Follow Up on Fethon Mizzoi's post
I'm not going to be giving my opinion about whether I think Russian students should be allowed to compete at PDL because that's a whole complicated situation that I'm honestly not prepared to discuss and I know I don't have the answers to. However, since so many people have asked, I will break down his statement a bit further.
Are there non-Russian ballet schools that produce highly capable dancers, absolutely. Do Russians have the tendency to discredit them and their students to hold up their own, absolutely. That being said, Vaganova Ballet Academy has been consistently reluctant in terms of sending its students to competitions, specifically competitions that are not in-house or held in Russia. Important to note: If someone wants to compete at a major ballet competition, they generally need to be officially 'sent' or nominated by the school itself, you can't just sign yourself up unless you want to compete as an 'independent' which is generally looked down upon.
Thoughts on Why Vaganova Ballet Academy isn't Winning:
Generally, VBA's 'top' students either don't go or have pulled out at the last minute with injury or some other issue. I'm thinking about that now *iconic* year of Ludmilla V. Kovaleva grads in 2018, where they had 4 girls who are now MT soloists (Khoreva, Ionova, Bulanova, Nuikina). Yes, Khoreva got injured and didn't end up going, but they certainly could have sent someone in her place? Or even two of them from the start (the 'favored' school(s) that Mizzoi alludes to generally send several competitors yearly) Or any of them the next year?
Similarly, Lizi Avsajanishvili was sent to compete but pulled out at the last minute. Her classmate Anastasia Smirnova was never sent. The same applies to Ksenia Zhiganshina who had done zillions of competitions as a young student. Yet they were willing to send someone like Laura Fernandez-Gromova twice? Now, why is that?
Nikolai M. Tsiskaridze, Rector of the Academy, for all he has done to foster a relationship with the competition, never sent his own students. A major missed opportunity IMO as he has graduated a LOT of foreigners recently that could likely have benefited from the exposure to European companies. In fact, the VBA students who have been the most successful in recent times are foreigners, perhaps this is because they know they're not 'guaranteed' MT contracts in the same ways their Russian classmates are and often have limited opportunities for growth comparatively. Now, most of Tsiskaridze's guys are sitting in MT corps, walking around holding swords in the background, and generally doing nothing. So no, VBA isn't winning, but they're generally not sending their "best and brightest" onto that stage.
The 'biggest' name that has been sent recently is Alena Kovaleva, but she wasn't 'supposed' to be a star. She was in a desperate situation, having already been told that MT wouldn't be taking her because she was too tall. And she didn't even make finals, was that politics? Who knows? I'd argue not, because she was quite weak in contemporary and perhaps didn't choose the best variation.
Thoughts on Why VBA Doesn't Send their Stars:
Now part of me knows why they don't send their top students: they want to keep them for MT. Arguably, VBA students don't 'need' the benefits of PDL to have a great career due to the pedigree and connections that come with a VBA diploma. Now I personally think that VBA still wants the attention and wants everyone to acknowledge "Russian Ballet" as the best. But you can't have it both ways, either VBA management sends more students which gives them chances to be recognized/acknowledged by the western audience but also opens the door for their students to head elsewhere. The school would have to be ok with some of its best talents choosing to leave Russia and not dance for Russian theaters. Keep in mind, that VBA is responsible for producing government-employed dancers to fill the government-funded, highly respected theaters. How foolish do they look if their best students start jumping ship to go abroad?
This is where Fethon's argument has a bit more merit, there is favoritism all over this competition. You can see it in their preselection events, the jury, and certain schools they partner with, especially when you look at the top winners from the past decade. There are certainly... common schools that appear a lot and that are known to have influence. There are schools that have shifted their curriculum to prepare their students for this competition. PDL is a big deal, and it can open lots of doors.
And if I'm going to be honest sometimes I've watched, checked the results, and thought hmmm would *this person* really have gotten that high of a prize (or any prize at all) if they were from a different school? But it's not like VBA hasn't had a working relationship with PDL in the past. The two have been explicitly connected. The PDL literally hosted pre-selection events at the Vaganova Academy during the Vaganoxa Prix (pre-pandemic, has not been repeated since). VBA scholarships are consistently offered and accepted to candidates. Of course, Mizzoi doesn't mention this, it doesn't fit the narrative. There absolutely is a lot of favoritism going on, and certain schools benefit more than others but VBA certainly isn't exempt from it.
