Daria Pavlenko Anton Korsakov Pavlenko Reviews Korsakov Reviews Kirov Reviews

I cannot imagine any other ballet company in the world possessing such a great depth of young talent in their early twenties as the Kirov does, as evidenced by its London season this summer. Representative of this array of young talent produced by the Vaganova Academy are two hugely talented dancers - Daria Pavlenko, aged 22; and Anton Korsakov, aged 21. These two soloists are already fine classical stylists, and it was rewarding to see both of them in a variety of roles at Covent Garden.

Daria Pavlenko, in her fifth season with the Kirov Ballet, won in Moscow in March the ballet prize "Dance Spirit" in the category of "Rising Star". She started the Covent Garden season as a stylish Princess Florine, and her dancing was most musical and full-bodied. She was also a heart-melting Lilac Fairy. Pavlenko distinguished herself in the Balanchine repertory as well, notably as the "Diamonds" ballerina and as the second woman in "Rubies" which she danced with the right mysterious allure. In the closing Fokine programme, Pavlenko was most expressive in the Prelude in "Chopiniana".

Anton Korsakov, in his third season with the company, just won the first prize in the senior men's category in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in early June. In Covent Garden he was a fine Prince Desire in "The Sleeping Beauty" as well as Blue Bird. His technical brilliance was seen in the pas de trois in Balanchine's "Emeralds", his jumps were light and airy. Korsakov was also dazzling as the "Rubies" soloist, and was sharp and precise in Balanchine's difficult choreography for the cavalier in the third movement of "Symphony in C".

As both dancers were so busy with lots of performances throughout the season, I waited till the final week to interview them. On 5 July 2001 I spoke to Daria Pavlenko in her dressing room in the Royal Opera House after her performance in "Chopiniana" that evening, as well as to Anton Korsakov in a nearby restaurant in Covent Garden.

Daria Pavlenko

Daria Pavlenko
Photograph by Kevin Ng

Pavlenko: It's Elena Evteeva, she has been my coach for a season now. My previous coach was Gabriella Komleva.

Q: You dance so many performances in London.

P: Yes, in London I have a lot of work. But after my return to St. Petersburg, I'll still have more performances and rehearsals, e.g. "Swan Lake" which I'll dance with Ilya (Kuznetsov), and Maria in "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai".

I like dancing in Covent Garden. It's very enjoyable, because the stage is very comfortable. In Japan for instance, we normally tour a number of cities. We dance on so many different stages, and it's tiring, because it's difficult for my legs to adjust.

Q: Last year in London, due to Uliana Lopatkina's injury, you had to learn the ballerina role in Balanchine's "Diamonds"in two days to replace her.

P: You can imagine how scared I was before that performance! Yuri Fateev (the Kirov's repetiteur for its Balanchine repertory) coached me for my debut. And I was so fortunate that Igor Zelensky was such a good partner. I really like dancing in "Diamonds".

Q: You have danced in a number of Balanchine ballets?

P: I dance this season the second girl in Balanchine's "Rubies". I also dance Calliope in "Apollo", "Serenade", and the fourth movement in "Symphony in C". And next season I hope to dance the adagio second movement of "Symphony in C".

Balanchine's style is neo-classical. His choreography is lovely and very interesting to dance. I love Balanchine's ballets, and so do my colleagues in the Kirov. Yuri Fateev is such a good coach.

Q: You seemed to enjoy so much dancing the Blue Bird pas de deux in "The Sleeping Beauty" with the Bolshoi star Nikolai Tsiskaridze several weeks ago.

P: I actually danced with Nikolai for the very first time. He's an excellent partner. And he's a very good man, very kind and sweet. I don't know when I'll dance with him again, because he tours such a lot with the Bolshoi.

Q: Who's your favourite partner?

P: Difficult to say. Ilya Kuznetsov is a good partner, and then of course there's Igor Zelensky. As I said earlier, I've only danced "Diamonds" with Igor; but I hope to dance with him in other ballets in future.

Q: Which are your favourite ballets?

P: I like so many ballets. I like dancing especially the full-length "Raymonda". The choreography is so beautiful, and so is the music. Also "La Bayadere", which I hope to dance in future. And "Giselle" - I'll dance this ballet for the first time in several weeks' time in St. Petersburg, with Victor Baranov as my partner. I also like "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai".

Q: Who are your favourite choreographers?

P: William Forsythe. I also like Mats Ek, even though his movements are very strange. Also Alexei Ratmansky. I dance his "Middle Duo" with Islom Baimuradov.

Q: Which senior Kirov ballerinas do you particularly admire?

P: Yulia Makhalina is very interesting, she's very beautiful as a ballerina and as a woman. Zhanna Ayupova is very sweet. And Altynai (Asylmuratova) is a star.

Q: What are your interests?

P: I like to read books, as well as listening to music. Actually I like classical as well as other types of music. And I like simply to take walks. I like so much walking around in London. Besides Covent Garden I saw Green Park, St. James, Westminster. It's so beautiful.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your life in St. Petersburg?

P: I just bought an apartment this season, and it's very near the Maryinsky Theatre. It's very small, it's only a studio, but it's mine.

I was actually born in Moscow. I still have three sisters in Moscow, and they occasionally come to visit me in St. Petersburg.

Q: Have you done any guesting with other companies?

P: In March I toured Italy with Yelena Pankova (a former Kirov star now based in Munich). We danced "Giselle" in Verona. It's a new production. I danced Myrtha, while Yelena danced Giselle. Roberto Bolle from La Scala was Albrecht.

Anton Korsakov

Anton Korsakov (obviously a man who enjoys a drink!)
Photograph by Kevin Ng

My coach is Anatoly Nisnevich. I like dancing the Prince in "Sleeping Beauty". And I particularly like dancing with Zhanna Ayupova; she's such a good partner.

I like Balanchine's choreography very much. I hope to dance especially his "Apollo". It's my dream! I find "Rubies" very difficult. I've done it many times now, with different partners - Irina Golub and Elvira Tarasova in London and Diana Vishneva in St. Petersburg. Actually the third movement of "Symphony in C", that I danced at Covent Garden this week, is even more difficult. The pas de trois in "Emeralds" is relatively easier technically.

In St. Petersburg this season I've made my debut in "Don Quixote". And I've danced Basilio with several partners - Natalia Sologub, Diana Vishneva, and Elvira Tarasova. And I've also danced the pas de deux with Irina Golub.

As for Irina Zhelonkina, I've danced with her in many roles - the pas de trois in "Swan Lake", the peasant pas de deux in "Giselle", the Blue Bird pas de deux in "Beauty", "Harlequinade", "Carnival in Venice", "Grand Pas Classique", and "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai".

I hope to be able to dance "La Bayadere", "Swan Lake" and "Giselle" in the future.

Favourite choreographers

I particularly admire John Neumeier; and Balanchine, especially his earlier choreography. Also there's a new choreographer Alexei Miroshnichenko. (He is a Kirov corps de ballet dancer, and Korsakov danced a solo choreographed by him in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition.}

Guesting

I hope to guest with the New York City Ballet, and the Royal Ballet which I think is a very good company. I know that Paris Opera Ballet would be difficult, as it seldom takes guest dancers.

Dancers he admires

Konstantin Zaklinsky, Irina Kolpakova, Sergei Berezhnoi, Mikhail Baryshnikov. Baryshnikov was actually a friend of my father Valentin Prudnikov. They did class together and were friends, although my father left St. Petersburg later and worked in Germany and Finland.

Interests

I do swimming and tennis sometimes. I also enjoy disco very much, and I've visited the Rock Garden in Covent Garden.