#ballet ask

[ballet-symphonie]

This is gonna be a long answer, but I so hope you reply to this, Ale!! So, if you could rearrange the Mariinsky's ranks, how would you do? Like, who's getting out of the corps, who's suffering a downgrade, who should be principal? I'm curious to know your opinion!! :DD

Promotions

Women

Kristina Shapran: 1st soloist -> principal, if we can promote Novikova, then Shapran can be too

Anastasia Lukina: 2nd soloist -> 1st soloist, a lighter shecdule will benefit her and she really only dances secondary leads as it is

Svetlana Savelieva: coryphee -> 2nd soloist

Maria Chernyvskaya: coryphee -> 2nd soloist, ridiculous to have Kitri, Carmen and Gamzatti in your repetoire and still be this low

Yesenia Anushenkova: coryphee -> 2nd soloist,

Daria Ustyuzhanina: corps -> coryphee, girly dances so many solos because she's so tiny, give her the bonus pay for all the Cupids.

Men

Roman Belyakov: 1st soloist -> principal, by far the most overdue promotion in my opinion

Nikita Korneyev: 1st soloist -> principal, been in the company for 10 years now, which feels crazy, favored partner of both Skorik and Iliushkina

Ramanbek Beishenaliev: coryphee -> 2nd soloist, dances far too many prominent solos

Yaroslav Baibordin: 2nd soloist -> 1st soloist, dying in soloist purgatory, I am confident that he can handle roles with more substance if given the chance

Mikhail Barkidzhidzha: corps -> coryphee

Khalid Mardini: corps -> coryphee, I think this is likely foreigner bias + being a Moscow grad keeping him down, shouldn't be in the corps if you're dancing Giselle Peasant pas and Swan Lake pas de trois

Demotions

Compared to Bolshoi, where I think the ranks are all kinds of topsy-turvy, I don't look at anyone's name on the Mariinsky site and think they're so in over their head. There are certainly people I wouldn't have promoted based on my personal taste, but generally I'm in favor of paying people appropriately when they're dancing the big-time roles, which is the logic I used to promote the people above.

I think instead of demotion, I'm more likely to remove people from the website entirely. Plenty of people are still listed on the site but are primiarly working as teachers or coaches and are no longer active performers. It's a long list, Diana Vishenva, Evgeny Ivanchenko, Danila Korsuntsev, Anastasia Kolegova, Alexandra Iosifidi, Yana Selina. These people should be shifted to the management tab or taken off.

[balletomaneblog]

Opinions on Isabella McGuire Mayes? I like her as a person, and i think her tips on technique are quite perfect and right to the point, she's also quite honest on some things regarding the reality of ballet. I like her instagram and youtube videos, and regularly listen to her podcast.However i'm iffy on other things, like when she recounts some of her stories, I've watched most of her videos, past and present, and found many inconsistencies regarding her history, injury's, stretching journey...

I'm not a huge fan of hers. She's posted comments on other dancers' pages promoting herself, which is pretty disrespectful. I've found some of her videos on ballet technique to be really interesting, but I think she promotes herself a little too much. I get that she has her own business but it feels like everything she does ends up being product placement for her classes, even when it doesn't have much to do with that. For example, she posted a q&a video on youtube where it went from feeling like she was genuinely answering questions to then answering questions in a way which kind of slyly encouraged people to buy her training videos.

What I do really like are her interviews with other dancers. I find her a really great interviewer who seems genuinely interested in the other person's career and perspectives.

[miss-mollys-ballet-blog]

If it's alright to ask, what do you think of Run Mary Run? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW4G3pRUdcs

I despise Sergei Polunin so I haven't watched it.

[whippedfouettelatte]

I love it when people on tumblr hate on famous ballet dancers cause like “oh man if I act like I hate this person I will get vindication that I’m smarter than all these people I’ve never met yet desperately need to please on the Internet.” Like have fun hating everyone for the sake of looking smart. Like bitch take a chill pill and like things without being elitist?

