Russian Icons in London

LONDON: The days when ballet dancers needed to take a Russian name to be accepted are no more. However Russian ballet still draws packed audiences and the arrival of the Mariinsky at the Royal Opera House, plus Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev at the Coliseum, bought a frisson of excitement to the London summer.

Two exceptional Russian ballerinas, Osipova and Vishneva, in evenings of exceptional choreography were, for me, the highlights. 

At the Coliseum Osipova and Vasiliev matched their classical talents to top contemporary choreographers in Solo for Two. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui who has worked his magic on dancers of every genre takes on two of the most beautiful and powerful ballet bodies and the results are formidable.

I don’t think I have ever seen Vasiliev move with such feline grace but the night belonged to Osipova. In his duet Mercy her body morphed from liquid to steel as the emotion required and her character transformed from passive girl to loving woman.

She again had the stronger role in Ohad Naharin’s Passo in which a tetchy, competitive relationship, laced with irony, mature into catchy harmony. Arthur Pita’s Facada was more lightweight but exploited the considerable dramatic skills that both possess. The bride, jilted at the altar, murders her never-to-be spouse then dances triumphantly on his grave.

It was a neat piece of black comedy set to the strains of traditional fado music. The couple, no longer an off-stage item, are still a breathtaking, fused-at-the-hip, partnership on stage.

Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella

written for the company in 2002 was his first full-length ballet. It centres on romance but none of your Hollywood ‘hearts and flowers’ stuff – this is the real thing. His intuitive feel for Prokofiev’s score makes full use of both the modern and the classical themes in one of the most intensely musical versions of the ballet.

The minimal set flanked by iron stairs provides a platform for all sorts of innovative staging and the ballroom under a circle of golden lights leaves an empty space to be filled by the drama.

Diana Vishneva is the jewel in the crown, shape shifting from vulnerable waif to enchanting princess and in the long duets with Konstantin Zverev providing the beating heart of the ballet. Under her spell he ripens from a bored youth to a heroic lover. Alone in the ballroom, in awe of both her surroundings and her newfound beauty she encounters her Prince. They go through the nerves of first meeting before falling so absolutely in love that nothing else matters, dancing for sheer joy and raising the pulse of an entire audience. 

The Seasons, four fine male soloists, have some of the best of Ratmansky’s modern choreography. They are prominent throughout and always a welcome addition while the trio of stepmother and unpleasant sisters dance with gusto revelling in the broad comedy.

Alexei Repnikov leading the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra brought Prokofiev’s score to life. His conducting of Swan Lake was also sensitive to every nuance of the choreography, dappling it with light and shade while the rippling harp was exquisite.  

The Mariinsky Ballet presented an immaculate production of the Tchaikovsky ballet in which the peerless corps de ballet of swans were the stars. In this version, the final act is intricately structured in circles and lines that constantly shift in a kaleidoscope of patterns. Each line was text book perfect with every arm and leg arranged in sculptured harmony.

Anastasia Matvienko sadly lacked the poetry to satisfy as the sorrowful Swan Queen and was far more at ease as Odile, enchanting her Prince in a flurry of turns and a fiery presence. Her Prince Timur Askerov, a powerful dancer and excellent partner had little opportunity in the first act but made the most of the bravura in the ballroom scene and the drama of the final act with its Soviet style happy ending.

The mazurka was taken at racehorse speed, and in a swirl of red cloaks won hands down over the pastel coloured, neatly danced rivals in the national dance stakes. The pas de trois was another highlight: Nadezhda Gonchar, Ekaterina Ivannikova and Filipp Stepin danced with both joy and finesse.

The Russians are always welcome guests and while for most of the audience their appeal is still largely in the traditional repertoire, it is refreshing to see fine new productions taking their place alongside the established ballets.

Maggie Foyer
18 August 2014