Tag Archive: Diana Vishneva

Reassuring

August 7, 2024

Sochi Olympics 2014
Sochi, Russia
August 2024

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2024 by Ilona Landgraf

Given the nauseating freak show at the opening of the Paris Olympics last week, re-watching the ceremony held ten years ago at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi helps to restore belief in culture. It included the mini-ballet Natasha Rostov’s First Ball (choreographed by Radu Poklitaru, Andriy Musorin, and Oleksandr Leshchenko), which was based on Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Russia’s finest dancers were featured next to the two hundred couples waltzing to Eugen Doga’s film music for A Hunting Accident (Russian title: Мой ласковый и нежный зверь, meaning, My Sweet and Tender Beast). The Bolshoi Ballet’s Svetlana Zakharova danced the young, romantic beauty, Natasha Rostova; ballet legend Vladimir Vasiliev played her father, Count Rostov.

The Mariinsky Ballet’s Danila Korsuntsev performed the role of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky; Alexander Petukhov portrayed Pierre Bezukhov; as the dashing hussar, Anatoly Kuragin, Ivan Vasiliev delivered breathtaking jumps that made the audience cheer. The ball came to an abrupt end when Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 ushered in the dark times that subsequently swept over Russia. (more…)

Overdone

April 15, 2022

“Narrenschiff” (Ship of Fools)
Ballet of the State Theater Nuremberg
State Theater
Nuremberg, Germany
April 10, 2022

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2022 by Ilona Landgraf

1. Ensemble, “Maria” by G.Montero, Ballet of the State Theater Nuremberg 2022 © J.Vallinas“Narrenschiff” (Ship of Fools), the first premiere of the season for the State Theater Nuremberg, is a double bill choreographed by the company’s artistic director Goyo Montero. It is comprised of two ensemble pieces: “Maria”, a ballad about the bible’s Maria Magdalena co-produced with the Diana Vishneva Foundation, St. Petersburg (Vishneva danced the leading role at the premiere in December; the photos below show her), and “Narrenschiff”, which gave the program its title. I saw the – for now – final performance. (more…)

Done For Reid

July 31, 2016 0 Comments

Stuttgart Ballet’s Festival Weeks: “Gala”
Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart State Opera
Stuttgart, Germany
July 24, 2016

by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2016 by Ilona Landgraf

1. R.Anderson, guests and ensemble,”Stuttgart Ballet Gala” © Stuttgart Ballet 2016Not even a quarter of the way into Reid Anderson’s twentieth jubilee gala, this leader of the Stuttgart Ballet confided to the audience that “We’re both done for and, by the way, I’m a bit gaga.” By “we” he meant himself and Tamas Detrich, his Associate Artistic Director. Detrich, though, will take charge after the 2017/18 season. What was going on ? (more…)