michel Fokine’s “Le Pavillon d’Armide” – one of the ballets that manifested the Ballet Russes’ legendary tour to Paris in May 1909. Its libretto by Alexandre Benois (which is based on Théophile Gauthier’s novel “Omphale”) tells of the sorceress Armida who descends at night from a magic tapestry in a marquis’s garden pavilion to bewitch an aristocrat. Petrov relocated the action to a modern-day museum and swapped the tapestry for a wall-sized modern field painting, evoking the work of Mark Rothko (set design by Aliona Pikalova). Instead of an aristocrat, Armida (Anna Domke) beguiles (or rather befools) a young, bored museum attendant (Alexandr Merkushev). Petrov didn’t stint on satire when portraying Armida’s maneuvers, reinstating the humor Benois had deleted when adapting Gautier’s “Omphale”.

3. A.Merkushev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by M.Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet2. Ensemble, “Pavilion of Armids” by M.Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet The museum is filled with disinterested tourists, annoying requests, and misbehaving philistines – given such visitors, it’s no wonder that Merkushev’s museum attendant is short of zeal. He’s a lonely and bespectacled dreamer – and perhaps that’s why he suddenly feels the need to embellish the painting with some childish chalk scribblings. Armida’s entourage intervenes, first confronting then including him into their midst. Armida herself, carried by her attendants, sails on stage like a boat’s figurehead. A hybrid of Christopher Wheeldon’s Queen of Hearts (from “Alice in Wonderland”) and over-the-edge Raymonda, she applies carrot and stick to convert the young man into an obedient companion.
4. A.Domke (Armida) and A.Lazarev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by M.Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet5. Ensemble, “Pavilion of Armids” by M.Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletThoroughly intimidated at first, Merkushev’s confidence and dance prowess grow exponentially, but the moment the sound of a trumpet (score by Alexander Tcherepnin) heralds the end of the dream, Armida pushes him away, leaving him bewildered. When other museum staff find him and his scribbling, they can’t stop laughing down at him.

In 2021 Pimonov created “Brahms Party”, a witty all-male piece to Brahms’s “Liebeslieder Waltzes”, for the Ural Opera Ballet. His new ballet “Hungarian Dances” takes its title from the music, which is by Brahms again, albeit its twenty-one parts are played in a different order.
7. A.Sultanova and G.Sageev, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet6. Ensemble, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletAs in “Brahms Party”, Pimonov’s dancers (five women and four men) swiftly shift gears between different styles. Two men bounce in gentle sync, their vigor simmering as if held in a steamer, before suddenly exploding in jumps and turns. Others play macho, pumping their muscles, but the moment the music gallops off they merely pose, scuttle, and complete some basic port de bras. Often the women wear the pants (in fact, they wear knee-length velvet dresses in black, gray, bottle-green, and wine-red designed by Elena Trubetskova), pulling obliging or adoring dance partners in front of the gray, rectangular backdrop that shimmers like creased metal.
8. A.Domke and F.Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet9. H.Yasumura, T.Terada, G.Sageev, and F.Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletPimonov contrasts a yearningly tender – or rather melodramatic – pas de trois with the showy entrance of two couples, their brisk steps (and solid egos) claiming the space. I don’t know whether the folksy sequences are particularly Hungarian in style or inspiration – regardless, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that “Hungarian Dances” is a crisp, tongue-in-cheek divertissement that makes the company look terrific.

