Some recent stories about this important visit: <P><B>Center Stage for the Kirov</B><BR>This Week, the Famed Company's Ballet, Opera Launch D.C. Alliance <BR>By Philip Kennicott in The Washington Post <P><BR>Given the human tendency to find things that are threatening also a little bit sexy, it makes perfect sense that the St. Petersburg-based Kirov Opera and Ballet has supplanted the Moscow-based Bolshoi as the West's most admired Russian company.<P>To Western observers, the now-crumbling Bolshoi, beset with infighting and money woes, was the pride of the bad old Soviet Union, a theatrical juggernaut that could convert the raw aesthetic of a May Day parade -- the power, muscle and lockstep of it all -- into a night of breathtaking theater. But it is the Kirov that embodies the new Russia, turning the federation's terrifying tumult and foment into something appealing as well, a circus of old and new, tradition and innovation, chaos and opportunity.<P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46037-2002Feb8.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><P>****************************<P><B>Artistic Pas de Deux</B><BR>Kirov Is Kennedy Center's Eager Partner. By Sarah Kaufman in The Washington Post <P><BR>Originally the pride of the czar, then relegated to second fiddle under the communists, the Kirov Ballet and Opera are once again the darlings of a new sort of aristocracy: private donors. Under the much-lauded artistic direction of Valery Gergiev, the St. Petersburg powerhouse -- which arrives in Washington next week -- is getting along better than most Russian arts organizations in the post-Soviet era.<P>A big reason has been the hyperactive Gergiev's ability to forge alliances with key arts presenters such as Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, and to attract funding from wealthy Western patrons such as opera lover Alberto Vilar. <P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48675-2002Feb8.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><P>*****************************<P><B>Kirov's 'Beauty': Calling Prince Charming</B> <BR>By Sarah Kaufman for The Washington Post <P><BR>When a company chooses to restage a full-length ballet, the common practice is to punch it up with bravura displays. Tighten the story line, brighten the dancing and send the audience out to the taxi stand in a rush of vicarious adrenaline.<P>With its production of "Sleeping Beauty," performed at the Kennedy Center Opera House Tuesday night, the Kirov Ballet chose to expand the familiar story, rather than trim it. Its version is a revival of the original 1890 production, the Marius Petipa-Peter Tchaikovsky collaboration that epitomized classical-ballet style as well as czarist excess. Inverting the current formula, this staging is longer (more than 3 1/2 hours) and slower (with less virtuoso dancing and more pantomime) than we are used to seeing. And weighed down by its lackluster cast, Tuesday's performance veered close to tedious.<P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7841-2002Feb13.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

I wish I could see the Kirov's sumptuous production of Sleeping Beauty right now, as well as Jewels. I love the Kirov more than any other company in the world, I must say. I hope to go to St. Petersburg in March to attend their Maryinsky Ballet Festival.<p>[This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited February 14, 2002).]

Two more reviews:<P><B>Kirov's Sparkling Heirloom 'Jewels'</B> <BR>By Sarah Kaufman in The Washington Post <P><BR>In the 1920s George Balanchine left the company we now call the Kirov Ballet in search of artistic freedom. The century would nearly run out before the Kirov, in turn, attained the freedom to reclaim Balanchine for its own. Piece by piece, in addition to its stable of classics, the St. Petersburg establishment has been performing works by the famed expatriate who expanded the Russian legacy in astonishing, outside-the-box ways.<P>On Wednesday and Thursday at the Kennedy Center Opera House, the Kirov presented its first American performances of Balanchine's "Jewels," the plotless, full-length ballet that is so intricately musical, so technically formidable and stylistically thorny that only a half-dozen other companies perform it.<P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19127-2002Feb15.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><P>*****************************************<P><B>Kirov triumphs with Balanchine</B><BR>By Jean Battey Lewis in THE WASHINGTON TIMES<P><BR>The Kirov Ballet from St. Petersburg is dancing two classical ballets here this week that offer dramatically different views of the company and its repertoire. The Kirov's greater triumph comes in meeting the challenges of George Balanchine's neoclassic "Jewels" rather than in its bred-in-the-bone performance of "Sleeping Beauty," a work created for the company 111 years ago.<BR>In "Jewels," the Kirov's remarkable corps de ballet comes to the fore. It is the embodiment of the famed Kirov style — limpid, elegantly poised, gracious and expansive. <P><BR><A HREF="http://www.washtimes.com/arts/20020216-28938.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

Thanks for the links to those 2 reviews, Stuart. Kirov Ballet fans in other parts of the world may be interested to know that the company will tour China in Sept., and then Paris and other French cities in Oct. The New York Met season will be in July.<P>2003 is the tri-centenary year of the founding of the city of St. Petersburg, and I was told that the Kirov won't be able to tour overseas that much because they have to stay at home to participate in the city's festivities. <p>[This message has been edited by Kevin Ng (edited February 16, 2002).]