[ballet-symphonie]

Great that you are back, Ale! I hope you're thriving in dance, life and everything else.

I'm wondering what your take is on Maria Khoreva these past 2 seasons, i.e. since she returned from her second injury at the start of season 24-25. She does a lot of international galas with a much reduced workload on the Mariinsky front. I've been puzzling over what this could mean, and have two theories: 1) returning to full fitness and a load similar to what she danced before is a very slow burn after these injuries, but return she will; 2) this is it. Such is the nature of the injuries' after-effects that Khoreva can only ever dance this load (and will thus be unlikely ever to reach Principal).

Another theory is that she is looking to move west.

One way or another, she has had a rollercoaster career so far - great highs, quite a few lows. Psychologically I wonder how anyone can handle that...

Thank you!

The galas are beneficial for her for multiple reasons. They pay quite well, dancing at a prominent guesting is likely more than what she's making per month, especially if she's getting paid in Euros. It also allows her to be connected and stay prominent with her western audience, and continue growing her social media following. Ballet is also rapidly expanding in Asia, and she is making sure to capitalize on this as well.

I'd still bet money on her making Principal. Excluding Vishneva as she is really just a placeholder on the website, there are 3 ballerinas at MT in their early 40s. Tereshkina, Kondaruova and Novikova are at the tail end of their careers; there will be spaces for women to move up. Khoreva is well positioned to take advantage, considering the wide variety of repertoire she can dance.

The principals dance even less than the first soloists. She's basically been dancing a principal schedule for a while, compared to Bulanova, Khiteeva, or Borodulina, for instance, who all dance a bigger variety of soloist parts. However, not like she's being neglected at all, she's still getting big opportunities. She's going to debut Juliet with the hottest new thing at Mariinsky, Jeon Min Cheol.

I don't think she will move west, the same way I don't think she will move to Moscow. She seems so comfortable in Saint Petersburg with her family, her living situation, her coaches, and repetoire the environment, etc. It's hard for me to imagine her leaving the security she has at Mariinsky, despite thinking that transitioning to a company with a broader repertoire would do wonders for her as a dancer.

[ballet-symphonie]

hi I have only recently gotten into ballet but as someone in London, I am intrigued by the promotion of patricio reve into the royal ballet, what makes him a major pick for them (skill and technique wise)? Secondly, what makes the royal ballet “top-heavy” as I have seen that term used to describe them recently a lot and what does a well balanced company look like?

He is an outstanding technician, the Cuban school is renowned for their ability to produce dancers capable of consistent fireworks, which Reve has in spades. Reve also has truly infectious energy on stage and is a dynamic watch any time he dances. Anyone who can go toe to toe with Marinaela Nunes and Natalia Osipova's energy on stage is something special. He could be the next big star, and the Royal would be foolish to pass him up.

Skill and technique aside which are clearly outstanding, he is a favored partner of both Osipova and Nunez. The two of them united on a point have tremendous pull. He was guesting so much that it truly seemed like it was only a matter of time before some company in England hired him, and I suspect that only Royal had the cash on hand to make him an offer.

They are considered top-heavy because of the sheer number of principals they have. Principals demand the highest salary, and many speculate that the current setup is not the most sustainable financially. People also get frustrated because there are now often more principals than performance opportunities, leading to a company environment where people are guesting all the time.

I don't necessarily feel like they're too top heavy, Alexander Campbell retired and they have a number of principals who are at the tail end of their career (McRae, Hirano) as well as some principals who have suffered a lot from injuries lately, (Corrales, Marci, Sissens namely). So while there are a lot of names, I think there is a need for people to step up. While, I understand many would have preferred for RB to promote from within, and that might have been kinder to their finances, I think this is a massive win for the Royal.

[ballet-symphonie]

Hello and happy new year!