11. A.Seliverstov and M.Nisiguti, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet10. G.Sageev and F.Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletA pitch-black stage opens Samodurov’s “Sextus Propertius”. Odd sounds reminiscent of scratching strings combined with single bell (or clock) strokes create an eerie atmosphere. They are part of a composition commissioned from Alexey Sysoev who was tasked with interpreting the elegies of the Latin poet Sextus Propertius (*50-45BC, † around 15BC).
As flashes of grayish light suddenly break through the darkness, we catch glimpses of motionless standing or sitting dancers. Their beige shorts and tops look functional rather than fashionable (costumes again by Elena Trubetskova). Gradually, one of the men frees himself from the rigor, trying to conquer an ominous black catwalk. Rhythmic clatter, as relentless as a hasty second hand, gives his incongruent movements a sense of urgency. Fluid in one second and mechanically edgy in the other it’s obvious that he can’t be human. Other dancers appear out of the darkness, driven by the same frenzied energy, their legs kicking wildly, their arms flailing about like the sails of a windmill.
12. A.Veshkurtsev and M.Volkov, “Sextus Propertius” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet13. A.Lazarev and E.Kuznetsova, “Sextus Propertius” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera BalletThe acoustic clatter stops briefly as if time stands still, before hissing voices chime in, their words incomprehensible. Chaos breaks loose as a rotating strip of blue moonlight on the floor suddenly vanquishes like a ground that breaks away. From then on the dancers look like exhausted gladiators fighting an invisible enemy. Rhythmic noise hits them like fatal raindrops, wearing out their machine-like steeliness. Yet they rebound and continue their abrupt movements inside a shrinking pyramid of blue light.
15. A.Lazarev, “Sextus Propertius” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet14. E.Vorobeva, “Sextus Propertius” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet“Sextus Propertius” is my third encounter with Samodurov’s works. Neither “Ondine” (2017) nor “The Order of the King” (2021) convinced me. This time Samodurov leaves me puzzled. Propertius’s elegies chronicle a relationship with a woman called Cynthia and review the mythological origins of Rome. None of this is reflected in the choreography and – as we learn from the piece description – wasn’t intended to do so. It declares that neither does the music illustrate the verses, nor the stage comment on the music. Instead, the ballet results from a complex reaction between the stage and the music. I studied chemistry, but this reaction is too inscrutable to be comprehensible.
“Sextus Propertius” is Samodurov’s farewell creation as artistic director of the company. He’ll be succeeded by Maxim Petrov at the end of this season.

The Ural Opera Ballet, playing under the baton of Maksim Kozlov, accompanied all three ballets.
16. Ensemble, “Sextus Propertius” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023 © I.Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet

Links: Website of the Ural Opera Ballet
Photos: (The photos show casts of different performances.)
1. Arsenty Lazarev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by Maxim Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
2. Ensemble, “Pavilion of Armids” by Maxim Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
3. Alexandr Merkushev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by Maxim Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
4. Anna Domke (Armida) and Arsenty Lazarev (Museum attendant), “Pavilion of Armids” by Maxim Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
5. Ensemble, “Pavilion of Armids” by Maxim Petrov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
6. Ensemble, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
7. Assiya Sultanova and Gleb Sageev, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
8. Anna Domke and Fidan Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
9. Hideki Yasumura, Tomokha Terada, Gleb Sageev, and Fidan Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
10. Gleb Sageev and Fidan Daminev, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
11. Aleksey Seliverstov and Miki Nisiguti, “Hungarian Dances” by Anton Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
12. Andrey Veshkurtsev and Mihail Volkov, “Sextus Propertius” by Vyacheslav Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
13. Arsenty Lazarev and Ekaterina Kuznetsova, “Sextus Propertius” by Vyacheslav Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
14. Elena Vorobeva, “Sextus Propertius” by Vyacheslav Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
15. Arsenty Lazarev, “Sextus Propertius” by Vyacheslav Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
16. Ensemble, “Sextus Propertius” by Vyacheslav Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2023
all photos © Ivan Mohnatkin / Ural Opera Ballet
Editing: Samuel Snodgrass

 

Vibrant

“Dances of the World”
Igor Moiseyev Ballet
Hall of Church Councils
Moscow, Russia
April 7, 2023

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Russian dance “Summer”, “Dances of the World”, Igor Moiseyev Ballet 2023 © Igor Moiseyev Ballet / E.MasalkovI’ve had the Moiseyev Ballet on my wish list for quite some time. During my latest visit to Moscow, I lucked out: one of their rare performances was announced for the Hall of Church Councils. Though it was a challenge to find the venue and its entrance (not a single poster to be found), I arrived in time. The spacious 1300-seat hall happens to be located right between the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (the largest of the Russian-Orthodox churches) and the Moskva river. The buzz of excited children (and audience members of all ages!) filled the foyer.

“Dances of the World” was comprised of eleven folk dances from, as the title suggests, all over the world – each choreographed by the company’s founder Igor Moiseyev (1906 – 2007). His vast choreographic legacy has been kept alive by the 88 dancers and small symphonic orchestra of 35 musicians based in Moscow. (more…)

