Russian Terpsichore's Soulful Flight

St. Petersburg's Ballet Life, 1999

by lgor Stupnicov

Dance Scene

Premieres

Current Repertory

Debuts

New Books on Ballet

Ballet Exhibitions

Obituaries

Miscellany

Last January-February the repertoire of The Maryinsky Theatre introduced to the public many dancers in new parts. Tatyana Nekipelova danced Gulnara in "Le Corsaire" for the first time in January 3. She has an ability to move generously through space and a thorough grounding that allows her to perform the trickier steps and jumps without tremor. Her Gulnara was an enchanting, impish and vital girl who communicated a joy of dance through sensitive phrasing and elegant lines. Our shortish, thick-legged virtuoso Andrei Batalov got the part of Solor in "La Bayadere" (at last! at last!) on January 8 and was given - and it is quite reasonable - two small ballerinas for his partners Zhanna Ayupova (Nykia) and Elvira Tarasova (Gamzatti). His vaulting jumps, perfect cabrioles, jetes that literally hover, and enormous speed were much enjoyed and cheered by the public and ballet buffs. Batalov has won lots of international prizes but he has a rather limited repertoire at the Maryinsky - almost all our leading ballerinas are tall and Batalov needs special casting for his perfomances. The same evening Anton Korsakov danced The Golden God for the first time; the young boy did not cope with the difficulties of the part that is usually performed by the much more experienced Vyacheslav Samodurov, Andrei Batalov or Nikita Shcheglov - obviously, Korsakov was hastily catapulted into the gap to supersede them without yet possessing the necessary equipment. He was much better in his other debut - as Vaslav in the "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray" on January 17, with Zhanna Ayupova as his Maria. On January 29 Sofia Gumerova's debut in "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort" took place where she was partnered by Vyacheslav Samodurov. Gumerova was a pleasure to watch in the new role, there was a yearning for expression that went far beyond just dancing, she brought a vivid theatricality to the part - the poignancy of her gestures and facial expressions brightly conveyed the essence of the ballet. Veronica Part danced her first "Raymonda"(Konstantin Sergeiev's version) on February 5 partnered by Danila Korsuntsev. The beautiful Veronika was coached by Inna Zubkovskaya, her former Professor at The Vaganova Academy, and was reminiscent of her mentor in poses, lines and even make-up. Veronika is a dancer who attracts the public's attention, she is constantly improving and developing as an artist, and her Raymonda was another proof of her qualities - tenderness, sense of mood, good technique. Igor Zelensky visited St.Petersburg at the end of January and, of course, The Maryinsky was crammed to capacity on the nights he danced Siegfried in "Swan Lake" with Veronika Part and Albrecht in "Giselle" with Svetlana Zakharova. Zelensky was terrific in both parts - expressive, full of command, exact and musical. Then, quite unexpectedly, he prolonged his stay in St.Petersburg, to the great joy of the public, and danced in two more performances in the middle of February - in "Don Quixote" with Irma Nioradze and "La Bayadere" with Ulyana Lopatkina - unforgettable evenings!

On January 14-24, The Maryinsky company visited Spain with the usual Fokin programme: "Les Sylphides", "Firebird" and "Sheherazade". After basking in the hot Basque sun the dancers returned to the terrible frosts and snow-storms of the city of St.Peter. "Don Quixote" on January 7 was dedicated to Inna Zubkovskaya's 75th birthday. It was a very special performance: all female parts were danced by Zubkovskaya's former pupils, and each act had its own Kitri and Basil: Elvira Tarasova/Nikita Shcheglov, Oksana Kuzmenko(Moscow)/ Andrei Batalov, Tatyana Nekipelova/Vyacheslav Samodurov, Altynai Asylmuratova/ Yevgeni Ivanchenko. In the final pas de deux all the dancers were reunited: Tatyana Nekipelova and Nikita Shcheglov did the adagio, all the others either danced a variation or did foutte or grand pirouette. In a way it was also a family affair - Zubkovskaya's grandson, Nikolai, danced Espada for the first time (and was brilliant in the role), and her son-in-law, Vladimir Leeyev, was a funny Gamache; the parts of flower girls were danced by Zubkovskaya's graduation class students; Veronika Part was The Queen of Dryads and Natalia Tsiplakova - the Gipsy.

Alla Osipenko celebrated the 45th anniversary of her artistic career on the stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theatre on January 6. The Evening consisted of three parts: in the first, called "Homage to Alla", dancers of the Maryinsky did several fragments from Osipenko's repertory; the second part was Samuel Beckett's play "...But the clouds" where the ballerina played a non-speaking leading role, which was no surprise to the public since Alla had played drama roles in a number of films; and the third part was a competition between Melpomene and Terpsichore- the outstanding St.Petersburg drama actress Alisa Freindlikh recited lyrical poems and Osipenko had to interpret their meaning in movement and pantomime.

All St.Petersburg theatre museums and many newspapers marked the 200th anniversary of Avdotia Istomina's birthday. The great Russian ballerina was a pupil of Charles Didelot and created many roles in his ballets. Alexander Pushkin immortalized her in his "Eugene Onegin".

The Theatre Museum dedicated its programme on January 15 to the memory of the outstanding Russian choreographer Leonid Yakobson (1904-1975) who would have been 95 this year. A new documentary film about his life and creative work - "The Heart of Punchinello"- was shown that evening. The film was shot in 1975 but was forbidden by the Soviet rules for ideological reasons"(?).

