Kirov 'Bayadere' reviews Kirov 'Rite of Spring' reviews 'Rite of Spring' reviews 'Etudes' reviews 'Serenade' reviews 'Swan Lake' reviews 'Corsaire' reviews Gumerova in reviews Fadayev in reviews recent Kirov reviews more NatashaR reviews

First of all, many, many thanks to Bruce and Kevin for setting up the Kirov magazine special. I have really appreciated all the information (especially on casting, invariably unavailable through any “official” sources) and have enjoyed reading the views of other enthusiasts. I was computerless during my visit to London, so apologies if this contribution is a bit long!

I was in London for a week, and saw 4 out of the 5 programmes. Swan Lake and Le Corsaire are old friends, the restored Bayadere and Contrasts were new to me :

Bayadere – to restore or not to restore? Well, it is interesting to see what audiences saw in 1900, and there were several strong points : really liked the Shades weaving through a rocky landscape – far from blocking the action, it brought out the effect of smoke wreathing which the Shades are supposed to represent (although Solor didn’t seem to smoke much opium in this version!). Also a great pleasure to hear the fine score in full. However, the production is too long, with weak passages which should be cut, such as the endless parading around at the beginning of Act 2 and the children’s dances in Act 4. There is too little male dancing, with Solor not given enough to do and no Golden Idol. The pas d’action for Gamzatti and Solor works better in Act 2 and a short Act 4 (similar to the structure of Swan Lake) is more effective, as in Makarova’s version for the Royal Ballet.

Contrasts – after a semi-disastrous dress rehearsal of Rite and Etudes on Monday afternoon, I was amazed they got through them as well as they did in the evening. I found this a wonderful version of Rite of Spring, truly powerful and the only one I have seen which really has the same primitive, sinister quality as the music. Makhalina and Ponomarev were terrific and the men have just about got the style right, but the girls need to work a lot more on getting the ‘heavy” feeling – it is hard for them to ditch all that elegance, grace and lightness! I adore Etudes (fond memories of ENB dancing it many years ago, with Bart, Dupond and Evdokimova), and the Kirov certainly have the capacity to meet its technical demands. However, they are not comfortable with it yet, and failed to build up to the crescendo that the work requires, despite fine individual contributions. In contrast Serenade, which they have danced for many years and are confident with, was absolutely superb.

As for the dancers, I was sorry not to see Pavlenko or Vishneva, but profoundly relieved (everyone’s sorrow is someone’s joy!) NOT to have seen Ruzimatov. Kuznetsov was sorely missed as Conrad and Rothbart (announced as injured, it seems he was in fact dancing elsewhere). I was also sad not to see Lopatkina, but had not expected to do so – people may not be aware that her Dying Swan at the St Petersburg 300th gala was her first performance in a very long time, and although she has now had specialised surgery for her recurring foot injury, it remains to be seen if she can return to full form.

I saw Gumerova in both Bayadere and Swan Lake – had found her a much improved dancer seeing her in Hong Kong last year, and these performances confirmed it. It seems she is often under-rated – personally I find her expressive in both face and body, with all the musicality and lyricism which I associate with Russian dancers and a certain individuality. Her turns were not on form for the Black Swan, but were brilliant in Bayadere, and she was also outstanding in Serenade.

Zakharova I saw only in Etudes, in which I thought she did the “Sylphide” passage delightfully, but was a bit wobbly elsewhere. Of the younger girls, Tereshkina and Tkachenko both stood out as having some stage presence and personality as well as very strong techniques – Tkachenko in particular has the makings of a star, although her debut in Corsaire on the last day was rather tentative. She was not helped by poor partnering from Shishov, who looked surprisingly under-rehearsed considering he did all the Conrads – perhaps he’d done so many he was just confused? (and if he doesn’t learn to bend his knees when he lands his jumps, he’ll end up in a wheelchair!). Golub is an exquisite dancer, though without a strong personality, Gonchar and Serebryakova were also consistently good in solo roles. Sukhorukova dances well, but her physique is just too long and gangling - what a shame that she and Sheshina (talented but tiny) were paired as the second and third Odalisques – it looked terrible.

Sarafanov was stunning in Etudes, and has the personalty as well as the virtuosity to become a big star. Fadayev is a wonderful dancer (what fabulous beats and turns) but this time I felt the effort – definitely too many performances in too short a space of time. Kolb dances well enough, but has no rapport with his partners and seems to confuse posturing with acting. Korsakov did his solos beautifully as Ali, with fantastic elevation, but still seems to lack upper body strength – his partnering has never been good, and this may hold him back in what could otherwise be a great career. Korsuntsev and Baranov are not virtuosos, but they are elegant, musical and excellent partners – audiences may not go crazy about them, but I bet they’re popular with the ballerinas. My big disappointment was not seeing either Korsakov or Fadayev as Lankedem in Corsaire – the third cast, Lobukhin, did not stand out in either dancing or acting, and poor Tarasova had a terrible time with his partnering in Act 1.

The corps, as always, were wonderful, though I do wish they’d smile when they take their bows instead of looking glum. The character dancers were terrific, with Ponomarev showing tremendous presence in a wide variety of roles. A big hand also for the orchestra and the three fine conductors.

Did I enjoy the season? Yes indeed, and yet… compared to previous years I did feel a little let down. The overall technical standard of the company is now unbelievably high, and they still have their glorious classicism (ah, those lovely arms and backs). However, their punishing workload is taking its toll –the dancers are tired, and only rarely seem to be enjoying themselves. They are often under-rehearsed, which is simply not acceptable at this level. The constant changes of casting are frustrating for the audience and make it hard for the dancers to create a rapport with each other (as someone else has pointed out, where are the partnerships?). They are also demoralising – I’m not sure who to be sorrier for - Iosifidi being dropped from Rite of Spring at the last moment, or Makhalina being told on Friday (in Russia) that she had to dance it on Monday (in London). This kind of cavalier treatment does not encourage loyalty - maybe it is one of the reasons why Zakharova is moving to the Bolshoi.