Well kept

“Raymonda”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
April 6, 2023

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. D.Rodkin (Jean de Brienne) and A.Kovalyova (Raymonda), “Raymonda” by Y.Grigorovich after M.Petipa and A.Gorsky, Bolshoi Ballet 2023 © Bolshoi Theatre / M.Logvinov “Raymonda” is a foundation of Russian ballet repertoire, but is rarely performed in Europe. After his flight to the west, Nureyev staged several versions of the work for western companies, staying faithful to Petipa’s 1898 original. The few European choreographers who’ve tackled the piece – among them Pontus Lidberg for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 2014 and Rachel Beaujean for the Dutch National Ballet in 2022 – adjusted Lydia Pashkova’s libretto to match western tastes. The only Petipa/Pashkova-based Russian production I saw was Konstantin Sergeyev’s from 1948, presented by the Maryinsky Ballet on their 2014 tour to Baden-Baden. That production felt alien in Baden-Baden’s modern Festspielhaus, reinforcing the reputation of “Raymonda” as dusty and outdated. In last year’s review of Tamara Rojo’s “Raymonda” for the English National Ballet, London critic Jenny Gilbert went so far as to call Raymonda an “ineffectual heroine” (implying that the numerous renowned ballerinas who’ve taken on that leading role in the last 125 years were foolish in doing so) and the plot “offensively silly.” She also claimed that Russian “ballet culture has a higher tolerance of such [silly] things.” After watching the Bolshoi Ballet’s “Raymonda”, I’m inclined to think that the western perspective misses what “Raymonda” is actually about. (more…)

Hot!

“Don Quixote”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
April 5, 2023

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A.Putintsev (Basilio), E.Kokoreva (Kitri), and ensemble, “Don Quixote” by A.Fadeechev after M.Petipa, Bolshoi Ballet 2023 © Bolshoi Theatre / D.Yusupov “The Bolshoi Ballet” is synonymous with excellence – and if anyone can pull off “Don Quixote”, it’s them. This past Wednesday, though, the company left me flabbergasted. Pavel Klinichev wasted no time at the conductor’s podium, unleashing Ludwig Minkus’s score the instant he turned to face the orchestra. The effervescent pacing of the first few bars made clear that this “Don Quixote” would be a spicy one.
From the first moment that the goateed Don Quixote (Alexey Loparevich) and his loyal, oft-gluttonous squire Sancho Panza (Georgy Gusev) set off on their chivalrous journey, Valeriy Levental’s set transported us to the sizzling cauldron of the jam-packed port of Barcelona. Everything is perfect: the turquoise Mediterranean Sea glints under the bright summer sun; fresh fruit is piled sky-high; and the local youth remain in the merriest of moods. The happiest of all, Kitri (Elizaveta Kokoreva) and Basilio (Alexey Putintsev), quickly bring the scene to a boil. Kokoreva’s Kitri sweeps onstage like a torpedo, her fleet-footed legs and teasing fan leaving a trail of sparks. Klinichev’s brisk conducting seemed to spur rather than challenge her. I especially admired Kokoreva’s rock-solid balances – from which she descended only to hurl herself into a battery of snappy pirouettes. (more…)

Frothy

The Nutcracker”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia

December 30, 2022 (matinee)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “The Nutcracker” by Y.Possokhov, Stanislavsky Ballet 2022 © K.Zhitkova This winter, the Stanislavsky Ballet replaced Vasily Vainonen’s 1995 “Nutcracker” with Yuri Possokhov’s – not a brand-new rendering, but an adaption of the “Nutcracker” that Possokhov created for the Atlanta Ballet in 2018 (new designs included). Since its premiere in Moscow at the end of November, tickets have been in high demand. Given Possokhov’s good work on the Bolshoi Ballet’s “Nureyev” and an “Anna Karenina” for the Joffrey Ballet & the Australian Ballet, I was curious what approach he’d take to this iconic ballet – and it was clear within seconds that he had given this Nutcracker a strong update.

Sergey Rylko’s dazzling videos hurl us through flurrying snow to a spinning astrological sign. From there, a golden ram gallops off towards and through a faceless white town, flying in low over rooftops, an ice-rink, and a carousel. We land at the workshop of Drosselmeyer (danced by Jonah Cook, a former principal of the Bavarian State Ballet and the Zurich Ballet), who is heaping presents onto a sleigh together with his nephew (Andrey Kirichenko). Drosselmeyer’s wall-sized astrological clocks, their faces rotating mysteriously, are presumably tools that control the ticking of the universe. (more…)

Transcendent

“The Nutcracker”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
December 29, 2022 (matinee and evening performance)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2023 by Ilona Landgraf

1. V.Bessonova (Colombine), “The Nutcracker” by Y.Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet 2022 © Bolshoi Ballet / M.LogvinovAfter meeting him at a guest performance with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo six years ago, the Bolshoi’s Semyon Chudin suggested that I see their “Nutcracker” in Moscow. Year after year, one thing or another has prevented me from getting to the Bolshoi at Christmastime. Finally, this year, it happened: on the edge of New Year’s Eve, I watched a matinee and an evening performance.

