Svetlana Zakharova At The Met

I attended two performances with this new wonder girl: Don Quixote on the 18th of July and The Pharaoh's Daughter of the 30th. It was the very first time that I saw the Bolshoi production of DQ and I must say that I am rather disappointed. Precious little is left from the original production of Marius Petipa. What had overlaid it is an unfortunate mixture of fair choreography of Ivanov along with variety show high leg kicks and other wow effects of the Soviet period, Fadeechev and who else not. And among all that like some precious jewel shines genius of Petipa in the scene of Don Quixote' Dream!

But Svetlana Zakharova is a different story. To begin with I was somewhat surprised at how well known she already is in New York. Hardly had she stepped out to the stage when the audience started to applaud. To be completely honest with you, save for the Dream scene, the role of Kitri is not ideal for her. Regardless, one could easily see that she is a rare bird, a quintessential classical dancer with the gifts from gods.

The role of Aspicia suites her like a glove. Actually most dancers favored well in this spectacular ballet-show. It is true, that most of the choreography is not of Petipa but of the contemporary French choreographer Pierre Lacotte, who had made his career of restoring old ballets. But unlike the Bolshoi's Don Quixote where everything is a la "this" and a la "that", Lacotte's choreography preserves the flavor of the period, i.e. the 2nd half of the 19th century with its fondness of Ancient Egypt and pomp and circumstance of Russia's Imperial court. One dance of the River Guadalquivir has more genuine Spanish flavor in it than the whole of Don Quixote.

Back to Zakharova. It was not possible to take one's eye from her. Sure enough she dances with the lightness and precision of Vaganova school, but that's not it …

...As this incredible show of Ancient Egypt unfolded before the mesmerized audience, I was trying grasp the essence of Svetlana's talent. And the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that it is not possible to dance the way Svetlana does without her physical properties: the exquisite arch of her elastic feet, her hyperextended legs and above all the fantastic curve of her neck and shoulders. She is the darling of fortune and this is all that is to it. You, be the judge:

The neckline
The feet
That face

I tend to agree with Balletomaniac about Ta-Hor as performed by Nikolai Tsiskaridze. The most surprising thing is that Nikolai is Bolshoi's #1 star. It's not even that I had expected too much of him - he just didn't deliver. The Pharaoh's Daughter gives a male dancer a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate his technique of petit batterie. Alas, Nikolai didn't take advantage of this opportunity, as his small beats were rather unexpressive if not downright sloppy as they were taken from the combination of 3rd and 4th position, rather than a proper 5th or 1st. It is especially evident if compared to the wonderful performance of Sergei Fillin who dances the role of Ta-Hor to Zakharova's Aspicia, now on DVD.

In contrast Sergei dances the role of Ta-Hor to the spoiled perfection, his foot work is the one to admire and learn from. His understanding of his partner - Svetlana Zakharova in this case - is beyond reproach. I must give Nikolai his due, however. The Pharaoh's Daughter (read the synopsis below) ends with the last duet of Aspicia and Ta-Hor. I'll tell you that never had I seen such sincere expression of love as they displayed in that scene: their arms interwoven, eyes seeking each other, heads touching ... And there was this indescribable sadness in it too, as they were to part again and this time forever!

Alas, it was just a dream. Shortly after Aspicia became a mummy and Lord Wilson (Ta-Hor) woke up.

A young English explorer, Lord Wilson, is traveling through Egypt. At the foot of the pyramid they meet a caravan of merchants. Fierce storm makes the whole company hide inside the pyramid. Once safe inside, the Arabic merchants offer Wilson to partake from their opium pipes. Driven by curiosity he does and the most wonderful metamorphosis occurs… One of the mummies comes to life! It is Apicia (Svetlana Zakharova), the daughter of the mightiest of pharaohs.

And Lord Wilson himself turns into a handsome Egyptian warrior Ta-Hor (Nikolai Tsiskaridze). And the adventure starts. During the hunt, Ta-Hor saves Aspicia from the lion. She naturally falls in love with her savior. In order to escape the marriage with the old Nubian king she flees the palace. But followed by the vengeful king, jumps into the Nile. Enchanted by her beauty and manners, God of the Nile saves her and helps her to reunite with her beloved Ta-Hor.

...Alas, it is only a dream. As the effect of the opium fades away, Aspicia assumes the form of the mummy sending her parting kiss and Lord Wilson wakes up

Posted by Redshoeslover:

I have not seen this company before and they are performing this week. I was wondering which to see. The Bright Stream fits more into my schedule this week, but if Spartacus is a must see, then I can try to fit it in this weekend. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum..Any thoughts?

thank you for redirecting my post

Between the two that you mentioned, I'd go with Spartacus, even though as I recall Bright Stream got decent reviews in NY (I didn't see it). But if they're doing one of the other works that they performed in NYC, Don Q or Pharaoh's Daughter, either of those would be worth considering even though neither is without flaws.

Starting as a rant about the running of the Bolshoi, this article becomes a tepid review of "Bright Stream":

I just returned from this past Sunday's performance of Spartacus by the Bolshoi Ballet at OCPAC, and I can't disagree with most of what Segal says. The orchestra was the best thing of the afternoon, playing with passion and precision ballet orchestras normally lack. Maria Alexandrova was a wonderful Aegina, with a bright, sharp stage presence fairly oozing cunning, and Nina Kaptsova danced a good Phyrgia. The men weren't very interesting, but given the choreography they had, I don't blame them. The big solos were grunt choreography: stuff you did if you wanted to grunt, like grand jetes across the stage diagonal, both sides! Just like class. Some of it was downright insipid: the three shepherds with their twirling staves looked like they'd be more at home in top hats and tails on a Broadway stage. The choreography had no cumulative effect: it looked like busy work to fill out the music.

--Andre

I personally find it odd that the management of the Bolshoi brought their best to the Met, but failed to convince them to continue with the tour through the rest of the country. It's like "… you, guys don't understand the fine art of ballet well enough to tell the difference anyway..." or even worse " … just a place to make a few bucks".

This disconcerting attitude opens a wonderful opportunity for the ensemble of Urii Grigorovich, which performs Spartacus to the spoiled perfection! I hope to see them at the Met as well.

In contrast, come October, Kirov-Mariinsky will bring their best to Detroit, MI - Vishneva and Lopatkina. It appears that this group takes the reputation of their theatre much more seriously.

The last time the Bolshoi showed up in SoCal (for La Bayadere), it was widely believed that they brought their "B" company, or their lesser dancers, if there's such a thing. But this time, the Bolshoi were filling in for ABT who had cancelled their Thanksgiving engagement at OCPAC, so perhaps the theater managers were willing to take a less than optimal company configuration. I'm not sure which one I'd rather watch: ABT or a reduced Bolshoi.

The Kirov's engagement in LA is going to bring Vishneva and Lopatkina as well, for the opening and closing performances. They've been very good to us as we've seen almost all of their stars here on their last visits.

--Andre

An article about the Bolshoi's artistic director:

An explanation for the missing Bolshoi stars, which actually sounds plausible:

A favorable review of "The Bright Stream":