Diana Vishneva's "Giselle" has been postponed several times here: for some reason she decided - at last moment - not to dance the role. Then the rumours had it she did dance Giselle in San Diego during the company's US tour. But the St.Petersburg public was none the better for it. Finally, last March Vishneva's debut in the role took place on the Maryinsky stage. She tackled the difficult choreography with commendable assurance and gave the role the simplicity of manner and an affecting vulnerability. Her mad scene was touching rather than melodramatic, and her love for Albrecht was unerringly conveyed by her searching eyes or by a sudden touch of the hand. In the second act Vishneva was the embodiment of spirituality. Her footwork was immaculate and the lines - beautiful. She was partnered by Farukh Ruzimatov (nobody had any doubt he would be Vishneva's Albrecht) and was a very secure partner. He danced almost impeccably, with high jumps, neat entrachats and a commanding presence. The dancers showed the value of a well-established partnership, they poetically defined relationships between the principal characters. Maya Dumchenko danced her first Kitri in "Don Quixote" in the middle of March partnered by Yevgeni Ivanchenko. She was possibly the most uneven Kitri, with moments of sparkling magic and virtuosity marked by occasional insecure passages. Dumchenko was at her best in the Dream scene where her rigid classical training was just to the point; her fouette in the last act was performed brilliantly, but in the first act the dancer was too reserved and restrained, with no softness and pliancy in the back and arms; the tempi were unusually slow and there were minor blemishes in the first act variations which looked on the whole like lessons known off pat. I hope when Dumchenko has worked herself fully into the ballet's choreography her warm feminity should greatly enchance it. The St.Petersburg TV channel showed recently a new two series film "Makhar Vasiev and The Maryinsky Ballet" where the Director of the copany spoke about the new generation of dancers, especially young ballerinas, whom he raised in the theatre - Ulyana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, Sofia Gumerova, Maya Dumchenko, Svetlana Zakharova, Veronika Part. The female guild of the company had been stripped of fine names - Lubov Kunakova, Tatyana Terekhova, Galina Mezentseva - for the sake of one leading lady. So, Vaziev explains, it was necessary to enrich the company with new talented girls, recent graduates of The Vaganova Academy. When asked who his favourites in the company are today, Vaziev, after a pause, answered:"My favourites are all the coaches, ballet- mistresses and ballet-masters of the company: they are the foundation and the backbone of the theatre.

On March 1 the company went to Moscow where in The Kremlin Palace of Congresses it gave one performance of modern choreography (modern, of course, in the Russian/Maryinsky sense of the word) consisting of Alexei Ratmansky's ballets - "Le Baiser de la Fee", "Middle Duet", "Poem of Ecstasy" - and some other numbers by contemporary choreographers. The evening was a success with the public and (!) the Moscow critics who unanimously acclaimed the development of a new trend in the Maryinsky repertory.

The presentation of the new album of pictures dedicated to Mikhail Baryshnikov's career in the West took place at The St.Petersburg Theatre Museum. The 320 page book contains scores of photographes by different American and European masters. The originators of the project are Valeri Golovitser and Alexander Shein, the Introduction (in English and Russian) is written by Vera Krasovskaya, who concludes her essay with the following words:" What lay in store for Baryshnikov in the West we may learn from the pages of this book of photographs. Today, here in Russia, we view the transformation of Baryshnikov's dancing style as the steps in his rise to fame. We think of him today, hazard guesses as to his future, while impressions of him in the past still live on in our minds". In his short acknowledgement note Baryshnikov says:"My warmest thanks to the wonderful Vera Mikhailovna Krasovskaya for her kindness and neverfailing wisdom". Baryshnikov's repertoire in the West is given as a supplement to the album, an invaluable document to a ballet historian. Three copies of the book were presented to The Theatre Museum, The Vaganova Ballet Academy's Museum and The Theatre Library. At the request of Mikhail Baryshnikov the fee for his contribution to the book will go to The Maryinsky Ballet's senior dancers.

Last April Svetlana Zakharova danced for the first time the 1st movement in "Symphony in C" and did it very well technically; the only thing that surprised me was the unchanging, slightly capricious and aggrieved, expression of her face. Tatyana Amosova danced "Paquita" for the first time with gusto and at full throttle. Her style, large and robust, is reminiscent of Olga Moiseyeva's manner when the ballerina needs the whole stage and the corps de ballet is pressed close to the wings. Alexandra Iosifidi is enlarging her repertory with every coming month. After her successful Zarema and Zobeide she danced The Fairy in "Le Baiser de la Fee" and looked beautiful, imperious and domineering in her exquisite snow-white dress. Iosifidi gave glamour and depth to the production and showed quite new facets of her talent.

On April 7, Gabriela Komleva's jubilee was celebrated at The Maryinsky Theatre. A star of The Kirov Ballet in 1957-1988, Komleva today is one of the leading coaches of The Maryinsky company and professor of St.Petersburg Conservatory. The evening consisted of three parts: it opened with the second act of "La Bayadere" with Irma Nioradze and Vyacheslav Samosurov dancing Nikiya and Solor; then the audience were shown black-and-white ballet films, shot in 1975, in which Komleva danced "The Cowboys", a lovely grotesque miniature by Leonid Yakobson, with Konstantin Zaklinsky, a pas de deux from "Laurencia" with Vadim Budarin, and Victor Gsovsky's "Grand Pas Classique" with the unforgettable Yuri Soloviev; the third act of "The Sleeping Beauty" was the final offering of the evening with Daria Pavlenko dancing Princess Aurora with Viktor Baranov as her Prince Desire. The evening was a big success with the public.

The 1998 Golden Mask Award (Moscow) went to Valeri Gergiev ("The Best conductor of the Year"), Svetlana Zakharova ("The Best female part in Ballet") and to Boris Eifman ("The Best choreographer of the Year").

