Do you think tsiskaridze made a casting mistake this year's grad performance??? Or do you think they were suitable to their given role??? thanks
Yes and no? I think his casting does the actual graduating class a disservice by refusing to cast them in leading roles. This show is for the grads to get jobs, the underclassmen have PLENTY of exposure already. If the graduate class isn't strong enough to do so...then that's a whole separate issue. The decline of the male talent is also very evident and I'm not sure Raymonda's grand pas de deux was a wise choice.
But mostly, I think the girls he picked were suitable for the roles even though I would have liked to see others highlighted. I would have liked to see Kuprina get a shot at "Queen of the Night" but I understand why she didn't.
Honestly, it's pretty simple, Kuprina stepped up to the plate at Moscow IBC and Valiullina didn't. Based on their performances at the competition, it's pretty clear that Fateyev viewed Kuprina as more prepared for a traineeship and chose her instead.
seems like vba grad concert at kremlin was a success. what do you think about it?
The 2022 grad class were essentially wall flowers, the poaching of underutilized MT boys to dance roles solves neither VBA's male training issues or MT's refusal to give more young guys chances, and the repertoire selection was perhaps not the best.
That being said, the 2023 class danced very well, on the whole.
In previous ask, you talk about Karamysheva doesn’t have the ideal body proportions. Can you explain why, I’m not a ballerina so I don’t know. Because for me she have similar body type with Sofia Valiulina but shorter. Anna Sharova doesn’t post much about ballet. She’s most prob the shortest between the 5 of them, might be taller than Maria Koshkaryova but Koshkaryova is lithe. Sharova and Karamysheva always seem to be the shortest in their class even when they were in the documentary.
Talking about their documentary, I found it weird we never saw of Maria Koshkaryova and Sofia Valiulina when they are in the same year. But Valiulina did appear in the other documentary with Renata Shakirova. Sharova and Valiulina both talks about playing little Masha in their docu respectively. But Kosharyova also has videos of her dancing little Masha.
It's not so much her height that's the issue but more her proportions. The ratio of her legs compared to her torso isn't 'ideal.' Theaters and especially Russian ones are currently favoring dancers with longer legs because the current aesthetic and glorification of the ideal body line favor dancers with longer extremities. Valiulina is a bit lankier and she also appears taller to me, both factors that will likely give her an edge in major Russian theatres.
Honestly, I wouldn't put much stock on who we saw in that documentary. They were so young, I imagine the teachers chose girls who could speak well on camera at that age in addition to their place in the classes/ nutcracker roles. Also Koshkaryova could have been filmed but was cut by the editing team for cohesion/clarity. Additionally, those who are doing well at the start aren't always those who do well at the end. Eleonora Sevenard is a great example, she has talked about how she was barely scraping by in her first few years and it was only later that she started to apply herself and got featured more.
what do you think of sofya valiullina as raymonda?
Better performance than anything she gave at the competition, especially in the upper body but still shaky in the legs in the variation. I wonder how much time she spent preparing for this versus all those variations, the difference in preparation seems to benefit her confidence greatly. Even though her legs weren't always correct and her pointe work still got a bit untidy, she was still selling it from the waist up. That didn't happen in Moscow.
russian audience doesnt seem to like valiullina so much compared to koshkareva whose got endless praises while the former gets so much hate. like why????
Koshkaryova's stability and reliability have gained her fans, she's hard to dislike because she's met or exceeded all expectations placed on her. Valiullina has not met expectations, failed to place in the competition, and has unfortunately made herself a target for negativity.
not gonn lie i think ive enjoyed sofia's raymonda way better than Xoreva's stony expression at her debut. lmfao im sorry, ok i know the latter is technically flawless but the former's raymonda got more character???
I complimented Valiullina's improved presence above. However, I don't think that Valiullina dancing a grand pas de deux for about 10 minutes is comparable to Khoreva dancing the full-length Raymonda for over two hours.
yaroslavna kuprina has become a trainee of MT. so happy for her! but, well, valiullina is not fateev's choice? or MT is not her choice?
Honestly, it's pretty simple, Kuprina stepped up to the plate at Moscow IBC and Valiullina didn't. Based on their performances at the competition, it's pretty clear that Fateyev viewed Kuprina as more prepared for a traineeship and chose her instead.
Ive read an article that while Valiullina isnt as technically great as Koshkaryova but the former has charisma while she performs.
Valiullina's definitely not as stable or as confident in her abilities as Koshkaryova. Yet she does have this natural, effortless elegance and carriage throughout her upper that makes her look really mature and sophisticated. Honestly, it reminds me a bit of young Olga Smirnova, but Valiullina has a bit more warmth.
Maria Koshkareva got an intership with the mariinsky... What roles do you think they will/should give her?
I figure she'll get most of the standard starting roles for hyped grads, like Swan Lake PD3, Shades PD3, Corsaire PD3, maybe a Sleeping Beauty fairy or trio as well.
Asking the VBA wizard about Anna Sharova. She seems to fall behind a lot compared to other girls in her year. Did she not enjoy ballet anymore considering her ig have removed anything about ballet? Also is she too short for VBA/Mariinsky standard?
Leaving this one for the VBA Wizard if they see it! I don't know her exact height but it has been speculated that she might be.
Hi Ale! Do you know why Yana Cherepanova didn't continue to study at Vaganova and what is she doing now?
She doesn't study at VBA because she didn't pass her exam for her 3rd or 4th year, I can't remember which. She is now studying at the Dolgushin School of Ballet in St Petersburg.
