Translated material
Swans, revolts and sonatas
Mikhailovsky Theater in London
Summer in the British capital is the time when the stars drag the viewer by the hands: come to me, please! No, to my performance! At the end of July, balletomanes will have to choose between Carlos Acosta and Sylvie Guillem: the best of the Cubans and the main Frenchwoman (actually just the first ballerina of the world) have scheduled their performances on the same days. Capoeira and tango, step and contemporary, veterans and young talents - the city is filled with dancing people. For ballet dancers, touring in such a dense environment is a great challenge. Accepting this challenge shows that the theater is confident in its abilities.The Mikhailovsky Theater came to London for the second time. Two years ago it was a visit from strangers, the natives looked at them politely and with kind-hearted curiosity: here is another troupe from the great St. Petersburg. We were amazed by “Spartacus” directed by Georgy Kovtun (even though live tigers were not brought to England, the style of Indian cinema remained), gave an ovation to Irina Perrin’s Giselle (Vaganova’s soft hands and the expressionist rigidity of the role, a stunning contrast) and admired two numbers resurrected by Mikhail Messerer (“ Spring Waters" and "Ocean and Pearls").
Now they will look more strictly, jealously and more carefully: since Mikhailovsky stole Messerer from the English Royal Ballet, the famous teacher began to direct the ballet of the St. Petersburg theater. Since a person with such a reputation agreed to work there, it means that the theater should be able to compete with the “ten stars” of the world. But there is also a downside to such attention: well, let’s see what he managed to do there, whether the maestro, for the sake of these St. Petersburgers, was worth pushing aside our beloved Covent Garden, where he worked for so many years.
The tour began with Swan Lake. Thus, “Swan Lake” in the version by Alexander Gorsky - Asaf Messerer, which the theater first showed in St. Petersburg in September last year. The program is generally composed mainly of the premieres of the past season: in addition to “Swan”, it also includes “Laurencia” and the very fresh “Minor Sonatas”. However, the playbill also includes “Giselle” (it’s clear that Londoners want to see Irina Perrin again - even with their observation, they haven’t seen many such ballerinas) and... “Cippolino” at the matinees. (I wonder how the British capital will receive a ballet about the vegetable revolution?) One of the stories that was discussed in English newspapers before the start of the tour was a ballet plot about the fulfillment of a cherished desire. The young Englishwoman trained at the Vaganova School, but after the money and visa ran out, she was forced to return home. Messerer, looking at the girl’s training, allowed her to join the Mikhailovsky troupe in London, and now there is an English swan in the corps de ballet flock.
Foreign birds will also play the leading roles: the theater, while promoting its stars, prudently adds foreign ones to them. Tomorrow the Berlin prima Polina Semionova will appear at the Swan, and next week the English Royal Ballet star Tamara Rojo will play Odette-Odile. In “Laurencia”, Denis Matvienko, now working at the Mariinsky Theater, will also take revenge for the scolded bride and take part in the uprising of the Spanish peasants - at one of the performances the role of Frondoso will go to Denis Matvienko. (But Marat Shemiunov, who danced excellently at the St. Petersburg premiere, will receive his own performance.) Guests, of course, are bait for the public, but still they will not judge the troupe by them. It will be judged by its repertoire and overall quality of performance - these tours will show whether Mikhailovsky has European and world prospects.