Altynai
Asylmuratova was
born a Tartar
in Kazakhstan
in 1961. Known
as "the divine";
she carries on
the great Russian
tradition of technique
and artistry in
classical ballet.
Her successor,
Uliana Loptakina,
25, graduated
from the Vaganova
Academy. Director
Madame Kurgapkina,
who provided the
real backbone
of Russian dancing
for nearly a century,
was a principal
dancer before
she began teaching
in the 1960s.
Loptakina made
great advances
at the Academy,
learning, as she
put it, "about
my body and how
to cope with it",
and finally joining
the Kirov in 1991.
As its principal,
she dances both
classical and
character roles.
This season, she
danced in La
Bayadere.
There
are many outstanding
members of the
Kirov, including
Veronika Part,
21, who made her
debut in London
this year in Swan
Lake, as Odette/Odile.
She also danced
and played the
role of Diamonds
in the ballet
Jewels.
Svetlana Zhakarova
was just 17 when
she became the
youngest to dance
in Sleeping
Beauty and
Scheherazade.
Diana
Vishneva, 24,
the old lady of
the baby ballerinas
at the Kirov,
danced the role
of Rubies in Jewels.
She danced Kitri
when still a student
at the Mariinsky
Theatre in Don
Quixote and
brought the house
down! She is the
partner of Faroukh
Ruzimatov, a principal
at the Kirov.
Ruzimatov has
been a huge star
in Russia for
the last 20 years.
He is very famous
for dancing Albrecht
in Gisele
and Ali the slave
in The Corsaire,
with an exuberant
technique that
always guarantees
a thrilling performance.
He has, this season,
performed in Scheherazade
and La Bayadere.
Igor
Zelensky, 31,
a very muscular,
tall, blond Slav,
has danced with
many of the world's
greatest dancers
including Sylvie
Guillem and Darcey
Bussell. Igor
and Darcey have
been dancing together
for five years,
first in Canada,
then with the
New York City
Ballet; she has
also danced with
him in the Kirov
two years ago.
In return, she
asked the Royal
Ballet to invite
Zelensky to London
where they did
Manon for
the Royal Ballet,
and Scheherazade
in her debut in
London with the
Kirov: a hot duo!
(I saw a waxwork
of her in Madame
Tussaud ) Together,
Zelensky and Bussell
have a great chemistry
and a great partnership.
For the Kirov
season, he has
danced in Jewels,
Scheherazade
and La Bayadere.
Zelensky stayed
two years in Berlin
and five in New
York, returning
to St Petersburg
in 1997.
Danil
Korsuntsov trained
for nine years
with the Bolshoi
Ballet and is
now a principal
with the Kirov.
He was spotted
two years ago
by Makhar Vaziev,
Director of the
Kirov since 1997.
In London, Korsuntsov
has danced in
Swan Lake
and Jewels.
Finally, Anastasia
Volochkova has
also starred at
the London Palladium
with special guest
Irek Mukhamedov
in Ikons.
The
highlight of this
season was the
White Nights
at the ROH, attended
by Princess Alexandra
in aid of the
Friends of the
Kirov Opera and
Ballet and the
ROH Trust, a gala
concert conducted
by Valery Gergiev.
Marius
Petipa, the Kirov
's most famous
choreographer,
was born in Marseilles,
on 11 March 1818
(d. 1910). He
came from a family
of dancers. His
father, a choreographer,
teacher and dancer,
brought up Marius
and his brother
Lucien to be dancers,
Lucien becoming
a star in Paris
but Marius danced
in Nantes, Bordeaux,
Spain and a season
in New York with
his father. Then
in 1847 he went
to the Imperial
Theatre in St
Petersburg as
principal dancer,
starring in the
ballet Paquita
that was created
in Paris the previous
year. He composed
works of his own:
The Swiss Milkmaid
(1849), was
his first original
composition in
St Petersburg.
His Pharaoh
's Daughter
(1862), based
on a novel by
Gautier, established
him as one of
the great choreographers.
Petipa then became
one of the company's
official ballet-masters
and, in 1869,
he took charge
of the Mariinsky
Company.
In
today's Royal
Opera House, his
choreography still
survives in The
Sleeping Beauty
(1890, libretto
by Ivan Alexandrovich
Vsevolozhsky),
for which he asked
Tchaikovsky to
write the music.
