#nagahisa

[heaveninawildflower]

Netsuke of Three Rats (Japan, first half of the 19th century) by Nagahisa.

Image and text information courtesy The Met.

[melmothblog]

Sobaka magazine profiled several prominent Mariinsky dancers of different ranks in their May issue. With a new principal promotion (allegedly) imminent, Sobaka are asking the question: “who will it be?”

The three covers: Maria Khoreva, Nadezhda Batoeva, May Nagahisa.

List of profiles:

Maria Khoreva

May Nagahisa

Nadezhda Batoeva

Xander Parish

Phillip Stepin

Viktor Kaisheta

Maria Bulanova

Anastasia Lukina

Renata Shakirova

Alexander Sergeev

Kimin Kim

I will be translating some of these profiles in the coming days.

[melmothblog]

Ask Responses: Mariinsky

Hi, I really like your blog, it‘s my fav on tumblr! Do you probably know who is/are the top student/s from this year‘s Bolshoi graduates? And my 2. question: Has the Mariinsky ever taken a dancer from Bolshoi Academy?

Thank you! Sorry, I’m not across BBA and their students. I concentrate my attention on Vaganova. Yes, though it doesn’t happen very often, Mariinsky does occasionally hire BBA graduates. Polina Semionova was offered a spot at the company when she graduated (though she opted to leave Russia altogether) and Camilla Mazzi was hired as a trainee last year (she has since joined the company as a corps dancer). I’m sure there are other examples, but these are the two I can think of off the top of my head.

In Mariinsky, May Nagahisa is listed as a trainee. At first, she has three fellow trainees, and each of them disappeared one by one from the post. One of them, Camilla Mazzi, now as a corps de ballet, is provided main roles. What is the difference between the trainee and the corps de ballet who get a chance to dance the solo roles? Why is May Nagahisa still a trainee?

I suppose a corps dancer holds a more secure position with the company, whereas a trainee is there temporarily and isn’t necessarily guaranteed a permanent spot. The way I see it, a traineeship is a way for a dancer to get a foot in the door. Camilla was obviously impressive enough for the Mariinsky management to “promote” her to the corps. It remains to be see if May Nagahisa will be as successful. I don’t know when or if it will happen.

You said that if a dancer can't perform the steps of a choreography/ballet, shouldn't be given that role. Then, what do you think of Kristina Shapran not performing the one-footed hops on pointe in Giselle variation at the Mariinsky? (You can find some videos of her changing the choreography at that point)

To be completely honest, I was thinking specifically of Misty Copeland when I responded to that question because it was asked around the time of her “fouette fiasco”. Moreover, Misty is a repeat offender and actually writes in her book that she doesn’t think it is an issue and a dancer should be able to simplify steps if they think it’s necessary. I understand that sometimes a change like this is made out of absolute necessity (a dancer may be injured), but overall I stand by my original statement. Especially when it comes to the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi because these two companies are world leaders and must maintain a very high standard. I don’t want to comment on Shapran because I don’t know what the rest of her performance was like or what the reason was behind her choice not to go en point during that particular variation.

d i s c l a i m e r

[melmothblog]

Opinons on Dancers

A compilation of responses to “opinion” requests. Thank you for asking.

Ekaterina Borchenko

Of all the leading ladies of the Mikhailovsky Theatre, Angelina Vorontsova is my absolute favourite, but Borchenko is a close second. To be honest, I think she should be at the Mariinsky and I’m not sure why she was never hired by the company. Borchenko graduated from VBA and was Lyudmila Kovaleva’s student. I think all of Kovaleva’s graduates share a certain slickness (for lack of a better word) and clarity of technique. When I watch Borchenko, the one word that comes to mind is “style”. I think she is a stylish ballerina. Not sure if that makes sense.

Kimin Kim

First off, I think Kimin and Renata Shakirova are perfect together. I think they might be my favourite duet at the Mariinsky right now. Otherwise, my previous response still stands.

Andrey Ermakov

He’s a good danseur. Solid first soloist. I loved him as Vronsky, opposite Ulyana Lopatkina’s Anna Karenina, but I like him less in purely classical ballets like “La Bayadere” or “Raymonda”. I know that many people are upset that he hasn’t been made principal yet, but I can actually see why he’s still a soloist. 

I’ve mentioned before that it’s hard for me to review younger danseurs because my opinions are heavily influenced by years of watching Tsiskaridze (and other danseurs of his generation). I expect eloquence, precision, lyricism, musicality, passion, wit... In other words, I expect too much and am often left disappointed. In Ermakov’s case, my biggest complaints are his oftentimes laboured jumps and somewhat lacklustre delivery. 

Yana Selina 

To be honest, I don’t know much about Selina. This ask mentioned “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”, so I watched those videos, and I found Yana very gentle, charming and expressive as Maria. A real pleasure to watch!

Yekaterina Chebykina 

I’m not overly familiar with the Mariinsky’s second soloists (except Shakirova). I know that Chebykina is a Ukrainian expat and is a relatively (2013) recent addition to the company. I’ve only seen a couple of clips, and I can’t say that I’m a fan. Her technique seems kind of sloppy and she lacks the “character” some of her character roles demand. For example, here’s Chebykina as the street dancer in “Don Q”:

Anastasia Soboleva 

One of the many gifted Bolshoi runaways who ended up at the Mikhailovsky... A charming and lively ballerina.

Evelina Godunova

I've never heard of her until the Moscow competition. She did a spectacular job! 

Miko Fogarty

Please have a look at my previous response.

Camilla Mazzi

Haven’t seen enough of her to form an opinion, but she must be really darn good if the Mariinsky hired her as a trainee. Not only is she a foreigner, but she studied at BBA. The Mariinsky only take in BBA grads once in a blue moon.

May Nagahisa

As in the case of Camilla Mazzi, I am first and foremost impressed that the Mariinsky hired a foreign graduate. Again, I have seen too little of May to form an opinion, but I’m excited to see how she’ll do in the future.

d i s c l a i m e r

[daisukinakoto]

xDD

poor hisa nii ~ xDD

[TOWA'S OTHER BROTHER (ku i think o_o) IS SUPER COOL <3]