The Bolshoi’s “Nutcracker” dates back to 1966 – qualifying it neither as trendy nor hip by today’s standards. Perhaps Makhar Vaziev, the company’s artistic director, has kept it in the repertoire for a number of reasons: out of respect for tradition; out of respect for the ballet’s choreographer – Yuri Grigorovich – one of the company’s formative figures; and out of respect for the crowd-pleasing nature of the piece that leads to sold out performances now as ever. (more…)

What a Mess

“The Order of the King”
Ural Opera Ballet
Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Ekaterinburg, Russia
May 02, 2021 (online)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2021 by Ilona Landgraf

1. M.Klekovkin (The King) and ensemble, “The Order of the King” by V.Samodurov, Ural Opera Ballet 2021 © O.Kerelyuk / Ural Opera Ballet “The Order of the King” – choreographed in 2018 for the Ural Opera Ballet by its artistic director Vyacheslav Samodurov – won two Golden Mask awards last year. Samodurov was awarded the prize for Best Choreographer and set designer Aleksei Kondratiev the prize for Best Designer in Musical Theatre. The ambitious two-act production marked the bicentennial of Marius Petipa’s birth and was staged according to his templates, augmented by additional historic analysis and scientific research. (more…)

Let’s Party!

“Brahms Party”
Ural Opera Ballet
Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Ekaterinburg, Russia
April 2021 (video)

 

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2021 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Brahms Party” by A.Pimonov, Ural Opera Ballet 2021 © O.Kerelyuk / Ural Opera Ballet Last season, two of the Ural Opera Ballet’s programs were nominated for Golden Mask awards in several categories: “Walpurgisnacht” by George Balanchine (which was shown in a double bill with “Brahms Party” by Anton Pimonov) and “The Order of the King”, a full-evening piece by the company’s artistic director Vyacheslav Samodurov. Though the pandemic halted the festival the first time around, the company brought both productions to the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre as part of this season’s festival in mid-April. (more…)

Leader(s) and Followers

“Five Years and Three Days With Makhar Vaziev”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
February 26, 2021 (documentary)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2021 by Ilona Landgraf

1. I.Tsvirko and M.Vaziev after a performance of “Ivan the Terrible”, “Ivan the Terrible” by Y. Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet 2019 © Bolshoi Ballet / G.Uféras This year marks the fifth season with Makhar Vaziev as head of the Bolshoi Ballet. Upon this occasion, the Bolshoi Theatre released the TV documentary “Five Years and Three Days with Makhar Vaziev”, which is also available on YouTube (and includes English subtitles). For three days at the end of January, a film crew followed Vaziev from meeting to rehearsal to performance and back again, conducting several interviews along the way. Despite COVID-19, everyday work has continued at the Bolshoi. We witness the company’s preparations for two revivals: a performance of “Nureyev”, supervised by its stage director and set designer Kirill Serebrennikov, and a re-run of Sergei Vikharev’s version of “Coppélia(more…)

Weighty

“The Winter’s Tale”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
April 06, 2019 (matinee and evening performance)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf

1. E. Svolkin, L. Timoshenko, O. Smirnova, and D. Savin, “The Winter's Tale” by C. Wheeldon, Bolshoi Ballet 2019 © Bolshoi Ballet / D. YusupovThe Bolshoi Ballet recently added Christopher Wheeldon’s “The Winter’s Tale” to their repertoire – and what a fortunate choice that was! It is a co-production of the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, and premiered in London in 2014. It’s strange that such a strong piece of work is only now being performed by a third company.

The ballet is based on Shakespeare’s play of the same name – one of his intricately-plotted later works, which is classified as a comedy despite its (more…)

In the Running

“Ekman / Goecke / Naharin”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia
March 23, 2019

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf

1. E. Mikirticheva and ensemble, “Tyll” by A. Ekman, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre 2019 © S. Avvakum No fewer than three pieces of the Stanislavsky Ballet’s repertoire were nominated for this year’s Golden Mask award: “Tyll” by Alexander Ekman, “Lonesome George” by Marco Goecke, and “Minus 16” by Ohad Naharin. On top of that, the company’s senior principal, Oksana Kardash, is nominated twice for her performances in “Tyll” and “Lonesome George”.
The Golden Mask Festival is in full swing in Moscow, presenting the most significant productions of all genres of theater from all over Russia. The winners will be announced on April 16 at an awards ceremony in the Bolshoi Theatre. (more…)

Growing With the Legacy

Coppélia”
Bolshoi Ballet

Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
March 23, 2019 (matinee)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf

