Leaving the stage?

Rumors abound about the future of the Mariinsky Theater’s ballet director.

By Galina Stolyarova, Staff Writer



A cloud of uncertainty is lingering over the future of Makharbek Vaziev, the man who has led the ballet division of the world-renowned Mariinsky Theater for the past 12 years.

The first rumors about Vaziev’s future started in mid-March after several newspapers in Russia reported — without providing a source on the record — that Vaziev had intended to quit his job March 24, after the closing gala of the Eighth Mariinsky International Ballet Festival.

More than two weeks on, the ballet director has not yet made any official statements or comments on the matter. The company’s press office has said that Vaziev continues to fulfill his duties, while remaining tight-lipped about the ballet head’s rumored resignation and the reasons behind it.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Monday to mark the company’s current tour to New York’s City Center, the Mariinsky’s Artistic Director Valery Gergiev cautiously offered the first public comments on the matter. Gergiev confirmed that Vaziev is considering leaving the Mariinsky but made it clear that no final decisions have been taken.

The newspaper quoted Gergiev as saying that the ballet director “had told him that he would discuss retiring this summer.”

Gergiev was critical about Vaziev’s most recent choreographic choices.

“We can’t afford doing things that are mediocre,” Gergiev told The New York Times, without making specific references.

In the interview, Gergiev also blamed the ballet troupe’s leader for failing to create a more welcoming climate for the next generation of dancers. In Gergiev’s view, newcomers need stronger support from the top soloists.

“Mr. Gergiev said another area of disagreement was Mr. Gergiev’s strong desire to enlist seasoned company principals like Igor Zelensky, Uliana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva and Yulia Makhalina to work with the youngest generation of [Mariinsky] dancers,” The New York Times wrote.

“I’m not 100 percent sure that we have created the atmosphere and situation today where all these young people are immediately helped to the maximum,” the newspaper quoted Gergiev as saying.

An insider at the theater who asked not to be named said Vaziev had threatened to resign as a last resort since he had been struggling to promote the interests of ballet troupe.

“He has been trying without much success recently to win better conditions and more funding for the ballet troupe; opera and symphonic programs have always been a priority for Gergiev, and with the arrival of the new concert hall that emphasis has further increased,” the source said. “It is natural that Vaziev avoids confirming his intentions to step down; it means negotiations are still in progress, and there is hope of reaching an agreement.”

Vaziev, a former soloist with the Mariinsky Ballet, has led the ballet division since 1996, after the company discontinued its contract with Oleg Vinogradov for whom Vaziev had been working — upon his retirement from stage — as an assistant.

Speculation about Vaziev’s future with the Mariinsky has abounded in the Russian and international media since the end of the critically panned Mariinsky International Ballet Festival last month.

A list of possible successors to Vaziev has included the Mariinsky prima ballerina Lopatkina; Altynai Asylmuratova, artistic director of the Vaganova Ballet Academy; Zelensky, artistic director of the Novosibirsk Ballet Theater and a Mariinsky dancer since 1988, and Alexei Ratmansky who has just left his job as artistic director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater.

However, Russian ballet critics have pointed out, it is primarily Vaziev who is credited for inviting modern choreographers such as William Forsythe to work with Mariinsky dancers and motivating the troupe to mount brilliant performances of their works.

ECONOMIC FORUM: Mixing Business With Pleasure

By Yelena Andreyeva

The cultural program of the Economic Forum this year is no less eventful than the business program. Art, music and theater lovers will have a vast array of dazzling events to choose from and will almost certainly not have enough time to visit all the shows taking place during the forum this weekend.

Among the events taking place in the city within the official cultural agenda of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is Beauty on the Neva, the second international festival held as an official event of the Confederation Mondiale de la Coiffure (World Hairdressing Confederation), which launched a branch in Russia, CMC-Russia, in 2007.

Having kicked off on Thursday with a Professional Day during which several master classes and seminars for hairdressers were held at the Menshikov Hall of the Military Academy of Logistics and Transport, it was followed by a bridal show and a yacht regatta off the beach of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

On Friday, the main event of the festival, Show of Nations, will take place at the Mikhailovsky Castle. It will present gala performances by world stars from 12 countries — France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Israel and Russia.

“Every performance of the show represents the conceptual solution of a stylist, his or her vision, a dream expressed in a musical and physical form composed by professional directors and choreographers,” said Anna Mikhailova, president of CMC-Russia.

On the same evening, the St. Petersburg Academic Mikhailovsky Theater will host a concert performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, a world-famous violinist and conductor. The concert program features compositions in diverse styles from a range of eras, including Bellini and Rossini, Verdi and Puccini, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.

Later the same night, Roger Waters, the English singer, bass guitarist, songwriter and one of the founders of the legendary group Pink Floyd will give a free concert for the citizens and guests of the city on Palace Square. The show, entitled “The Dark Side of the Moon,” will feature the band’s greatest hits.

On Saturday night, the governor’s reception for guests of the forum in the Mikhailovsky gardens will present a fusion of different art forms and styles, gathering together world-famous ballet dancers such as Ilze Liepa and the Boris Eifman ballet troupe, performers of classical music such as Denis Matsuev and Sergei Stadler, and jazz performers such as Igor Butman.

For those not invited to the governor’s reception, a laser show with music will be held on the Strelka of Vasilyevsky Island on Saturday night from 00.30 to 1.30am.

Among the ballet performances on the list of the three-day cultural program of the forum are the new version of Spartak at the Mikhailovsky Theater, Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theater, and two performances of Swan Lake — one at the St. Petersburg State Theater of Musical Comedy on Friday and the other at the Alexandriinsky Theater on Saturday.

There will also be a concert featuring the ballet soloist Denis Matviyenko along with the stars of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters. The concert will be held at the Mikhailovsky Theater, while at the Mariinsky Theater, ballet star Uliana Lopatkina will give a gala-performance at the Mariinsky Theater.

On Sunday, the chamber choir of Smolny Cathedral will perform a concert at St. Isaac’s Cathedral dedicated to its 150th anniversary, while at the same time the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall will host a concert by the Mariinsky’s brass orchestra.

Mariinsky Press agency has published long LONG overdue list of Kirov dancers in its glorious corps de ballet, this Eighth Wonder of the World!