Vsevolozhsky also
designed the costumes
and worked closely
with the set designers.
As Vsevolozhsky
was the Director
of the Imperial
Theatre from 1881
to 1899, he was
also in charge
of the Bolshoi
and Maly Theatres
in Moscow, and
in St Petersburg,
the Mariinsky,
the Alexandrinsky
and the Mikhailovsky
Theatres. He was
a very powerful
and cultured man
even if his name
did not appear
in the advertising
posters. His libretto
for The Sleeping
Beauty, based
on the tales of
Charles Perrault,
was written in
conjunction with
Petipa. Tchaikovsky
's music established
him as the father
of this balletic
art for the whole
future of the
history of ballet.
Tchaikovsky composed
Swan Lake
(1875), another
of his immortal
works. It was
performed for
the first time
in the Russian
capital in memory
of Tchaikovsky,
three months after
his death, at
the Mariinsky
Theatre in February,
1894. The choreography
of Petipa and
Lev Ivanov was
completed in 1895.
Proceeds of the
memorial performance
went towards a
monument to Tchaikovsky.
Petipa
also choreographed
Raymonda
(1898), Don
Quixote (1869),
and La Bayadere
(1877), his last
great success
at the Mariinsky
Theatre. His leading
lady Vazem later
taught both Anna
Pavlova and Agrippina
Vaganova. With
him, the Mariinsky
Ballet was to
grow into the
grandest and he
was considered
to be the principal
architect of the
Russian Ballet.
After running
the Company for
56 years he retired
and died at Gurzuf
in the Crimea
on 14 July, 1910.
Mikhail
Fokine, another
of Russia 's greatest
choreographers,
was a dancer of
the Imperial Ballet
in St Petersburg.
He was also an
amateur painter,
and said, "dancing
should be expressive
and should reflect
the feeling of
the character
portrayed". He
got away from
the original concept
of the dancer
in a tutu whatever
the role, demanding
that, for example,
if a dancer portrayed
an Egyptian princess,
she would wear
an appropriate
costume. So, with
today's Kirov
Ballet, we understand
more of his genius
in the creation
of Chopiniana
and the Polovtsian
Dances from
Prince Igor,
with their departure
from the 'tutu'
stereotype. In
1910, Fokine visited
Paris and created,
for Diaghilev,
Scheherazade,
The Firebird
and a revival
of Le Carnaval.
Fokine and Benois
together created
for Diaghilev
Petrushka,
with music by
Stravinsky. With
this ballet music,
dance and design
all joined in
a single voice.
In 1911, Fokine
also devised the
Le Spectre
de la Rose
for Tamara Karsavina
and Vaslav Nijinsky.
Serge
Diaghilev's collaboration
with Fokine changed
the way Europeans
looked at ballet,
theatre, dance,
decoration, emotion.
You can see, in
the dramatic colours
of Scheherazade,
the emergence
of the
new dance drama
of the 20th Century.
Fokine, Nijinsky,
Bakst and Benois,
along with composers
like Stravinsky,
Debussy and Ravel,
all worked together
for Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes.
Their creations
were of a very
innovative style
and changed dance
forever. Diaghilev,
as impresario,
was the 'boss'
of Nijinsky who,
as choreographer,
created Le
Sacre du Printemps.
The ballet Jeux
was also choreographed
by Nijinsky for
Diaghilev's Ballets
Russes in Paris.
This features
tennis as a scene
from modern life
and a primitive
religious rite.
L'Apres-midi
d'un Faune
makes artistic
reference to archaic
Greek sculpture.
This ballet has
survived from
Nijinsky's repertoire,
and, shocking
at the time of
its early performances,
it is famous for
simulated masturbatory
orgasm! Sacre
du Printemps,
considered by
many to be the
first true ballet
of the 20th Century,
was greeted by
the Parisian audience
with jeers, abuse
and applause all
at once,. Jeux,
at the same Paris
theatre, is about
a menage a trois,
was the first
time female homosexuality
was expressed
on stage. It is
said that Diaglihev
was fascinated
by the idea of
having sex with
two boys at the
same time.