The famous Russian ballet historian and critic Vera Krasovskaya presented her new book- "Profiles of Dance" - on March 19 at The Vaganova Ballet Academy. The opus magnum consists of several chapters, each one is dedicated to great dancers of the XX century - "Through the Veil of Years" (Elizaveta Gerdt, Mikhail Mikhailov), "The Legendary" (Galina Ulanova, Konstantin Sergeyev, Natalia Dudinskaya, Alla Shelest); a very interesting chapter - "Absence without Leave" is about the life and artistic career of the famous "prison-breakers" - Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Alla Osipenko's generation is vividly described in the chapter "It was not long ago..." (Irina Kolpakova, Gabriella Komleva, Yury Soloviev, Anatoli Gridin, to name but a few). The volume is gorgeously illustrated - more than 200 photographs. The presentation of the book was very well organized by Leonid Nadirov, Director of The Vaganova Academy, and Boris Illarionov, professor of The Academy and the editor of the book. Vera Krasovskaya was sitting in a Voltaire armchair surrounded by her relatives, pupils and former Maryinsky dancers, Natalia Dudinskaya among them. The opening speeches were given by Leonid Nadirov and Igor Belsky, Artistic Director of The Academy. To cap the situation, bottles of champaigne were uncorked to the great joy of all those present, Yelizaveta Surits and Natalia Kasatkina from Moscow among them.

The second International Ballet and Dance Festival opened at The Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre on March 27 and continued through April 20 with participants from both the former USSR republics and many foreign countries including Japan, USA ("Dancing People"), Hungary, Holland (Ester Gal and Peter Player's company), Cyprus ("Diastasis" troupe), France ("Ballet Preljocaj" with its version of "Romeo and Juliet"). The Festival promises to be a showcase for new dance, for the new breed of spectators, and to give a fresh impulse to the choreography of the future. The Maly Theatre itself is no stranger to experimentation, as its illustrious past full of balletic first performances testifies. One of the sponsors of The Festival is The Fedor Lopukhov Charitable Fund, and on April 3 it organized a competition of young choreographers with participants, again, from different countries of the world. The Jury Panel awarded prizes for innovation, original treatment of dance and music themes, and work with dancers. On April 9 the performance was dedicated to the memory of Fedor Lopukhov - it was the one-act ballet "Concerto for the Old Age" choreographed by The Maly Theatre's own Georgi Kovtun. The ballet is geared towards the plight of the older generation of dancers in these difficult times in Russia. Out of the long list of the participants of The Festival, I should like to single out The Tbilisi Ballet Company headed today by Georgi Alexidze, a former student of Fedor Lopukhov; the Cyprus company "Diastasis" and, of course, Angelin Preljocaj's troupe. The transition between the 19th and 20^th centuries was marked by such immortal ballet stars as Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Fokin and George Balanchine. If The Second International Festival is unlikely to unveil dancers of that caliber, then at least its involvment with the new and the progressive might help the world of dance through the doors of this century into the next.

On April 30 The Maryinsky Theatre was crammed to capacity, additional rows of chairs were put in the parterre - journalists, critics, figureheads of the ballet world, ballet buffs, dancers from different companies... The premiere of the original version of Marius Petipa's "Sleeping Beauty" (1890) was a great event in the artistic life of St.Petersburg. The publicity before the first night was enormous - the Maryinsky's press-officers worked hard, our TV showed a 30 minute film by Innokenty lvanov, a leading media man, "Awakening of The Sleeping Beauty"; the newspapers published articles explaining the readers why the company decided to revive the original version of the ballet; the Maryinsky Theatre newspaper issued Professor Roland John Wiley's article "Dances from Russia" which gives many interesting and important details about the way the original score of the ballet, with the dance notations based on musical symbols (Vladimir Stepanov's system described in his "Alphabet of movements of the human body", 1892) got finally in 1969 into the Harvard University Libraries' Theatre Collection.

The ballet was revived by The Maryinsky troupe's principal dancer Sergei Vikharev, the conductors Valeri Gergiev and Gianandrea Noseda, the decorand costumes designers Andrei Voitenko and Yelena Zaitseva. Vikharev did a thorough research job comparing all possible and available today versions of the ballet - Fedor Lopukhov's, Pyotr Gusev's and The Royal Ballet's among them; later he confronted all these variants with the dance notations made by Nikolai Sergeyev, regisseur of The St.Petersburg Imperial Ballet in 1903-1918, who took up Stepanov's system, supervised the notations of the Maryinsky classics and later brought the notations to the West where he worked from them when he produced these for different companies. The elaborate costumes were made to Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original designs which are among the holdings of The Maryinsky Theatre Collection and the collections of The St. Petersburg Theatre Museum. The premiere was a great success with the public which was given, finally, a rare opportunity to see how the ballet looked like a century ago - in its "cradle". I wish Professor Ronald John Wiley could be present at the first night performance. I am sure he would have enjoyed it too. There are several casts of the new "Sleeping Beauty". The part of Aurora is danced by Altynai Asylmuratova, Diana Vishneva, Svetlana Zakharova and Daria Pavlenko; as to the role of Prince Desire, only two principals are properly coached and ready for it - Andrian Fadeyev and Victor Baranov (Danila Korsuntsev has injured his leg, lgor Kolb - after two operations on his knee - is slowly recovering, Yevgeni lvanchenko has been operated on his knee only recently). The leading roles at the premiere were danced by Diana Vishneva (Aurora), Andrian Fadeyev (Prince Desire), Veronika Part (The Lilac Fairy), Irina Zhelonkina (Princess Florina), Anton Korsakov (The Blue Bird), Islom Baymuradov (Carabosse). So far I managed to see only two casts: Vishneva-Fadeyev and Zakharova-Baranov. Vishneva's Aurora is a charming, slightly spoilt child; a smile, a glance, a gesture - all this enriches the portrait of the coquettish princess. Zakharova's Aurora looks more exquisite and more serious as if the young girl knew what the future had in store for her. Fadeyev's Desire is elegance incarnate, the dancer's technique is superb. Baranov in the part is an excellent dependable partner, with no exciting moments though in the general treatment of the role, without any drama or emotion.

