balletretrospective

[balletretrospective]

Happy 100th Birthday to Ninel Petrova

Though I have never had the pleasure of meeting this heroine of classical ballet. I owe to her all the thanks in the world. For as a young, bright-eyed yet naive student, I was no stranger to discouraging remarks from some teachers. I was assured that I would never be capable of becoming a dancer. Until one day, when I was fortunate enough to be taken with some classmates on a tour of the Mariinsky Theatre. The guides were so lovely, and told us many stories of the history of dance, they showed us the massive undertaking of the skilled craftsmen, artists, and designers and how, with their precision, care, and expertise the ballet could come to life. But it was a single pair of pointe shoes that changed my life forever. The pointe shoes of ballerina Ninel Petrova.

"they are so small" I remarked. Our lovely guide smiled down at me, "yes, ballerinas in this era were short in stature, and grand in character.' A small video of her dancing played on repeat. I could not break my gaze, my feet glued to the floor. I was in awe. She was the most beautiful dancer I had ever seen. For me, she is the soul of dance. After this experience I was able to be enlightened to such talents as Alla Sizova, Ninella Kurgapkina, Ekaterina Maximova, who I furthered aimed to emulate. No longer did I fight to "hide my shortcomings" or work against my body. I was able to start an approach to dance, first from the soul, then from the technique. There are such a great many people I have to thank for my life in ballet. But nothing will ever touch my heart as deeply as Ninel Petrova in Chopiniana.

Thank you. My deepest gratitude and most wholehearted wishes on your birthday.

#russian ballet #ballet history #living legend #kirov ballet #mariinsky theatre #ninel petrova

[balletretrospective]

My top 3 Mariinsky/Kirov Auroras

3. Diana Vishneva

She is sweet, playful, and carefree. Her personality suits aurora perfectly! I may have been fooled but it seems that this is but a fortunate coincidence. By nature, she embodies Aurora.

2. Evgenia Obraztsova

In my (perhaps controversial) opinion, she is the greatest dancer of her generation. The most absolute classical lines with such great charisma and personality. She has the sweet charm of youth, and the maturity to show the growth and change in responsibility by act three. An absolute fairytale princess.

1. Alla Sizova

The Aurora. yes, she has incomparable leaps, extraordinary technique, and is all around absolutely darling. But it's more than all that. Her seemingly effortless interpretation is unlike anyone else. I'm not sure it can be captured in words, at least, not by me. If you are yet unfamiliar, please enjoy the most perfect production of The Sleeping Beauty

honourable mentions

olesya novikova, stunning in the role but she has made such an impression in other roles that i don't automatically think aurora for her 

altynai alsmurtnova, again just beautiful in what i have seen, but there is such little video and none of very good quality that it’s hard to place her as a favourite

Even narrowing myself to this one company, I could go on adding so many incredible dancers. So, I will stop myself here. Please let me know your favourites!

#russian ballet #ballet #mariinsky ballet #diana vishneva #evgenia obraztsova #alla sizova #sleeping beauty #Youtube

[balletretrospective]

Analysis of Class by Ninel Kurgapkina

This is simply a genius class. Let's talk about some of the elements that really stand out.

Warm up: repetition of battement tendu side closing first, then alternating first and fifth. This gets the legs used to closing with turnout and square hips so that when the time comes for fifth you are very aware of even slight deviations.

Plie: one grand plie in each position and port de bras. I am a strong supporter of light plie exercises. There is no need to overtax the dancers at the beginning of class. Repetitions of demi plie is great for students to develop strength and good stability but for experienced artists its not needed. Unless you are planning to start the class without a full warm up (as they did when these concepts came to be).

Fondu; with developpe side and tour temps releve. In both these movements we are often more conscious of pulling the knee to the side and being lifted on our supporting leg. Thus eliminating the common problem of letting foundus take place in front of the body with the weight too far back.

Rond de Jambe en l'air: honestly in our day and age, just having this exercise is a win! but moreover, i do appreciate the simplicity. We often make complicated and artistic exercises (which certainly have their place!) but doing this all the time can cause the technique to become too passive. A few slow correct ones to start, then the quick ones where they take (now conscious) liberties is a great choice.

Not sure if this is a result of editing but it seems that they have a set barre and new centre exercises. Again, a brilliant choice. The teacher can now watch for difficulties and make centre exercises accordingly. Its also nice as a dancer to focus on the steps at the barre without worrying about new coordinations.

Centre Foundu: mixed with the sharper releves and pirouttes en dedans I wouldn't be surprised if some dancers had to perform italian fouttes that day.

Petit Battement: Chaines finishing cou de pied. then, pique arabesque. that pause is so important! that'll make the endings on stage super strong, secure, and thoughtful. The petit battement is a nice way to set up the combination too.

First Jump: those releves after the third landing. Surefire way of making sure that you are not just rebounding and are in fact using the plie.

Second Jump: I love it. Many similar but different jumps. Eliminating the lazy executions as you have to think carefully about each step so as to give clarity where they differ.

I'll link the class here, Let me know your thoughts on it!

#russian ballet #ballet class #ninel kurgapkina #Kirov ballet #mariinsky ballet #Youtube

[balletretrospective]

Dancers at the bolshoi who are working/have worked under Nadezhda Pavlova

Elizaveta Kokoreva, Margarita Shrainer, Anna Tikhomirova

Immediately these dancers, while all unique, seem to have such a similar approach. Whether its nurture or nature I cannot say, but I would like to talk about some of the special attributes that make their approach so compelling.

All of them have these lovely long limbs, and also have the energy to match. Often when you see long ballerinas their energy travels in towards them in a very soft and vulnerable way. The difference here is that they radiate out through the whole stage. Even in video you can see this amazing fiery and proud attitude. The best example of this I can give is Kitri from Don Quixote. They have all given an exquisite performance and were able to truly embody the character. Impetuous, unruly, joyous. Something that most of this bodytype do unsuccessfully, think Zakharova (don't get me wrong, she makes a stunning swan and her nikiya truly something it just wasn't the right role for her, kitri isn't a regal ice queen)

Next, their jumps! You can tell they can jump without ever seeing it happen. Their centres of gravity appear to be higher than most. As though they choose to keep their feet on the ground. This even further aids their expressivity

Finally, their maturity. They are all so young and yet they dance as though they are taking a break from their responsible life and diving into the memories of youth. It doesn't have any sense of naivety to it, rather a devil-may-care decision to recapture the bright essence of youth. Its splendidly done and has a lot to do with the sophistication of the port de bras mixed with that dazzling lightness.

Any other similarities you see between these dancers and their coach?

#russian ballet #vaganova #bolshoi ballet #bolshoi theatre #ballet #ballerina #anna tikhomirova #elizaveta kokoreva #margarita shrainer #nadezhda pavlova