Rudolf
Hametovich Nureyev
was, at the age
of 23, travelling
with the Kirov
ballet in Paris
when he asked
for political
asylum. In the
middle of the
Cold War, with
the Berlin Wall
firmly in place,
this defection
made the world
's front pages:
the Russian who
had betrayed his
motherland for
a Frenchwoman!
The rest of the
Kirov Company
continued on to
London and made
their debut at
Covent Garden;
Soviet Ballet
had to survive
without him!
Nureyev
started his lifelong
relationship with
the dancer Erik
Bruhn, a Danish
dancer, and in
Copenhagen he
met Vera Voklova,
the Russian dancer
who had taught
Margot Fonteyn.
Fonteyn had been
invited to dance
for a charity
gala at the Theatre
Royal Drury Lane
and had no partner,
so she called
on the Kirov defector
Nureyev and it
was a sensational
success. Lady
Diana Cooper said
to her neighbour
Cecil Beaton that
he was better
than Nijinsky.
Ninette de Valois,
the founder of
the Royal Ballet,
engaged Nureyev
for Giselle
and asked Fonteyn,
who was 19 years
his senior, to
dance with him.
Fonteyn then called
Madame, to tell
her that she had
decided to take
the role. (de
Valois liked to
be known simlpy
as Madame. If
someone asked
her what they
shevould call
her, she would
say "Call me Madame";
incidentally,
she is now over
100 years old).
Nureyev
handled Fonteyn
with arrogant
aplomb and with
natural authority,
so at their debut
together at ROH
they got 23 curtains
calls - incredible,
can you imagine!
Fonteyn then took
a rose from her
bouquet and handed
it to Nureyev
who dropped onto
one knee and lavished
her hand with
kisses and a legend
was born. This
couple electrified
the English ballet
with their magnetism;
they could now
compete with the
superiority of
the Russians and
the energy of
the Americans.
With his training,
Nureyev injected
new life into
the English ballet.
Before going on
stage he used
to get very neurotic,
swearing and shouting
and changing his
shoes obsessively,
thus creating
a tension with
his leading ladies,
but generating
an animal magnetism.
As Fonteyn danced
for over 50 years
there was no longer
an age-limit on
ballerinas.
With
this partnership,
Fonteyn owed him
her second life
as a ballerina
and Nureyev owed
her his second
home. He lived
in London for
20 years, in Richmond.
The mystery of
whether they were
lovers or not
created more fantasy
for the public
and was very good
for the box office!
Nureyev preferred
boys and had a
prodigious appetite
for casual sex.
Rent-boys were
always available
at the back of
the ROH. He was
vain and very
brutal with Margot,
calling her all
sorts of names.
He treated his
friends very well
but lovers like
dirt. When Margot's
husband Tito Aria
was shot by a
jealous husband
in Panama Margot
spoon-fed him
but had to continue
to work to pay
his hospital and
medical bills.
Rudolf
died of AIDS eight
years ago in Paris
at the age of
54, looking far
older than his
age: it was terribly
sad. In Paris
mourners queued
for hours in the
dreadful cold.
In New York and
Vienna, he was
like a monarch
or statesman.
In Russia his
life was commemorated
everywhere he
had danced. Last
year was the seventh
anniversary of
his death so his
friend, the conductor
Gennady Zaikowitsch,
also Russian and
Nureyev's neighbour
in Paris, organised
"A Homage to Nureyev
- a Royal Gala
of Russian Splendour"
in the presence
of Princess Margaret.
It was a Russian
programme because
Rudolf and the
conductor were
Russians. There
were extracts
from works of
Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev,
Glazunov and Mussorgsky,
and took place
at the Royal Albert
Hall, October
1999.
Talking
about ballet,
let us not forget
the night the
late Princess
Diana danced for
her husband at
the ROH, dancing
Billy Joel's famous
song "Uptown Girl"
with Wayne Sleep.
She did not like
opera unless Pavarotti
was singing, but
she loved ballet
and went very
often to the ROH.
She danced looking
in the direction
of Charles who
tried to look
pleased. He said
she was terrific,
but in fact thought
her dress too
sexy and slinky
and all a bit
distasteful for
a Princess. When
they got divorced
she dropped her
patronage of many
organisations
but kept six of
them including
the English National
Ballet but she
avoided the ROH!
Verinha Ottoni
