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М. Таривердиев "Проезд Кэт и Штирлица"

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Sunflowers in September | Tasha Marie

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Morrison Springs | petervanosdall

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Part III. Vaganova Ballet Academy 2017 graduation performance rehearsal at the Mariinsky Theatre. June 3. Photos by Alexander Ku.

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Fat cat squeezes through small gap. [full video]

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Russian Ballet Icons Gala. London. Vaganova Ballet Academy students: Aleksandra Khiteyeva (Chinese Doll), Eleonora Sevenard (the Fairy Doll), Oscar Frame (Pierrot) and Pavel Mikheev (Perrot).

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Big thanks to Libi Fileman, who saw the Russian Ballet Icons Gala last night, and kindly sent me photos of the program!

Here are the transcripts of Nikolai Tsiskaridze’s message, which was printed in the program (I also threw in some interesting historical photos for your enjoyment), and the biographies of the VBA students, who performed at the gala.

I am delighted to welcome participants and guests to the Russian Ballet Icons Gala “In the Steps of the Ballets Russes”.

St. Petersburg is a major centre of choreographic art, and the Vaganova Ballet Academy is well known around the world. Russia’s oldest ballet school, it was founded by Empress Anna in 1738, and to this day continues to preserve the heritage of its great teachers, choreographers and ballet artists.

Today, we are pleased to present a scene from the ballet “The Fairy Doll” (my own version of the Legat brothers’ choreography). The plot of the ballet hangs on a chain of dance numbers, creating a charming fairytale in which mechanical dolls come to life and experience human feelings and suffering. The problems of the toy kingdom are ultimately solved by the triumph of good over evil, with justice prevailing.

The first performance of this ballet was Nikolai Legat’s debut as choreographer at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1903. It had a brilliant cast of dancers: Anna Pavova (Spanish Doll), Vera Trefilova (Japanese Doll), Agrippina Vaganova (Chinese Doll), Olga Preobrajenska (Baby Doll) among others.

In the centre of the ballet was the great pas de trois of the Fairy Doll and two Pierrots (Mathilde Kshessinska, Sergei Legat and Mikhail Fokine). The performers were all among the first graduates from the Imperial School of Ballet, now Vaganova Academy.

Tonight, on the stage of the London Coliseum, you will see “The Fairy Doll’s” most interesting pieces, performed by senior students of the Vaganova Academy. I wish you all the best and the brightest impressions from this encounter with the past, the present and the future of Russian ballet.

Nikolai Tsiskaridze People’s Artist of Russia Principal of Vaganova Ballet Academy

CAST

Note #1: Magda Studzinska was supposed to perform the part of the French Doll, but was replaced by Aleksandra Korshunova at the last minute.

Note #2: I ended up editing the text a bit, because the copy was put together rather poorly.

Vlada Borodulina (Spanish Doll)

Class of T.A. Udalenkova

Repertoire includes: “The Nutcracker” (Masha, Snowflake pas de deux, Waltz of the Flowers pas de quatre) and “The Fairy Doll” (Capricious Doll, Spanish Doll).

Vlada participated in the Vaganova Academy’s 2016 tour in Japan and attended the Pro Viva la Dance masterclasses in Mikkeli, Finland.

Polina Bualova (Japanese Doll)

Class of M.A. Vasilieva

Repertoire includes: “The Fairy Doll” (Japanese Doll), “Coppelia”, “Raymonda”, “The Nutcracker” (Little Masha).

Polina has attended the Pro Viva la Dance masterclasses in Mikkeli, Finland.

Oscar Frame (Pierrot)

Class of N.M. Tsiskaridze

Repertoire includes: “The Nutcracker” (The Nutcracker Prince), “Don Quixote” (Toreador), “Sleeping Beauty” (Prince Desire), “Giselle” (Albrecht).

Oscar began his studies at the Kirov Academy in Washington. He is currently a probationary student at Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Aleksandra Khiteyeva (Chinese Doll)

Class of I.A. Sitnikova

Repertoire includes: “The Nutcracker” (Little Masha), “The Fairy Doll” (Chinese Doll), “Awakening of Flora” (Hebe).

Aleksandra began her studies at the Kazan Ballet School.

Pavel Mikheev (Pierrot)

Class of N.M. Tsiskaridze

Repertoire includes: “The Nutcracker” (The Nutcracker Prince, pas de trois), Bronislava Nijinska’s “Bolero” (Fifth Dancer), “The Fairy Doll” (Pierrot), Glinka’s Opera “Ivan Susanin” (mazurka).

Eleonora Sevenard (The Fairy Doll)

Class of T.A. Udalenkova

Repertoire includes: “The Fairy Doll” (the Fairy Doll), “The Nutcracker” (Masha), “Swan Lake” (the Black pas de deux).

Eleonora won II place at the 2016 Vaganova Prix, and reseived a scholarship from the Natalia Dudinskaya and Konstantin Sergeev fund. She participated in the Vaganova Academy’s 2016 tour in Japan.

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Tatum Shoptaugh, Vaganova Ballet Academy

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Vaganova Ballet Academy’s “The Nutcracker” at the Mariinsky Theatre. 28 Jan 2017. Photo by Alexander Ku.

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Vaganova Ballet Academy students performed their final “Nutcracker” (of the season) last night at the Mariinsky Theatre. This was also Eleonora Sevenard’s 10th performance as Masha. Photo by VBA teacher, Alexei Ilyin.

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Tsiskaridze’s report to Putin

Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who is a member of the presidential arts council, reported back to President Putin on the activities at the newly created Vladivostok campus of Vaganova Ballet Academy, and requested for more funding to be made available for art schools and colleges across Russia.

Nikolai was doing quite well - very official, confident and to the point - until he started talking about the Russian soul and how it makes Russian art special, etc. Putin listened to him like:

Kolya, my sweet summer child, one does not speak of the soul in Kremlin. No one cares. Stick to the facts and numbers. 

To be honest, I love that Nikolai, as formal and educated as he is, still maintains some of the airy-fairy innocence of an artist.

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Today (Oct 28) marks three years since the appointment of Nikolai Tsiskaridze to the role of Vaganova Ballet Academy’s rector.

Over the weekend, I will be translating some of Nikolai’s most recent interviews and looking back at his third year at the academy.

Spoiler alert: he’s doing great.

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Nikolai Tsiskaridze in Christopher Wheeldon’s “For Four”. Choreographed for the Kings of Dance project. 2006. Photo by Mikhail Logvinov.