Translated material
Waiting for the season
Those things that quietly (and not so quietly - with interviews given by ballerinas and premieres) happened in the theater during the previous two seasons become noticeable to the naked eye in this one. Ratmansky was unable to establish contact with the stars (primarily with the magnificent five prime ministers) and is trying to do without them. (That is, not completely fire, of course - who will earn the theater the main money by performing classical performances, and the audience will rebel - but do not rely on them, do not count on them to update the repertoire.) He is trying to form his own team - one of those people who would believe in him and his choreography (not only composed by him personally, but also chosen by him for the theater). The team is assembled from two sources: from the very young corps de ballet of the Bolshoi and from newcomers from other theaters.
In the female corps de ballet, Ratmansky has a choice: from the smart, coldish Ekaterina Krysanova, as if created for a complex and subtle drawing, to the screamingly aggressive Natalya Osipova, who jumps on stage as if through barriers (these two girls have just been promoted to soloist); from the French neat Anastasia Kurkova to the thinning swan gesture of Anna Nikulina. It’s more difficult with dancers - competition for ballet schools is falling catastrophically, the best, legendary (like Pyotr Pestov, who created Malakhov and Tsiskaridze and Ratmansky himself, by the way) teachers of the Moscow school moved to Germany, and the school is producing fewer and fewer artists who are simply suitable for work. The artistic director has little choice, but still has it; Meanwhile, the artistic director is not always attentive to his troupe.
It’s easier to hire an already established person from the outside. Last season, Kiev soloist Denis Matvienko was invited to the theater on a one-time contract - now he is joining the staff. He is a tough pro, focused and attentive; Arrival a maximum of a week before the performance, minimum rehearsals, the text has long been learned, accuracy with your partner, no unnecessary emotions. An excellent acquisition for the theater (he got rid of excessive affectation in dancing faster than he got rid of his own stage costumes, which amaze with some kind of simple-minded provincialism), but what did the theater do to make Matvienko become like this? Nothing. He only paid money to buy it.
This is important for the public, pleasant for criticism (it’s better to look at finished products than semi-finished products, and then figure out what it should really look like, and calculate good reasons why it doesn’t look like that), but still, if this The only way to develop theater is the extensive way. Losing hope of self-realization in their native theater, the best (yes, yes, imperfect ones - well, you have to work with them!) corps de ballet dancers begin sending out tapes to Western troupes. Then you come somewhere in Germany - and behind the scenes they only speak Russian...
And then the person finds success abroad, and the Bolshoi Theater, so be it, will invite him to a couple of performances, shelling out a tidy sum. And the best part of a dancer’s life - when he is already a rising star, but not yet tired of the honors of the prime minister - will pass by his native country.
Vaganovsky graduate Artem Shpilevsky became a star in Berlin - and he becomes a guest-star at the Bolshoi; he can be seen for the first time on September 16 in “Swan” in the role of the Evil Genius. Another acquisition of the Bolshoi is Andrey Merkuriev, who transferred from the Mariinsky Theater; At the moment, it seems that the main career of this diligent dancer, who has two undoubted advantages - moderation and accuracy, will unfold mainly in the territories of Alexei Ratmansky's ballets. The choreographer collaborated with Merkuriev when he staged “Cinderella” at the Mariinsky Theater, and now the dancer’s participation in “Bolt” (first performance on September 14) looks like a gesture of vassal fidelity.
Another acquisition of the Bolshoi is both a star and the promise of a star at the same time. Seventeen-year-old Minsk resident Ivan Vasilyev took first prize at the international Moscow ballet competition last year - and the entire press shouted to the Bolshoi: hey, grab the guy, what are you waiting for! Looks like they've grabbed me. On October 3, “Don Quixote” with Vasiliev awaits us (the surname caresses the ears of old balletomanes - the boy will not disgrace the surname). And among the ballerinas, Diana Vishneva will come to visit again, although last spring the Bolshoi ballerinas tried to protest against the invitation of the Mariinsky star to the Moscow theater (this episode will remain in the history of the Bolshoi as the “cherry tea party”, because the general director of the Bolshoi carefully answered all questions from the press that the artists just came to him for tea). “Giselle” is planned for her on October 4, and together with Nikolai Tsiskaridze, that is, we have a chance to see the performance of the century.
Time will tell whether Ratmansky will be able to spend a season in which there will be so many “Varangians” without acute conflicts with ballerinas and premieres. This season should end with the premiere-reconstruction of “The Corsair”, in which there are so many roles that there should be enough for everyone. But this premiere is far from coming soon - the end of June. But the theater's internal problems are the theater's internal problems. The public is in for a season of fresh interpretations and new faces. And the “old faces” will definitely dance at their performances in such a way as to explain to everyone who is the best here.