I'd love to go but won't be able to make it this time, Cassandra. I'll anxiously await reports from lucky attendees.

I can look forward to a week's worth of Beauties here in DC next February. Hopefully Obraztsova will be on that tour. Alas, Somova's photo as Aurora is on all of the Kennedy Center literature.

We have tickets for R&J on the 6th - have not checked the casting...

We saw the Guangdong last year in Swan Lake - once you see this, you will never look at it the same way again - when she stands on pointe on top of his head at the end, it's a once-in-a-lifetimer. Those gymnasts can do stuff that ballerinas can't do - the production values were extraordinary - the integrity of the production was not lost...

So did you like the Guandong acrobatic SwanLake, Auntie? Perhaps this would be the perfect move for Somova?

Interesting idea NN . Just curious, does the Guangdong call itself a "ballet troupe" or a gymnastic group?

Ballet is an art and involves more than just tricks. At its best it involves a deep emotional output from the artist, just as acting does, in addition to (hopefully) pristine, well-refined, polished technique that doesn't sway into acrobatics. So I am curious what they bill themselves as.

Auntie, you will be seeing Obraztsova and Kolb as Romeo and Juliet on 6th August.

I didn't get to see the Guangdong version of Swan lake last year but the feedback I heard was all positive. I don't have a problem with acrobatic troups adapting classical ballets but I do have a problem with classical ballet companies passing off acrobats as ballerinas.

Agreed, Cassandra - as long as the acrobatic troupe is billed as such, and not as a ballet troupe. That is as harmful to the classical ballet companies as promoting acrobatics from within, in my opinion.

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Just a note to confirm that internal casting lists match the ROH site and have Lopatkina as the very first night of Odette/Odile. Somova is still opening night, Rubies on the 12th, SymphC on the 13th, and Aurora on the 15th.

I'm afraid I'm the bearer of very bad tidings as I have just heard officially that Ekaterina Osmolkina is no longer dancing with the Kirov in London next month. No reason has been given.

For me this is dreadful new as I consider her the finest of the dancers currently with the company and she is massively popular in London. The casts have been rearranged and I'll post the details later but it has resulted in a situation where those that are admirers of Vladimir Shklyarov will be forced to watch him with Somova. At least this hasn't hit me financially as I only bought standing places this time around.

Here is the revised casting for the Kirov's London season.

3 Aug Romeo and Juliet – 1 Alina Somova – Vladimir Shklyarov
4 Aug Romeo and Juliet – 2 Obraztsova Evgenya – Denis Matvienko
5 Aug Romeo and Juliet – 3 Viktoria Tereshkina – Evgeny Ivanchenko
6 Aug Romeo and Juliet -4 Irina Golub – Igor Kolb
7 Aug Swan Lake – 1 Uliana Lopatkina – Daniil Korsuntsev
Rothbart – Ilya Kuznetsov
8 Aug Swan Lake - 2 - 14.00 Ekaterina Kondaurova – Igor Kolb
Rothbart – Konstantin Zverev
Swan Lake – 3 - 19.30 Viktoria Tereshkina – Evgeny Ivanchenko
Rothbart – Ivan Sitnikov
9 Aug No performance
10 Aug Swan Lake- 4 Alina Somova – Denis Matvienko
Rothbart – Konstantin Sverev
11 Aug Swan Lake- 5 Anastsia Kolegova – Vladimir Shklyarov
Rothbart – Ilya Kuznetsov
12 Aug. Balanchine – 1
Serenade
Walz
Russian dance
Dark Angel
Elegy
Viktoria Tereshkina – Evgeny Ivanchenko
Nadezhda Gonchar
Yuliana Chereshkevich
Denis Firsov
Rubies Alina Somova
Vladimir Shklyarov
Ekaterina Kondaurova
Fedor Murashov
Alexey Nedviga
Anton Pimonov
Maksim Khrebtov
Symphony in C 1.Viktoria Tereshkina – Denis Matvienko
2.Uliana Lopatkina – Daniil Korsuntsev
3.Nadejda Gonchar- Phillip Stepin
4.Evgenya Obraztsova – Alexey Timofeev

