Sergei Vikharev, the former Russian dancer renowned for his reconstruction of ballets and who died last Friday at 55, will be celebrated in the foyer of the Mariinsky Theatre today, before being buried in St Petersburg’s Serafimovskoe Cemetery, which is also the resting place of many other Mariinsky dancers including Yuri Soloviev, Feya Balabina and…
Italians are great dancers, but they don’t get much opportunity to demonstrate that in their homeland. The history of ballet is adorned with Italian talent: Giuseppina Bozzacchi was the first Swanhilda in Coppélia; three dazzling stars, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni (also the first Sylphide) were celebrated by Perrot in his Pas de Quattre; Pierina Legnani was named Prima Ballerina Assoluta by Petipa…
What have Alina Cojocaru, Natalia Osipova and Viengsay Valdés got in common? Well yes, they are all ballet dancers. And yes, they have all danced Giselle. But think more deeply… They’ve all got dark hair? Now you’re just being silly. I’ll have to tell you. They all have shoes made with solar power! But I expect you’d…
All the Raymonda variations from the reconstruction of the ballet at Milan‘s Teatro alla Scala with Olesia Novikova, and de Brienne’s variation with Friedemann Vogel, are now available on YouTube. Playlist (11 extracts)
The reconstructed ballet Raymonda, that debuted earlier this month at Milan‘s La Scala, will be broadcast this evening at 21.30 on Rai5 in a delayed broadcast. Whether the hour and a half difference is to allow a tripping ballerina the chance to have another go has not been explained. This is a mega-ballet with the…
Another clip from Sergei Vikharev‘s newly reconstructed version of Raymonda. Mariinsky ballerina Olesia Novikova is joined by Stuttgart Ballet‘s Friedemann Vogel in the Act III variation and coda.
The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets had never before been performed by the La Scala ballet until last night. The La Scala première marks the most faithful version of Raymonda yet to the original, which met with triumphant success in St Petersburg in 1898. In Sergei Vikharev’s newly reconstructed version, Mariinsky ballerina…
The greatest applause during last night’s gala at La Scala was reserved for Leonid Sarafanov and Olesya Novikova in the Tchaikovsky Pas de deux. As the applause faded a voice called out “these are étoiles”, reflecting a common-held view in the foyer that a Gala of Étoiles should reflect the label on the packet, and feature a greater proportion of…
La Scala held a press conference this morning to announce its 2011-2012 season. How times, and timing, have changed. Just ten years ago the season was being presented in late June, with roles “to be announced” and events “to be confirmed”. Italians are resigned to their fate: inefficiency – like corrupt politicians – is the…
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