The problem now is whether to keep both "Sleeping Beauties" (let's call them conventionally Petipa-Vikharev's original version and Konstantin Sergeiev's 1952 version) in the company's repertoire and show them in turn, or let Konstantin Sergeiev's production fall into oblivion?.. Natalia Dudinskaya, Konstantin Sergeiev's widow, was not present at the premiere.

With all the episodes of Petipa's version restored - lots of mime, the knitting women scene, Cinderella and Prince Fortune's pas de caracter, the endless procession of the Fairy tales, etc. - the performance became unbearably long, the premiere started at 7 p.m, and was over at 11.20. p.m.

At the end of April Maya Dumchenko danced the role of Gamzatti in "La Bayadere" for the first time. Slim and tall, she looked fragile and absolutely defenseless opposite Yulia Makhalina's Nikiya - rather a pupet in the hands of her majestic father than a miscreant who carefully schemed Nikiya's ruin. Dumchenko tried to impose her gentle, quiet reading of Gamzatti and imbued the part with melancholy and grace. In the second act she danced perfectly well partnered by Danila Korsuntsev.

Boris Eifman's company showed its premiere of the ballet "Paul I" ("The Russian Hamlet") to music by Beethoven and Mahler at the beginning of May. The perfomance (strictly speaking - a dress-rehearsal) took place in the company's rehearsal studio accomodating over one hundred people. One may ask: Why in the rehearsal studio? The thing is the world premiere of the ballet will be shown by Eifman's company in Warsaw in July, then the ballet will be staged by Eifman at The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in February 2000, so the Petersburg public will see it only in the next century. That is why Eifman decided to show the ballet to local critics, journalists and ballet lovers now and make them, the citizens of that provincial, backwater city of St.Petersburg, the first viewers of his new production. Among those present at the preview were Yekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev of The Bolshoi. They enjoyed the performance very much and Vasiliev said he hoped his dancers would cope with Eifman's choreography which is very difficult and unusual for any classical company. The leading roles were danced by Yelena Kuzmina (Catherine the Great), Albert Galichanin (Prince Potyomkin), lgor Markov (Paul I) whose unbelievable plastisity and fierce physical independence gave Eifman's new creation a ferocity that has long been lacking in many productions here. "Ballet through the eyes of artists" - this is the name of the permanent exhibition that opened at The House of Painters last May. It included the works of painters, sculptors, scenery designers, photographers who devoted the major part of their careers to ballet art. One can see portraits and bronzes of the dancers, figurines, statuettes, sculptures; costumes and costume - designs, puppets and dolls, Easter eggs with the silhouettes and profiles of the dancers and ballet - masters. A separate hall is dedicated to the works of Valentin Baranovsky whose photographs are well-known to the readers of "The Dancing Times". My attention was rivited to the portraits and bronzes - form the private collections - of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Inna Zubkovskaya, Natalia Dudinskaya, Galina Ulanova and Anatole Vilzak - I have never seen them before.

The new "Sleeping Beauty" garnered lots of reviews in the local newspapers and, which is only natural, the opinions differed much from one another. Some comments were very negative, saying the production looks very old-fasioned like our grandmother's coat smelling of moth-balls; quite a few critics were sorry The Lilac Fairy is almost deprived of her choreography and dances only in the first act; almost a general opinion is that, with all additional personnages - pages, servants, courtiers, - the stage is overcrowed and there is little space for dancing. Vera Krasovskaya, the most influential ballet critic in Russia to-day, writes:"No ballet production can be fossilized. I saw the old "Sleeping Beauty" with Konstantin Korovin's decoreand costumes: I entered the ballet school in 1924 and in 1925 we, kids, already took part in the ballet. That was Fedor Lopukhov's version and, I believe, he restored Petipa honestly, down to minute details. Now the company tries to revive what was created more than a hundred years ago. But it cannot pan out. The idea itself is wrong. Petipa wrote that any ballet, like a human being, is continually changing and developing. I believe that a ballet production can preserve the delicate aroma of the past and its inherent energy but it cannot be fossilized. The pantomime of the new production is miserable. To my mind, it is not worth the pains the company has taken to revive it. When recreating the old classics it is necessary to work slowly, thoughtfully, patiently, without any hurry and not to announce to the whole world - "We have uncovered the original Petipa!"

As to the dancers, the arrows were shot at both Diana Vishneva and Svetlana Zakharova for their six o'clock arabesques that break the style of old choreography. Zakharova's answer to this reproach can be found in one of her recent interviews: Correspondent: Your astounding arabesques impress the public from a purely athletic point of view, but arouse negative reaction among the critics because they (Arabesques and sidesplits) violate the style of old classical ballets and go against Petipa's aesthetics. - Zakharova: I take it easy. Times have changed, the XXI century is approaching. Everything is changing quickly in the world, even The Maryinsky Theatre has made some progress in choreography. How ever long the critics may talk about my arabesques, I'll do what I've been doing.