13 Aug Balanchine-2
Serenade
Waltz
Russian dance
Dark angel
Elegy
Ekaterina Kondaurova – Daniil Korsuntsev
Irina Golub
Daria Vasnetsova
Denis Firsov
Rubies Irina Golub
Denis Matvienko
Yulianna Chereshevich
Fedor Murashov
Alexey Nedviga
Anton Pimonov
Maksim Khrebtov
Symphony in C 1.Alina Somova – Maksim Zyuzin
2.Ekaterina Kondaurova – Evgeny Ivanchenko
3.Nadezhda Gonchar - Vladimir Shklyarov
4.Evgenya Obraztsova – Kirill Saffin

14 Aug The Sleeping Beauty- 1 Evgenya Obraztsova – Igor Kolb
Lilac Fairy - Ekaterina Kondaurova
15 Aug The Sleeping Beauty – 2 Anastasia Kolegova – Vladimir Shklyarov
Lilac Fairy – Daria Vasnetsova
The Sleeping Beauty – 3 Alina Somova – Leonid Sarafanov
Lilac Fairy - Ekaterina Kondaurova

Hi Cassandra,

Bad news indeed, and strange. I saw Osmolkina listed on one of the casting lists -- now (unfortunately) I cannot recall if it was for Amsterdam or London, but this was literally 2 days ago that her name was up on the internal boards. I hope it's not an injury.

There were reports that she was injured back in June, and she hasn't danced since, has she ? The management might just have been hoping she was back in time. Hopefully it was nothing too serious though... Such a shame she has to miss the major summer tours.

Azulynn, you're right, she has not appeared in the White Nights festival (June and July) this year, so it's likely an injury. I haven't seen her around the rehearsal halls either (not that that means anything given how huge the theatre is). hope she recovers soon in any case!

She has appeared during the White Nights Festival in June, and even several times. She was replaced later.

Oh wait -- Yes, of course: in Flora's Awakening, yes she did dance in that at least once in June. But she hasn't been cast as often. I confirmed with someone else that she was injured (so those reports are correct).

Hopefully the injury is not serious!

A disappointing lack of coverage of the season opening tonight in the British press, however I have unearthed this article by Zoe Anderson in The Independent:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 65910.html

I find it interesting that Ms Anderson breaks ranks with a very insightful critique of Lopatkina:



It wasn't Lopatkina who pioneered the excrutiatingly slow tempi in Swan Lake though as Makarova was guilty of that decades before.

With the first night cast being what it is I shall not be going tonight , but hope to report back on Tereshkina's Juliet in due course.

Thanks Cassandra. I look forward to reading your impressions of R&J soon.
__

Ismene Brown wrote a rather accurate (initially at least) appraisal of Somova:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/thea ... -pony.html

She draws a conclusion regarding Terekhova's coaching that, from what I've seen, is not addressing the full issue. Terekhova is not one to focus on port de bras with her girls, and Somova's right hand and fingers are in dire need of help. Somova's issue is not just uber high extensions, it is the entire image at this point -- the arms almost worse than the legs in many respects, as they're often much more difficult to correct over the long term, especially if the training didn't set the proper positions in stone. Each student absorbs at different rates and depths.

I have to disagree though with Ms. Anderson's review. In Petersburg performances when other (always foreign in fact) critics have used the term "mannered" to describe Uliana Lopatkina, I've never had that impression during the same viewings.

I cannot speak to the performance of which she wrote, however, except to say that everyone has off nights. What is a too-slow tempo to some, is not so bad to others. And keeping in mind Lopatkina is at least 5'9", it would not make sense for her to deliver O/O at a fast tempo, needless to say. And, all tempi aside, one thing you will never see from Lopatkina is incorrect port de bras; her arms are classic Vaganova style. The same cannot be said of Ms. Somova.