<P><font size=1>Svetlana Zacharova and Evgeny Ivanchenko of the Kirov Ballet.<BR>Photograph: Valentin Baranovsky</font><P><B>Set to paint the town red</B><P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>There's been a revolution in Russian ballet - and the Kirov, not the Bolshoi, has emerged triumphant. Now the company is preparing to lord it over London for a second successive summer. Clifford Bishop reports from St Petersburg.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR><A HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/06/10/sticuldnc01002.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE...</B></A><P><BR>

The battle of Russian ballet indeed:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Kirov Resumes London's 'Battle of Russian Ballet'</B><P>Mike Collett-White, Reuters<P>LONDON (Reuters) - The famed Kirov Ballet steps on to the London stage this week, hot on the heels of Moscow's Bolshoi company in what has been billed as a battle between the giants of Russian dance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010611/re/arts_ballet_kirov_dc_1.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>

Red shoes, how did your friends daughter get involved with the Kirov?

the kirov has used local children wherever they brought the 1890 sleeping beauty. in new york they were from more than one school, which was quite nice. perhaps red shoes' daughter was one of the local children? red?

My friend's daughter is a Junior Associate at the Royal ballet School. Basically they wanted AVAILABLE children, who wouldn't be on holiday, and whose parents are totally reliable, like my friend (my friend was also assumed as Chaperone for the youngsters, so she sat in on rehearsals too!). <BR>They are all more or less the same size, for costume reasons. She had to audition for it, obviously.<BR>So she did it last year and is also doing it this year!<BR>I have a pic of her with one of the male dancers, last year, but in my ignorance I don't know who he is!!!<P>The only negative thing was that they kept saying she was overweight, which is absolitely ridiculous, as she is very slender and petite. I think they ought to be more careful about what they say to young children, and not veer them towards looking like emaciated stick insects.

Karen - I am so very sorry - I just saw your posts and your questions to me.<P>I have seen the Kirov/Mariinsky a fair number of times both before and after the breakup of the Soviet Union, in Costa Mesa, CA. - Orange County Performing Arts Center.<P> After the breakup of the Soviet Union, my husband and I came away with the impression that the dancers were still wonderful - but the costuming/sets were not as well done. It could have been the traveling - I don't know. But some of the cloaks, for instance, looked to have the weight of bed sheets rather than heavier materials. It had a slipshod look.<P>We stayed in the same hotel at which the dancers stayed - and it was fairly evident to us that they seemed very careful of their expenditures. I have posted this before - but here goes again. <P>At breakfast the hotel had a very ample buffet - and the Russian dancers literally descended on the fruit. They stuffed the fruit into their pockets, purses, and carried out as much as they could possibly hold. The hotel, very kindly brought out a full, very large basket (the wholesale kind) of bananas and emptied it on a table for them. They carried it all away. The American guests were watching in wonderment.<P>Across from the theater area is a very large shopping mall - it was Christmas time. The mall was extremely busy, beautifully lit and decorated. Everyone was carrying packages - except the Kirov dancers - their hands were empty. <P>We stayed there for two performances - two nights at the hotel and therefore had time to observe the dancers over a couple of days. Never saw one package that they bought. We ran into, figuratively speaking, three of the principal ballerinas at lunch in the mall - and the three of them were sharing one very small salad. Whether that was by choice or not - it was a very small meal. And one roll - split three ways.<P>Their daytime clothes - were also shoddy. I am used to S. California casual - but this was different. We were also impressed that they didn't greet each other at meals. It was as if they were strangers to one another. They were also taken aback by the strict no-smoking rules at all public places here. But they did put out their cigarettes in the hotel restaurant. <P>But, the dancing was terrific.

Karen - as I said I don't have my programs - BUT - my husband does keep some of the ticket stubs - LOL - <P>And I found two sets - one was "The Nutcracker" Dec 5th, 1992 - so my memory of it being Christmas time was correct.<P>The second set of tickets is May 23, 1992 (hard to believe we saw them twice in one year!) but unfortunately there is no mention of the program for that night. But somehow I recall seeing a full length Le Corsaire - but that could be wrong.<P>

Here is a link to some reviews of Sleeping Beauty.<P><A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000034.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Kirov's Sleeping Beauty</B></A><P><BR>[Edited by Azlan to fix coding]<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited June 14, 2001).]

<B>HOW DO I LOOK?</B><P>The Kirov's Uliana Lopatkina on her transformation from bandy-legged child to celebrated prima ballerina. BY JENNY GILBERT in The Independent. <P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>It's hard to remember when I first wanted to be a ballerina. My mum loaded me with extra-curricular activities from the age of about four, and I don't remember having any free time as a child. The story goes that I had been left alone in the flat, and when my mother came home from work she discovered that I had somehow worked out how to use the record player, had put on some classical music, and was dancing round the room in some of her clothes.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?id=010623000340&query=ballet" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A>

<B>Interview with Natalia Solegub and Ilya Kuznetsov</B><P>by Luke Jennings of The Evening Standard<P>Don't expect much about ballet!<P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Sometimes, says the Kirov Ballet's Natalia Sologub, "I go for six months without shopping. Then I'll wake up one morning and ..." She smiles, and shrugs helplessly. "My biggest buy to date has been a mink coat. It was very, very expensive but it was the exact red of my hair and I just had to have it."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/hottx/music/top_review.html?in_review_id=404206&iii=on&in_review_text_id=357075" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A>

Perhaps the interpreters used by the newspapers don't know that the interviewees are dancers and keep thinking, what are all these strange references to dance - they must mean shopping and eating. Leave me with Zelensky or Ruzimatov for an hour and I'll have their life story...what they read, the cat's funny little habits, their tips for effective make-up removers and long lasting eye-shadows, how to keep your calf muscles taut through the summer holidays and their top ten most embarrassing moments on stage. Can someone get me that hour?

Emma, do I see here the Stuart Sweeney approach to interviewing...

Not quite....my stock question is, 'Do you have any pets?'