On the other hand, many critics (myself- among them) enjoyed the performance - the original decor and costumes, (more or less) Petipa's choreography, the old pantomime scenes; all that gave rise to nostalgia and the reviews were written with a Victorian gusto. So, on the whole, it was the battle of oil and vinegar. And to pour oil on troubled waters I suggested my colleagues resort to the help of Jerome K.Jorome: "...all our art treasures of to-day are only the dug-up commonplaces of three or four hundred years ago. I wonder if there is any real intrinsic beauty in the old soup-plates, beer-mugs, and candle-snuffers that we prize so now, or if it is only the halo of age glowing around them that gives them their charms in our eyes... . Will it be the same in the future? Will the prized treasures of to-day always be the cheap trifles of the day before? Will rows of our willow- pattern dinner-plates be ranged above the chimney-pieces of the great in the years 2000 and odd?"

On May 11 Altynai Asylmuratova danced her Aurora in the new production of "The Sleeping Beauty" for the first time. The dancer was bewitchingly musical and showed, again, her experience and maturity skill. In her movements, now graphically detailed, now ingratiatingly elusive, one sensed the grace, hidden mischief and lyricism of the princess.

Another Juliet appeared in The Maryinsky's "Romeo and Juliet". Guess who danced the part on May 21? I'll tell you in strict confidence: Yulia Makhalina. She should not have danced this role and not because she cannot cope with the choreography but because it is just not her part. Juliet is sincerity, spontaneity and freshness incarnate and Makhalina with her artifisial mannerisms did not feel the role but just acted it. It was strange to see - instead of a young Juliet standing in front of the mirrow and discovering for the first time, with surprise, the beauty of her face and body - a mature woman who has long been aware of her charms and fascination. One can draw only one conclusion: it was great ballerinas who were able to shed any number of years and make us believe they are juvenescent Juliets.

Last June Marina Vivien, the Curator of The Vaganova Ballet Academy's Museum, opened two exhibitions. One is dedicated to the ballets inspired by and based on Alexander Pushkin's works. Many photographs, documents, programmes, statuettes and costumes illustrate the first productions of Zakharov's "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", Lavrovsky's "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", Varkovitsky's "The Tale of a Priest and his labourer Balda", Kholfin's "The Gypsies", Boyarchikov's "The Queen of Spades", "Tzar Boris", Fenster's "The Princess and the seven Knights". This ballet pushkiniana is absolutely amazing and proves again that Pushkin and St.Petersburg have always been blood-brothers. The other exhibition is a traditional one and this year is devoted to the 1949 Vaganova Ballet School graduates, some of them still working at The Maryinsky Theatre.

Last June white nights came to St.Petersburg again. There is something eerie about a midnight when it is still dusk. Darkness comes,but in an hour or two it is dawn. On June 6 all Russia celebrated the 200th anniversary of Alexander Pushkin's birthday. The centre of the city was turned practically into one big stage - orchestras and bands were playing in all big squares, actors were reciting Pushkin's verses and poems, amateur and professional terpsichoreans in the XIX centuries costumes performed the popular ballroom dances of the period - mazurka, polonaise, waltz - in front of the beautifal Winter Palace. The whole town was bright and many-coloured with a profusion of flags, posters, baloons and other decorations. At night the illuminations and fireworks were dazzling. The Maryinsky Theatre devoted two performances/concerts to the memory of the great poet; the ballet part of the homage consisted of scenes from "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", "The Bronze Horseman" and the polonaise from the opera "Eugene Onegin".

"The White Nights" Festival was, as usual, grand affair. The ballet company showed two performances - "Stars of the Maryinsky" (Ulyana Lopatkina, Svetlana Zakharova, Igor Zelensky and many other soloists) and "Balanchine's Ballets".

Svetlana Zakharova's name appeared several times in the posters announcing her debut in "Don Quixote" but she never danced in the ballet. Time after time she invented some excuse - she was not ready phychologically to dance Kitri, she was not properly coached, or she wanted to have only Igor Zelensky as her Basil... So, this debut never took place. And then in the middle of June Zakharova's debut in "Le Corsaire" was announced. Well, I thought, what does the capricious young lady have in store for us this time? Surprisingly enough, Zakharova did dance Medora and danced beautifully at that. And was partnered by Igor Zelensky whose Ali seemed a heaven-made match to her charming and seductive Medora. Zakharova was colouring and timing her dancing with a real sense of purpose, she gave individual passages a definite texture according to circumstances; bold and expressive dancing in Act 1, plenty of brilliance in Act 2 - strong, perfectly paced fouettes, utterly secured balances. Zelensky's Ali was predictably great and panther-like, he increased the difficulties of his variations adding numerous nuances; both the public and the corps de ballet watched him with bated breath.

Several days later the part of Ali was danced by Andrian Fadeyev. His Ali was so refined and elegant that it seemed the youth had graduated the Oxford University and knew his Byron perfectly well.

On June 15-19 the company visited Baden-Baden with two "Swan Lakes" (Irma Nioradze, Ulyana Lopatkina) and Mikhail Fokin's ballets. The American tour started on June 27 and continued through July 11. The repertory included the new production of "The Sleeping Beauty", "Giselle", "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray" and George Balanchine's ballets - "Serenade", "Apollo", "Symphony in C".

President Boris Yeltsin's 1998 prize for the achievements in the field of arts went to Valery Gergiev, Chief conductor and Artistic Director of The Maryinsky, and Ulyana Lopatkina, a principle dancer of the ballet company, for her Odette-Odile in "Swan Lake", a role in "Symphony in C" and "Dying Swan". Boris Eifman also got the prize for his ballets "The Karamazovs", "Red Giselle", "Tchaikovsky" and "Don Quixote".

