April 14-th Nikolai Tsiskaridze received the Russian National Award "Golden Mask" for the best male ballet role - Hermann in “The Queen of Spades”. The ceremony of rewarding was held in the Mariinsky Theatre, St.Petersburg.

On the 14th of April, in St.Petersburg, Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Ilse Liepa were awarded the "Golden Mask" as best ballet performers for their roles in the Petit 's ballet "The Queen of Spades". For Nikolai it was his third "Golden Mask" - which is, I believe, has not been achieved yet by anyone else.

<small>[ 16 April 2003, 05:35 AM: Message edited by: olechka ]</small>

And on 22, 24 May, Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Ilse Liepa will dance "Sheherazade" with the Ballet company of Teatro dell'Opera di Rome in the Bolshoi Theatre. Tsiskaridze has a hectic schedule this month. After his performances in the Royal Albert Hall galas in London in early May, he danced with the Kirov in St. Petersburg last week in "Scheherazade" with Svetlana Zakharova.

I just read on Ballet.co.uk that Tsiskaridze also danced with Zakharova in Giselle in Moscow.

http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/3645.html

<small>[ 23 May 2003, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]</small>

I read on the www.bolshoi.net that Tsiskaridze and Zakharova danced "Giselle" at the Bolshoi on the 17th of May. The postings called it a masterpiece.

The www.bolshoi.net forum in reality is a "Tsiskaridze fan club." There are no more than 6 or 7 active members who post on the message board and they are mostly his fans. I never find their opinions to be objective.
There is a larger and more popular russian speaking ballet forum http://forum.balet.ru (not influenced by a certain ballerina or dancer)and there were a number of postings about "Giselle" with Zakharova and Tsiskaridze. Both positive and negative.
I was at the performance, which I would describe as uneven for both soloists. Zakharova's high extension might be suitable in "Swan Lake" but not in "Giselle."
Tsiskaridze danced the variaton of the second act beautifully, but among others: his diagonal to Myrtha was a mess and he could not support Zakharova when she traveled in arabesque. I would disagree that it was a masterpiece.

Welcome Nina66 and thanks for your comments. Do tell us more about the performances you attend. There is a good audience in the West for news of Russian ballet.

Thanks for the links, Nina66. I can read enough Russian to understand a lot of what I read, although it's a slow process.

This is what a Moscow ballet lover wrote to me about Svetlana Zakharova and Nikolai Tsiskaridze in "Giselle" at the Bolshoi on 17.05.03:
I feel genuinely sorry about the strange behaviour exhibited by certain "connoisseurs" of art who were so 'impressed' with technical errors in that performance of "Giselle". It was all-good. There was Inspiration. A burst of inspiration felt by everyone. Zakharova and Tsiskaridze quite simply overwhelmed you with their impossible, not-of-this-world beauty. And I should add that the audience really picked up on this. On some level, the ovation for the adagio stunned me even more than the scene itself. It appeared as if this was the audience releasing all the pressure - an empty stage, just the Wills around the outside, and deafening applause without shouting (unlike the claque, our audiences don't shout "Bravo!"), which maintained the same high pitch until Tsiskaridze appeared for the variation…
It is shocking that during the performance of this kind someone was thinking that it should be better for Zakharova with her swan-like arms to dance "Swan Lake" or was measuring the angle of the dancer's raised leg. Well, after all, many people do not understand what is so special in Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" - but in spite of them it still remains a masterpiece! It is well known that the beauty always lacks a bit of harmony (it has been scientifically proved that a perfectly regular face can not be perceived as beautiful). I do not understand why some people expect mathematical accuracy from dancers? Art is meant to create an illusion, "an ennobling deception", since human beings will ever be fallible. It is especially laughable when such charges are brought against the art, which is meant to stir up emotions.
In terms of technique Zakharova and Tsiskaridze were exceptionally strong. Quite apart from the fact that they can be easily explained, those slip-ups, which "the book-keepers" managed to detect, did not spoil the overall impression. And they did not essentially relate to the execution of any particular step. Both dancers did everything they needed to do, and they did it in a way, which took your breath away. And it is simply laughable to suggest that the show failed simply because of the allegedly weak support in arabesques. First of all, it really wasn't that bad. To my mind, it was just a little strange. In fact, I rather liked it because it naturally fitted the tempo and almost Bulgakovesque mood, which formed on stage. The mere fact that Nikolai (and this was the first time I have seen him in "Giselle") performed at a quick tempo what is normally done slowly, is already a good thing. Next time he will just do it better. Secondly, how many people do actually pull it off? Some dancers prepare for it in advance by slowing down and holding back on the previous steps. Nikolai, on the other hand, whipped up a storm on stage with his brises and poissons and did not slow down during Svetlana's arabesques. Any talk of Svetlana's sliding down during pirouettes is a barefaced lie. Do they think that if Zakharova span her tours at an astounding speed and in extraordinary beautiful manner, it is of no importance but if she slipped down (as it appeared to someone), it instantly made the show a failure? That's unreasonable, to put it mildly.
On the 17th of May, we saw at the Bolshoi something that unified all - the dancers and the audience - Inspiration. It gave us a performance of the kind, which are so rare that happen may be once in a lifetime.

Many thanks olechka for taking the trouble to share this piece with us. I have a lot of sympathy with the view that emotional impact, artistry and movement quality are the key factors rather than the number of mistakes - it ain't ice skating!

This week Nikolai Tsiskaridze received his second State Prize from President Putin - for "The Queen of Spades". My Moscow friend told me that he performed a playful dance in the Red Square after leaving the Kremlin. He is now the only celebrity in Russia who has two State Prizes and three Golden Masks.

<small>[ 13 June 2003, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: Kevin Ng ]</small>

More good news for Nikolai Tsiskaridze. On 21 June President Eduard Shevarnadze awarded Tsiskaridze with the highest state award of the Republic of Georgia - the Order of Honour "for his contribution to the development of the ballet world and the specific help given by him to the Tbilisi Ballet School". Nikolai was to dance "Giselle" with Irma Nioradze in Tbilisi on that night.

Nikolai Tsiskaridze will be dancing the leading role in Roland Petit's ballet "Clavigo" with the Paris Opera Ballet at the Opera Garnier on 27th and 28th of this month.

Needless to say I have tickets, flights and hotel all booked and am raring to go.

Wow.... *Sigh* Paris Opera... Tell us all about it please, Cassandra... I feel like a small child with my nose pressed up to the shop window.

Yes, Cassandra, the temptation was too much for me and my friend: we also booked our tickets for Tsiskaridze in 'Clavigo' and for the Eurostar journey. Judging by the reviews of 'Giselle'(which he danced with Zakharova at Bolshoi on 5th of October) on Russian ballet forums he is in great form. Now he has three weeks to learn the new ballet.

<small>[ 08 October 2003, 07:07 PM: Message edited by: coda ]</small>

ME, I shall certainly be posting about my up-coming trip to Paris. I adore the Paris Opera Ballet and this will be my third visit in just under a year. I have also planned to go and see a further three programmes over Christmas.

Coda, I'm delighted to hear you will also be making the trip and I will be looking out for you at the Garnier.