ballet.co Kirov female dancers

Kirov Female dancers
May 2001 (current version)

Altynai Asylmuratova, principal


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Altynai Asylmuratova is a truly great classical ballerina in the Kirov tradition. She is the most famous of the Kirov dancers, having been a darling of the Western critics and audiences since the late 1980s when she had a brief partnership with Faroukh Ruzimatov. She has a most beautiful face, and a thrilling musicality. She is also a great actress, and is one of those rare ballerinas who can draw you into her inner world on stage. She is a sublime Aurora. {kirov dancers 2001}

Zhanna Ayupova, principal


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Zhanna Ayupova is a perfect exemplar of the purity of the Kirov style. Her sublime Aurora in London last summer was widely praised. Every facet of her performance is perfectly proportioned. Her pure dancing has poise and harmony, and radiates an inner calm that feels as soothing as a religious blessing.

In "Chopiniana" Ayupova is ravishing as the Mazurka ballerina. Her Masha in the Vainonen production of "Nutcracker" has the requisite grandeur, and she dances Juliet movingly with a quiet dignity. {kirov dancers 2001}

Maya Dumchenko, soloist


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Maya Dumchenko is a tall and lyrical dancer, and has a lovely flow of movements and crystalline footwork. Dumchenko is a true gem in the second ballerina role in "Rubies", a delicate Juliet, and a passionate and expressive Shiryn in Grigorovich's "The Legend of Love". She also dances with flair and strength in "Chopiniana" and "Petrushka". {kirov dancers 2001}

Irina Golub, soloist


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Irina Golun is an up-and-coming soloist. She is a beautiful flower girl in "Don Quixote" and is also a delightful Cupid. {kirov dancers 2001}

Sofya Gumerova, soloist


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Sofya Gumerova did two performances of "Swan Lake" on the same day in London last summer - quite a feat - as she had to step in to replace an injured colleague in the afternoon. Her Odette/Odile however divided opinions. She is an exciting Street Dancer in "Don Quixote", and also dances the second ballerina in "Emeralds". {kirov dancers 2001}

Svetlana Ivanova, soloist


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Svetlana Ivanova has a fine-boned physique complemented by her extra thin legs. She is a stylish Princess Florine in "Sleeping Beauty". {kirov dancers 2001}

Uliana Lopatkina, principal


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Uliana Lopatkina is a prima ballerina by right, and her beautiful dancing sums up the very spirit of the Petersburg school. She breathes new life into the classics like "La Bayadere" and "Swan Lake". Lopatkina's dancing as the Swan Queen has an endearing youthfulness, as fresh as the morning dew, as well as a warm femininity. Her long and lissom line, as taut as an arrow, is ravishing.

Her ethereal figure suits the Adagio in "Symphony in C", her dancing sings with deep feelings and perfection of skill. Lopatkina is also one of the Kirov's best actresses (she's a burning Zobeide in "Scheherazade"), capable of expressing herself to the entire audience with a flick of the wrist, and tapering her high extensions into a musical phrase like a painter controlling a fine sable brush. {kirov dancers 2001}

Yulia Makhalina, principal


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Yulia Makhalina was the first of a new crop of Kirov ballerinas in the early 1990s distinguished from the previous generations by their height and remarkable thinness, and nicknamed 'the basketball team'. Technically dazzling, especially in her high extensions, she has matured in her interpretations of the classics. Her Odette has a tragic dimension. Makhalina is also a voluptuous Zobeide in "Scheherazade". {kirov dancers 2001}

Veronika Part, first soloist


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A new ballerina coming up the ranks, Veronika Part closely resembles Uliana Lopatkina in the almost frictonless action of her legs and arms, though somewhat lacking in absolute control and acting skills. In "Sleeping Beauty" Part is a gorgeous Lilac Fairy, but as Odette/Odile she is too introverted.

One of the youngest Kirov stars, Part has honed and glossed her technique to awesome extremes, but at the expense of personality and imagination, which should come with time and experience. {kirov dancers 2001}

Daria Pavlenko, soloist


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Daria Pavlenko, who has a bold but expressive face, made two important debuts in London at very short notice last summer - as Odette/Odile, and the ballerina in "Diamonds". In the latter role Pavlenko manages all the virtuosic passages with a smooth softness. She also does honours to the Lilac Fairy in "The Sleeping Beauty". {kirov dancers 2001}

Natalia Sologub, soloist


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Natalia Sologub is a rising star this season. Her most memorable role last summer was the Queen of the Dryads in "Don Quixote". Here is Clement Crisp's glowing review of her performance. "A memory to treasure: the nearest comparison I can make is with the very young Alla Sizova in "Le Corsaire" - the same divine ease and clarity and integrity - and that was 40 years ago."

Sologub has beautiful arched feet. She is a delightful Princess Florine, her dancing is sharp and precise. She also displays her fine classical dancing as one of the three Shades soloists in "La Bayadere", and in the Act 1 pas de trois in "Swan Lake". {kirov dancers 2001}

Diana Vishneva, principal


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Diana Vishneva distinguishes herself as an allegro dancer excelling in technical dynamics. Considered by some as more suitable for the neo-classical ballets, she possesses the qualities of a scintillating star, dancing with a strong sense of individuality. Her technical and artistic abilities create a most gratifying combination.

Vishneva is a very passionate Juliet, and a charming and radiantly sweet Aurora. In "Rubies" and "Don Quixote", she fills the dance with panache, energy and spark. {kirov dancers 2001}

Irina Zhelonkina, first soloist


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Irina Zhelonkina is a dancer with a gorgeous plastique, and is an epitome of classical purity. She creates a simple yet exquisite touch in every role she dances. Zhelonkina is splendid as Princess Florine, Juliet's friend, and in the pas de trios in "Swan Lake". She is also outstanding as Gulnara in "Le Corsaire", and dances with supreme lyricism and tenderness in "Chopiniana". {kirov dancers 2001}

Svetlana Zakharova, principal


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This young beautiful ballerina has an ethereal figure with long and slender limbs. Her six-o-clock extensions recall Sylvie Guillem in her youth. She has a a dazzling technique, but also a touching tenderness on top of that. Zakharova's Swan Queen is emotionally resonant. She has an upper body carriage which is most expressive, as typical of the Russian school, and her whole body has a melodious line.

As Nikiya, Zakharova's dancing has light and shade, and she illuminates Nikiya's spiritual quality in the Shades act. She is a dazzling Kitri, and cuts through the air in her grands jetes like a javelin. And she dances luxuriously the ballerina role in Balanchine's "Diamonds". {kirov dancers 2001}

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www.ballet.co.uk/links/dancers_kirov_women.htm	revised: 3 June 2001
Bruce Marriott email, © all rights reserved, all wrongs denied. credits
written by Kevin Ng, NO7 and A.M. © email	all images courtesy of authors