Another piece of news: the position of the chief choreographer at The Maryinsky Theatre, according to the All-Russia newspaper "Arguments and Facts", has been eliminated. Makhar Vaziev, company manager (or, as he is called here, Director of the Ballet) will be inviting choreographers, Russian and foreign, to stage their ballets on the Maryinsky stage.

...But now it's time for the ballet.

The theatre's wicked legislator,

Who unto every fascinator

In turn his fickle flattery brings,

And boasts the freedom of the wings,

Onegin flies to taste the blisses

And breathe the free air of the stage,

To praise the dancer now the rage,

Or greet a luckless Phedre with hisses,

Or call the dancer he preferred

Just for the sake of being heard...

Believe me, the general spirit and atmosphere at The Maryinsky have not changed much since Alexander Pushkin's days. One especially feels that when one comes to the theatre to see the graduation performances of The Vaganova Ballet Academy which have become with years a kind of a solemn and heartfelt ritual for both the general public and the critics. And, of course,- for the young dancers who are ready

"...to be sentenced by a crooked jury

And earn the fame and sound and fury".

This is Pushkin again.

The graduation performances were shown three times on The Maryinsky stage. This year the professors of the girls' graduation classes were Inna Zubkovskaya and Yelena Yevteyeva, of the boys'-Yevgeni Shcherbakov, Vitali Tsvetkov and Yuri Umrikhin. All in all thirty-two Russian students got the diploma of a professionai classical ballet dancer. Nine foreign students from Japan, Findland, Korea and Portugal also graduated The Vaganova Academy. Sixteen students have become members of The Maryinsky company, one went to Boris Eifman's theatre. As the reader will remember, Makhar Vaziev, Director of The Maryinsky company, took only three graduates last year, so now he has made up for the deficiency. The graduation performances lasted for three hours, the programmes consisted of the big pieces like the Grand pas de deux from the second act of "La Bayadere", or the scene from "Swan Lake", and shorter fragments like the pas de deux from "La Fille mal Gardee", "La Esmeralda", the pas de trois from "Paquita". The repertory of the character class was represented by the famous "Flamenco" suite from "Laurencia"(what a pity this ballet has dropped out of The Maryinsky repertory) and Gopak, a lively Ukranian dance, from "Taras Bulba". It is strange that with every coming year the character repertoire of the graduation performances is smaller and smaller. I remember the times when The Vaganova Academy could boast of its students dancing "The Hungarian Rhapsody" from "The Humpbacked Horse" with Lev Ivanov's choreography, "The Spanish March" from "Don Quixote", "The Sabre Dance" scene from "Gayane", "The Basques" scene from "The Flame of Paris". None of them is included nowdays in the programme. It is a pity because, to quote a British critic, "how elegantly all Russian trained dancers take the stage for the "boot" dancers!"

Many graduates are former Maryinsky dancers' children, so the performance were pretty much family affairs. Out of a large number of graduates I should like to single out Viktoria Kutepova, a beautiful, slender girl of marvellous proportions and charm. She danced "Tchaikovsky Pas de deux" brilliantly and was partnered by Artyom Shpilevsky, a tall handsome youth, a future Siegfried, I am sure. Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva and Dmitry Semionov were very good as Gamzatti and Solor in the second act of "La Bayadere", they danced with gusto and panache - energy, beautiful lines, well-paced fouettes and grand pirouette. Ilmira Bagautdinova was a charming Sylphide - a lovely petite with chiselled face and body; Yekaterina Osmolkina(already an International Ballet Competition prize winner) and Sergei Kononenko were the handsome heroes of the Greek myth about Diana and Actaeon choreographed by Agrippina Vaganova. When watching these young dancers one involuntary recalls the Shakespearean lines from "The Winter's Tale":

"...when you do dance, I wish you

A wave of sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that; move still, still so,

And own no other function..."

Igor Belsky, People's Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of The Vaganova Ballet Academy, died July 3, 1999, of a stroke, aged 74. An outstanding character dancer and choreographer, he graduated The Leningrad Ballet School in 1943 and became very soon a character soloist of the Kirov company. He created roles in Leonid Yakobson's "Shuraleh", "Spartacus" and "Choreographic Miniatures", Yuri Grigorovich's "The Stone Flower", Konstantin Sergeiev's "The Path of Thunder", Boris Fenster's "Masquerade" and "Taras Bulba". His repertory included all character dances in both classical and contemporary ballets.

Belsky taught character dance in The Vaganova Academy in 1946-1966; he was the chief choreographer and artistic director of The Maly Ballet company in 1962-1973, of The Kirov Ballet in 1973-1977, of The Music Hall Company in 1979-1992. He had long been active at choreography. His ballets covered a range indicated by his choise of music by Dmitri Shostakovich ("The Leningrad Symphony", "The 11th Symphony"), Rodion Shchedrin ("The Humpbacked Horse"), Sergei Slonimsky ("Icarus"), Andrei Petrov ("The Coast of Hope") as one extreme, and Tchaikovsky ("The Nutcracker") and Bizet ("Carmen", a number of choreographic miniatures) as the other.

Those who worked with him as dancer, choreographer and later artistic director of The Kirov Ballet included Nina Anisimova, Irina Gensler, Irina Kolpakova, Alla Osipenko, Alexander Gribov, Gabriela Komleva and many others. When Konstantin Sergeiev, artistic director of The Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1973-1992 died, Belsky was choisen to succeed him. Unlike Sergeiev, he did not teach, but he proved a good replacment as a kind but strict father-figure to the students, besides his work in ensuring the smooth running of a complex organization and helping raise funds for it.

Belsky had a wildly enthusiastic, very generous nature, and an uninhibited love of life's pleasures. He read a lot and painted very well. He will be remembered as a splendid dancer, talented choreographer and man of enourmous sense of humour.