I have a question about dancer and the fit to a company style. Do you think that the best principals at major companies (Bolshoi, Royal Ballet, Paris Opera, Mariinsky, NYCB etc..) would all reach that level if they were at a different company with a different style. I can see some that I feel would make it anywhere, and also some companies (though maybe less these ones, more a slight level down) where it feels anyone could thrive - but then there are some dancers that feel they are so well suited to one style that they might not shine at a very different company - particularly where the company style is more set/distinctive. Would love your view on this and who you think would work well across (and could be really exciting to see in a different context), who is maybe perfect where they are but wouldn’t transition across well and which companies you think have the most fixed style that you need to conform to to make it?

Thank you!

I think Renata Shakirova would be everywhere if she was at the Royal Ballet. The artistic staff at the Royal does such a wonderful job of coaching a wider variety of body types and bringing storytelling to the forefront of their dancers' intentions. I think Renata could really blossom here from new insight on how to harness her power and energy instead of Mariinksy trying to shove her into molds of dancers that just don't fit sometimes.

I want Vladislav Lantratov at the Royal. He's such a powerful actor and has such great command of the stage, I want to see him in all the male-heavy MacMillian rep. Him in Mayerling, THE DRAMA? YES PLEASE.

I also think Kristina Shapran could do great things at Paris Opera. The exceptional cleanliness of her pointe work and her style of expression would mesh well with the crystalline imagery of ONP. Seymon Chudin can go with her and dance with more people who can actually do 5th position.

I actually think Ekaterina Kondaurova to ONP would be interesting, mostly because she's so wonderful and in my opinion has been woefully underused and I would love to see her stretched in a bigger variety of contemporary repertoire. She's absolutely not a French-style dancer, but her in Crystal Pite's work? Or Mats Ek? I want it yesterday.

Paul Marque could kick ass at Mariinsky, with his fluidity and classicism. I think he would be flying up the ranks even with Mariinky's glacial pace because they need competent men and he is exceptionally gifted. And I would like to see him dance some of the big classics in a version that's not Nureyev's overly crowded hodgepodge.

Melissa Hamilton to the Bolshoi, she's got the legs and with her stellar competition career, I think she would have been quickly promoted at Bolshoi. It would be interesting to see her in big dramatic Grigorovich productions...or Carmen!

Sae Eun Park and Fumi Kaneno can both go to the Mariinsky, you can't tell me this wouldn't be a stellar cast of Legend of Love or Corsaire or they can take turns in Scherezade.

Potentially controversial but I don't think Marianela Nunez would have been as successful at Mariinsky or Bolshoi, especially under the current administrations' aesthetic preferences. At Bolshoi, there is such pressure to be soloist level right at 18-19 or you just get buried. If you watch young videos of Marinela, she's obviously very talented but has nowhere near the finesse that she possesses now. And not that the Bolshoi is renowned for finesse and cleanliness but she would have lacked that, plus the hypermobility, plus the body type....I'm not sure it would have gone well for her.

I don't think Oksana Skorik would do as well anywhere outside the Mariinsky. She's most comfortable dancing at Mariinksy's slow (sometimes dirge) tempis and she's a very internal dancer. I don't think her strengths would resonate at Bolshoi or Royal which both demand stronger theatrical presences.

There are some shorter ROH dancers that I think would struggle to find success at Russian companies, primarily the men, but that's not super interesting to discuss stylistically.

And there are certain principals and leading soloists at Bolshoi I don't think would make it into the corps at ROH or ONP...I'll stop here, this was a fun question.

[ballet-symphonie]

So I know at Vaganova the best students are at the center barre and the very best in the class are in the middle spot(s) in the center. Then the other students are at the side barre. But is there any kind of ranking system within the side barre placements? Is the center of the side barre better than the ends, or is being closest to the mirror better since that's nearest to the audience during the exams? Or maybe there's no ranking at all once you get to the side?

I don't know at Vaganova specifically. For my own experience in ballet school, the strongest dancers stood at the center barre, the girls placed at the front of the side barre (closest to the mirror/audience) were stronger than the girls behind them. I think the goal was to sort of 'conceal' the weaker students? At least that was my teacher's preference. I know some other teachers liked to choose the order with more consideration to height, and preferred to put the shorter students in front.