1. A. Loparevich, “Coppélia” by M. Petipa and E. Cecchetti, revival and new choreographic version by S. Vikharev, Bolshoi Ballet 2019 © Bolshoi Ballet / E. FetisovaWhat would Sergei Vikharev have thought of his “Coppélia” if he had watched the matinee on March 23? For one thing, he wouldn’t appreciate my calling the work “his”, as it is Petipa’s and his assistant Cecchetti’s 1884 choreography that Vikharev, together with ballet scholar Pavel Gershenzon, meticulously revived from Nicholas Sergeiev’s notation. Vikharev’s reconstruction premiered in 2009 with the Bolshoi Ballet with an updated revival planned for 2018/19. However, fate struck in the summer of 2017 when Vikharev, only fifty-five years old, died from an adverse reaction to anesthetic during a dental treatment. As a result, the company re-staged the 2009 version. (more…)

Pipe Dreams

“La Fille du Pharaon”
Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Theatre
Moscow, Russia
March 08, 2019 (matinee and evening performance)

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf

1. E. Obraztsova, “La Fille du Pharaon” by P. Lacotte, Bolshoi Ballet 2019 © Bolshoi Ballet / D. Yusupov Aspicia, the heroine in Petipa’s “La Fille du Pharaon”, was a highly coveted role among ballerinas. Carolina Rosati, an Italian ballerina whose insistence propelled the ballet to creation, danced Aspicia at the world premiere in St. Petersburg in 1862. Mathilde Kschessinska, the unofficial queen of St. Petersburg’s Imperial Theatres, claimed the role as hers at the 1898 revival – meaning that it was like a revolution when the role was given to Anna Pavlova in 1906. “La Fille du Pharaon” was Petipa’s first significant choreographic success. Pierre Lacotte’s take on the ballet for the Bolshoi Ballet in 2000 was a tribute to Petipa and to the famous ballerinas who had shared their knowledge about Aspicia with Lacotte: Lyubov Egorova, Mathilde Kschessinska, and Olga Spesivtseva.

The ballet’s rambling narrative is loosely based on Théophile Gautier’s 1857 novel “The Romance of a Mummy”. Fueled by opium, an English explorer imagines a slew of adventures with Aspicia, the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh. Aspicia, a mummy, resurrected from her sarcophagus, goes hunting and is saved from a lion’s wrath by the heroic Egyptian Taor (the Englishman), with whom she naturally falls in love. The duo, contending with Aspicia’s forced marriage to the King of Nubia, elopes to an idyllic fishing village. There, they are met by further hazards: suicide attempts, a detour to the underwater realm of the God of the river Nile, and more. Finally, Aspicia and Taor are reunited and happily married – until at the height of the rejoicing, the Englishman awakes from his dream. (more…)

Topical

“La Esmeralda”
Ballet of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre
Moscow, Russia
March 07, 2019

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf

1. O. Kardash, “La Esmeralda” by V. Burmeister, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre 2019 © A. Klyushkina Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” – which features Notre-Dame’s deformed bellringer Quasimodo and the compassionate, kind Esmeralda – has long been popular material for stage and film adaptions. The first ballet adaption premiered in London in 1844, with choreography by Jules Perrot and music by Cesare Pugni. In 1950, Vasiliy Tikhomirov and Vladimir Burmeister produced a new libretto for their version with the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. As in the novel, their production is set in the 15th century and has a frame narrative that explores Esmeralda’s childhood background. For this iteration of the tale, Tikhomirov and Burmeister brought back Esmeralda’s tragic death while eschewing several secondary characters. In addition, Pugni’s score was newly orchestrated and supplemented with music by Reinhold Glière and Sergei Vasilenko. The three-acter is still in the company’s repertory and – more than 500 years later it is (regrettably) still highly topical. “La Esmeralda” exposes the Catholic church’s sickening hypocrisy and rotten ethics, which have made and continue to make international headlines to this day.

At the heart of the story is Esmeralda, who was picked up and raised by the Romani after they (wrongly) deemed her mother Gudule to be dead. (more…)

A Conversation With Guillaume Côté

Moscow, Russia
December 16, 2018

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2018 by Ilona Landgraf

1. G.Côté rehearsing “Frame by Frame” by R.Lepage and G.Côté, The National Ballet of Canada 2018 © The National Ballet of Canada / A.AntonijevicGuillaume Côté, principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada, had just made his debut as a guest dancer with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet the previous evening, dancing Romeo in Alexei Ratmansky’s version of “Romeo and Juliet” alongside Evgenia Obraztsova. The role was originally created on Côté in 2011. We met early in the morning – a couple of hours before Côté would return to Toronto – to talk about Romeo, love, his career, and Russia. The first topic we touched upon was dance critique.
Côté’s answers are in italics. (more…)