Ask Responses: VBA Graduates Updates Round-Up
what's going on with Oscar Frame? He posted on his facebook page he has to leave his residence within 2 weeks? He hints he is stil with Bolshoi, but I wonder.
I’m not friends with Frame on Facebook, so I can’t see the post you’re referring to. My last update on Oscar was two weeks ago, he appears to be doing fine at the Bolshoi.
Would you know what happened to Orine Anzai? She hasn't posted on IG in a long time. I hope all's OK.
I have no updates, I’m afraid. She’s still listed as a member of the Mariinsky corps de ballet, though, so she hasn’t left the company and will hopefully come back once she’s recovered.
Dear Melmoth, I remember Amelishko and Tshvitaria left Mariinsky for Ballet Theater in Samara, however, it looks like they are not there anymore. Do you know where they are dancing? Thanks.
Nika and her husband have gone freelance, so they’re dancing all over the place.
Has Ksenia Sevenard recovered from her injury?
No updates on that front, I’m afraid...
Any idea where masha petukhova is now? She seemed to have great potential but I haven’t heard anything about her since she left VBA... heard she was with the Estonian National Ballet but haven’t seen any clips or anything... any updates?
I don’t think Maria is at Estonian National Opera anymore, she’s not listed as a member of the company on their website. Unfortunately, she’s not been very active on social media since last year, so there are no updates on her current situation.
I’m a bit sad about Bogdashkina, I expected her to have some soloist roles after joining Mikhailovski but apparently nothing still.
It’s not very common for graduates to get soloist roles after they join a company as a corps dancer. For every Bulanova, Nyukina or Iliyushkina there are dozens upon dozens of dancers who don’t get the same opportunities or exposure. That’s the unfortunate reality of ballet.
Can you ordinate these recent vaganova graduates based on your preference ? From the one who is the best to bottom ( of course they are all dedicated and hardworking people, it’s just I’m curious about your taste). Alena Kovaleva, Daria Ionova, Eleonora Sevenard, Vlada Borodulina, Maria Khoreva, Maria Bulanova.
I don’t like comparing dances because they are all very different and have individual traits that one shouldn’t and can’t compare. The list below is based purely on my personal taste and the very important fact that I am more familiar with some of these dancers than others:
I may have missed it but, do we have any idea where the likes of Kristina Legacheva (beautiful lines), Ksenia Andreenko, Zoya Frolova, etc from the 2019 class ended up? (I assume K. Sevenard still injured.) It blows my mind that a ballerina could get that far in her training and not be taken by a company! I hope they find work.
Unfortunately, I’m still not sure where these graduates ended up at.
Do you think it is possible that Khoreva, Bulanova, Nuikina, Ionova, Khiteeva, Savelieva, and Petukhova (I forgot where she is) could all become primas or first soloists with Mariinsky (or where Petukhova is)? These girls all seem supremely talented, and were the toppers of their classes. The past few Vaganova top graduates all seem to be doing really well in theater. Ionova needs a promotion soon, and Savelieva I hope will get more and more solist roles. Top graduates part 2: Ever since 2009, the top graduates either do really well in theater or are completely sidelined. Stepanova is finally a prima, although I think that she was better when she was younger, and in Mariinsky. Bateova is doing well. Marchuk got completely put aside, for some unknown reason. Smirnova and Shapran are both doing very well. Strebko isn't even at Bolshoi anymore, where is she? And what about Olga Makarova? What a talent wasted. I see Lukina will debut in Giselle.
Anything is possible, but if we were to look at things realistically... The number of principal and leading soloist positions at any given theatre is limited and every year VBA and BBA graduate incredible young talent. The competition is intense and not every dancer - no matter how promising and talented - makes it through. Olga Makarova, for example, now works primarily as a ballet teach and figure skating coach, though I believe she is also a freelance dancer.
Laura Fernandez just signed a soloist contract with the Stanislavsky Ballet. I was trying to get a feel for what that company is like by watching videos. What is their style/reputation? They seem to be more flamboyant than the Mariinsky - more like the Bolshoi.
The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Academic Theatre was formed in 1941, when Stanislavsky Opera merged with Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. The theatre was supposed to be more experimental and innovative than the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky (these theatres were supposed to remain “classical”). For example, as I see it, “Nureyev” would’ve been right up its alley, though it was staged at the Bolshoi
According to STANMUS website:
The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre was founded in 1941 when two companies directed by the legendary reformers of twentieth-century theatre — Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko — merged. The new theatre followed the artistic principles of its founders, who applied the system of the Moscow Art Theatre to opera and ballet. Both Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko rejected the current conception of opera as «costume concert». They wanted to bring it closer to drama and comedy, revealing the main idea of the plot through psychologically motivated action.