Last July the theatre's repertory looked very peculiar because the major parts of both the ballet and opera companies were cut of town on different tours. There were seven days off (!) - the theatre own them to the staff which had worked continuously last June during The "White Nights" Festival; five times the Maryinsky was rented by smaller ballet companies and orchestras; and four nights the public were fed with "La Sylphide", that saving remedy and maid of all work. It was only in the second part of July that "Don Quixote" and "La Bayadere", "Swan Lake" and "Le Corsaire" appeared in the posters again.

The 216th season closed on July 31 with "Romeo and Juliet" with Zhanna Ayupova and Andrian Fadeyev.

Mikhail Shemiakin, a famous Russian-American sculptor, painter and scenery-designer, visited St.Petersburg last summer. He had made many presents to the city: his monunents to Peter the Great, to The Victims of the political repressions and to The First builders of the Great City are enjoyed by Petersburgers. "I came to my native city on the invitation of Valeri Gergiev, - he says. - His ideas, as you know, are always extraordinary; he suggested I create settings for the new production, of "The Nutcracker" at the Maryinsky he is going to stage. The offer was a great surprise for me. Quite recently I watched an American production of "The Nutcracker" and thought: "Oh, God! How happy I am not to work at the ballet theatre!" And two hours later (surprise, surprise!) there was a call from Gergiev and he talked and talked about his "Nutcracker" project. My first reaction was a terrible snarl. But he calmly went on: “Wait, wait! You just listen how I understand this ballet. May be you will take it to heart too". Finally he did persuade me to take part in creating a new production of the ballet - not traditional and not sugary. That is why I am in St.Petersburg, spending much time in its wonderful libraries, looking for everything that might be connected with the history of "The Nutcracker". I am checking again and again the dimensions of the Maryinsky stage, its space and wings. The job is very serious, indeed. And I am pressed for time: with Gergiev, you know, everything must be shipshape ahead of time". (Note: Not a word about the choreographer. Who is going to choreograph a new version of "The Nutcracker", I wonder. The numours have it will be Alexei Ratmansky or the famous mime-clown Slava Polunin).

When both the Maryinsky and the Maly companies were out of town smaller ballet companies gave free play to their activities. Askold Makarov's "State Academic Ballet theatre", Alexander Bruskin's "Russian ballet", Vladimir Korolkov's "Classical ballet" flooded the city with their numerous "Swan Lakes", "Giselles" and "Nutcrackers", the standard of which, in many cases, is very low. The critics had been sharpening thier pens for a long time and finally last summer gave vent to their ire. Akulina Volynskaya, for example, savaged the productions of Askold Makarov's company: act after act, she analysed their "Swan Lake", its corrupted version, criticized the jejune settings and costumes, terrible miming and poor dance technique. The trouble is that summer folk and foreign tourists, usually invading St.Petersburg in July-August, do not often realize what company exactly they are watching: for them any troupe is a St.Petersburg company, a representative of the legendary ballet traditions. It is easy to imagine their disillusion after seeing a production like Askoid Makarov's "Swan Lake".

Nikita Dolgushin, a ballet idol of the 60-70ies and the Artistic Director of The St.Petersburg Conservatory's ballet company, presented his vertion of "Swan Lake" last August. On the whole it might be called an academic revival, as close to the authentic variant as possible. The music score was edited by the conductor Sergei Stadler, a famous violinist, who restored much of the composer's original music; he played all the violin solos himself and, when conducting, used his violin's bow instead of the baton. The swan scenes and the black pas de deux were preserved intact. The first and the last scenes were choreographed by Dolgushin, he also enlarged the part of Siegfried (which is called by our dancers "a variation and a half") using his own experience of a dancer-perfectionist. The role of Odette-Odile was danced by Margarita Kullik from the Maryinsky.

The famous St.Petersburg brewery "Baltica" is a very powerful sponsor here and at the end of July it awarded quite a few artists of The Maryinsky with its prizes. The bonus funds this year were S 17.000. The first prize went to Sergei Vikharev for his revival of Marius Petipa's "Sleeping Beauty"; a special prize, "Our Hope" ,was awarded to Veronica Part.

The XXI Moscow International Film Festival closed on August 3. The award ceremony was, as usual, a grand affair with all film stars and government officials present. Spechees, smiles, friendly hugs, tears... Suddenly the Master of ceremonies interrupted the refined ritual and said: "And now a special present to our guests !", and UIyana Lopatkina appeared on the stage, all clad in a black elegant suit with a broad-brimmed hat on her head. Everybody gasped - so beautiful and stunning was the young lady. She danced a tango to Piazzola's music, it was an absolutely ravishing show - the audience roared and shouted "Bravo".

The September broadcasts of the "Behind the Scenes" TV programme were dedicated to Altynai Asylmuratova and Diana Vishneva. Asylmuratova talked about her artistic career, her grandparents and parents who were dancers, about her work with foreign companies and her little daughter Anastasia,who was shown in the class trying to imitate her mother's movements. Vishneva’s programme was different: the young ballerina was interviewed by Innokenty lvanov, a leading-media man. The talk was about the recent American tour of the company. Here are some questions and answers which seemed to me most interesting:

Q.: Is there any difference between Russian and American public?

A.: The American public is strange. I am not sure the Americans understand the aesthetics, beauty and culture of dance. They go into raptures over the settings or athletic tricks. This is only natural but some deeper comprehension is desirable. Only a couple of reviews were so-so, the rest were quite enthusiastic. Everybody was amazed our company is so young and called it the best in the world. Formerly, the critics wrote about the spirit of The Maryinsky, about our legs, feet and insteps, now they say: "Look, they are so young but they can already do so much".