Kevin, will the Kirov Ballet ever pay a visit to tiny ol' Singapore?

Malcolm, I hope so, but not 2002 and 2003 I am afraid. However you'll see the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre in Singapore this Dec.

Thanks, Kevin. So hopefully the Kirov Ballet will perform in Singapore during my lifetime, heh. I suppose Singapore isn't a very popular destination among the Russian companies, but funny how the Moscow City Ballet has brought its "Swan Lake" there more than once...

<B>The Many Faces of Sleeping Beauty</B> <BR>By Alexandra Tomalonis for The Washington Post<P><BR>"Sleeping Beauty" -- with its bureaucratic ineptitude and buck-passing, crises of protocol and balance of power, and eventual resolution of harmony through goodness and mercy -- is a perfect ballet for Washington. The Kirov-Mariinsky Ballet's mammoth revival of the turn-of-the-last-century production had jelled by Friday (after a messy opener), and the weekend was full of good dancing.<P>So much care has been taken with the sets and costumes, the restoration of trimmed mime scenes and processions, it seems odd that each ballerina dances the role of Princess Aurora, the sleeping beauty of the title, in a different style. Friday night, Svetlana Zakharova was more the Visiting Guest Ballerina From the Future than a fairy tale princess. She's a gorgeous dancer; her ronds de jambe described perfect circle after perfect circle. But her gigantic extensions are jarring here; Aurora just shouldn't spend a lot of time whacking the side of her face with her leg.<P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26206-2002Feb17.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

Anna Kisselgoff has some problems with the Kirov's production of <I>Jewels</I>:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — Free the Kirov Ballet. After bowing to Soviet diktats on artistic policy, the famed Russian company from St. Petersburg is now at the mercy of the ballet masters of the world.<P>This past week, as part of its first season in a new 10-year commitment to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts here, the Kirov presented its much talked about production of "Jewels," the three- act plotless work that George Balanchine created for the New York City Ballet in 1967.<P>Alas, the Kirov has heeded its Balanchine- trained coaches either too well or not enough. Certainly the performance it presented on Thursday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House was, with few exceptions, a study in carefulness to the point of petrification.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/arts/dance/18JEWE.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Click for More</B></A><BR>

Ouch. The headline from Kisselgoff's article says it all:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The Kirov and Balanchine: A Work in Progress<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I respect Miss Kisselgoff's view, as I haven't seen the Miami City Ballet in "Jewels". However I have to say that the Kirov dances this Balanchine masterpiece better than New York City Ballet can manage these days.

I have seen Miami do it and I have seen NYCB do it, several times. Miami's is incredibly dynamic -- they have made this ballet their own. NYCB's depends on who's dancing. I'm not sure if their orchestra helps either but that's a different story.

<B>The Kirov's Tchaikovsky Triple Delight</B> <BR>By Tim Page for The Washington Post <P><BR>Last night's "Tribute to Tchaikovsky," presented by the Kirov Ballet, Opera and Orchestra under the direction of Valery Gergiev, was the sort of evening for which the Kennedy Center was invented -- a stately, ambitious, multi-disciplinary festival of some of the highest of high arts. <P>Over the course of three hours, we heard lengthy excerpts from Tchaikovsky's operas "Iolanta," "Pique Dame," "Eugene Onegin" and "Mazeppa" and watched a reconstruction of choreographer George Balanchine's "Serenade," a classic ballet set to the great Serenade for Strings. It was all part of a planned 10-year exchange program between the unified Kirov ensembles and the Washington Opera; if last night is any indication, this ought to be a fruitful collaboration. <P><A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36984-2002Feb20.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

Um...<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Musicians Clash in Mid-Air Fist Fight<P>Reuters on Yahoo!<P>HELSINKI (Reuters) - Musicians of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, home to the famous Kirov Ballet, got into a fist fight after tippling tax-free liquor on a flight from Helsinki to New York, an airline official said Thursday.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020221/od_nm/brawl_dc_1 target=_blank>More</a>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Russian Musicians Off-Key with Mid-Air Rowdyism<P>Reuters on Yahoo!<P>St. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russian musicians from two prestigious St. Petersburg institutions hit a sour note with alcohol-fueled rowdyism on two separate flights to the United States, airline officials said on Thursday. <BR> <BR>Members of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic got drunk and disorderly on the first leg of their eight-hour transatlantic crossing from Amsterdam on February 18, the Washington Post reported.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020221/ts_nm/life_airplane_brawl_dc_1 target=_blank>More</a>