Why you aren't writing your personal reviewing? Do please.

Mad,
All reviews here ARE personal. Press reviews are >>Here, including "Home alone"

Sorry....... thanks for the quick reply

I'll go back and change the signature from "Yours truly" to "Octavia"

Their last week is starting. Look, the forum is empty since they left to NYC.

Haha! Month of May will see them packing for Moscow, then The White Nights Fest, followed by well deserved vacation and comes October - back to US where they belong

They are going on tour also to Italy, UK and even to Tenerife in May.
Becoming 100% touring company. Homeless

All-Balanchine Program

Kirov Ballet & Orchestra . April 18 2008

Act One

Serenade
Walse: Alina Somova, Danila Korsuntsev
Russian: Ekaterina Osmolkina
Dark Angel: Ekaterina Kondaurova
Elegia: Alexander Sergeev

Act Two

Rubies
Olesia Novikova, Andrian Fadeev, Ekaterina Kondaurova
Anton Pimonov, Alexey Nedviga, Maxim Khrebtov, Vasily Scherbakov

Act Three

Ballet Imperial
Victoria Tereshkina, Igor Kolb
Ekaterina Osmolkina, Vladimir Shklyarov, Maxim Zyuzin
Yana Selina, Svetlana Ivanova

______________________


Kirov Ballet & Orchestra . April 19 2008. Matinee

Act One

Serenade
Walse: Ekaterina Osmolkina, Yevgeny Ivanchenko
Russian: Nadezhda Gnochar
Dark Angel: Ekaterina Kondaurova
Elegia: Alexander Sergeev

Act Two

Rubies
Olesia Novikova, Anton Korsakov, Nadezhda Gonchar
Anton Pimonov, Alexey Nedviga, Maxim Khrebtov, Vasily Scherbakov

Act Three

Ballet Imperial
Alina Somova, Vladimir Shklyarov
Nadezhda Gonchar, Alexander Sergeev, Maxim Zyuzin
Yana Selina, Svetlana Ivanova

Serenade

I like Balanchine, but I like him in moderation. Three acts of his cool geometry would have been too much, if it were not for the magnificent Kirov dancers, stylistically uniform, sharing same schooling and bound by centuries old traditions. They made it all worthwhile.
...........
Bluer than blue Serenade was the first ballet created by Balanchine since his arrival to America. The fact that the ballet features mostly female corps Balanchine explains by predominance of female students at the school of American Ballet, founded by him. Yana Selina and ethereal Svetlana Ivanova standing in the front raw caught my eye immediately. Yana Selina is always perfect and ethereal Svetlana Ivanova was dancing with the dream-like quality.

Alina Somova danced the Walse on the night of the 18th and for once her flowery body was not an advantage. In fact it worked counter the architecture of the ballet, built on skewed lines and polygons, especially triangles. The alluring mahogany-haired Ekaterina Kondaurova who danced the role of Dark Angel is not your typical Kirov ballerina. Big boned, but ideally proportioned she was very much at home with Balanchine with that straight body of hers and bold, almost deterministic manner of dancing.

Ekaterina Osmolkina danced the Russian on the 18th and the Walse at the matinee of the following day, and I thought she favored better in Balanchine choreography than she did in Petipa which calls not only for technical excellence but for certain amount of ballerina’s aplomb as well. On the other hand the symphonic nature of Balanchine choreography suites Ekaterina very nicely. She was a joy to watch. Danila Korssuntsev's role was mostly that of a partner, which he fulfilled with great sensitivity.

.............................................................................................................Yours truly

Rubies

Stravinsky jazzy Capriccio for piano and orchestra is very inducing of humorous jumping motifs to which Kirov dancers took like fish to the water. And why in the world not? After all, George Balanchine (nee Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze), despite his anglicized name was St. Petersburg born and bred. Solid product of The Imperial Ballet school (now Vaganova academy), he spent his formative adult years as a classical dancer at the Mariinsky and afterwards toured with Sergei Diagilev’s company. So it’s not surprising that The Kirov performs his ballet just as well, if not better, than NYCB.

Balanchine's Jewels premiered on April 13, 1967

The night of the 19th finally saw the enchanting Olesia Novikova and in the pique form at that. She had been plagued with injuries for the most part of the tour and was so hungry for dance, that she gave to it her heart and soul, infecting her equally charming partner Andrian Fadeev who galloped through the physically demanding part with boyish abandonment. A day after Olesia appeared in Rubies once more, this time with confident Anton Korsakov and once again she sparkled with vibrant colors and moods, herself not unlike the multi-faceted gem, yet remaining within constraints of Kirov refinement and infallible taste at all times.


.............................................................................................................Yours truly