Q.: Does American criticism differ much from Russian one?

A.: It was possible to talk about Russian criticism before, now it is almost non-existent (At this point I gasped and was deprived of speech. - I.S.) At home our production are rarely discussed, but in the USA every performance was thoroughly analized, each dancer was scrutinazed and taken stock of.

Q.: Do you read ballet reviews and critical articles?

A.: Yes, I do, but I immediately forget them. Whatever critics say -either praise or savage my performance - I consider all this to be very personal: usual likes and dislikes. The only thing I have to believe is my coach's opinion. But when my performance is criticized I always think:"Let them write, it is better than to fall into oblivion".

Q.: What was your most successful day in New York?

A.: It was the day when I danced Aurora in "The Sleeping Beauty" recently revived. Obviously, that evening "the winds were breathing low, and my stars were shining bright".

Q.: What did you manage to see in New York?

A.: Fortunately the soloists had a few days off during the tour, so I was able to visit The Metropolitan Museum. I was taken to some Broadway shows which, honestly, I did not like at all. I never thought Broadway could produce such shows with such unprofessional actors.

Q.: You seem to be quite a successful balerina to-day. What do you lack?

A.: I have not yet danced many roles in our repertory. I've been dreaming of "La Bayadere" for a long time.I also want to dance Raymonda and Odette-Odile, but most of all I would like to work with a choreographer who would create a ballet specially for me. Then you have the feeling of an owner: this ballet is yours, it is your property.

Several days later the All-Russian newspaper "Commercial Daily” published the complete text of the interview under the title: "Vishneva does not like Broadway”.

Last September Marina Vivien, the Curator of The Vaganova Ballet Academy's Museum, opened the exhibition to mark the 120th anniversary of Agrippina Vaganova’s birthday: photographs, rare documents, Vaganova's correspondence with her pupils, and two Vaganova’s biographies written by her former pupils - Galina Kremshevskaya and Vera Krasovskaya.

Boris Eifman was awarded by the French government with L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres. So we have got another Chevalier in town

Now to marriages and divorces. Yulia Makhalina divorced Yevgeni Ivanchenko: last summer she went down the nave of the St. Nicholas Cathedral with a young graduate of The St.Petersburg Conservatory. Ilze Liepa, the sister of the famous dancer Andris Liepa, divorced Sergei Stadler, a violinist and conductor, and married Director of the Moscow filial of "Coca-Cola".

Valeri Gergiev entered the state of blessed matrimony on September 4. He married a nineteen-year-old Ossetic girl, a musician, a graduate of The Gergiev Music School in Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia) where the wedding ceremony took place. The Independent TV Channel broadcast the ceremony; unfortunately, we could not see the bride’s face because, according to the Ossetic traditions, the bride is to be covered - from head to feet - with a white muslin veil.

Well, as Samuel Butler put it in his "Hudibras"-

"For in what stupid age or nation

Was marriage ever out of fashion ?"

and his compatriot, George Farquhar the dramatist, added about thirty years later: "Hanging and marriage, you know, go by Destiny".

No doubt, very wise old saws.

The famous Russian ballet historian and critic Vera Krasovskaya died after a long illness, aged 84, on August 15, 1999, at her home in St.Petersburg. She was an outs-tanding figurehead of Russian and St.Petersburg culture, Doctor of Arts, professor and academician. To her last days she was the chief of The Department of Ballet History and criticism at The Vaganova Academy where she brought up scores of pupils many of whom became well-known critics and ballet historians.

Vera Krasovskaya was born into the family of the St.Petersburg architect Mikhail Krasovsky who had designed quite a few buildings in the city. Her grandfather was a senator, the fact the family carefully concealed during the years of the Soviet regime. Her mother spoke several languages and was a very well-educated woman. Vera Krasovskaya graduated Agrippina Vaganova's class in 1933 and danced in the Kirov corps de ballet for ten years. She wrote her first article - about Alla Shelest - in 1941, her first book, "Vakhtang Chabukiani", was published in 1956. Since then her books and articles appeared, one after another, with an amazing speed: the four-volume edition of "The History of Russian Ballet" was followed by the four-volume publication of "The History of West-European Ballet". This stream of heavy tomes was interlaid with monographs - "Anna Pavlova" (1964),"Nijinsky" (1974), "Natalia Dudinskaya" (1982), "Irina Kolpakova" (1984), "Nikita Dolgushin" (1985), "Agrippina Vaganova" (1989). Her books were translated into English, Polish, German, Czech. On the whole her bibliography makes up a thick volume: scores of articles and reviews in Russian and foreign press, bookltes and introductions to different editions of books on ballet art, lots of entries for encyclopaedias and reference books. A woman of sharp mind and great sense of humour, Krasovskaya was a staunch advocate of everything new and progressive, she helped a lot to the then young choreographers Yuri Grigorovich and lgor Belsky passionately defending their first ballets on the Kirov stage.

Vera Krasovskaya was an avid reader of "The Dancing Times": "This is my window on to European ballet", - she used to tell me. She was happy her photograph was published in the June issue of the magazine - the picture was taken at The Vaganova Academy when Krasovskaya’s last book, "Profiles of the Dance" was launcned.

The funeral service was performed on August 18 at The Court Stables Church. Though it was summertime and many people were out of town, the number of those present at the ceremony was enormous. Vera Krasovskaya was buried at The Memorial Komarovo cemetery, the last refuge for many writers, actors, scientists and musicians. Krasovskaya is survived by her husband, David Zolotnitsky, Doctor of Arts, and her son, Yuri Krasovsky, a professor of The St.Petersburg Theatre Academy.