Ismene Brown previews the program line-up for the Mikhailovsky Ballet London appearances, March 26 through April 7, 2013.

The Arts Desk

Now it seems as thought the Mikhailovsky Artistic Director is leaving for Berlin:

http://www.welt.de/kultur/buehne-konzer ... qus_thread

[Moderator note; the link provides no evidence that Duato is being considered or is interested in the position]

Please be reminded about our gossip policy - any information about appointments, promotions etc. may only be posted with a link from an official source (newspaper, company press release, official Facebook or twitter site). And it is important to properly represent the information provided in a link to avoid false rumours.

The link only suggests Duato might be a possiblity for the artistic directorship - there is no mention that he is being considered, that he interested or that any decisions have been made. Or, that the search for Malakhov's successor has been started.

Thanks - I posted a press release on the Berlin thread & I think there is a press conference in Berlin on Thursday but I will leave it to someone else to post that release - if there is any interest on this site- and there has also been more comment in the German press. Items published in print also contain speculations.

If this is true -- and the Mikhailovsky has issued no formal press releases about the news as of Feb. 6th -- then it is an interesting development indeed.

Edited to add, just now, Thursday 11:50 a.m. in Russia (Feb 7) the Mikhailovsky issued their official press release about this. It specifies that Duato will work in Berlin *in parallel with* his ongoing duties at the Mikhailovsky Ballet.

Not sure if this a difference caused somewhere down the line by translation, but this is a little different to what is on the English language news pages of the Mikhailovsky Ballet.

Here it says that Nacho Duato will become Artistic Director of the Staatsballett Berlin when Vladimir Malakhov's contract runs out in August 2014. It says he will remain as full Artistic Director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet only until 1 February 2014, and will continue to work with the company on a regular basis as choreographer thereafter.

The dates indicate there is no period when he will control both companies "in parallel". Indeed, Duato is specifically quoted as saying, "No one can occupy two chairs at once," which indicates he has no intention of following, for example, David Bintley in directing two companies simultaneously (Birmingham Royal Ballet/National Ballet of Japan).

The Mikhailovsky's General Director, Vladimir Kekhman reinforces this when he says the Ballet's new Artistic Director, to lead the company from 2014, will be announced before the end of the season.

For info, full programme and principal casting for London is presently scheduled as follows:

GISELLE 26 - 29 March
Tuesday 26 March, 7.30pm - Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev
Wednesday 27 March, 7.30pm - Polina Seminova, Marcelo Gomes
Thursday 28 March, 7.30pm - Polina Seminova, Marcelo Gomes
Friday 29 March, 7.30pm - Olesya Novikova, Leonid Sarafanov

DON QUIXOTE, 30 - 31 March
Saturday 30 March, 7.30pm - Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev
Sunday 31 March, 3pm - Oksana Bondareva, Denis Matvienko
Sunday 31 March, 7.30pm - Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev

LAURENCIA, 2 & 3 April
Tuesday 2 April, 7.30pm - Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev
Wednesday 3 April, 7.30pm - Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev

MULTIPLICITY. FORMS OF SILENCE AND EMPTINESS, 5 & 6 April
Friday 5 April, 7.30pm - Polina Semionova, Leonid Sarafanov
Saturday 6 April, 7.30pm - Polina Semionova, Leonid Sarafanov

WITHOUT WORDS. NUNC DIMITTIS. PRELUDE, 7 April
Sunday 7 April, 3pm - Leonid Sarafanov

Tickets: £10 - £70
Box Office: 020 7845 9300 /http://www.eno.org

Judith Mackrell traveled to St. Petersburg to report on the Mikhailovsky Ballet's preparations for their March/April 2013 tour to London.

Guardian

Marcelo Gomes will be replaced by Denis Matvienko in Giselle.

Judith Mackrell previews "Giselle" for the Guardian.

Guardian

Judith Flanders reviews "Giselle" for the Arts Desk.

Arts Desk

'Giselle'
Mikhailovsky Ballet
London Coliseum, London; March 26, 2013

Jessica Wilson

The Mikhailovsky Ballet’s “Giselle” saw Natalia Osipova create a truly succinct character, which was both of childlike innocence and learned power simultaneously. The split of Giselle’s character across the two acts, as young villager and then as the newest recruit of the Wilis, clearly demonstrates the shift in her emotional capability, and was shown wonderfully through Osipova’s technique too.

Act I, with Osipova’s pixie-looking expressive face and beautifully buoyant feet was joyous. She was bouncy and full of joie de vivre as she span round the stage, utilising it in a completely different way to the rest of the cast. The lightness and suspension of her steps, her wonderfully expressive face, supple feet and elastic legs, only sought to further confirm Giselle’s passion for life and dance through. Her appearance, alongside Ivan Vasiliev was met with rapturous applause, later serving up secure and precise solos from the cast, stealing nanoseconds from the music and ultimately stretching the sustainment in the posés and batterie. Vasiliev’s Albrecht was filled every inch with confident bravura, foolish alongside his deft footwork and grand, powerful expansion, his status and social position spelt out before the naive Giselle.

A golden autumnal set contained the cast in their happiness, giving way to the pathetic fallacy of the mists descending in Act II. The laughs drawn from the audience in Act I in Albrecht’s profession of love for Giselle dissolved as her pixie face became suddenly gaunt when Albrecht’s true identity and fiancée were revealed. The corps de ballet was quiet and composed in manner, subtly adding to the reactions of the leads, particularly in Giselle’s mad dance in which Osipova gave full reign to her violent and panic-stricken final pleas. Despite their rather minimal input to these scenes, the corps’ emotional was in no way decreased. Anna Novosyolova, playing Giselle’s mother, added much to Osipova’s manic desperation, with her frustrations, inherent love for her daughter and despair immediately readable in singular movement choices.

Despite later appearing slightly mechanical in her movements in comparison to Osipova, Ekaterina Borchenko’s Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, glided round the stage in her bourées like an insect on the lake behind, employing extreme precision in the shifts between her travelling and poses. The 24 Wilis moved in near-perfect unison as virgin brides, completing lines of arabesques and static transitions whilst waiting for their newest recruit. Rightly so, the corps held a distinctly inhuman quality as they stood before Borchenko’s solos and the Wilis’ variations by Asthik Ogannesian and Valeria Zapasnikova, all completed with accuracy and portrayal of mystery.

Giselle’s tragedy was in no way hindered by any lack of or decrease in performance. Osipova continued to breathe life into the heroine’s death, with continued effortless buoyancy. She was ironically delightful in her grief, the fantastic speed and height of her jumps making the full transition to the ethereal Wili appropriately otherworldly. Giselle’s Act II solo ahead of the final pas de deux drew shouts and cheers from the audience, her mature interpretation taking the character past an ensnaring of Albrecht before the dawn and coupling it with a desire to spare him. Oblivious in Giselle’s circling of Albrecht, Osipova created a beautifully poignant longing, with Vasiliev’s Albrecht unable to provide, and Giselle eventually retreating upstage.

London press reviews of "Giselle."

Zoe Anderson for the Independent.

Independent

Lindsey Winship for the Evening Standard.

Evening Standard

Laura Dodge for Londonist.

Londonist

Mark Monahan for the Telegraph.

Telegraph

Jenny Gilbert reviews "Giselle" for the Independent.

Independent

Luke Jennings reviews "Giselle" for the Observer.

Observer

Judith Flanders reviews "Don Quixote" for the Arts Desk.

Arts Desk

Debra Crane reviews "Don Quixote" for The Times.

The Times